After reading a few posts on the ev_update list about “short cycling” thermostats, I replaced our original Honeywell thermostat with a new Suburban thermostat (White Rodgers thermostat, I think). Here is our original thermostat:

You need to cut the connectors off the wires to the existing thermostat in order to remove the existing thermostat and mount the new one – make sure your house battery is disconnected!

Slide the wires through the backing plate of the new thermostat, crimp on some new connectors, screw them down, reconnect your house battery and try it out!

I ended up with the top screw hole from the old thermostat showing – you can barely see it. The off/on temperature control is on the top, not the bottom, but I think I can live with that – I like the look of the old thermostat better, but I think I can live with that, too.

BIG DIFFERENCE! Now the furnace does not cycle nearly as often. Easy swap out, $30 part (GoWesty and others have them) – make sure it has an “OFF” setting.

You can see the instruction sheet, roll of velcro, stuff sack, and the Fancher business card (I love little touches like that…)

The whole things fits into an included stuff sack, about the size of a pillow case:

The insulation is a nice cream color on the inside face, and a very weatherproof looking gray on the outside. Fancher’s claims an insulation value of R-8 for the fabric, which consists of five layers – I can tell you it is very high quality fabric. The workmanship is impeccable – take a look:

Installation is very easy – the insulation fastens with velcro, and strips of 2 inch wide velcro are provided, as well as instructions on where and how the velcro should be installed. The pieces they provided are not labeled, but I used a little common sense and figured it out:

The velcro mounts between the pop top canvas and the pop top, under the aluminum strip that holds the pop top in place. I marked out the screw locations (just for alignment purposes), then used a pencil to mark a horizontal line in the middle of the velcro – to make sure I would have at least 1 inch of velcro sticking out. I removed just the screws needed for each piece, working with one piece at a time, slipping the velcro between the canvas and the pop top, “fuzzy side” UP, then replaced the screws, piercing the velcro, and tightening the aluminum strip.

TIP – lower your pop top slightly when removing the screws that hold the pop top in place – that way, the fabric will not be under any tension.

After I installed the velcro, I made sure to clean up the roof below the pop top, to collect any metal shavings and dirt (didn’t want to get the new insulation dirty!). To install the insulation, just fold down the velcro mounted on the pop top (it acts like a tab), and slide the insulation right up to it – VOILA!:

The front panel rolls up to allow for access to the storage above the cab.

If you have a top bunk, the insulation can slide right under the mattress for a snug fit – we don’t have an upper bunk, and our pop top canvas is slightly shorter than stock (due to an unfortunate carport incident that required some major repair to our canvas), so the side panels have some extra room. If you want to get really fancy, you can line up all the horizontal stitches – the workmanship is that good (see below!):

On the Fancher’s website, the insulation is shown going BEHIND the pop top hinges – since the insulation is “roomy”, I chose to go “IN FRONT” of the hinges, attaching 11 3/4 inches of 1 inch wide black industrial velcro to the hinge face, like so:

If you camp in the cold, you really should get this for your EVC – come one, you KNOW you deserve it! Give Fancher’s Upholstery a call or email, you will really like their product!

Here is a list of upcoming projects (in no real order):

Propane regulator and supply hose replacement
Propane tank removal and repaint
Outside temperature gauge
Norcold fuse holder modification
Improved battery monitoring (current, watts, etc)
Insulated poptop “liner” installation
LED reading lights above the bed

Stay tuned….

In the Eurovan Camper, there is a “converter” – it’s job is to supply 12 volts to the furnace, power to 12 volt outlets, and to charge the house battery when connected to AC (“shore power”). The stock converter is a Magnatek – a HUGE unit that provides very “dirty” (unregulated) 12 volts, as well as poor performance as a battery charger. I felt I could install something “better”, so when connected to shore power my new battery was getting some “good loving” (see above Trojan reference) and any 12 volt devices were getting some “clean” power (again, see above).

