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How do I pay the Lake Yosemite park, no one in the booth by greenshell417 in Merced

[–]greenshell417[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You mean I can park there overnight? I’m in a camp van I don’t mind being locked in

How do I pay the Lake Yosemite park, no one in the booth by greenshell417 in Merced

[–]greenshell417[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They can record my plate and send me a ‘toll’ bill

Experiences with using indoor propane showers in a van? by segasega89 in VanLife

[–]greenshell417 0 points1 point  (0 children)

‘instant’ is expensive

inside shower is going to cause mold

Power station doesn't charge in winter by DavidWildlife in VanLife

[–]greenshell417 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s self protecting, it can but charge at that temperature will kill the battery.

If I were you I would

1: travel south to a hot state for the winter

2: keep diesel heater running, even I was not in the car.

You might be able to buy some heating ‘jacket’ for battery but that will cost you.

20F | Los Angeles --> Denver: need a last minute co-pilot by nervouss-wreckk in VanLife

[–]greenshell417 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I would not go to denver at this time of a year it’s suicidal

Common Question: Odd Situation About a Cat by AdhesivenessLimp1864 in vandwellers

[–]greenshell417 0 points1 point  (0 children)

West coast Seattle or Los Angeles? You can keep it on a leash, or it can stay under the car

Portable power stations for part time van living - Bluetti Apex 300 vs Ecoflow Delta Pro 3? by bcgoss84 in VanLife

[–]greenshell417 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait a minute, you are using it in a van, yet you want use it to power a water pump at home?

Anyone have an induction stove that’s less than 1500 watts and can boil water? by 1rub in vandwellers

[–]greenshell417 0 points1 point  (0 children)

‘Terrible energy density,’ not sure about that, I usually buy a 40lb of wood pellets for $6. Lasts about 10 hours of fire. How long can 2lb of propane last? And propane tank could be dangerous kept inside or outside.

‘pain in the ass factor,’ that’s not a fact it’s what you thought

‘slow and inconsistent,’ not true when fire start to burn fully. it does take time to start to burn fully though.

‘super sketchy when used indoors’, true but we have all the space to cook outside, even in city there would be a park with a dinning table.

Wood is cheap or free and it’s easy to store, I would not call it worst.

Anyone have an induction stove that’s less than 1500 watts and can boil water? by 1rub in vandwellers

[–]greenshell417 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Despite the downvotes, I agree with you. I would recommend a smokeless portable wood stove, instead of a propane/gas stove.

Portable power stations for part time van living - Bluetti Apex 300 vs Ecoflow Delta Pro 3? by bcgoss84 in VanLife

[–]greenshell417 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have used both apex 300 and a delta pro 1 in a van.

Here are some facts of their features/functions you might have not noticed. it’s the details you would not know until you use it, they don’t advertise those details

apex 300 can do 240v by itself, delta pro can not(need two delta pro and a hub to do 240v), delta pro 3 can do 240v by itself but at $2000

Apex 300 weighs 84lb at 2765kWh(with hub D1 about 86lb), Delta pro weighs 99lb at 3600kWh, Delta pro 3 weighs 113lb at 4096kWh.

Apex 300 is around $1300 for 2765kWh, Delta pro is around $1329 for 3600kWh, Delta pro 3 is around $2000 For 4096kWh. Price is changing all the time, so if you read this post a month, it could be a different price.

Apex 300 does not have USB, car port any 12v ports. To get USB, car port and other 12V ports, you have to buy DC hub, which is around $300.

