Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Yeah, just start with small daily changes and record your battery levels in the morning.

• Reflectix around the fridge
• Increase the setpoint on the diesel heater so it cycles less
• Aim the piping to the sleeping area

 

How old is your AGM battery? They don’t like to be discharged below 50% regularly. If they are discharged below 50% they can lose capacity relatively quickly, depending on their quality. I am wondering if you really aren’t getting your full capacity out of the battery anymore. You could do a full battery run down (typically something I do once a year, for science) to verify how much capacity you still have.

 

Jeez, I want to go camping with you... provided you do the cooking. Sounds delicious!

 

Some quality of life improvements done today. Added a fire extinguisher as having a heater with a fuel tank is kind of dicey, this just lets me sleep better knowing its there. Also note the coat hangers along the top, now my pants and jacket have a place to hang!



Another thing that I always struggled with was the lack of light on the back. Its always so dark there that I cant see anything in my packing boxes. Having a black camper doesnt help at all, but the lights are motion activated and turn off on their own. There are two in the back and one behind the fridge box.

 

nice. How'd you attach the mount? drill a hole thru the exterior wall and nut + bolt it?

 

I thought about it but decided that I couldn't let myself drill a hole. The fire extinguisher is supported on the bottom by sitting on the edge so there is not a lot of weight on the bracket. The sideways force is taken up by 3M double sided tape.

 

Installed Strawfoot rear window cover today. I did not use the side magnets since the top and bottom are pretty sufficient. I'll see how it goes for a few weeks if I need to magnets on the side.

 

Looks like your fitment around the rear light is really good. Mine came out a bit wonky so it didnt fit properly without trimming. Its amazing that a company like strawfoot make these awesome products for our trucks. Once I installed mine I have never taken it off as it blocks light for privacy, keeps the heat out during the summer, and provides a level of insulation in the winter.

 

How have the magnetic strips held up from the heat? Any issues with the adhesive?

 

I watched my battery last night and I ended up only draining to 72% with heater running at 1.5hz all night and fridge at 32°. Redirecting the air up top was a huge help. Battery topped off by 9 a.m. back to 100%.

Also built a Rotopax mount out of 1/4x2” flat bar aluminum. Really simple.

 

So this is true, but not without caveats.

A big issue people run into is when they use something like a Goal Zero Yeti 1000x Lithium. The voltage at the plug is actually an open circuit voltage of 11.1 Volts. This is due to the fact that they prefer Lithium Ion chemistry. It has up to a 3.7 Volt open circuit voltage per cell at 100% State of Charge (SoC).

Li-Mno2 is somewhere around 3.25. LiFePO4 is like 3.0.

With that said, the curve is semi linear until you get to near 100% Depth of Discharge, however there is a slight incline on the discharge curve. Because of this, stuff like Dometic Fridges need to have voltage cutoff set at the lowest setting. Not all fridges have this option and might dip below. Having a Voltage Regulated output using DC batteries is important, though usually that's at the cost of maximum current (because $$$ + complexity). But I mean, he runs an access cab, just put the fridge in the back seat. If he wants ice cream on cold nights, he can just do what I do, hang it in a plastic bag outside the window. Our winter trips through Utah were a majority between 2°F - 22°F. My fridge barely ran, I just kept leaving a bottle of water outside and putting it in the cooler or back in the fridge before we broke camp.

 

The magnets have held up well, it would probably be very difficult to remove them if you ever had to, falling off is not likely. Keep in mind that it doesn't get above 95F where I live.

 

Good to hear.
I'm curious to do the same experiment with the vent and see what kind of difference I see in power consumption.

 

I caved in on black friday deals and snagged a sherpa anima rack for a good discount that made it worth it to buy (plus they're only 10 miles away from me and I like supporting local). We've been having bad winds in colorado this week and the minute I had this put on, I immediately noticed the difference in wind quietness (not what I expected)and mpg. Long term wise I'll check back in but I do feel that if anyone is on the ropes on these, Martin or Sherpa are good choices for our campers.

 

Sharing some info on tuning the Chinese diesel heaters, for those who have them.
I HIGHLY recommend at least knowing how to adjust the settings and the implications of how they affect the heater.
Personally, I'd also say it's important for the sake of tuning them for different elevations.

This page has, BY FAR, the best tuning guide/explanation I've seen. Look for "Tuning the diesel heater" way down at the bottom.
http://www.thedoble.com/campervan/i...4ylLGQduZAdrH94cl738x062OvdhVpBbq_JPH46WzMbhg

In order to follow this method, you've got to have a controller that will show you the burn chamber temp. Most of the controllers don't show this, unfortunately.
The Afterburner will, but there's also a Chinese controller that is confirmed to have it.
This is the one I use for tuning. Pay close attention to the buttons though, because this one looks very, very similar to the main black controller you see with these heaters.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Auto-Black...ing-Heater-Controller-Switch-12V/254808188759



To give you a basic idea of why I think this is important, here's where my min and max settings ended up (5kW) after tuning just above sea level:
Fan min 1450 (lowest available)
Fan max 5000 (highest available)
Fuel min 1.1 Hz
Fuel max 4.5 Hz

I think most factory max fuel settings are in the 5.0-5.5 Hz range, which seems excessive and increases the potential carbon buildup in the burn chamber and CO levels in the exhaust.
Even if my max of 4.5 Hz is leaving some heat on the table, it's already more than I need in the Drifter.
And at higher elevations, you'll obviously want to bring the fuel down even further to compensate for the lower oxygen levels.

Oh, and the codes to get into the settings menu are usually either 1688 or 9009, as far as I know.

 

i would back that up - the small amount of straight up head wind driving i have done my mpg was normal (maybe an hour and a half) once it became more cross wind i dropped again, but overall quieter and helpful in headwinds. i have the martin rack. the sherpa rack looks excellent as well

gtmartin284@gmail.com

 

I wish they made one that had a fairing that went all the way up to the top of the drifter and had a sealed box built into the fairing with a side door. I think this would improve airflow even more and add functionality to the tiny rack.

Something like this just smaller to fit with the Drifter and a side opening on both sides instead of the top.

 

So boss. Such a nice looking truck.

 

Hey! Does anyone have warm shower solutions? I bought a roadshower to mount on my drivers side, but am not sold on putting that much weight up high. Just curious if any of you guys have thought of something clever thats more permanent vs. setting water in a jug outside.

Also went ahead and cleaned up all the tent canvas. I use 303 to protect it. Highly recommend it. Not sure if you can tell in picture, but it shines well and just helps protect the canvas and makes it last longer. Been using it for a long time.

$24 303 Products Aerospace Protectant – UV Protection – Repels Dust, Dirt, & Staining – Smooth Matte Finish – Restores Like-New Appearance – 32 Fl. Oz. (30313CSR)

https://www.amazon.com/303-30313-CS...3&sr=1-1-7b47ea83-76bf-4b51-b958-664fad18c0dd

 

I'd probably first determine how much hot water I need.

If it's around 5 gallons or less, I can use a recirculating water heaters with a bucket.

Mr. Heater F235300 BOSS-XB13 Basecamp Battery Operated Shower System,Multi

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-BOSS-XB13-Basecamp-Operated/dp/B011TRLVP0/