It’s been a little over a year since we built and installed our DIY LiFePO4 pack into our Sprinter van. We built a 280Ah LiFePO4 12.8 volt pack using new, grade A prismatic cells I bought from AliExpress. Using a 4S Daly BMS and an active cell balancer, our pack Read more…
Portable solar is an essential way to add more capacity to your camper’s existing solar system. It’s also a great introduction to clean, unlimited electrical power. Portable solar can be very expensive but it doesn’t have to be. For less than half the price of commercial systems, I can show Read more…
Lithium batteries have been steadily dropping in prices in recent years thanks to more efficient manufacturing processes and the global transition to electric mobility. Along with a boost in the popularity of vehicle camping, partially amplified by the pandemic, an explosion of portable power banks are now available on the Read more…
When we built out our van back in 2018, we decided to stick with two six-volt AGM deep cycle batteries. We knew all of the benefits of switching to lithium but the main reason was that they were still very expensive. At the time, there weren’t as many factory-built packs Read more…
Air suspensions are a popular aftermarket upgrade for trucks and vans that carry heavy loads. Whether it is a work vehicle or a camper, it can help smooth out the ride as well as prevent sagging in the rear end. But how do they affect the structural integrity of these Read more…
Portable solar generators have become a huge and very competitive industry in the last few years. It wasn’t that long ago the only way to get an electrical system built in your camper was to spend days and weeks learning about watts, amps, ohms or hire someone who knows to Read more…
We have always tried to keep our systems in our campers as simple as reasonable so it can be easily maintained and repaired as necessary. It is especially important as we have been traveling in our camper van internationally over the last several years. We also need our systems to Read more…
We use Reliance Aqua-Tainers in our water system in the van and it has served us very well over the last 2 years in the van. It gives us a lot of flexibility when we are camping off grid and fill up water wherever we can. Each jug can hold Read more…
So I am guessing you have been hearing all this talk about the wonders of lithium batteries for RVs. Have you finally thought this might be the right time to upgrade your camper? Perhaps you have decided which of the 5 levels you want to have for you camper’s electrical Read more…
We have owned 5 campers in our 12 years of living on the road. In this video, we talk about all of our old layouts, what worked and what didn’t, our decisions for choosing the best layout for our DIY van build, and things you should consider when planning your Read more…