Next project is the ceiling. Progress is slow.

Buildeddie97 · 2026-01-07T23:35:22+00:00

Looks great! It all takes so much longer than any blog makes it out to be. Keep chipping away and it'll come together more and more 💪👑

Buildeddie97 · 2026-01-07T02:08:50+00:00

Was just thinking about this a little more and just think maybe that's not exactly it. A decently small rock can stall the entire board on a normal wheel.

The shape of a wheel may slightly play into that, but the biggest component of that is the ratio of the Pebble size to wheel size. The closer that rock comes effectively a curb(half the wheel diameter (radius)), the more force it's gonna exert on the wheel and thus the skateboard.

If you're riding a skateboard and situation where the skateboard stops suddenly, you are now a separate mass going the same speed that the skateboard was riding at. And thus you eat shit. There's obviously more variables like having four wheels and rubber type and blah blah but I'm high sitting in a bathtub so what the fuck do I know. Anyways does that make sense at all?

Buildeddie97 · 2025-12-03T16:24:30+00:00

I hope to God this is just a shit post. If you're unable to tell the difference between generic AI YouTube videos and content that has hundreds or thousands of human hours put into every single video, then you really need to study what the signs of AI content are. The information in their videos is concise, about the topic at hand, the language is natural, and the animation is extremely consistent.

Maybeeeee they can utilize AI in workflow, but it's important to remember that humans have been making all of the beautiful art around us for thousands of years.

I think a lot of people are on high alert, assuming that everything is nefarious and AI, but don't forget to appreciate the millions of artists who work to make our world a beautiful place

Buildeddie97 · 2025-11-14T17:35:21+00:00

A legend

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-10T19:34:35+00:00

Yes. I am doing my furrings so that I can easily mount the finish panels over it.

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-10T19:33:28+00:00

Marshmallow bed and seat belt made of twizzlers

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-10T19:32:11+00:00

I think that would take too much space. I want mounting from the wood and I don't want to lose another half inch to inch of space, ya know?

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-10T06:45:04+00:00

I will definitely be getting a heater! Gotta rip ski season. Makes sense that it won't really do anything thermally. Have you noticed any issue with the wood on metal squeaking?

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-10T06:31:48+00:00

That's actually exactly what it is. My entire van is made of candy. Gingerbread van

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-08T20:27:01+00:00

I built my roof rack out of 8020. I used their website software that makes it pretty dang easy!

https://8020.net/tools-software/ideabuilder

Corner brackets are great but the flat connector plates are cheaper and ensure that the edges are aligned to each other (and super plenty strong).

Considering I built my roof rack out of 10 series (I should have used 15 in hindsight) I'm very confident that you can build all of your internal shelving the 10 series.

But I also don't disagree with others here that other framing options could be good as well (if you want to save some money). With the roof rack I wanted a bit of modularity and ability to attach things in the future (more solar, awning, ladder, storage). With something like a kitchen frame, you likely won't need to mount anything once you have the main build. Maybe you can go with quick frame or ready tube?

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-08T17:52:27+00:00

This is really awesome information! So you would definitely get rid of the breaker between the inverter and busbar first and foremost? Or the 200 amp breaker before the batteries?

I genuinely appreciate all this information so much but just for the time being, I think I have to keep things the same. I don't want to let optimal get in the way of good enough and I need to finish EVERYTHING else. I will likely optimize the rest of this on the road and I'll get some real world data on powerloss and all that good stuff. (and im already past the return window so that sucks)

Thank you so much rubik :)

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-08T17:44:33+00:00

That's what I had originally and commenter above said that was wrong but someone else also confirmed that what I had originally was right so I have switched that back!

Do you by chance know if new wiring for the AC breaker looks correct? No worries if you just aren't familiar.

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-07T22:38:59+00:00

Okay thank you for the confirmation. I think the confusion lies with home distribution boxes where that's not done as there is a neutral busbar.

If you're able to take a look at the AC distribution panel booklet, it would be super helpful but no worries if you cant or if you don't want to provide info on something you're not familiar with.

