r/VanLife

Every time I see some influencer posting their perfect beachside setup I want to throw my phone into the woods. Finding legal overnight parking in New England lately has been an absolute nightmare. Walmarts are cracking down everywhere, and the few spots left are usually packed with massive class A's running their generators all night long

honestly after three nights of terrible sleep in sketchy industrial parks listening to semi trucks, I just gave in and booked a weekend spot at camp happy grounds to reset. Im just so tired of waking up in a cold sweat every time a car drives slowly past my van

It kinda feels like a defeat paying for a site when the whole point was to be free and nomadic, but man... taking a real shower and knowing I won't get "the knock" from a cop at 3am is just what I need right now. anyone else hit this wall where you just need a break from the constant parking anxiety?

I've been full-timing for about six months now and the front cabin is officially driving me crazy. Since I don't always have a place to sit outside, I'm constantly stepping into the driver/passenger seat with muddy trail shoes or wet flip flops from beach trips just to pivot around to the back.

The factory floor liner is just tracking everything into the living space. Sand and dried mud get ground into the edges where the plastic meets the cabin floor and it's impossible to sweep out completely without a shop vac, which obviously I don't have on the road. Free car wash vacuums only do so much. I need a setup that actually traps tracking debris instead of letting it scatter every time the front door opens.

When managing a small living space, what criteria actually matter for cab mats? Does a deep honeycomb design help hold the sand, or do the edges just collapse and let everything leak into the step-wells anyway? Ngl I'm tired of sweeping three times a day.

Hello Victron products enjoyers,

English is not my mother tongue so pardon my bad writing.

The electric installation is in my small camper van (Citroën Berlingo II, with a roof rack for the photovoltaic panel and the solar shower). The following image is a plan of my setup writen in french. The next one is its traduction by Claude (thx AI).

https://preview.redd.it/3j2m9hgljlbh1.jpg?width=843&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e59e3cb2edb69bbcbcca248e7e6bbe5610ab877e

https://preview.redd.it/d7g3zoc1klbh1.jpg?width=843&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c95d9a041c3c51c66fcc0c460d2d4a5fb232f51c

These are the specs of the equipment:

• DC/DC charger: Orion TR Smart
• Battery ("house") cell: Lithium SuperPack 12,8 V 60 Ah
• Battery Protect: Smart Battery Protect 12/24 65
• BMV: BMV-700
• Solar charge controler: Smartsolar MPPT 100 20
• Panel: Monocristalline panel BlueSolar 215W-24V Mono 1580 x 705 x 35mm
• 230V inverter: Pure Sinus Inverter 12V/230V 250 VA

Here is my problem: my battery hasn't been fully charging (13,3V at its best ; it used to go up to 13,9V or above) with the solar panel (no issue with the DC/DC charger) during the last month. I'm currently experiencing a heatwave where I live (France), so my best guess is a temperature delta too big between the solar charge controler (which has a temperature probe) and the battery (which has no monitoring for its temperature).

I plan to try to fix the problem by putting a temperature prob on the battery. I have 2 options:

• Add a Smart Battery Sense on the battery + a Smart dongle Bluetooth on the BMV 700 in order to create a VE. Smart Network.
• Replace the current shunt by a SmartShunt 500A + a Temperature sensor for BMV-712 Smart and BMV-702 in order to create a VE. Smart Network.

So which option is the better? Does one of them offer a better monitoring of the battery?

I'm finding it very difficult to crimp my 2/0 cables without not being able to get get a couple of copper wires into the lug before the crimping.

Can I just cut the stray wires off before apply heat shrink?

New here. My goal is to have a Vw transporter campervan. I’m figuring out weather my dream is closer than I realised.
Is it better to buy a converted transporter or buy a stock transporter and pay/DIY a camper conversion myself?

Badges, pins, stickers, photos etc. of the memorable places you’ve gone to!

I'm thinking of buying a prius and finally doing this lifestyle. But I will be gone for six months of the year indefinitely to visit my child abroad. Where in the USA is likely the cheapest place to store it? I think I got quoted by storage unit companies at something like $1.2k per six month of storage. This was in Massachusetts. Anyone know a cheaper place?

Also these are my total costs for purchasing the car and attempting the lifestyle. Anyone have anything I'm likely missing?

1. Used prius (less than 100k miles 2010+) 12k-15k
2. Gas $1k/five months(20k miles)
3. insurance $600 six months/year
4. Unlimited cellphone plane $150/year
5. Other Various Items to Purchase (mattress, battery bank, fridge) $1.5-4k
6. registration fee: $60
7. title transfer: $75
8. inspection: $50
9. Food: (3k/year if self cooking pressure cooker/camp stove) or (10k if eating out) probably $6k if mix

Thanks

My build is a 2000 GMC Savana 1500 high top with the 5.7 liter Vortec motor that I picked up for $900. We don't live full time in ours but do go out for several weeks at a time. We're currently on our longest trip yet, from Austin TX all the way north, through the northern states and on to the PNW. When I got my van, everybody told me not to expect much better than 12-13mpg at best and that's about what I initially saw. I then decided to change to driving at the speed limit but maxing out at 65mph (62 if I'm going up and down mountain passes). Keeping in mind that I have a huge solar panel on my roof too.

Over the last few fill ups, I have managed to get 16.5+ mpg out of the old girl. This to me is amazing. On the first one I thought it was a mistake but I have seen it several times now.

Give it a try, you will be amazed!

So two days ago we decided to test running the air conditioner (12,000btu, 120v) on battery. The van (Ford Transit, extended length) was in direct, Desert Southwest sunlight all day. We also had normal electricity usage (microwave, kettle, freezer, fridge and hairdryer for defrosting the fridge).

We started at 1820 with full batteries at 96° ambient temp outside. We ran with the a/c thermostat at 80°. After 12 hours, we were down to 84% capacity, 114ah in the red. At 1545@ 100° outside, we were at 83%, 123ah in the red. At 24 hours (98° outside), we were at 70%, 212ah in the red. We switched back to shore power at 2200 as wedidn't want to run it for the second night as today is cloudy. After 28 hours, we were at 86° outside, 58% capacity and 291ah in the hole.

We built the system to hopefully be able to keep the a/c on in Phoenix in the summer with temps in the 110s. With these results, it looks like we can run it for 12 hours or so, just enough to come into town for doc visits for a day. Otherwise we will have to find hookups.

If you're curious, our system is 24v with 1300w solar and 16.6kwh battery. We also have 1"-4" insulation everywhere except the windows. We did not cordon off the front because the dogs like to hang out there. If we were in Phoenix, we would close the insulated curtain between the cabin and the cockpit.