r/EscapedCampervans

Hey everyone! New to the group and excited to finally have an Escape CamperVan of our own 😄 We picked up this superhero-themed beauty in Vegas and drove it all the way home to Virginia. My miniature schnauzer, Lucy, had her first plane ride so she could join in the fun with us. My son named her “The Mighty Loaf” 🍞🚐🤣 Since then we’ve already squeezed in a Mother’s Day weekend trip to New River Gorge National Park and had an absolute blast.

She’s currently sitting at 398k miles and still rolling strong 💪 Looking forward to seeing everyone’s adventures, tips, and van setups!

I saw u/OCcamper's post about their rechargable faucet and wanted to share my install of a cheaper alternative. I have no idea how it compares to the higher-end Dometic model but this has worked well for us so far. Link to the faucet and other parts I used are at the end of the post.

The original pump was fairly easy to remove. It was held in place on a threaded pipe so all we had to do was unscrew the nut from below. In our van, the hose was very tightly attached to the pump so we ended up just cutting it. The new pump uses ¼ inch tubing that runs down from the middle of the faucet so we were able to reuse the hole from the original faucet. To connect it to the existing hose in the van, we used a ¼ to ½ barb from West Marine. This was significantly cheaper than anything on Amazon and surprisingly they didn't sell this specific size adapter at our local Home Depot or Lowes. 

Once the hose is attached, the only thing left to do was mount the base. I cut out a piece of plastic (I had leftover scraps from my battery install, you could just as easily use wood), to roughly the size of the interior of the base the new faucet and drilled 2 holes, one for the tube and another for the bolt to hold everything in place. On the underside, I used another piece of plastic (wood also works) as a backing plate. Everything is secured with a simple hex bolt, washer, and nut. The faucet fits snuggly on the mounted base plate.

We chose this faucet because it uses a separate removable base. I didn’t want to make anything too permanent in case it didn’t work out long term. The faucet charges via USB-C, and with this setup we can easily remove the top part for charging or just run a long USB cable to it when needed.

Parts list:

• $22 Pump from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/HiPiCok-Dispenser-Rechargeable-Portable-Automatic/dp/B0CQ8BTJDH
• $2 Barb adapter: https://www.westmarine.com/seafit-nylon-barbed-hose-reducers-P01856459.html
• Hex bolt, washer, and nut
• Scrap plastic or wood for the mounting base

Wanted to share that it’s super doable. Got the idea from a FB group where a creative fellow owner installed this same faucet. It’s the Dometic Recon 360. It takes a bit of elbow grease but it’s not bad once you get over what kind of adapter you need… and that is a 1/2” barb x 3/8 FIP and then a 3/8 MIP x quick connect. The tubing to connect to the faucet is 3/8” OD. (I went 1/4” OD for a portion below the sink and then transitioned to 3/8 OD). The other tricky part is to go from above to below the countertop. I drilled with a 1/2 metal bit and installed a rubber grommet and a 3/8" Tube OD x 1/4" Stem OD Elbow Push to Connect Plastic Quick Fitting.
The faucet is magnetic, and the plate comes with it. It may go flying on a rough road (hence the valve below the sink lol) so I also added a “35-lb” magnet below the plate to strengthen the magnetic mount.
Patching the hole is optional, but I couldn’t resist it. Silicone all around for water proofing (and while at it you should do it all around the perimeter of the countertop). Did great on a first day trip.

Loving this beauty: she has now explored Mojave desert, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz with me. Any chance anyone knows what the name of this van was from escape??
Alternatively, if you don't know, what SHOULD I name her? 😅

Bought this thing in December and didn't have the money to ship it. I live in utah and the van was in California until now. I finally picked her up last week and had quite the adventure going from California to utah with a detour to go camping in Oregon and drove to idaho. I had a blast with it. 410k miles and still going strong. Can't wait for more adventures.

Picked up Gertie from Antioch California Location. Took 4 days to drive to Las Vegas. Stopped at Sequoia national park (she does mountains!) and here she is at the Salt Flats in Death Valley.

Dropped her off at a Vegas hotel, flew back to Wisconsin to pick up my family and come back to Vegas after one week to spend our Spring break driving from Las Vegas to Wisconsin! Got an inspection in California, an oil change outside of Vegas and did a tire alignment in Utah.

With 364,000 miles- we put on another 4,000 with no trouble at all! Was a great vehicle and a nice trip for my family of 4. Only spent 2 nights sleeping in the van as obviously it is cozy with 4. But- I think those 2 nights I slept in longer in the morning than I did in the hotels. The blackout curtains work wonders!