Electrical – Live Like Pete

Upgrading From 3 AGM Batteries To One Lithium Battery

Pete — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 15:35:08 +0000

Time to upgrade our batteries in the Sprinter van! After only 3 years, our Renogy 200Ah battery started to drop voltage overnight and was dying a slow death. Switching to lithium isn’t as easy as just buying a lithium battery and dropping it in. Lithium batteries have special charging requirements which now means each charger has to be upgraded. Although spending some extra money and doing the...

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Installing Offroad Lights on Our Sprinter Van – Cheap and Awesome!

Pete — Sat, 29 May 2021 16:12:51 +0000

The biggest reason we wanted to get some insanely bright lights mounted on the front of our Sprinter van is to be able to avoid hitting wildlife at night. There have been too many close calls while driving down some dark mountain roads in the pitch black. Of course, many products on the over-saturated Sprinter market offer ways to mount lights such as big fancy bumpers for vans but they are mostly...

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Tunes for the Sprinter Van: House Stereo Install

Pete — Tue, 07 May 2019 23:44:30 +0000

Having a designated “house” stereo for the back of the van was important for us for a couple of reasons. First off, we didn’t want to dump a bunch of money into the van’s (dashboard) stereo. That factory MB Audio 15 stereo isn’t the greatest, but it’s good enough for driving down the road and getting to our destination. Second, if our only stereo was in the dash it would require the van’s ignition...

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Sprinter Campervan Electrical System Overview

Pete — Sun, 16 Dec 2018 17:46:43 +0000

Planning out a campervan electrical system can be a bit overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be though. Once you figure out your power consumption needs, you will have an idea of how big and in-depth you need to go. Whether you plan on camping in your van part-time or full-on living out of your van, you can figure out what kind of battery bank, charging system and electrical system will fit your needs.

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DIY Exterior Van Light: Solar, Magnetic & Motion Detected!

Pete — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 17:41:18 +0000

When building a van, certain little things never even cross your mind…things you never even think of until you actually go out and use it. The first camping trip in our Sprinter van was on a very dark night and it made me realize we would have to add some sort of exterior light. The biggest problem was the installation? I didn’t want to run more wires after already completing the walls...

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Installing a MaxxAir 7500k Roof Vent in our Sprinter Van

Pete — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 20:02:43 +0000

One of the first (and most important) things we did to our van was to install a roof vent. It’s important to keep the airflow moving in such a small space. A vent fan prevents moisture buildup and allows fresh air into the van. The project began with picking out a location for the fan. We don’t plan on putting any windows in the back of our van so having the fan over the bed was the best place for...

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Dual 6 Volt Underhood Battery Tray: Sprinter Van

Pete — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 06:05:02 +0000

One of the first projects on our van was to install two 6 volt batteries under the hood. There is a nice open space for them on the driver side that seems like a no-brainer to use. You might be asking why 6 volt batteries? There are a couple of reasons. Generally, 6 volt batteries take up less room. 12 volt deep cycle batteries are long and would take up valuable space, which we don’t have in a...

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