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Stationary van life, thoughts on the future
So I've been building my Sienna for a couple of years now, just weekending it. It's a full setup, the works. Water, electric, solar, toilet, fridge, etc. etc. Reliable older van with awd. I've got that stuff dialed in.
I've been working for a company for a couple of years now. 9-5 retail job, I'm in management.
I put in a transfer successfully a month ago to a perfect new town.
It's a place that has a decent climate and tons of parking spots\\ blm land within a half hour of town. There's a pretty big van culture there, despite it being a tad red.
Anyways, after insane amounts of online searching, I also found a "driveway" for rent that's on some quiet land. A few acres with trees. Only fifteen minutes away from my new job, too.
It's land owned by a vandweller, and there are a couple of vandwellers there permanently.
I'm currently road tripping there and starting this whole new life in my Sienna. It feels wild but also I cannot believe I lucked out with this ideal situation all around.
In the future, I feel like we should all try to create similar situations for ourselves and other vandwellers. I enjoy my solo time, but eventually I think it would be smart to make it less of a solo lifestyle in the long term. I feel like that's what vanlife needs to morph into to become more viable long term and for those who don't have remote work (nothing wrong with remote work).
Like, why aren't there properties renting out to vandwellers absolutely everywhere? It's literally just like a roommate situation but I'm not shelling out a grand every thirty days.
#lifestyle
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So I've been building my Sienna for a couple of years now, just weekending it. It's a full setup, the works. Water, electric, solar, toilet, fridge, etc. etc. Reliable older van with awd. I've got that stuff dialed in.
I've been working for a company for a couple of years now. 9-5 retail job, I'm in management.
I put in a transfer successfully a month ago to a perfect new town.
It's a place that has a decent climate and tons of parking spots\\ blm land within a half hour of town. There's a pretty big van culture there, despite it being a tad red.
Anyways, after insane amounts of online searching, I also found a "driveway" for rent that's on some quiet land. A few acres with trees. Only fifteen minutes away from my new job, too.
It's land owned by a vandweller, and there are a couple of vandwellers there permanently.
I'm currently road tripping there and starting this whole new life in my Sienna. It feels wild but also I cannot believe I lucked out with this ideal situation all around.
In the future, I feel like we should all try to create similar situations for ourselves and other vandwellers. I enjoy my solo time, but eventually I think it would be smart to make it less of a solo lifestyle in the long term. I feel like that's what vanlife needs to morph into to become more viable long term and for those who don't have remote work (nothing wrong with remote work).
Like, why aren't there properties renting out to vandwellers absolutely everywhere? It's literally just like a roommate situation but I'm not shelling out a grand every thirty days.
#lifestyle
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Advice for disabled gran
Hi there, so we have recently acquired a much larger van ( a VW crafter) it's gorgeous and I love it. Sadly my grandmother who we take shopping and out and about cannot get in it. Does anyone have any advice on steps or ramps. Due to it being converted it's not possible to get her into the back so she has to go in the front passenger seat. We have caravan steps but they aren't high enough to get her into the van. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated
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Hi there, so we have recently acquired a much larger van ( a VW crafter) it's gorgeous and I love it. Sadly my grandmother who we take shopping and out and about cannot get in it. Does anyone have any advice on steps or ramps. Due to it being converted it's not possible to get her into the back so she has to go in the front passenger seat. We have caravan steps but they aren't high enough to get her into the van. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated
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My grandfather's BIFL Craftsman socket set from 1987 replacement
I have a Craftsmans red metal socket set (1987) left from my grandfather when he passed and every single socket and ratchet in there works the way it should but i want to preserve it so i need to use a new one.
I've used it to do brake jobs swap an alternator and fix a dryer that was making a noise (my landlord was never going to come look at) I have some money saved up and I've thought about buying one of those big gorgeous new ones only if they are close to the quality of the one i have.
#lifestyle
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I have a Craftsmans red metal socket set (1987) left from my grandfather when he passed and every single socket and ratchet in there works the way it should but i want to preserve it so i need to use a new one.
I've used it to do brake jobs swap an alternator and fix a dryer that was making a noise (my landlord was never going to come look at) I have some money saved up and I've thought about buying one of those big gorgeous new ones only if they are close to the quality of the one i have.
#lifestyle
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How do BMS pre-charge circuits work
I am having a friendly disagreement with a fellow van lifer. They have some fancy batteries with a built in BMS, an on/off switch and a pre-charge circuit for their inverter. The system is wired up as battery positive terminal, fuse, shutoff switch, positive bus bar, fuse, inverter, negative bus bar, shunt, negative battery terminal. The bus bars also have solar charging.
I was trying to help them after sunset in a tree covered site. Our disagreement is that they believe that they can disconnect the batteries from the inverter with the shutoff switch and not the battery on/off switch and the precharge circuit will protect them when they switch the shutoff switch back on. They claim they have done this a bunch of times.
I claim that the solar has protected them in the past and that at night they need to turn the battery off and then on, with the shutoff switch in the on position. That said, I am not really confident about how BMS based pre-charge circuits really work. They humored me so I don't really know if I was right or wrong.
How do the pre-charge circuits work?
#lifestyle
I am having a friendly disagreement with a fellow van lifer. They have some fancy batteries with a built in BMS, an on/off switch and a pre-charge circuit for their inverter. The system is wired up as battery positive terminal, fuse, shutoff switch, positive bus bar, fuse, inverter, negative bus bar, shunt, negative battery terminal. The bus bars also have solar charging.
I was trying to help them after sunset in a tree covered site. Our disagreement is that they believe that they can disconnect the batteries from the inverter with the shutoff switch and not the battery on/off switch and the precharge circuit will protect them when they switch the shutoff switch back on. They claim they have done this a bunch of times.
I claim that the solar has protected them in the past and that at night they need to turn the battery off and then on, with the shutoff switch in the on position. That said, I am not really confident about how BMS based pre-charge circuits really work. They humored me so I don't really know if I was right or wrong.
How do the pre-charge circuits work?
#lifestyle
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