One of our favorite appliances at home is a small air fryer.  For some time we’ve been looking for a small model to take on the road with us.   Each unit was a little too large for us to dedicate the storage space for it.

This past December I came across something that I thought might be a solution. The item was a Breville Combi Wave 3-in-1 Convection Microwave w/ Air Fryer.  I ran by a local Best Buy with my ruler in hand and was pleasantly surprised to find that its dimensions were almost identical to the High Pointe unit in our 2017 Lexor TS.  I purchased one with a Black Stainless front and got to work.

https://www.breville.com/ca/en/products/microwaves/bmo870.html

The first step was to remove the High Pointe oven.  I then placed the two ovens next to each other on a workbench.

The old and new oven next to each other on a work bench.

The High Pointe oven was equipped with a heat shield that was designed to pull cool air from the bottom vent on the mounting frame and exhaust hot air through the vent at the top. I unscrewed that shield and frame from the body of the oven and  moved them over to the new oven.   They were both perfect fits!  I then verified that the location of the holes had adequate clearance below the cover by drilling a 1/16” diameter hole with a depth stop collar equipped bit set to the thickness of the cover.   After drilling each hole I inserted a paper clip to verify that all was well.   The same screws were used to attach both items to the new oven.

I slid the oven in place and noticed that it was about 1/4” low so I cut a 1/4 ABS panel to size and placed it in the space to add some height.  The holes in the frame were now in perfect alignment with holes in the cabinet.   The GoPower solar controller in our 2017 Lexor TS was flush mounted at the end of the cabinet. I removed it for easy access to the rear of the oven to organize the power cord and plug it in to the AC outlet.

Top of oven viewed through the GoPower solar controller mounting hole.

I also used this access to install a Ruuvi Bluetooth temperature sensor.

Ruuvi Bluetooth temperature sensor placed inside cabinet behind the oven.

I added that sensor to our MyErvin automation system and set up an alert to warn us if the temperature reached 130 degrees inside the cabinet.  The highest temperature we’ve observed to date is 115 degrees.

MyErvin Appliance Screen.

After several months of use we can definitely say that this has been a positive change.   The controls are much more intuitive and easier to see.   The oven performs better in each mode and having  the builtin air frying capability has made our kitchen a little more like home.

I installed our 48V system in 2019.  It has worked reliably and has allowed us to silently camp in comfort in a variety of different settings.  In the years following the installation some nice integration was developed between Victron, Wakespeed and the REC BMS.  This past December I modified our system to benefit from that new capability.

Cerbo GX display showing the REC BMS, Wakespeed/APS Alternator (Honcho), Victron Quattro and Victron MPPT solar controller.

The Victron components in our setup have always been managed by a Victron Cerbo GX.  It controls the other Victron devices through a service named Distributed Voltage and Current Control (DVCC) that takes its guidance from the battery’s BMS.  Consolidating the control in this fashion is terrific.   You set the BMS to the optimum settings for your battery and all the devices fall in line. The only devices under DVCC control were a Victron Quattro (Inverter/Charger) and a Victron MPPT solar controller.  My 58V alternator’s regulator could not be managed by DVCC and was directly controlled by a BMS relay.  The relay would simply turn the alternator on or off. There were no shades of grey.

The current round of updates involved the following steps.

Our 12.1 kWh battery pack was replaced with a self-made 15.3 kWh pack that occupies less space in the trunk. I built the pack using a case kit  that I purchased from Eel Battery . The case is very space efficient and came with a useful assortment of items to build the pack. I did not use their BMS.  I built my own harnesses to attach the cells to a Daly Active Balancer and to the REC BMS.  The PDF in the Resources area below will provide more insight in to how the system is designed. The old pack is still in great shape and has been moved to add more storage in our home’s solar setup.  

Open View of Battery Pack

The Batrium WatchMon Core BMS was replaced with a REC BMS 2Q.  The Batrium BMS was a terrific BMS that integrated well with Victon’s DVCC.  I made this change solely to benefit from the additional Wakespeed integration. 

The Genasun AR-2 regulator was replaced by a Wakespeed 500 regulator.   The Wakespeed will respond to the Cerbo GX and control the alternator’s output through DVCC.  It also communicates directly with the REC BMS through Constant Voltage Constant Current (CVCC) so that control is still retained if DVCC is offline.  The alternator’s management is no longer just on or off.  It’s output can now adjust based on alternator temperature, engine load and other instructions from the BMS.   

