My 2011 TC camper van with engine powered hot water system

[Campervanman]

Hello, thought I would share my 2011 TC camper van. I built this over the winter of 2020-2021. I did a lot of research online when building this, but I also went my own direction with a lot of aspects of it, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Mainly, you'll notice the cladding on the walls/ceiling is all 1/8" plywood, and it's probably significantly lighter than shiplap. I think it ended up looking very clean. I also used all LED tape lighting recessed into various fixtures I made as well as the natural crevices along the body lines on the walls. I really, really love how this lighting turned out. Not only does it look great, but having all indirect recessed lighting makes a very nice illumination inside as opposed to having glaring direct lights in the ceiling.

 

It also features:

 

-16 gallons of fresh water stored in an RV style tank underneath the bed

-1000W inverter underneath the passenger seat, with remotely positioned 110V outlets in the back

-Sink (made from a stainless steel cake pan) that has a folding faucet so it can be stowed underneath a little more counter space

-Webasto gasoline heater tapped into the vehicle's fuel tank. There is a fuel tap made specifically for this type of installation that I used. I drilled the tap hole into the top of the fuel pump/sender assembly to avoid drilling holes in the plastic fuel tank itself. Also, after a lot of thought, I determined that the best place in these vans to mount this heater is just behind the driver's seat in the small area of floor just before it steps up to the cargo floor level. (This requires removing the cargo floor extension if your TC is a cargo van.)

-1200W/hr lithium battery mounted behind the passenger seat

-12V refrigerator/freezer

-The electrical system charges from the alternator and from 200W of solar panels on the roof

 

The system I'm most proud of is the hot water system that I custom made for the van. There is kind of a makeshift way to shower in the van with a foldable basin and a shower curtain that sticks with magnets to the ceiling. But I did not want a cold shower. All of the commercial RV water heaters take up way too much space. So, I made a system where there is a plate heat exchanger mounted underneath the floor just in front of the spare tire. Engine coolant and fresh water are pumped through this heat exchanger, and the flow of the coolant is controlled by an Arduino that monitors the water temperature coming out of the heat exchanger, and regulates the coolant flow through the exchanger to keep the water temperature at a set point that can be adjusted. There is also an electrical coolant circulation pump I added in the system so that the system can generate hot water any time the engine is warm, even if the engine is not currently running. (The last photo is the heat exchanger for this system. The blue PEX tube going down to a valve to nowhere is the drain for the water lines.)

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Campervanman

[windguy]

@Campervanman - Thanks for sharing your build info. Great job, craftsmanship, creativity. Short of a flux capacitor you seem to have everything you need.

Although you don't mention it, or I missed it, you must have a porta-potty stashed away.

 

[Campervanman]

I didn't give a whole lot of thought to a toilet when I was building it because first I figured there just wasn't room for it in a TC, and second I figured I could find toilets on the road. After taking it on trips all over the country, I realized that sometimes it is important to have a toilet when there just isn't another one available. I was able to find one cassette toilet short enough to slide under the cabinet on the right side. So if I'm going on a big trip, I take that.

[G B L]

Great Job.  As a person who has had campers for 40 years. Having your own toilet is at the top of all my Camper lists.

Edited July 30, 2022 by G B L