Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Van Build : Water tank, Sink & final Wiring


Keeping with the VW design consideration, I decided to store the water tank inside the cabinet enclosure. We always carried a spare water jug plus the water in the holding tank. I had ordered the water tank based on the dimensions of the enclosure. The tank was from plastic-mart.com and I could order a myriad of sizes. The one that fit the enclosure happens to be 8 gallons. I suppose I could have kept the tank outside of the cabinet, and had more capacity, but I wanted to have more storage underneath, and thought a water jug would be just as easy. Besides as it sits, the bed partly covers the access door, and could never be hinged. I devised a hook system that slides down on to the cabinet frame. Nothing special, just a couple of "L" brackets. So rather than hinge, the door slides up and out.
In the next photo you can see the drain tube. I had to drill into the floor, and it actually comes out in the lt rear wheelhouse. Also installed here is the used bar sink, a kitchen faucet from Home Depot, and a SureFlow water pump. I'm also working on an "Integrity Tank Monitor System" found at RVWholesalers.com. You can see the sensor strips being installed in the photo above.
Now's the final push: hooking up all the electrical to the service box (110v)
and the Blue Sea fuse block (12v), and the battery monitor above it.
Hooking up the power inverter, and the Go Power shore power/ inverter safety switcher. These were installed under the floor of the closet
I got these cool LED lights from Amazon. [url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087WTSTW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00[/url] They are water resistant, and rotate 90 degrees. I got two 12 bulb and one 6 bulb. Love them, they create a great ambiance.
Sink, check, stove, check, fridge, check, lights, check, power inverter, check, furnace, check. Houston we are ready for lift off!
Here's a candid shot showing Kristi making morning coffee... Time for a trip! I don't have a picture of installing the flooring, that was one of Kristi's jobs, but you can see it in the photo above. We decided to use a vinyl resilient plank flooring. It's adhesive along the edges, but floats like a click lock Pergo would. We chose it because it was cheap and would hold up to spills and sand and abuse. The only drawback is the adhesive softens up in high heat and won't stay stuck. My solution was to air staple the flooring to the plywood floor in a couple of those areas. Up next... the inaugural first expedition.... to the Rainbow Rim of the Grand Canyon.

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