I chose an Progressive Dynamics Intelli-Power model PD 9245C from Best Converter. It has a remote “pendant” for controlling the state of the charger (boost, normal, storage), which is easy to mount on the electrical panel.

You will need some 1/8 inch thick by 3/4 or 1 inch wide aluminum (non-anodized) bar stock, hacksaw, drill, patience, an afternoon, and your favorite libation (for consumption when you are done).

Disconnect your house battery and shore power and shutoff your propane before starting!

To install, you need to remove the back seat, the two plastic shrouds over the furnace ductwork and the water fill area, and your furnace (really easy – disconnect propane, unplug electrical, open front cover, remove two screws, slide out) – so you end up with this (sorry, did not take photos of the stuff coming out – this shows the new converter):

You could do this without removing all this, but it is really nice to have the room, and while you are in there you can replace all your driver side taillights! (use ORIGINAL Honda ones – very good quality! – single filament part # 34903-SF1-A01, dual filament part # 34906-SL0-A01)

Once you have the furnace out, remove the front bracket that the furnace was screwed to – notice that the mounting holes for the furnace are in the front of this bracket – you will need to remember this when you put it back!

Now you have LOTS of room – notice how the Magnatek looks like a piece of WWII surplus gear? If yours is still working, you can use it to create a test power source for your Norcold bench test rig (upcoming project…).

IMPORTANT!
All the wiring in the “house” part of your van follows the same color codes as your home – black is HOT, green is ground, etc.

Unscrew the front cover to the Magnatek and undo the 3 wire nuts that connect the Magnatek to your house wiring (umm… guys, wire nuts are NOT for use in vehicles…. jeez….). If you read the panel of the Magnatek, you will see that there are 2 hot and one neutral output – one hot is “filtered” (yeah, in your dreams…) and one is not. The “filtered” lead is the smaller one, and it supplies current to the 12 volt outlet near the fridge.

You will notice that the Intelli-Power has only 2 terminals – you DO NOT connect the “filtered” wire to the Intelli-Power – here is why:

SAFETY NOTE
Fuses protect WIRES, not what the wires connect to – a device may (or may not) have internal fuses or other means to protect itself. If you connect a small wire to a large fuse, the wire could heat up from excess current, possibly causing a fire – long before the fuse would fail.

So what you need to do is remove the small “filtered” wire, and extend the aluminum buss that joins all the other 12 volt fuses – like so:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Now you have one hot and one neutral wire – perfect for the Intelli-Power.

Next change – the Magnatek has a right angle plug – the Intelli-Power does not. My solution was to change the mounting position of the house outlet this connects to by drilling two new holes in the mounting back mounting plate (unscrew this to make the job easier) and putting the outlet on the INSIDE of the mounting bracket:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Screw the Intelli-Power to the floor – also, screw in the old screws from the Magnatek to plug the unused holes – TIP: use some silicone around the screws to seal them up and minimize corrosion.

Also, check the tightness of the bolt that holds all the hot wires to the battery (remember, black is HOT when working in the “house” part of your van):

As a side note, on my model of Eurovan, the line to the rear sprayer runs under the converter. We have never used our rear sprayer in almost 10 years, and I don’t like mixing electricity and water, so I removed the rear sprayer “T” connection to make it more tidy back there.

When you connect the wires to the Intelli-Power – do not over tighten the terminals. You also want to wiggle the stranded wires after you think it is tight enough, and retighten. There is an inch pound torque value listed on the Intelli-Power – you will want to follow that.

Make sure to test this BEFORE you put all the bits and pieces back together – maybe even run it for a few hours while you enjoy your tasty beverage, and put the pieces back on the next day! Check the voltage at one of the 12 volt outlets – it should be 13.6 while plugged into AC (may be up to 14.2 if your battery needs a “boost”), 13.2 for a “float” charge, and 12.8 or thereabouts when unplugged, depending on the condition of your house battery. The remote pendant indicates the “mode” the pendant is in.

Here is some more info on the remote pendant: Progressive Dynamics.