I added a Wakespeed 48-12 bidirectional converter that also works with DVCC and allows our Nations 270A 12V alternator to charge our 48V bank if necessary.   I hope that this redundancy is never needed but it’s nice to know it’s there.   The new converter also maintains the chassis battery and allows up to 3000W of power to flow on demand from the 48V system to the 12V systems.  Installing it allowed me to remove two other devices from our original setup.   The first was a Victron 48-12 30A converter that provided power to the 12V house systems .  The second was a Victron 100V 20A MPPT solar controller that was maintaining the 12V chassis battery from the 48V house system.

The last step was to update our MyErvin automation system to interact with the new devices.   The image below shows the “Energy” page that I designed to provide an easy to see display while the phone is docked on the dash.

The “Energy” screen on our MyErvin system showing alternator charging underway.

We’ve been traveling quite a bit since the changes and everything has performed well.    The system is simpler to manage and has more capability. It’s also great to have a little extra space in the trunk.

New 15.3 kWh battery installed in trunk.

Project Resources

PDF of Updated 48V System Drawing

I recently noticed a small amount of water inside the overhead cabinet next to our sliding door.

The source of the leak was not easy to find.  The cabinets hid the area from view on the interior and one of the mounts for the Carefree awning was covering it on the exterior.

I decided to remove the awning to get a better look.   I created a hoist to lift the awning by throwing a rope over a tree limb and got to work.

The source of the leak was readily apparent with the awning out of the way.  I found a small crack in the seam caulk behind the sliding door and the interior edge of the bracket had gouged the caulking out of another seam.   I found similar damage under each bracket.  The brackets had each been installed without proper interior edge padding. The exterior edge pad was fine and was still in good shape.  I’ve attached a PDF of the bracket installation instructions for the BS0014 bracket set that’s installed on my vehicle.  The instructions show no padding on the interior edge.  I also found set of instructions for a newer BS0023 version of the bracket that did show a pad.  Those instructions are also attached. It left me wondering if the lack of a pad in the earlier version kit was an oversight.  A pad was in fact installed on the interior edge of my brackets so it looks like Pleasure-Way realized that allowing the bracket to make direct contact with the roof was not a great idea.  The pad that was used on my installation just wasn’t stout enough to prevent contact.

The deficient padding on the inside edge of the mounting bracket.

This image shows the areas with the damaged caulking. The rust spots that you may see are topical and are from the non-stainless mounting hardware that had begun to corrode. The spots wiped right off.

I removed the damaged caulk and any rust that had started to form. I then thoroughly cleaned the areas with a detergent followed by isopropyl alcohol.  I painted each exposed area with Por 15 and then applied grey Sikaflex 221 sealant.

The repaired mounting point behind the sliding door.

The repaired mounting point above the windshield.

While the brackets were removed I gave each of them a thorough cleaning.  I removed the original foam pad from the interior edge and cleaned  the area with detergent and isopropyl alcohol.  I then installed a high density rubber molding and high density rubber padding to isolate the interior edge of the mount from the roof.

The original foam padding.

A mount with the new interior edge padding in place.

Some of the mounting hardware was stainless. A few items were not and had started to corrode. I replaced those parts with stainless before remounting the awning.  The parts that had to be replaced were 10 M6-1.0 x 35mm bolts, 10 M6-1.0 x 40mm bolts, 10 M6-10 square nuts, 10 M6-1.0 lock nuts and 10 M6 washers.  

When remounting the awning I applied stainless anti-seize to each bolt and I applied dielectric high temperature marine grease to each roof stud to provide some protection from the metal to metal contact with the bracket mount.

I feel fortunate that I noticed the problem before it became a more significant issue.   The leak is gone and I feel much better about that hidden area of the roof.

BS0014 Awning Installation Kit Instructions

BS0023 Awning Installation Kit Instructions

Exposed Drive Mechanism

The power sofa bed on our 2017 Pleasure-Way Lexor TS was designed with  an exposed drive mechanism.  On a few occasions we had items get caught in the screw as the sofa was being extended or retracted.   We were lucky enough to avoid any significant damage but it seemed like it was just a matter of time.

I was walking through Lowes one morning and saw something that looked like it might solve the problem.  The result of my idea is described below.

The cover is easy to remove when it’s time to perform maintenance on the drive and it does a great job of isolating it from items in the trunk.

Cover in place.

The items used to make it are listed below.

2″ PVC Downspout

Hot Knife for Vinyl and Plastic

The video below demonstrates how I made a cover to solve the problem.  The video is divided in to three sections.  The first section (4:50) shows how to design the shield.   The second section (1:15) is sped up and shows how to cut the design out of the downspout with a hot knife.  The final section (:30) shows how to install it.

Portable Waste Tank and Sewer Hose in the Travel Position

We really enjoy attending multiple day music festivals in our Class B.   The festivals usually last 5 to 7 days. Having our own shower and bathroom is a terrific benefit. Refilling the water tank is usually an easy task with a dolly and a water can but the waste tanks are a different story.  We usually have to chase down one of the trucks that’s servicing the portable toilets and hope they’ll make a trip our way.

