My RV Renovations

[michaelhbm]

I hope this will help some of you RV’ers to get yourself ready to hit the road. These are things I’m currently working on many things have been done and you can see them on my Youtube page but for now here are my specs.

I have put together 8, 6 volt batteries arranged as 2, 24 volt batteries. I have 400AH so I guess that will be enough to keep me going. I have also added a 250 amp alternator dedicated to the battery bank so I can charge it while driving. I have the original one as well to run the motor and keep the 2 batteries under the hood charged. When I’m parked I’ll be using a 2000 watt wind generator to maintain my battery bank with a 3000 watt pure sign inverter. This will run my fridge, TV, Box freezer, Lighting, Ect. I have a wood burning stove for cooking, heating, and hot water. I sealed my floor with a rubberized coating, then put down an insulating sound deadening material, coated 3/8″ plywood with the rubberized coating on both sides and put it down over the top, then of course I tiled it with 12 x 12 stick on tiles. the battery bank, box freezer, wind generator and it’s control panel, motor cycle, tools and supplies like food water ect. They are all in my 7 x 14 enclosed trailer so I can tow it behind me and plug in when I park. I have 2 30 gallon water tanks piped in series with each other, their metal tanks and pressurized for maximum water pressure. It’s all been replaced with copper insulated pipe to prevent freezing, the tanks are also insulated. The camper its self has been sealed up with 5 coats of rubberized coating to prevent heat and cooling loss or gain from the outside elements. It reflects UV and heat as well as moisture build up on the interior. In my trailer I also have a Honda 7000 watt generator just in case I have no wind for like 12 days. I have estimated with my battery bank with normal energy consumption I should get about 10 to 12 days before running out of power. All of my interior lighting has been converted to LED to reduce my energy consumption. I’m currently working on a hydrogen generator to reduce my fuel consumption while driving by about 72%, If I do this right I might be able to eliminate the need for gas all together and that will be so awesome. I have all new tires, new fuel pump, alternators, carb, water pump, distributor, all the fluids and filters will be changed right before hitting the road. I’m planning on a dual exhaust with headers. I even put all new heavy duty Monroe Gas Shocks front and back for a better ride and less swaying when walking around. I saved all the old parts for spares seeing how there was nothing wrong with them lol. Again I want to eliminate any possible problems that may come up while out boondocking it. I just want to make my new home as perfect and flawless as possible.

[Redds]

That was all good but what did you do all this work to?

[Pippi]

This is awesome, Michael! What’s the specifics on the rubberized material? Did you spray it, brush it on, was it already on the plywood? Does it have a brand name I can look into?

Have you been cooking on a wood burning stove before? I’ve made popcorn and heated water on them. They definitely don’t seem like something you just jump over to from a regular stove but I imagine you get in the groove just as you do when going from electric to natural gas, to propane—they all cook very differently.

Will you be moving around a bit? If so, how much wood do you think you’ll need to bring with you to stay sufficient with the stove?

And just out of curiosity, what’s the highest voltage appliance that you’ve figured into your life? I’m guessing air conditioning is out of the mix??

Congrats on this awesome achievement. How exciting. Keep us updated, please! 😀

[michaelhbm]

Well I did this work to a 1984 Tioga Arrow, It sits on a Chevy chassis, The rubberized roofing material can be found at Home Depot for around $80 per five gallon pail. you just roll it on with a roller very easy and simple.

As for the wood burning stove yes I have used them before for cooking but they also work well for those chilly winter nights 🙂

I’m not sure exactly how much wood I’ll need so I’m going to put half a cord in my trailer to tow behind me just in case. I’ll be foraging for wood and such after arriving at a camp site, So hopefully I’ll get plenty of wood there to.

I just finished the floor yesterday wow what a project so many cuts to make it fit perfect lol I’m very sore from that one lol I’ll post some more pics later on.

[Jeff]

Careful with transporting firewood. Many states don’t allow it and some of the fines are outrageous. Just to name a few…..

http://newyorkstateparks.reserveamerica.com/ny/state/campgrounds/r/campgroundDirectoryList.do?contractCode=NY

http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20091127/state-enforcing-strict-rules-for-firewood

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10365-95931–,00.html

Google “transporting firewood” for more.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Jeff.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Jeff.

[Michael]

Whoa! You don’t play around!!! Sounds like you are doing an awesome job. Congrats on your achievements.

[laurawhite]

Good job. Thanks for sharing your thoughts the information you have posted is very useful. Thanks for inspiring.

[Author]

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