Here is what it looks like with the furnace installed:

Here is where I mounted the remote pendant (it is the thing with the silly wizard graphic):

For my recent month long trip to Peru*, I needed to keep certain medical supplies between freezing and 46 degrees – so monitoring the temperature was critical.

I mounted the unit on the dashboard using INDUSTRIAL Velcro, as well as creating a mounting spot next to the fridge:

There is a remote sending unit that I mounted on the inside “roof” of the fridge (no photo). The Amazon link shows the displays on the device.

The unit uses AAA batteries, and they will last you AT LEAST one month of 24/7 operation. The unit could use a backlight for nighttime, but I don’t mind the tradeoff for long battery life. It also displays the time and ambient temperature.

The remote connection was “lost” only 3 times during my trip – twice I feel it was due to the iPhone located nearby starting up in the AM. Repairing the connection requires removing the batteries from both units, then installing the batteries FIRST in the receiver, THEN in the remote. This also requires stepping through the menu to set the time and choosing Centigrade or Fahrenheit, but that process is simple.

This should be standard equipment with all fridges.

*(Indiana)

I purchased a switch, and a short battery cable:

Here are some shots of inside the battery box – it is tight, but it all fits:

Drilled a hole in the battery box, rerouted the positive cable (sealing the new hole I drilled for it), connected the short cable from the battery to the switch, and that was it!

Even if you have no intention of replacing the brackets, you should remove this luggage rack and clean underneath – mine was filthy!

The existing brackets are steel, attached with pop rivets and adhesive – adhesive ONLY on one side of the brackets. On my EVC, one bracket was only in place with pop rivets – the adhesive had failed on the other side.

Go Westy sells a stainless steel bracket replacement kit – this replaces the existing brackets with stainless steel ones, and provides for pop rivet mounting on both sides.

You need to clean the roof very well, drill some holes, seal with silicone, and install some pop rivets.

• Two installation tips:
  1. There is not a hole drilled in the front bracket for the screw that connects the luggage rack to the front bracket – you will want to drill this hole BEFORE you mount the front bracket to the roof. Just use your old bracket as template for where to drill this hole. Drilling in stainless steel requires a slow drill speed and lots of pressure – you do not want to heat up the steel, you just want to “cut” it with the drill.
  2. While drilling the pilot holes for the pop rivets that mount over the headliner, you need to make sure you do not drill too far – you can make a drill stop with some fuel line – like so:

Here the roof is all ready for the install:

If you are comfortable working with a gas barbecue, you can do this! Before you work on your fridge, just make sure the propane is OFF, that you are not plugged into “shore” power (AC), that your “house” battery is disconnected, and put out any cigarettes or open flames. Make sure you have some ventilation, too (like the van door open and maybe working in a carport or garage with the door up).

This is not that difficult – just sorta fussy, and you do need to be able to lift and move the fridge. You need the following tools and supplies:

• 2 crescent wrenches (maybe 3, you’ll see why later) or a 13/16, 5/8 and probably a 9/16 (depending on what era your fridge is) open end wrench
• Good philips screwdriver – make sure you have a good one – some of these screws are tight!
• Compressed air or a “can” of air
• Shop vac
• Round file to modify the mounting flanges in the van to ease reinstallation and later removal
• Permatex 81878 “Ultra Copper” silicone – for resealing the burner box – the existing gasket will fall apart when you remove it – or a new gasket
• Soapy water or “gas leak detecting fluid” from a hardware store
• Piece of thin plywood or similar to protect the van floor

Here the fridge is ready for removal – almost! Still need to remove the metal above and below the fridge, as well as the door:

I don’t have any pictures of removing the top and side panel, but it is pretty easy: the side panel is held on with 5 screws – remove it and place it on top of your stove cover to hold all the parts. The “instrument” panel is held in with 6 screws – remove those and carefully ease out the panel just a bit – the trickiest bit is removing the AC receptacle. The AC receptacle is held in place similar to a plastic remodel box – unscrew the two screws on the face of the receptacle and 2 “ears” will slowly back off, eventually moving out of the way. You can then slightly tighten the screws back up to hold the “ears” out of the way. Now you can carefully feed the outlet through the panel.
NOTE: the 12 volt receptacle positive lead threads onto the 12 volt receptacle.