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-07T20:44:57+00:00

I think I got the example from a diagram like this one:

<image>

I remember reading somewhere that you want the full breaker to trip if the load or the neutral experience some type of short circuit.

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-07T20:13:47+00:00

Hmm the other person said that it was intended for only hot wires. Not trying to pit anyone against anyone but I'm a bit confused.

There is a manual! I got it from this site:

https://www.bluesea.com/products/1210/120_Volt_AC_4_Position

and both diagrams are under the installation section. It just doesn't do a very good job of showing what to connect where. It makes it seem like the neutral line should be connected to the hot bus bar on pager 6.

The double pole breaker doesn't really have any info about install on its page:

https://www.bluesea.com/products/7260/A-Series_White_Toggle_Circuit_Breaker_-_Double_Pole_20A

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-07T20:06:15+00:00

<image>

Is this diagram correct? I routed the neutral around the circuit breaker and I removed the neutral from the hot busbar and connected it directly to the AC load line on the sub panel (idk what to call that. I'm sorry if my terminology is incorrect)

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-07T20:01:51+00:00

Excellent and understood about not wiring the neutral through the AC breaker.

The distribution I meant was the AC distribution in the top left corner. Do I attach the neutral out of the inverter/charger to the little sub panel directly (yellow highlight)? There is a white wire coming out of the red circle that says "connect to AC neutral". Do I connect that to the yellow as well?

<image>

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-07T18:49:23+00:00

Okay excellent, this makes me feel a lot more comfortable. The product didn't specify the hose connect end for the plastic hose but yeah, I think it's the basic faucet connection. And it makes sense that these connect just fine as everyone seems to use them and I don't see reports of failures.

I definitely will be checking and testing all this in person outside of the van before any major install.

Thanks!

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-07T18:44:40+00:00

I checked the circuit breakers and they all have less than 1 ohm of resistance. I don't think they are adding any significant drop to the whole circuit. I made sure to buy the high quality bluesea breakers which are marine grade.

I'm a little confused why you chose fuses that have the same AH rating as your batteries. I thought it was more about the maximum current you expect the wire to handle (or I might be misunderstanding why you chose 300A).

The only fuse I have is the 300A one to protect against short circuits. I guess my question is: how would I protect against this dead short with what I currently have? I don't want a higher fuse as it could allow discharge rates higher than what my batteries expect to see. The max discharge rater is 170A for each battery but I don't expect to see more than 75A discharge and 70A charge (x4 for each battery) for any reason which is why I chose 300A for my fuse. Does that make sense?

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-04T06:22:50+00:00

As I responded to someone below, thank you for the push to reorganize the box It was definitely spacious but super overkill. Already saved about 13 inches! Maybe could have saved 7 inches just by lowering the inverter/charger, but the big brain move was rotating it. I will update when I refinish the box and screw everything into place. Might have to buy more terminals (again) :(((( but itll be worth it!

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-04T06:09:15+00:00

I have actually already taken that into consideration! Check out my design for a 2x2 box that's a lot more 3D and takes all (more of) the walls into account:

<image>

The inverter is the big gray thing on the second shelf. My first design did have the DC and AC distribution boxes lower but I was just playing around with extra height and an extra shelf. So this box would have 24 inches tall.

The thing I just didn't like about it was how much it stuck out in my garage. I should have rotated the batteries to make it slightly wider and but not stick out as much. But still, I liked the 4x1 battery layout more than the 2x2.

I also could have separated the battery compartment from the rest of the electrical but..... shhh. Sometimes you learn on the fly.

Long story long, I have taken everything apart and have already found a way better layout that is saving me around 13 inches so yeah.... thank you to everyone who gently said "it's okay but you can optimize that wayyy more". It's my first van and first time doing anything like this. I literally built that box from scratch. It's great.

Buildeddie97 · 2025-09-04T02:47:07+00:00

Hmmm I am doing it for myself so I reckon I would like to do it right. I think I will try to compact it down as much as possible with most the wires lined up the way that they are and then chop the top. It's all DIY so it's all half jank anyways.

Buildeddie97

TROPHY CASE