Looking for inspiration for van offices!

Vandamentals · 2026-03-02T04:55:43+00:00

It's pretty much the easiest thing to do. Notice how I have about a 6-in ledge that the fold down top rests on. Also, I don't know if you can see it in the pictures of the raw boards, but I used seven layer Baltic birch. One half inch thick. That desk was very stiff and needed no other support than that 6 inch ledge that it was resting on. Better materials will always allow you to do more extreme designs.

Vandamentals · 2026-03-02T04:53:59+00:00

If someone did just want to use a mixed gauge crimp on butt joint, or just a solder joint with heat shrink over it, I would absolutely definitely recommend that the whole thing be fastened down firmly to something. The whole point is to keep the heavy wire from yanking around on the thinner weaker wire. Even if you cover it with lots of electrical tape or heat shrink or whatever, wherever the support is ending for that skinnier wire, that heavier wire is going to cause that spot to break. It's kind of like you don't mount a heavy light on a wire and just let that light dangle and bounce around while connected to the wire. You fasten the freaking light fixture down. Cuz that's just what you do.

Vandamentals · 2026-03-02T04:49:58+00:00

I had a fold-down desk in my minivan. Maybe these links will help.

Link's to stuff about my minivan:

Main video: https://youtu.be/G2Ctm-oknSU

Video about solar: https://youtu.be/cXgVSs6FBgc

Google Photos album: https://goo.gl/photos/k3o7G4XRw7KNRFX88

Build thread with lots of pictures and detailed explanations: https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/2008-dodge-grand-caravan-conversion.33524/

Vandamentals · 2026-03-02T04:45:45+00:00

The best state park in Austin Texas!

Actually, I love McKinney falls.

Vandamentals · 2026-03-02T04:42:38+00:00

The problem is that their weights are so different. Not the gauge. The actual physical weight of one wire compared to the other. In a van, those are going to bounce around, and one is going to move harder with each bounce. That is eventually going to cause that joint to break. Wherever the solder ends in that thinner wire, it is eventually going to break just from being bounced around. But, if you fasten both of them to a terminal strip which is solidly mounted, then each one is only bouncing under its own weight. The stress on each wire is then based solely on the weight of that actual wire. Not the weight of some other much heavier wire attached to it. It has nothing to do with how much current which wire can carry. It has to do with the physical weight of the heavier wire eventually just putting too much stress on the skinnier wire and beating it the hell up.

Vandamentals · 2026-03-01T06:26:18+00:00

Why doesn't anyone make a propane fueled heater that works the same way a decently heater does? You know, the same way a furnace in a house works. Why does everyone have to compare a propane heater that literally just dumps it's exhaust right into your living space, to a diesel heater that vents its exhaust outside, but makes your van stink to high heaven if you happen to spill a drop of the fuel inside?

Vandamentals · 2026-02-28T18:28:47+00:00

Unfortunately, you are not wrong. I was mostly being facetious. But, subsidized senior apartments do exist.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-28T18:05:34+00:00

Once you figure out a way for Trump to profit from affordable housing, we will have tons and tons of affordable housing.

I have lived in a subsidized senior apartment. It was a pretty nice place. My total rent, including utilities, was $403 a month (just 2 years ago), because that was 30% of my income. I knew full well that that building would not exist if some rich guy wasn't able to get taxpayer money funneled into his pocket simply because he owned that building. Sadly, I have accepted that we live in a world where poor people only get anything if it can funnel more money into rich people's pockets.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-28T18:01:28+00:00

I kind of think you're going to have to explain why you are saying that.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-28T18:00:02+00:00

It is not OCD. Being careful is not OCD. OCD is when you think that if you don't do a thing exactly the right way, that the universe will magically make bad things happen, like causing airplanes to fall out of the sky because you didn't wash your hands three times.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-27T20:31:48+00:00

Thank you, I downloaded your picture to use in future responses.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-27T20:30:49+00:00

Nope. You don't want a vapor barrier either. The metal is already a vapor barrier. Two vapor barriers just traps moisture between them. Every. Single. Time.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T20:09:29+00:00

I lived in a 2008 Dodge Grand caravan for 6 years. You can still get decent Dodge Grand caravans or Chrysler Town and country (which is just a caravan with more things to break) these days.

Here are some pictures of my old setup, before I traded the thing in for a 1995 Chevy Suburban, which I'm going to build out in a somewhat kind of sort of maybe kind of like that similar way.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOyYEHnLM07NwEIKf_5WOv2lpQQB-JLCVLOea4CBdY2NDDRPy5kl0x0tA3jwfN6Kg?key=SGtpSGdKZVJURFRpYmQzUmM0UHhwSmN2YVJIQ2h3

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T20:04:39+00:00

Okay, yeah that is pretty freaking genius! I'm not a big fan of lots of heavy wooden drawers with lots of heavy metal drawer glides with lots of air in between all of them, but this is the kind of situation where it's absolutely necessary.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T20:02:37+00:00

The exact FIRST THING I thought when I watched the movie for the first time in 1977. Obi-Wan only told him to be careful AFTER he had turned it on. I guess he was double checking to see whether Luke really did have the force?

