I heard what you said about calling the air conditioner company and them saying you shouldn't need no caulk or anything. the only problem is the air conditioning company is not going to be out in the woods with you or out in the desert with you or going down the highway with you when it rains and water does get in there for whatever reason. And they definitely aren't going to give you the money to repair the inside of your van. in my opinion and everybody has one I think $2 worth of insurance in caulk is worth $300 worth of possible damage. just like when I told you I seen the seal behind that second electrical outlet that you put on the side of the van with putting caulk on it for two cents worth of insurance. To me a couple dollars of caulk is worth hundreds of dollars in repairs that's going to come out of my pocket.
I agree with you. There is a really thick piece of foam that compresses to seal the inside of the AC unit. Water getting under the actual shroud won’t matter. This is a hard one to seal off because of where we installed it. The gap between the shroud and the roof of the van is sometimes as much as an inch. We’ve tried sticking foam in there and caulking all around it and it just made a huge mess. We are going to let it play out for a little bit and see if there’s any leakage, which we would immediately see inside the van, since that area won’t be covered up. We haven’t seen any and we have had some massive rain storms. But we will certainly keep an eye on it and thank you for the great suggestion
Hey just stumbled across this vid and was so impressed with your clear, informative manner of presenting, just subbed and "hit that bell". Really good job! 👍 We hope you keep pursuing the channel. Can't wait to dig into your library. We are gearing up for our first build. Might be waiting 6 months for our Proaster. Apparently Dodge can't make them fast enough and dealerships can't keep the few they get on the lot! Cheers from the mitten!
I bought those wires from your link on Amazon but both ends have black connectors, I can’t thread it through the cable entry house like you did because it has the black connectors on both sides whereas yours doesn’t. Are they removable?
Hey, y'all. Thanks so much for all the great videos. Y'all are such a breath of fresh air and it's so peaceful watching y'all interact with each other with such love and kindness. I do have a question.. Husband and I have been living full-time vanlife for the past four months and are just now building our DIY roof rack and installing our solar panels! What size screws/T-Nuts did you use to mount the Z Brackets onto your 80/20? We have 15 Series also. Thanks :)
So sorry for the late reply. We have had some things at home that have kept us from YouTubing for a bit. We bought all fasteners from Unaka gear in South Carolina. I think they have some prebuilt kits that give you all the screws and T-nuts that you need for a given project. I cant recall the eact size but I do remember running out, and Unaka hooked us up with extras.
I designed it and then we sent it to the guys at Unaka gear in SC. They verified it and sold ut the pieces for it. I dont think this exact size would work on a 1500 but Unaka likely has all the measurements and can either help you design or sell a full parts set for the 1500. Good luck :)
I noticed you put your ceiling in first before solar. I'm a little confused how you drilled those holes into the roof for your solar if the tongue and groove ceiling is underneath?
Great question.....we left one or 2 boards loose so that we could run the solar wire before screwing them tight. Looking back, we should have done the wiring first. We certainly would do that if we did it again
Hi Shawn, Everything came from Unaka gear in SC. We actually drove to their shop since we only live a couple hours away....Wonderful folks to work with
Hi Mark and Tanya, did you only use 4 brackets per panel? I’m mounting 1 panel 50”x28” and am seeing some with 6 brackets and some with 4. Was curious how many brackets you used per panel? Thanks!
Hi Jeffrey, I am pretty sure they are 55.28 x 22.78. They are the only ones we could find to sit east-west on the roof and still provide 200W each of power.
unakagearco.com/products/newpowa-200w-monocrystalline-solar-panel-24v?variant=43220688699611¤cy=USD&gclid=CjwKCAjwyqWkBhBMEiwAp2yUFiFwo6PaRzl5M39Eiu3r5oA-m0GB7ll_R9wUF762Zo4YylASGvDC1BoCR7cQAvD_BwE Here you go
Hi Jeff, It's OK...We actually stated to film a review video of it....but decided to try again once we have some reflectix on the windows. Right now the van has so many windows that the Fresair unit cant overcome the radiant heat. I have heard the Dometic unit is better.
"This must be what it's like giving someone a colonoscopy." Marc, you are too funny!
You have to joke a little bit when you have no idea what you’re doing :-)
Hi guys-another informative video and the final result looks really tight and slick.
Thanks, Michael.......We appreciate the kind words :)
Yes it does its beautiful with sitting so low profile profile
I heard what you said about calling the air conditioner company and them saying you shouldn't need no caulk or anything. the only problem is the air conditioning company is not going to be out in the woods with you or out in the desert with you or going down the highway with you when it rains and water does get in there for whatever reason. And they definitely aren't going to give you the money to repair the inside of your van. in my opinion and everybody has one I think $2 worth of insurance in caulk is worth $300 worth of possible damage. just like when I told you I seen the seal behind that second electrical outlet that you put on the side of the van with putting caulk on it for two cents worth of insurance. To me a couple dollars of caulk is worth hundreds of dollars in repairs that's going to come out of my pocket.
I agree, better to err on the side of caution than trust in the unknown...
