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StogieMan · 03-03-2023, 04:28 PM

Today the weather was decent before the storm that we’re getting later this evening. I took advantage of it and installed the remote 2nd breaker panel made by Blue Sea Systems. I also installed a back protective cover to keep the wires covered and installed a 20A breaker on the bottom position.

I wanted to do this because the Victron Multiplus 3K has two AC Out ports. The second AC Out is only active when you’re tied to shore power. If not tied to shore power or generator, it won’t produce power to it. I wanted to tie the Battery Minder outlet under the front passenger seat and the Heat Tape outlet under the van to his second AC Out. I only want these outlets to provide power when we are tied in to shore so this works out perfect for us. The Blue Sea Systems has three breakers so I swapped out the third position breaker with a 20A breaker just in case its needed down the road for a more power hungry appliance. The first two are 15A’s.

Installing this was a PITA as I had to make a cutout for it right next to the regular breaker panel. I grabbed the Milwaukee multitool and went to town very carefully until it was cut out. Working behind this new panel was also tough as there are a bunch of the 4/0 Ga wires back there along with the regular wires going into the breaker panel as well.

Prior to this, I already ran a new 12/2 Ga wire all the way to under the front passenger seat outlet for the regular BatteryMinder. Today I had to run two more 12/2 Ga wires the the Blue Sea breaker box. One is going into the AC Out of the Victron Multiplus 3K and the other going under the van for the Heat Tape for the tanks and plumbing pipes. So the Blue Sea breaker box has one incoming 12/2 Ga wire for load in from the Victron 3K and two 14/2 wires going out to the Heat Tape outlet and the BatteryMinder outlet.

I tied into the 12v for the back lights but still need to tie into the inverter when the weather cooperates. Waiting to do this as I’m also going to install the Hughes Autoformer while I’m at it.

Blue Sea Breaker Panel
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000K2IKQE...roduct_details

Blue Sea Back Protective Cover:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002UEPF4...roduct_details

Extra 20A Breaker
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J0NLOS...roduct_details

StogieMan · 03-13-2023, 08:36 PM

Ok, so we are trying some newer products that we’ll be using on our van build and one of them was the Havelock Wool Insulation. Took some time to remove all the previously installed insulation that we had access to and installed this Havelock Wool. Not cheap but IMHO worth it. It’s easier to use and it installs easy minus the fibers left over from regular insulation. I replaced all of the previously installed insulation with this as we have the van torn apart for some some upgrades of parts already ordered before we decided to build a van.

Sheep wool insulation is suppose to breath and contract in a van and is what you want it to do. You just do not want to shove it tight in place. I got it from the manufacturer and here is a link to their website. Many folks are using this for van builds or the 3M thermal insulation.. Links tooth are provided below:

https://havelockwool.com/van-insulation-products/

https://www.vanlifeoutfitters.com/st...0l-insulation/

StogieMan · 03-13-2023, 09:03 PM

I’ve been meaning to do this for some time now but haven’t had the time to get it done. I added some 12v cell phone chargers midway down the van and on the back doors of the van. I added them on the back doors of the van as this is a perfect spot to charge our cell phones and watches.

However it was a PITA to run the 12v wires through the back door and took some time. I eventually got a it done and glad that I did it. So in total I added four chargers - two midway van and two on the back door.

Now I’m waiting for the upper cabinet storage compartments the I ordered from Ebay. This should be a pretty easy install as I’ve already insulated the area and removed the Airstream provided panels.

These are the one that I ordered and should be here by Thursday.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/132001261454

StogieMan · 03-13-2023, 09:11 PM

I ran the 12v wiring through here which is a PITA! The grommet is hard to remove and put back together. You will break a couple of the clips for sure so be very careful.

StogieMan · 03-14-2023, 11:16 AM

This one was a very easy mod. One of Airstream’s stupidest ideas in my opinion was that pullout frame bracket for the pull down extension head/foot boards rests.

That thing kept falling off and coming apart. After multiple trips to Airstream when under warranty, it just kept happening so I removed it and gave up. In place I just installed two aluminum angle brackets that worked out fine for a long while. You can find that info back on post # 12.

During the Autoformer install, I decided to remove those to have additional top clearing space and installed two foldable brackets instead. They’re hefty and should hold up well. I might need to install maybe some type of bracket in between both brackets that slides out and back under the frame. I’ll know for sure when I put everything back together along with the mattress to see but I don’t think that I’ll need to.

The folding shelf brackets that I got from Amazon are these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

**Rocinante** · 03-15-2023, 09:32 PM

I may remove those bed-head floppers altogether. We use a foam topper on the lounge because otherwise it's a bruise-inducing nightmare, and we leave the headrests in the lounge, which support head of the mattress to an acceptable degree. As a result, we almost never use the floppers for sleeping. If we got rid of the floppers and the yank-out-shove-in bracket thing, we could claim that space back. This is worth considering for our usage scenario.