As I was preparing to head out for the Floydfest music fest in July of 2022 I put together a modification to take care of this issue.

I had removed the generator on our 2017 Lexor TS back in 2018 after installing our 12V 600Ah house electric system upgrade.  I decided to use the existing generator brackets to mount a second waste hose tube and a cargo tray that swings down to allow loading.

Tray in Unlocked Position

The basket was built using the standard aluminum stock that’s available at Lowes and was assembled with aluminum rivets.   The hinges at the rear are stainless steel carriage bolts and the locks at the front are galvanized PTO pins.  I noticed the points of some self tapping screws that were coming through the floor of the area.  I trimmed those off with a Dremel and painted each one with Por15.    I also painted the edges and holes of the generator bracket that had started to rust.

View of Hinges and Rivets. Note the second aluminum brace to provide extra strength at the hinge and pin locations.

Waste Hose Storage Tube with Rivet Locations

PTO Pins Wrapped with Electric Tape to Prevent Rattling

We  used the basket to hold a 6 gallon waste tote.  While at the festival we used the tote to empty our black and some of the grey tank each morning (to clean the hose) and then emptied the tote in to a nearby portable toilet.  I decided to make this a daily chore due to the small size of the tote.  I did not want to take a chance that the tote wouldn’t hold the black tank contents once I pulled the valve.

Tray in Unlocked Position with 6 Gallon Waste Tote

The setup worked really well.  We now have the convenience of the onboard 12 gallon black water tank and the versatility of a portable cassette toilet when needed.

Here are the items that were used for the project:

Valterra Products Inc A04-3460BK Sewer Hose Carrier Adjustable

KAKING 50pcs Large Flange Aluminum Blind RIvets,Flange Diameter 5/8″ (16 mm)

3/16 In. Aluminum Blind Rivet Set

100 Pc.Harbor Freight PTO Pin Assortment 20 Pc.

Steelworks 1-1/2-in W x 1-1/2-in H x 4-ft L Mill Finished Aluminum Solid Angle Item #215938 Model #11356

Steelworks 3/4-in x 3-ft Mill Finished Aluminum Square Tube
Item #216100 Model #11386

Camco 3 Foot 39768 Rhinoflex Tote Tank Hose Kit

Dr.meter 32pc Heavy Duty Bungee Cords Assortment

Tote-N-Stor 25951 Portable Waste Transport – 6 Gallon Capacity

New Table Fully Deployed

A few years ago I replaced the original pedestal mount table in our 2017 Pleasure-Way Lexor TS with a Lagun mount and a top that was made by hinging the original bed boards together.  The table was an improvement and worked well but it had a few issues.  

The design used two heavy panels and required the Lagun table support to be attached to just one of the panels.   The other panel had to be supported by the use of some sliding metal brackets.  The brackets were noisy and had several sharp edges.  I managed to solve the noise issue with some well placed furniture slides and felt.  Even though I sanded the sharp edges on the brackets  I was still worried that one of the brackets would scratch something as I was storing or setting up the table.  The uneven weight distribution also put some unnecessary stress on the Lagun support.  I realized that there was a better way and finally found the time to implement the idea.  

Table Made from Original Bed Boards

I built an initial prototype out of 1/2″ whiteboard.  We both gave it a thumbs up after a few months of use and decided to move forward with a final version. The two hinge per leaf setup on the prototype worked well but I decided to opt for three hinges per leaf on the final version to provide a bit more support.   

New Table Whiteboard Prototype

I had the final design built by the Weekender Sprinter Shop on Etsy.   Their craftsmanship and service were terrific. The leaves are well supported by the three hinges and the tight tolerance of the build. No additional support brackets are required.   

Side folded over to allow one person to remain seated while the other person gets up to move forward.

The overall dimensions are 28″ x 24.75″.  Each leaf is 7″ x 24.75 and the center panel is 14″ x 24.75″.  The wood is 1/2″ Bamboo ply.  I used 3M VHB to mount it to the Lagun tabletop base instead of using screws.  

The dimensions of the table give us ample space and the trifold design has made moving around quite a bit easier.  A simple flip of a leaf allows one of us to get up and move around while the other stays seated.  The table is lighter than the original  which makes it easier to store and set up.  The tabletop’s dimensions also allow it to support the ottoman cushions when using the full queen-sized bed configuration.  

The new setup in combination with the table that we previously added to our front lounge have added some nice flexibility to our little home on wheels.

Table Stowed for Travel or Use as a Counter Extension.