Here is the top panel removed, and the bottom grill:

Now you need to go outside and remove the exhaust vent – remove the exhaust vent cover (3 screws), then the 2 screws next to the exhaust vent:

Now to tackle the gas connection, you need 2 crescent wrenches, like so:

This did not work for me, so I needed another size wrench:

Success! After the excess gas in the lines escapes, tape the end of the gas line and the fitting on the fridge with blue masking tape to keep out any crud. NOTE: IF gas keeps escaping from the disconnected line, you likely have a stuck valve on your propane tank – you will want to take care of that BEFORE proceeding!

Remove the 2 screws on the left, and the 3 screws on the right, and slide it out a few inches. The first inch or so will be difficult, as Winnebago did not leave any room for the screw heads that hold the fridge mounting flanges to the fridge (we will deal with that later).

Unplug the AC:

Disconnect the DC – I marked the colors on the top of the fridge:

Now you can remove it completely – you will need to angle the fridge slightly to get it out – check the photo above to see what I mean. Here the fridge is out of the van:

You need to turn the fridge on it’s side to get to the burner box. The burner box has a metal shield that needs to be removed first:

Here is the burner box disintegrating gasket:

Remove the gas line to the burner box, again using 2 wrenches and tape the gas line – NOT the fitting to the burner box.

Here is the inside of my burner box – the “corrosion” at the top is really loose particles – you can see how the orifices are blocked on the gas jet. I took a small piece of wire, stripped the end to make a “brush”, and brushed the orifices until they were free of corrosion. Then I attacked the whole fridge with an air hose, giving special attention to the exhaust vent and the burner.

Here is the burner box with the silicone gasket:

Now just put it all back – but before you do, “relieve” the mounting flanges on the van with a round file where the screw heads on the side of the fridge are (I used a sloppier method cause it was getting late). Also, to reconnect the gas fittings, slide back the “nut” and make sure the 2 surfaces “mate” – then slide the nut forward and tighten the connection. Do NOT rely on just tightening the nut to make a good gas connection – it is very easy to cross thread or pinch the soft copper gas line, resulting in a leak (and/or damaged fitting).

Turn on your propane – test the connection using soapy water or “gas leak detecting fluid” (sort of like soap bubbles – you can get it at Home Depot) at the 2 gas fittings and look for bubbles. You will need to leave off the side panel and the instrumentation panel to do this. Turn on your stove to get all the air out of the lines, and to confirm that you have gas flowing. Replace the instrument panel, reconnect the house battery, check the operation of the instrument panel and then test the fridge!

As always, your mileage may vary, these instructions may result in your injury or death, your van may be different, having a high altitude kit (the second vent on the outside of the van) may make this harder, you may bust something on the fridge taking it in or out, etc, etc, etc. No guarantees expressed or implied. That said, I found this much easier than I thought it would be to do!

The trick was just how do I wire this into the Van? As usual, the ev_update list came through (thanks, Paul!). The way I did it was to connect everything on the passenger side – behind the taillight.

Here is what you need:

• “Cold shrink” tape – AKA non-adhesive wire harness tape – can’t remember where I got mine (Eastwood?) but here is a link: Tape
• Super 33 electrical tape – the only electrical tape to buy
• Tie wraps
• Hopkins connector
• Hopkins trailer wiring isolator
• Patience
• Flexible (or small) hands
• Wiring diagram of the taillights

Remove the left taillight (held in with 3 8mm bolts).

Use the cold shrink tape to bundle up all your wires neat and tidy. Run your wiring from the adapter to the taillight, following the route of the existing taillight wiring – attach to this wiring with tie wraps.

Using just the wiring from the 2 Hopkins kits I had, I mounted the power converter outside of the taillight. In later pictures you can see that I tie wrapped the converter out of the way.

