That took longer than expected.

The title of this post seems to be the theme of our lives the last 6 weeks.... Yes, 6 weeks has passed us by on this build already! We originally estimated about 4-6 weeks for converting our Ford Transit into a tiny home on wheels and I'm writing to inform you all that it isn't done yet... but it's close! Before embarking on this journey, we had a dream and a goal and apparently a lot of (too much) confidence that YouTube videos would get us through this build... and for the most part, it has! But what YouTube doesn't show you are all the failures or learning curves or general research that is needed prior to accomplishing a specific task. So it feels like just about every task we complete for the build takes us much longer than initially estimated. And nothing has highlighted that more than the electrical system.

Some of you may have seen our stories on Instagram this past week- we FINALLY got our electrical system fully completed! Once finally wrapping our heads around the entire system, it really isn't that complicated (I can't believe I'm writing this when just a few weeks ago it was way too overwhelming). In a nutshell, we receive power from two sources (solar and car battery) and those sources power our lights, fans, water pump, fridge, and inverter. The inverter powers our standard plug in items- like phone chargers, instant pot, blender, etc. Once it was all wired up, everything worked perfectly... but for some reason the lights wouldn't turn on. SO here is how that saga of a story played out. 

At first, we had the polarity reversed in our wiring on the lights. This just means we had the positive and negative wires reversed and when we first tested the lights, they didn't turn on. Reason seemed obvious enough and we corrected the problem. But they still didn't work. We decided to re-wire the entire light circuit (twice) thinking there could have been a problem with how we wired our 3 way switch... nope. The 3 way switch circuit was fine. So upon wracking our brains for the better part of the day (maybe a few? days seem to be running together lately) and several Google searches later, we concluded that the diodes on the LED lights likely blew.  So we ordered a new set of lights and shifted focus while we waited for them to come in.

I want to pause to explain that just about every #vanlife build video on lights use LED puck lights from IKEA.  They all reference the Dioder model, but IKEA no longer makes them. So we ordered the Ledberg model- the only other similar option as what the YouTube videos we've watched referenced. So they should work just like everyone else's had..... right? Okay... moving along.

We received our second set of Ledberg IKEA lights and wired them up... still didn't light up. So we decided to re-inspect the Ledberg power charger for any sign of what could possibly be causing the issue. And that sign made us feel like absolute morons. Ledberg lights are 24v, not 12v like it's similar predecessor- the Dioder model. And that was the problem.  24v lights cannot run off a 12v system. Mind you, we had already put up our ceiling at this point... so this was not so great news - we needed to get different lights completely and figure out how the heck to get them re-wired behind our cedar plank ceiling.  

So we found these lights on Amazon and figured, let's just try it. If they worked, we'd have to be careful but these seemed possible to tie the end of the wire of each light new light to the part of the wire from the old lights that was sticking through the ceiling and gently back them through. AND IT WORKED! And just like that, what Zach estimated would be a day's work of worth, two max, turned into just about 3 weeks :) But it's done!

The correct lights and the most important detail: 12V.

Our electrical hub. This section is located in the "garage" at the back of the van over the rear driver side
wheel-well.  It includes our 200AH AGM battery, 2000W Pure Sine Inverter, charge controller,
fuse blocks, B2B charger, and 3 million wires.

That is an extreme example, but that seems to be how the story goes with this build. Simply put, we have absolutely NO idea what we are doing, but we're doing it! Here are some updates of the progress we've made since we last posted and I'm confident that the next time we share, we'll be showing off our completed van conversion! :)

Cabinets

Our cabinets are completed and they are GORGEOUS! Here are some shots of the process getting these completed. 

Zach and Papa Clay working on the upper cabinets. Notice the two curved sides. These are
for the top and the back of the cabinets because vans aren't square, so our cabinets can't be either.

Two completed lower cabinets.
Left: sink cabinet.
Right: Mile's spot with a pull out table/drawer on top.

Pull out table, a little dusty but nothing a little wipe down and poly finish can't fix!

All cabinets and wall panels with their first coat of white paint.

Rear doors and two of the wall panels installed in a van FULL
of painted cabinets, ready to be mounted over at Papa Clay's!

Papa Clay overseeing Jay and Zach fitting in one of the upper cabinets.

Wall/Door Panels

Wall and door panels will help to give the van a fully completed finish and make it feel like a home versus a big metal box.  Below are some steps on how we went about cutting them out to fit.

Step 1 for any wall/door panel: make a template.

Supplies: craft paper, tape, scissors, pen.

Step 2: wrap door with craft paper, secure with tape, ensure it is snug!

Step 3: Trace outline of door panel an include all areas to
cut out like window, access points for locks, etc. 

Step 4: After cutting out the traced template, outline onto 1/8th inch plywood. 

Step 5: Cut out 1/8th inch plywood.

Step 6: Once sanded & painted, hang it up!  We used 1/2" self-tapping
sheet metal screws to secure them to the metal door.

Partially installed walls. Need to add more wood detail around the rear doors, windows,
and flares, as well as frame in the cabinet where Miles' space is.

Final Pieces

We're in the home stretch! Over the next few days our focus is to finish mounting the cabinets and walls and then we will move onto plumbing.  After that is complete, it's all about the details.  We want to frame in the section around the windows and flares to give a finished look as well as frame in the rear doors so there is little to no metal showing anywhere in the living space of the van.  Once the detail is complete, it's move in day!  Can't wait to introduce our fully completed camper van... stay tuned!

Our plumbing system all laid out, our next big project!