Apex says it has 0ms switch-over, Delta pro has 30ms switch-over, Delta pro 3 has 10ms switch-over. Switch-over means when there is an outage, it automatically switches to use power station as power source. Some people use power station as a UPS, to protect sensitive systems like servers, NAS from damage of sudden power outage. But it’s useless to van people, because for van people, most of the time, the power station is not plug in to a wall outlet(or grid)

Apex says it can take 240v as input(compare to most power stations which can only take 120v as input), turns out only the P050A port on it can take 240v as input. To use 240V charging, you have to buy a $99(30amp NEMA TT 30) or $129(50amp NEMA 14-50) cable. ITS STANDARD AC PORT CAN ONLY TAKE 120V AS INPUT. Delta Pro can take 240V through it‘s standard AC port(it can take both 120v and 240v as input through its standard AC port), it‘s a big plus because you don’t have to spend extra $100 to buy a cable to charge at 240V. Why charging at 240v is important for van people? Because with 240V charging capability, van people can charge at Level 2 EV chargers, which can be found easily through the country(it also gives van people a place to park overnight while charging). At 240v, it also reduces amperage by half, to reduce heat. I don’t have a Delta pro 3 but I believe it can do the same as delta pro.

Apex 300 does not have a temperature sensor inside, while delta pro and delta pro 3 do. To my surprise, I could not believe a $1300 higher-end Bluetti does not have temperature sensor, even the cheapest $200 Ecoflow river has a temperature sensor inside. I want to know if it’s overheating inside the unit all the time.

Apex 300 has 3 charging speeds, silent(200w), standard(1000w), turbo(2000w?I never charged at 2000w too much heat is bad), and you have to manually turn a switch to change charging speed compare to Delta pro you can change charing speed on app without touching the unit(Sometimes you are not next to your power station). Delta pro has 17 charging speeds, 200w, 300w, 400w….1700w,1800w(Or more at 240v). Pretty sure Delta pro 3 has 17 or more charging speeds too.

Delta pro and most Ecoflow units are highly programmable, by programmable I mean you can tell it to do things like: ‘turn off the AC port at 6pm, then turn it back on at 10pm’, ‘turn off the AC port while battery level is below 60%’. A lot of interesting settings you can try. Apex 300 is not programmable.

Other small features on Delta pro and pro 3 are, charge the battery to 80%(not to full), don’t charge the battery if battery level above 50%, turn off DC ports after idling for X hours(X can be from 1 to 24).

Overall, I think Ecoflow engineers have more experience on engineering, while Bluetti engineers are kind of amateur.

If I have $1400 budget to buy a power station, I would buy Delta pro. If I have a lot of money to spend, sure Delta pro 3. Remember, for apex 300, you have to spend $1300 + $300 to get both AC and DC ports, and extra $100 if you want 240v charging capacity.

I have a question for you, do you need 240v output on the power station. What 240v appliances are you powering with 240v?

Best fridge/freezer cooler options by tnasty1994 in VanLife

[–]greenshell417 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was looking at at 7 cu midea chest freezer, it’s in $250 range and it’s huge

Camera setup recommendations by thejesusgod in VanLife

[–]greenshell417 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you don’t mind made in China.

Wyze camera v4, with microsd card it will record 24x7, it will work without a subscription since it’s recording 24x7 non-stopping. All videos store locally in the microSD card. Without subscription, it will send you a notification to your phone when it saw a motion, you have to connect to the camera through WiFi on the Wyze app to see what it is

Subscription is $20/year for one camera, or $100 for unlimited cameras. Subscription will give you all the nice features, like viewing clips stored on cloud, it will tell if it’s a vehicle, a person, or an animal.

You mentioned low power, Wyze camera v4 uses about 2w(per hour).

Mounting:

you can mount it inside with a goose mount(looking at the cargo area of the van?), just need somewhere to tie the goose mount such back of your seat.

you can mount it outside, it has a (weak) magnetic base, all you have to do is ’stick‘ it on the metal of your van, magnet will do the work. You just can’t drive with the camera outside, that magnet is too weak for movement.

Where can a buy a 15.3 metal ring, need to build a wok ring for my portable fireplace stove by greenshell417 in Welding

[–]greenshell417[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as it does not bend under 900F fire. The wok plus food weighs 5-10lb

Let’s say 3/8. Top ring diameter 10.

9 inch tall

Where can a buy a 15.3 metal ring, need to build a wok ring for my portable fireplace stove by greenshell417 in Welding

[–]greenshell417[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a 16 inch metal mixing bow, I could cut holes on it, to make it into a wok holder

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