Route the wires through the existing taillight grommets and splice into the taillight wiring using the connectors provided in the kit (very nice ScotchLock connectors). Use the tie wraps to take stress off of the connectors, and to tidy your work.

Here is the wiring description – I used all the connections from the 7 pin connector:

7 pin connector at right (passenger’s side) tail lamp:

Pin 1: (empty – might be for optional right rear fog light)
Pin 2: Black/Blue stripe – Backup
Pin 3: Grey/Black stripe – L. Tail via 5-pin
Pin 4: Black/White stripe – Left Turn via 5-pin
Pin 5: Black/Red stripe – Stop
Pin 6: Grey/Red stripe – R. Tail
Pin 7: Black/Green stripes – Right Turn

5 pin at right tail lamp – feeder to left side

Pin 1: Brown/White stripe – Ground
Pin 2: (? – might be for optional left rear fog light)
Pin 3: Grey/Black stripe – L. Tail
Pin 4: Black/White stripe – Left Turn
Pin 5: Black/Red stripe – Stop

I used the ground stud inside the taillight and connected the power to the “house” battery.

Had Deborah help me test it out (it all worked!) and buttoned it back up. Not too hard, at all!

Fridge Indicator:

OFF

ON

I bought a few months ago – this was different than any other installations I have done, as it is a “destructive” install – once you do this, there is no going back to the original roof vent. Let me sum this up by saying that in my case, it was REALLY worth the time and trouble to do this. Here is why I wanted to undertake this:

I wanted to improve the ventilation in the van when parked with the top down – I have some cool “armored” cab vents, but having those and a passive roof vent was just not cutting it – especially traveling with a cat. I had heard about the MaxxFan vents for years (integrated rain cover, multi-speed fan, reversible direction fan, etc) and saw that someone had made the install on a Eurovan, so I decided to try it myself.

Summary:

• You can drive at freeway speeds with the vent open
• You can really cool off the van when parked by using the fan
• You can open and close the vent while driving (the driver can reach the control – just as on the stock vent)
• You can keep the vent open during rain storms

I got the MaxxFan model that does not have a remote control, with the “smoked” cover (to go with the other black bits on the van). You can see the product page here.

Installation consists of:

• Removing the old vent
• Cleaning the old mastic from the pop-top (this takes some time)
• Cutting into your VERY expensive pop-top
• Running 12 volts from the light on the pop-top
• Installing the fan
• Installing a CUSTOM flange for trim ring to set on

How about some photos?

Here is the stock setup from the outside and inside:

Here is what it looks like when you remove the inside trim that holds the vent in place (you just pull up on the fan to release the mastic)

Place a piece of cardboard (like the flat piece that came with the MaxxFan) on the inside of the pop-top, and hold it in place with a piece of wood that fits through the pop-top lift handles – this will keep the inside of the van safe from debris

Now you need to clean off all the mastic- this takes quite some time. I used denatured alcohol, single edge razor blade, and a plastic putty knife – and lots of my favorite clean up towels – Scott blue towels.

Next you want to measure out the area you need to cut, and outline it in blue masking tape

I used my handy Dremel tool to cut through the top layer off the roof, because I was very curious as to exactly how the 3 layers of roof (top, foam, inside) are bonded (or not) together, etc. You can use a Jigsaw with a long blade, or a hacksaw blade with one end wrapped in duct tape. I made the front radius of the corners go right up to the existing molded part on the inside

Then I cut towards the back of the van – I cannot stress enough how freaky it is to be cutting up your fancy van – just have courage, it is worth it! I drilled small holes where the back corners of the vent opening will be – then I used blue masking tape to mark out the cut line on the inside – this way, I can make sure that the hacksaw blade would not “drift”.

Here is a shot of the top, with the Styrofoam core exposed, ready to cut out the interior layer of plastic

Here are shots of the measurements I used

Once you have the hole cut, it is time to mount the exterior mounting flange – per the most current MaxxFan install instructions, I used 3M Silicone 2 as the sealant. Make sure the mounting clips are on the side of the van – NOT the front and back – the mounting clips are where the fan attaches.

