Shachagra- Family of 5 traveles Europe and Turkey, International 7500

shachagra

Adventurer
Did you ever consider having a system for collecting and purifying rain water?

Yes I have- actually with Shachagra's roof it would be easy. Since the solar panels are inset, water escapes from only 3 places, two drains in front and off the back edge. I could divert the drains to feed into the water tank and park on a downslope when it rained. In a heavy rain the water comes rushing out drains below the truck. I have filled the tank using 5 gallon buckets I put under the drains. Water was so easy to find on the trip, I just did it to do it.
 

shachagra

Adventurer
In the yards

Here are some shots of some of the work I'm doing to Shachagra. 5 people living in a tight space can be pretty hard on it, but the actual reason for the work is that I didn't have the time first time around to put the finish on it I'd like. I remember thinking, I'll finish that when I need to repaint, and that time is here. I'm also repainting the interior with the same boat topside paint I used on the exterior, it wears well.

I am also painting the tight spaces I just epoxied and filled with plumbing etc. The hole in the floor is where all the plumbing lines meet, I just need re-run all the plumbing I yanked out.. The cabinet above that area holds a PEX manibloc that distributes the plumbing and allowing a single spot to secure all plumbing lines individually. It is easy to find a leak (I've found a few) If the water pump goes off periodically without any use there is a leak. Shut down all lines but one, cycle through until the pump goes on, and you have the line your leak is on.
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shachagra

Adventurer
A smaller project

I am on the road in Shachagra with only 4 of the 5 Cuthberts, my oldest is at the Naval Academy and will meet us in Montana later in the summer. It is nice to be back on the road in the RV, even if it is just through the states for the summer, she is like an old friend.

Wanted to post some photos that are on the 4X4 Van thread of a project I did for a friend that I am very pleased with and maybe some of the ideas can be used in larger expedition RVs. The pop top may seem complex, but it is extremely simple mechanically and in use. There isn't much that can go wrong with it and it is a hard sided pop-top. It has a much smaller solar array than the beast, but at 440W its still pretty large- kept the freezer cold for 5 months with no external power and supplied all the power needed for my power tools during construction. The video shows it opening.
 

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Ford Prefect

Expedition Leader
Wonderful... It was very nice to go through and re-read this thread again! Thanks again for posting.

As with others, I do have a question... Do you still agree with your choice to make a high boarder around all of the galley surfaces. I am sure on a boat it would be nice to keep things from randomly sliding off the table while you are trying to eat/prep means, but given yours can be parked when you eat... Esthetics's wise it looks great, but I am wondering about wanting to stand something close to the edge, or having a large pan hanging off the edge of the counter etc.

Also, please, what is the interior height of the ceiling?

I very much enjoyed being able to see how you finished off the interior. The lack of cabinets up high seems to take away from possible storage, but it sure opens up the cabin, and lets a lot of light in as well.

Regards,
Brian
 

shachagra

Adventurer
I like the high border around the galley area, more as a nice edge than for the function. I do find that it is nice to be able to toss something on the counter and drive, without worrying about it ending up on the floor. Yes I would do it again.

The ceiling ht in the main area is 6 ft 10" and in the dinnette area it is 5 ft 10."

We do have upper cabinets that ring the galley and find on a rig this size there is more than enough storage space. We are spending the summer in her traveling around the US, leaving Montana today and heading south.
 
Hope you enjoyed Montana. There is so much to see. Even the "flatlands" of eastern Montana are pretty spectacular.

I wish I could have caught a glimpse of the rig on the road as I traveled about for work. That would be better than an EarthRoamer sighting!
 

shachagra

Adventurer
If your timing had been right you could have seen Shachagra and an Earthroamer in a little convoy on hwy 80 through Nebraska. I love those trucks.
We did have a great time in Montana, beautiful country, nice people and it was cool! I'm back in Fla sweating again.
 

shachagra

Adventurer
Cool, thanks for the link. Pretty close, no generator and we lived in her for 16 months. If I just let the story grow on its own until we lived in her for 18 years.
 

shachagra

Adventurer
Awesome build!

Can you run the washer/dryer without being hooked up to mains power/water? Is it set up for "self contained" usage?

We can run both the washer and dryer without being hooked up to any power, that said, we didn't do it very often, more for the water than for the electrical power. We would usually wash when we were filling up the water tanks, that way we had clean clothes and full tanks.
I have found that in sunny climates I can use as much electrical as I want and I am considering replacing the webasco diesel cooktop with an electrical induction cooktop. I already have the capability to heat our water and the RV with diesel or electrical, and use electric all the time.

I can run the A/C off solar but have found that the inverter makes about as much heat as the A/C removes. That is a challenge I need to address.
 

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