I agree with you. There is a really thick piece of foam that compresses to seal the inside of the AC unit. Water getting under the actual shroud won’t matter. This is a hard one to seal off because of where we installed it. The gap between the shroud and the roof of the van is sometimes as much as an inch. We’ve tried sticking foam in there and caulking all around it and it just made a huge mess. We are going to let it play out for a little bit and see if there’s any leakage, which we would immediately see inside the van, since that area won’t be covered up. We haven’t seen any and we have had some massive rain storms. But we will certainly keep an eye on it and thank you for the great suggestion
@@marctania2349 👍👍👍
Hey just stumbled across this vid and was so impressed with your clear, informative manner of presenting, just subbed and "hit that bell". Really good job! 👍 We hope you keep pursuing the channel. Can't wait to dig into your library. We are gearing up for our first build. Might be waiting 6 months for our Proaster. Apparently Dodge can't make them fast enough and dealerships can't keep the few they get on the lot! Cheers from the mitten!
Awesome video, awesome couple! ✅
Thanks so much, Johnny :)
Awesome. Great job.Thanks
You are very welcome :)
very helpfull, thank you.
You are very welcome, Dan :)
excellent! Thank you!
You are welcome, Mark :)
We enjoyed Old Fashioneds while watching. Another great episode. So what you are saying is butyl tape is the duct tape of van building.
Thats what I'm thinking......bee sting....butyl tape..............leaky door...butyl tape :) And I am sure the Old Fashions were awesome
I didn’t see how the solar gland looked at the very end when everything was completed and done. Was it under the solar panels? Thank you in advance 😁
Loom around the roof wires is a good idea. Have you heard others saying roof wire flapping could be heard in the van?
We haven't heard anything noticable
Use Eternabond tape to hold the wires down on the roof.
I will have to look into that. Thank you
how much did that cost you? great video btw! loved this
I bought those wires from your link on Amazon but both ends have black connectors, I can’t thread it through the cable entry house like you did because it has the black connectors on both sides whereas yours doesn’t. Are they removable?
Hey, y'all. Thanks so much for all the great videos. Y'all are such a breath of fresh air and it's so peaceful watching y'all interact with each other with such love and kindness. I do have a question.. Husband and I have been living full-time vanlife for the past four months and are just now building our DIY roof rack and installing our solar panels! What size screws/T-Nuts did you use to mount the Z Brackets onto your 80/20? We have 15 Series also. Thanks :)
So sorry for the late reply. We have had some things at home that have kept us from YouTubing for a bit. We bought all fasteners from Unaka gear in South Carolina. I think they have some prebuilt kits that give you all the screws and T-nuts that you need for a given project. I cant recall the eact size but I do remember running out, and Unaka hooked us up with extras.
@@marctania2349 Thank you 🤗
nice job. what is the rack? did you buy or make it? looks like alumnium extrusion pieces.
also, do u think this would fit on a promaster 1500?
I designed it and then we sent it to the guys at Unaka gear in SC. They verified it and sold ut the pieces for it. I dont think this exact size would work on a 1500 but Unaka likely has all the measurements and can either help you design or sell a full parts set for the 1500. Good luck :)
I noticed you put your ceiling in first before solar. I'm a little confused how you drilled those holes into the roof for your solar if the tongue and groove ceiling is underneath?
Great question.....we left one or 2 boards loose so that we could run the solar wire before screwing them tight. Looking back, we should have done the wiring first. We certainly would do that if we did it again
great video! about to install my solar on the van. where did you get the flush mount brackets for your panels? did i miss it in the video somehow?
Hi Shawn, Everything came from Unaka gear in SC. We actually drove to their shop since we only live a couple hours away....Wonderful folks to work with
Will they install the solar panels?
@@marctania2349
Hi Mark and Tanya, did you only use 4 brackets per panel? I’m mounting 1 panel 50”x28” and am seeing some with 6 brackets and some with 4. Was curious how many brackets you used per panel? Thanks!
Ours came with 4 per panel
What are the dimensions of the solar panel? I’m looking for a similar setup with 1 panel for a 136” Promaster. Thanks!
Hi Jeffrey, I am pretty sure they are 55.28 x 22.78. They are the only ones we could find to sit east-west on the roof and still provide 200W each of power.
That's a really low profile A/C unit you have on your roof, the shortest I've seen. wow
It is very low profile....but its not the greatest either....Works pretty poorly in humid areas
@@marctania2349 Thank you for the reply, very much.
Where did you purchase your brackets?
We got them from Unaka Gear in South Carolina
Do you have a web link to the solar panel manufacturer? and a name/part number for the panel or even the dimensions?
thanks
unakagearco.com/products/newpowa-200w-monocrystalline-solar-panel-24v?variant=43220688699611¤cy=USD&gclid=CjwKCAjwyqWkBhBMEiwAp2yUFiFwo6PaRzl5M39Eiu3r5oA-m0GB7ll_R9wUF762Zo4YylASGvDC1BoCR7cQAvD_BwE
Here you go
I know this isn't related but what air-conditioner is that?
Oh sorry I saw the playlist and realized it was there. How is it working out?
Hi Jeff, It's OK...We actually stated to film a review video of it....but decided to try again once we have some reflectix on the windows. Right now the van has so many windows that the Fresair unit cant overcome the radiant heat. I have heard the Dometic unit is better.