Next, you need to lower the fan unit onto the flange – and route the wires to the interior light, where you can tap into the power. Remove your interior light, drill 2 small holes the same size as what was drilled by Winnebago to provide power for that light, then take a stiff piece of wire (12 gauge solid house wire works), tape it to the fan wires with some electrical tape, and “fish” it through. Like so:

Just follow the instructions on wiring, operation, etc.

Now onto the inner trim piece – this is where I got stuck for a bit, but it is all done now.

First, cut about 2 1/2 inches off the interior trim ring (bezel) with a hacksaw:

If you hold this up, you can see that there is a gap on either side:

Here is a closer view:

So another bezel is needed – I made mine out of wood (3/8 inch 5 ply birch that I had laying around), coated with Benite (protects the wood and does not stink). I also did not like the fact that there were only 4 screw holes on the plastic bezel, so I added more – you also need to do this because there is empty space behind the plastic part of the bezel – so some of the screws go into the pop top, and some screws just go into the wood bezel – like so:

You need to add a few washers under the pop top “seat belt” like so:

Here is how it looks on the van from the outside:

When travelling, we HATED trying to find good coffee – stumbling upon good coffee is one thing, but stopping for lunch in the middle of nowhere and NOT having a good cup o’ joe after the meal is UNTHINKABLE! So we have perfected what we think is the best method for making coffee on the road (easy prep, easy clean up, great coffee).

• You need to use the best coffee – Cafe Mam – great people, great coffee, get the “Mocho” blend.
• You need a “Moka” stovetop espresso pot – I have found the Bialetti Moka Express to be a great one
• You need to get a “Dosacaffee” – this makes filling your Moka mess-free

Here is an image of the Dosacaffee:

Grind up your beans before you leave (I know, fresh grind is better, but you do have to make SOME compromises on the road) – fill your Dosacaffee up, as well as a 1lb empty coffee bag (just pick one up at the local supermarket coffee grinding area). A full Dosacaffee and a 1 lb bag will last 2 people 2 weeks (2 pots per day).

When you are done with the Moka, just lay it in the sink for clean up later (if you in a hurry), or just wait a bit and empty the grounds out when the pot is cool enough to handle. The grounds will be VERY dry, and just a little water is all it takes to clean up. Way easier than using a French Press.

BTW – the best “stumbled upon” coffee experience for us was finding the Kiva Koffeehouse outside of Escalante, Utah – amazing place, great people, good coffee, good food, great local crafts for sale.

Here is where it will go:

I created a cardboard template from the hatch I used – a BOMAR G7711-11 from Pompanette – they are listed in their online catalog under “access hatches”. I chose a black one – they also come in white. I made sure that the hatch would fit in the space – the hatch has quite a large “lip” (flange), and takes up almost the entire space – which I wanted (for easy access). I traced out the area to cut.

I then used blue masking tape to further outline the area, and provide a surface to tape the “painters plastic” to (to keep any plastic bits out of the van).

I used a Dremel tool with a plastic cutting attachment (on my drill this is a coarse spiral drill) to cut the plastic. You need to move the Dremel tool back and forth in the cut so that the hot plastic does not “stick”. You might be able to use a hand tool (like a small hacksaw), but the plastic get VERY thin near the bottom – and it is VERY flexible, so that may be a real pain to do – that is why I chose the Dremel. Here is what you get when you cut the hole out:

Now you need to add something to stiffen the opening, and provide a strong surface to screw the hatch down on. I used aluminum flat stock.

Then you just bolt up the hatch – I uses Stainless Steel bolts, as I am a sucker for spending $ at the hardware store….

That really is all there is to it! Now I can easily get to my wheel chocks, hand tools, etc. Here is the hatch closed:

I know I need more photos here – sorry.

Since I did not take any photos during the construction, I will try my best to explain this – contact me if you have any questions about this!

