Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

syntheti.cc

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 351 posts

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#171

Post by tedmiston »

BooneJS wrote: post #69
aresant wrote: post #9

His "Can I live without my precious possessions?" answer is the most engineering LOL thing I've read all day: "Pile up my crap. Anytime I need something in the pile, take it out of the pile and save it for later. Monitor usage." Thank you for posting this.

I did this with all of my various t-shirts. Hang them on the pole backwards. When I put away laundry, hang them on the pole forwards.

Did you notice any patterns about what you wear / don't wear from doing this?

I do a similar approach, except it's insert freshly washed shirts into middle of closets, so anything that hits an outer edge I don't wear much, and is the best candidate for pruning.

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#172

Post by woobar »

Domenic_S wrote: post #97
Joof wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He could have done it at a friend's or his own home after another short stint of saving.

His dad's woodshop (& expertise) was critical to the build - note that dad did all the cuts into the body of the van. There's nothing wrong with it, just a reminder that we never really do anything alone . Personally, I'd rather have the shop than the van ;)

Yes, he glosses over that part. From the pictures it looks like he _and_ his dad built it in 40 days (and who knows how many hours per day). That's not free, and could easily add another $20K-$30K.

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#173

Post by snowwindwaves »

ars wrote: post #99

He needs a diode between the two batteries in parallel. Otherwise slight differences in voltage between them causes them to cyclically charge and discharge each other, wearing them out and wasting energy.

there would be a 0.7 V drop across the diode so then the system voltage would be 12-9.8V instead of 12.7 to 10.5 (taking 10.5 as the voltage at which your batteries are well and truly dead)

I've used diodes [0] to isolate redundant power supplies, but we turn up the voltage on the power supply to compensate.

However other than redundant applications I've never isolated batteries. I've just googled this and mostly found posts recommending not to use diodes and one that didn't comment on whether or not cross-discharging was actually a problem, but said not to use a diode but to use a mosfet[1]. It generally doesn't appear to be a problem for most people.

The most interesting part of the blog post for me was the eye opener for the author; 200 W of solar and 250 Ah of battery isn't enough to run a computer day in and day out. I would have gone for something like 1200 A-h of battery but not lead-acid, as well as added an AC powered battery charger so I could plug in.

0: https://www.phoenixcontact.com/online/portal/ca?uri=pxc-oc-i...

1: http://www.homemade-circuits.com/2013/08/connecting-batterie...

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#174

Post by wonder_er »

et-al wrote: post #34
dublinben wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arguably, it means just that. If you only use a tool once a year, you should just borrow/rent them when you actually do need them. Our lives are cluttered with occasionally used 'just in case' items that we really don't need.

That's minimalism taken to an extreme, which is just as thoughtless as hoarding. A screwdriver costs less than $5 and takes a minimal amount of space to store. Yes, the slippery slope is when you have a thousand tools falling out of your closet, but again, thought and moderation. The "if I haven't used it in the past year" rule is a great idea overall, but it's not appropriate for this example. Now if we're talking a…

This calculus changes if you assign a cost to storing possessions.

If there's no cost, great. Keep everything. If there is a cost, that once-a-year item might not make the cut.

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#175

Post by mod »

monknomo wrote: post #92
mod wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not exactly true. He could have done the build-out in plenty of other manners, some less efficiently. With some extra money, he might have had it done more quickly, even. Camping out during the build time, or getting a hostel/hotel for 40 days, renting a room, building it ahead of time, etc. Lots of reasonable options. I noticed on some page he mentioned "focusing on building less expensive homes" and then poi…

I too have wondered at the tiny home thing. Regular single wide mobile homes are small, cheap and standardized, and they even have "communal living" in a park. I'm pretty sure it's just trying to tell bougie people that it's fine to live in a trailer park

I'm not really against it, even. I think it is fine. Some of those tiny homes are really nice, or inspiring, or liberating. I really appreciate hand-made things, especially ambitious projects like homes. And I definitely appreciate the frugal builds.

But when you're buying it pre-built, it's just a tiny, expensive mobile home.

If they catch on enough, they'll build them cheaper and more efficiently, and we'll have smaller versions of normal mobile homes, with aluminum siding and all.

I'm all for it, personally--there's no reason for the dream of home-ownership to be expensive.

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#176

Post by billmalarky »

ryandrake wrote: post #150

I always read these stories with a sense of awe and wonder. "I took 2 years off of my totally boring office job to X" where X is something that is 1. expensive and/or 2. not generating income or not nearly as much income as Boring Office Job. How the hell does one live without their salary for 2 years without going into debt or depleting savings? Don't you people have student loans to pay off, medical bill payments,…

He explained that he was able to do all this once he was debt free.

Presumably equity built up while paying off his mortgage paid for a lot of the costs.

This would not be possible if you had dependents of course, but now was the time for him to do it.

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#177

Post by jessaustin »

mod wrote: post #88
jordanlev wrote: post #46

I absolutely loved reading this. I liked how he went into it cautiously, testing out whether he could get by with a small fridge, small bed, less possessions, etc. And I also appreciate the web page design itself -- one long vertically-scrolling piece, very easy to read through! One thing I find ironic though is the attitude towards other people who make a different decision about the worth of a home and the mortgage…

That's not exactly true. He could have done the build-out in plenty of other manners, some less efficiently. With some extra money, he might have had it done more quickly, even. Camping out during the build time, or getting a hostel/hotel for 40 days, renting a room, building it ahead of time, etc. Lots of reasonable options. I noticed on some page he mentioned "focusing on building less expensive homes" and then poi…

...social taboo

When I've lived in mobile homes, I've found them to be substandard in various ways. One might be prepared to accept that in exchange for their advantages, but if not it seems perfectly rational to seek other solutions with different trade-offs. E.g., most mobile homes are over 70' long, while tiny houses are much shorter.

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#178

Post by codecamper »

"use the public facilities"

Yeah, right. That's the plan for the first little while & then you'll be just pooping in the woods.

You see, we're in europe in a motorhome. Every time we see a little camper we know two things are going to happen. They are going to start sliding doors at all hours of the day.

And they are going to go poop in the woods.

And there are hundreds of them.

So be sure to get yourself a proper porta potty. Nobody wants to see your toilet paper.

Re: How I Built a Custom Camper Van (2015)

#179

Post by sanswork »

dominotw wrote: post #141
sanswork wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people are misunderstanding your comment and thinking you mean dump it in the drain. For those people, there are actual sewage dump stations at a lot of those places. Look for a sign with a vehicle with an arrow or pipe out the bottom next time you're near a truck stop or state park.

Then you are just living the RV lifestyle, different from what OP is trying to do?

Unless his purpose is to pollute other peoples trash bins with human waste than it has no impact on what he is trying to do it is just a safer way to dispose of his waste.
Post reply on HN