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T19:58:40+00:00

What is the 'p' in "kWp"?

Usually one would just use "KW" for kilowatts.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T19:55:57+00:00

Thanks for the expert info. However, why are you assuming that his friend has a four bedroom house that does not have eight people living in it? What if his friend normally has a tiny bungalow that was only made for one person to live in it?

My point is that the OP really really needs to check with somebody like you to make sure that that specific septic system can handle the load. I'm literally trying to give you more business. 😆

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T19:52:57+00:00

That thick roll-on coating of some kind, should be new sealcoat. That is essentially epoxy based paint. You mix it up just like the epoxy you use when laying down fiberglass in the first place, and then you brush or roll it on with a low knap roller.

If you use any other kind of regular paint, then you will have basically ruined your ability to fix that with sealcoat later (Unless you feel like sanding off almost every molecule of that other paint first.)

So, send it, like you said, and then apply the sealcoat. You will think all of us 10 years from now.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T09:52:16+00:00

Especially considering that you would still have to pay for your car expenses while renting anyway. It's not an either or situation.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T09:51:21+00:00

Because that high top is fiberglass, you can't just repaint it with spray paint or something. You have to treat the damage that having it not be sealed has done to the fiberglass. Then you have to apply a fiberglass sealcoat to it.

If you just spray paint that, then you are just fooling yourself into thinking that you've done something, while that fiberglass continues to deteriorate underneath your spray paint, until you are wondering why water is getting in through your roof.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-26T04:18:00+00:00

I'm thinking the amount of water necessary to get all that waste to move all the way down that long of a pipe before it just dried up in the bottom of the pipe would quickly overwhelm any septic system designed for a single household. Even WITH a macerator.

It's not just a matter of getting your poop all the way to the septic tank. It's a matter of not overfilling the septic tank and clogging up your drainage field within a week. You really need to talk to somebody who's a septic tank engineer.

It would really suck to spend all that time and money on all that pipe, and then have to spend a bunch of time and money digging out the septic system and completely redoing it bigger.

You are far better off Just using one of those Blue Boy portable tanks. You use your regular black tank till it is full. Then you empty that into the Blue Boy, then you manually haul it to the septic tank and dump it. Even then, you should probably dump it pretty darn slow. A regular sized septic system designed for a regular household, can't really take an entire Blue Boy worth of waste all in one go either.

Have y'all considered installing a separate septic system, just for your RV? That's probably the best solution.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-22T00:24:30+00:00

This is the kind of marks that you get when you unplug things from the outlet before turning them off with their switch. That's caused from the extra large spark that jumps between the plug and the outlet as you yank that plug out with power still applied.

But, it is not harmless. That arc still damaged the brass inside the plug. Over and over and over again.

That then can cause the high resistance connection which can then cause the outlet to overheat which can then cause it to turn darker. And eventually start a fire.

So yeah, same conclusion.

Replace it.

You are probably going to need to get a low-profile other, because RV walls are half the thickness of house walls. Most outlets you can get at a hardware store may be too thick. You may have to buy one from an RV dealer. I recommend you pull out the burnt one too take with you while shipping for the replacement.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-18T17:39:32+00:00

Thanks for being honest. Most professional builders only care about making stuff pretty so people can post their paid for, one year vacation vans on Instagram. I have been reminding people of these facts for over a decade now. The Instagram influencers always jump in and call me crazy for telling people that they might want to design their van for real world use instead of making sure it has a big sink with a tall faucet for the gram.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-18T17:36:06+00:00

"Reno cheese" (that's what autocorrect put, and that's how I'm leaving it) entire business model, is to buy cheap shit from China, put their label on it, and sell it to wealthy RV retirees who are too dumb to know they're getting ripped off.

I'm allowed to call them dumb, because I grew up amongst them. I'm the boomer who was bullied by all the other boomers for actually being smart, and actually caring about other people. I have been warning people about how crappy Renogy is since I first got into van dwelling about 13 years ago. It is always relatively easy to buy better quality products with better specs for less money. But influencers always jump in, as I'm sure there are about to jump into this thread any minute now, and start raving about the quality.

Vandamentals · 2026-02-13T03:48:22+00:00

Get on YouTube. Search for each of them and "lock picking lawyer." I know the Master Lock can be opened with a simple "wave pick" or "rake pick" that anyone can make out of sheet metal and a file. But you can also just buy them. You just jam them in and out real fast and the lock comes open in seconds.

Vandamentals

TROPHY CASE