• Removed the back seat and subframe – this left a gaping hole in the flooring, as well as 4 very large holes in the floor.
• Cut a piece of 3/4 inch birch plywood to fit this gaping hole, countersunk the “stock” bolts into this piece of wood, bolted in to the floor (using silicone around the bolt holes) then sunk 4 brass inserts into this piece of wood – the “new” seat uses these inserts to bolt to, so it COULD be removed if needed.
• Made a box out of 3/4 inch birch plywood, held together with aluminum angle – this will be what the “platform” rests on in the front.
• Cut sections of 3/4 inch birch plywood to form the “platform” – sections are held together with brass piano hinges, allowing the sections to be folded “up” into a bench seat.
• The seat is held in the “up” position with some cool pins.
• The “front” of the bed needs a support – I made one out of scrap plywood – it folds up to fit under the seat.

This allows us to sleep on a bed that is almost as nice as home. The great folks at Soaring Heart Futons set us up with a foam mattress and wool topper that fit just right. We chose a single bed size, for ease of finding sheets, etc.

Ah heck, how about some photos, OK?

We have a two drawer “seat thingy” behind the passenger seat

Bottom drawer (lined with a “contractor bag”) holds the cat box!

This gets placed into the passenger foot area when we stop for any period of time

Top drawer holds the cat food, leash, etc.

Hated the armrests – never used them, they got in the way when we used the “pass-through” to the back, made swiveling the seats a pain – so we removed them. But we needed something to hold our “seat back pockets” in place, so we reused the bolts and combined them with a large coin – still need to get “better” screws and washer though…

Then you get a Stainless Steel Sprayer

I like the ones with Viton seals…

Then you get a Sink Sprayer

Using a combination of stainless steel hose clamps and good quality reinforced tubing, connect the sink sprayer to the tank.

To use:

1. Remove the sprayer pump mechanism, fill with 1 gallon of water, place the hose in your sink and the bug sprayer on your stove (1 gallon will easily clean 2 adults)
2. Heat until you like the temperature.
3. Insert the pumping mechanism and take it into your tent (we put it on one collapsible foot stool and sit on a second one).
4. Pump up the bug sprayer, activate the handheld sink sprayer and enjoy a hot shower every morning!

No batteries needed, very minimal equipment – you just have to occasionally pump the bug sprayer to keep the pressure up.

Some notes:
The shower tent has a removable floor so you can carry your used shower water and put it in YOUR grey water tank or a campsite drain. Getting a slatted wood “bathmat” of some kind is nice to keep your feet clean. Having a chair outside the tent helps, too.

The Paha Que is worth every penny – easy to set up, sturdy, with lots of neat, well thought out features.

I just happened to stumble upon a case at Home Depot:

Look what I made!

I have since added some “jam” nuts, so that you cannot remove the turnbuckles without a wrench.

The turnbuckles are Stainless Steel, as are the “S” hooks. The “D” rings are welded zinc plated.

Stays water tight in heavy rain, negatively impacts gas milage only 1-2 MPG, and makes very little noticeable noise.

We have these all over the van!

The list of things we bought to make the curtains (excluding fabric):

1 3112 RECMAR 3112 Plastic Curtain Track – 8 ft. Color: Black

4 3091Y RECMAR 3091 Snap Tape – Yard Color: Black

4 3115 RECMAR 3115 Curtain Track End Cap Color: Black

2 3070 RECMAR 3070 Snap Carrier Color: Black

Everything just screws into place (of course, your mileage may vary!).

BTW – the seat back storage pockets are from the folks at EuroCampers. Here is the actual product page: Awesome German Seat Storage Pockets

We removed the stock upper bunk, including the metal bars that ran across the rear of the bunk – this left 2 unsightly brackets that we covered with cedar 2×2′s. We then cut a piece of 3/4 inch birch plywood to fit, carpeted the top with short pile nylon carpet, then finished the edge with aluminum angle. This provides a great place for Flea to hang out whenever the top is up.