Table in Place and Ready for Bolsters

Bolsters in Place

Optima Yellow Top Spiral Wound Chassis Battery.

My chassis battery was an outlier and a problem waiting to happen. I had no way to monitor it’s health, set a charging profile or charge it without the engine running.

There had to be an efficient way to tie it in to the house system so that it could simply benefit from the power already being generated and stored by the house electric system.   I got to work on a solution.

The stock wiring on our 2017 Lexor TS made the task fairly simple.   The isolator between the chassis and house systems was mounted in the top center of the engine bay.    In a stock setup the task would have been as simple as connecting a 12VDC to 12VDC charger with the input connected to the chassis battery terminal and the output connected to the house battery terminal on the isolator.   In my case it was a bit more involved as I had installed a dedicated 58V alternator and the original wiring had been modified to remove the isolator and provide a direct path to the 48V house system.

58V Alternator

In order to accomplish the task I had to step down the voltage from 48VDC to 12VDC.  To do this I used a Victron MPPT solar controller.   I first cut a piece of 1/4″ ABS sheet  to mount the solar controller. I then connected the “solar” input to the Blue Sea battery terminal that had taken the place of the isolator and connected the “battery”output to the jump start terminal.  I connected both grounds to the same spot in the engine bay.

Victron Solar Controller on ABS Mount

I then logged in to the solar controller with the Victron Connect app and set the charging profile to meet the requirements of my chassis battery.

Victon Connect Application on iPhone

This setup has been keeping my chassis battery happy and healthy for over a year now.   Having it in place has integrated the chassis battery in to the house system and has made life on the road a little simpler.

Here are some of the items that I used on the project. I’ve included POR 15 on the list since I found some corrosion starting on the mounting point when I removed the isolator.   You may want to treat the area during the process.  I also replaced the stock mounting bolts with 304 stainless steel parts from Lowes as they were also showing signs of corrosion.

Blue Sea Systems PowerPost

Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 20 amp 12/24/48

1/4″ ABS Sheet

10 AWG Silicone Wire

3/8″ 10 AWG Crimp Terminals

1/4″ Split Loom Wire Cover

Por 15

A stable and reliable Internet connection is an important requirement for us.  We both often work while on the road.   We also travel with our beagle Cappi and need to be in control of her environment when she has to stay behind.

After a fair amount of research I decided to install a WiFi Ranger setup. The system includes two routers.  One router is mounted inside the van and provides cellular access and an internal wireless network.  The other router is mounted on the roof and acts as a relay to other wireless networks.   The devices that are connected to the internal network are unaware of whether the WiFi Ranger has decided to use a nearby WiFi network or use cellular.

I found a good deal for a used WifiRanger Elite Pro kit on eBay.  The kit included the Elite Go2 internal router and the Elite Pro external router with a 9 dBi antenna.    I also purchased a used Verizon Novatel 7930 MiFi hotspot and an external 5 dBi MiMo cellular antenna.

I decided to mount the internal router and MiFi hotspot on the passenger side in the trunk to provide easy access to power and a path to the pre-existing hole for the awning power cord on the right rear of the roof.

First I removed the passenger side fascia panel inside the rear overhead cabinet and the passenger side rear pillar cover to gain easy access to the path for the antenna cables.

Then I removed the caulk that had been used to seal the hole for the awning power wire.

Next I mounted the external router and WiFi antenna with VHB tape to the right rear passenger side roof.  I mounted the MiMo cellular antenna on the rear of the awning with VHB tape.

I then fed the antenna cables through the hole, down the rear pillar cavity and into the trunk to connect them to their respective devices.   Once I was satisfied with the cable runs I sealed the hole with GE silicone 2.”

The MiFi hotspot is connected to the internal router with a USB cable and is set to “tether” mode.   The external router/antenna is connected to the POE port on the internal router.    The internal router required 24V power which was provided by a 12VDC TO 24VDC step up converter connected to the house battery.

The four additional Ethernet ports on the router have also come in handy to provide a more reliable Ethernet connectivity for a “Nanny Cam”,  the Victron Cerbo GX that controls our 48V house electrical system and for the Raspberry Pi that controls our Coachproxy automation system.

The setup has worked very well for us.   We leave the system on at all times to provide a link to Victron’s VRM page and to have external access to the camera and Coachproxy system.   When we are within range our devices just see our wireless network and join.   It has definitely made life on the road a little easier.

Here are some of the items that I used on the project.

Vandal Resitant 4G-LTE MiMo Antenna

Antenna Adapter TS9 Connector to SMA Female

12ft Weatherproof Ethernet Cable

POR-15 Kit

GE Silicone II Sealant

12VDC to 24VDC Step Up Converter