Van Build Chapter 1
I Don’t Know What I’m Doing
My family has purchased a van and we are in the process of converting it to an RV for us to live in for at least several months and maybe much longer. I bought the van in Ukraine for $12,000 and we are now in Ukraine while the can gets some mechanical and structural updates from mechanics in the area.
No, I’ve never done anything like this before. No, I don’t really know what I’m doing. There are several signs that this is the case.
Trips to the home improvement store are frequent, and of the seven trips I’ve made so far, I’ve only bought anything on the last two trips. The rest were spent learning. If one were to compare this experience to learning how to write a novel, I’m at the point where I’m realizing that alphabets exist. Ok, so 12v lighting systems exist, that’s good to know. Fuse boxes, right. Do I need one of those? Yes, apparently. How many? Five, it seems. No, six. Six fuse boxes, lots and lots of fuses. Six sounds like a lot, right? I mean, your house has one, maybe two, how can a van need six? Well, I’ll tell you.
Solar panel to Bluetti, shore power to Bluetti, car power to Bluetti — just the inputs require three fuses, all different voltages and amperages. Solar panel is 10 amps at 48 volts, shore power is 220v at 20 amps, and car power is 12v at 10 amps. Gotta protect the…
