Pro van kits engineering
VAN PLUMBING 
alt text

PLUMBING: MINIMIZING CONNECTIONS

One of the basic tenets of plumbing is to minimize the number of connections. If you are going to get a water leak, then it will most likely be at a hose connection. We keep the number at a minimum and minimize the length of all water lines. Other than the hot water heater all plumbing can easily fit beneath the sink. We like to use deep stainless steel sinks, thermostic water valves, and the simplest water system we can engineer. We build the plumbing system prior to installation to spped the process. On average an entire plumbing system is built and installed in just a few hours.

Our vans have:

  • 25 Gallon Water storage
  • 12V, 10L hot water heater
  • Pressurized hot and cold water.
  • Internal shower connections with thermostatic valve
  • Easy to access and hidden external water connections
  • We finally gave up on finding the perfect water heater and designed our own. Most van builders use what are called tankless watter heaters. These 120V systems heat water as it passes through the heater and have a small water tank reservoir. To provide instant heat requires a power draw in excess of 1600 to 2000 Watts. When installed in a home this works fine, but in a van running from 12V this draws current above of 100 Amps. You'll need an inverter of 3000 Watts minimum rating and expensive and 0 gauge wiring. We designed our own 10L heater that runs from 12V and consumes only 200 Watts. The only limitation is that you will only be able to take a hot shower only once per hour.

    We assemble and test our water systems prior to installation. The final installation in a van only requires a three connections to attach the water tank and water heater to the main plumbing system. We also design it for all the plumbing to be removed for any repairs by disconnecting the three water lines. To minmimize water usage for showers we emply thermostatic water valves that automatically regulate the water temperature.

    We prefer to locate all the plumbing at the optimal place in a van, at the side door. When you close the door, all exterior water connections are hidden. It also lets you use a water faucet as an external shower. When you need to purge the systrem for storage in cold climates, the system can be drained by simply pointing the faucet out the door and runniing the system dry.

     

    8 AprilPRO VAN KITS DUAL SOLAR ARRAY VIDEO

    With just a few alterations to a van design you can more than double solar charging capacity. Connect a ground based foldable solar panel to your charging system to add more than 1000 Watt of charging power .

    alt text

    CNC BASICS AT PRO VAN KITS

    Pro van kits are made possible by the use of sophisticated CNC machines driven by 3D CAD models. Our 4 x 8 foot CNC machines can precisely mill a plywood sheet with accuracy of .016 inches in just a few minutes. The machine moves one or more router bits (machine can automatically can change the router tool) permitting fabrication of mutiple parts from a single sheet of plywood. They operate on 3 axes: an X (length), Y (width), and Z (height). Trying to accomplish the same complex router head patterns by hand would take days.

    AllEngineering Categories