StogieMan · 03-16-2023, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocinante

I may remove those bed-head floppers altogether. We use a foam topper on the lounge because otherwise it's a bruise-inducing nightmare, and we leave the headrests in the lounge, which support head of the mattress to an acceptable degree. As a result, we almost never use the floppers for sleeping. If we got rid of the floppers and the yank-out-shove-in bracket thing, we could claim that space back. This is worth considering for our usage scenario.

Yup, it will give you some top clearance space so that you can get more items stacked or just taller items back there.

StogieMan · 03-16-2023, 02:44 PM

It took a few days but the Hughes Autoformer is installed. I ended up moving things around to make this fit and easily accessible so that took additional time. Since everything was powered down, I also took the time to re-install my previously installed heavy duty solar DC isolator shutoff. Somewhere along the way I lost the right side wire entry gland and I ordered a new one for it. I removed it because I needed the space and installed a smaller breaker type one. This time around I relocated it next to the new shore power outlet.

I also moved the Victron Multiplus near the back next to the Surge Guard ATS. I cut a piece of birch plywood to use as a backer board to install the Victron 3k and ATS to it. Now the incoming shore power goes to the new shore power outlet. When I want to use the autoformer, I connect its cord to the shore power outlet and plug the ATS power cord to the autoformer. When I don’t want to use the autoformer, I plug the ATS power cord to the shore power outlet. The power cord for the ATS is wired to the shore power side of it.

StogieMan · 03-16-2023, 02:57 PM

Additional pics:

StogieMan · 03-16-2023, 03:21 PM

I installed a new GFCI outlet underneath the van next to where the battery tray is. Now the plug for the heat tape is plugged into this outlet. About two weeks ago, I installed a Blue Sea System small breaker box which I wired to the Victron AC Out 2. The Blue Sea breaker box has 3 breakers which are only active when I tie in to shore power. One for the Heat Tape outlet under the van and the other for the Battery Minder under the passenger seat. I did this because both of those items draw a lot of power and I only want them on when tied to shore power. After, I powered everything back up and tested them. The breaker becomes active after two minutes when tied to shore power and immediately shuts off when untied to shore. Worked as expected. I’m still not sold on the location of the shore power outlet and might move it in front of the ATS. This will be very easy to do and I still have to do some wire clean up work to do.

So I still have a few items to complete before we’re done with upgrades for the new season and ready to sell it in the fall. Those include:

- Repair back leaky window on the passenger side.
- Bring down the generator and replace the two hoses.
- Install 2nd Remote SeeLevel II monitor somewhere outside in the macerator hose compartment.
- Install the new flooring which I’ve had for a while. We ordered this one:
-
https://www.recpro.com/rv-vinyl-floo...-campfire-ash/

I hope someone appreciates this AI when we sell!

StogieMan · 03-18-2023, 02:42 PM

This is probably the easiest pop in mod that I've done to our AI. These just pop in. Color is not a 100% match but we'll take the extra storage space and not complain. I could wrap the outside with the mouse fur fabric material from the original ones that are already cut to fit but not worth the aggravation.

We got it here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/13200126145...f0c3eac30e1b77

Boxster1971 · 03-18-2023, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StogieMan

This one was a very easy mod. One of Airstream’s stupidest ideas in my opinion was that pullout frame bracket for the pull down extension head/foot boards rests.

That thing kept falling off and coming apart. After multiple trips to Airstream when under warranty, it just kept happening so I removed it and gave up. In place I just installed two aluminum angle brackets that worked out fine for a long while. You can find that info back on post # 12.

During the Autoformer install, I decided to remove those to have additional top clearing space and installed two foldable brackets instead. They’re hefty and should hold up well. I might need to install maybe some type of bracket in between both brackets that slides out and back under the frame. I’ll know for sure when I put everything back together along with the mattress to see but I don’t think that I’ll need to.

The folding shelf brackets that I got from Amazon are these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is one of the best mods I've ever seen for the rather stupid Airstream design.

StogieMan · 03-18-2023, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

That is one of the best mods I've ever seen for the rather stupid Airstream design.

Thanks Mike. They're getting better though and this is their new solution. However, it's dead smack in the middle!

Boxster1971 · 03-19-2023, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StogieMan

Thanks Mike. They're getting better though and this is their new solution. However, it's dead smack in the middle!

When you posted that photo in reply to my question about the I19 E1 option in another thread I thought that was another stupid example of accommodating bed extension on the I24 models.

Having that post in the middle of the rear storage are is even more stupid then their past solution. Installing a vertical table post and a Lagun table mount is also a ridiculously expensive solution.

Your design is elegant, simple and inexpensive. You should send the idea to Airstream to get them to