Tancook 685

[ermracing]

Originally Posted by peteg59

Thanks Dave.
That looks perfect, and it's compact size should fit neatly in my shorty!
Where is Runnings? I'm sure I could order it from them online if too far to visit in person...

We have a Runnings in Claremont, but it's a midwestern chain mainly. I'm sure you can buy the stove online or at some other camping type store.

[HenrysCat]

Originally Posted by ermracing

Here is some of the work that has occupied our lives for the last few weeks:





We still need to finish up the propane plumbing which will give us hot water. The bathroom needs more than a curtain for a door and we plan to pop up a wall behind the driver/passenger seats. I also have to build the benches in the workshop.

Hi there! I noticed your photos of the oven. I have the same one. I've used it for camping the whole past year. For the product it is I'm really impressed with it.
How do you like it for indoor purpose?
Have you tried it outdoors? If so what are the major oven differences? How is it at maintaining heat versus climbing indoors?
I've noticed on really warm days, it has no trouble getting hot, just trouble maintaining a low temp.
(I also found putting a small cast iron skillet in with what I bake if I'm not baking directly on it will help maintain the heat in chilly or windy environments)

I was baking brownies up in norcal last fall with this oven and the wind blew it straight off the counter! Sadly no brownies, but the oven is just fine.

Also my purpose for the mini oven is only temporary in the bus. I'm making an initial adventure build so I can get out and go and in a few years I'll really build her out classy, with love edges, epoxy finishes, carved furnishings. All hand made versus free as can be.

Love your thread so far by the way. Excited to travel through and check out some rallys. Adding it to the list.

[peteg59]

Are there any heat issues using the stove/oven in place in your pics?
Some reviews claim the back & sides heat up enough to potentially cause damage to materials too close to it.

[HenrysCat]

Originally Posted by peteg59

Are there any heat issues using the stove/oven in place in your pics?
Some reviews claim the back & sides heat up enough to potentially cause damage to materials too close to it.

Quick fix. Put er on the counter in front of an open window before you fire er up!
Not sure I’d be willing to do that... But I’ll be doing something similar to vent my hot water heaternext to an open window.

[mc11237]

Originally Posted by ermracing

A few more updates - worked on the sliding door between the workshop and living areas. I also installed the clear lenses for the rear lights. The wiring is easy to trace since they all have unique numbers on them.


New clear lenses for the rear spot lights.



Sliding door between the workshop and living quarters.


Sliding door, open.

I thinking of dooring the front and rear of mine. Like a mud room in front and garage in back. I was thinking like a thin pocket door. This seems really wide. How come you decided to go so robust? Does it swing or slide or do you like pick it up and drop it into brackets? Do you have more finished pics pleassseee???

And wow wish I saw this oven before I bought my coleman camp stove top and way over paid.

[ermracing]

It's made from 2x3's with 2" insulation and has the spare window in the middle. It slides on two 150lb capacity drawer sliders, which were real fun to install and line up correctly.... But now it glides open and closed very easily. The width was just the gap left after installing the shower in the middle, but it opens fully so it's easy to walk through. I'll post some finished pics.

[ermracing]

Here is the door in the closed position.

[ermracing]

Here it is opened. We have sealed up along the outer wall and ceiling so we can keep more of the heat in the living quarters when it's closed.

[mc11237]

Originally Posted by ermracing

Here is the door in the closed position.

Very nice. I’ll be doing something similar

[ermracing]

Did a little more work on the bus over the past few weeks. We mounted the head and evap unit for the 12k, 110v mini split, ran the electrical cables and most of the line set. The plan is to get it all finished and then charged for use this weekend. The evap unit is mounted above the rear door. It only sticks up over the roof line by an inch, but it blocks the clearance lights so I will have to relocate them at some point.

We also picked up new drive tires last night. Falken BI850 255/70r22.5. Brand new and at a decent price. Will work with a local shop (1/4 mile from the house) to get them mounted this week as well.

[joeblack5]

Like the sliding door.

[ermracing]

Had a busy last few days. Got the new Falkens mounted, local HVAC guys checked out our mini-split install and charged the system the best he could based on the weather (30 degs and raining). Also bought a full set of chains because our destination for the weekend involved about 5 miles of steep, windy, snow covered dirt roads.

We ended up spending Saturday night in the Walmart parking lot in Littleton, NH. We put the chains on that night when it was 'only' 0 out. By 5am it was -15. I only plugged in the block heater for an hour which obviously was not long enough. Ended up running our kerosene heater, pointed at the oil pan, for about 15 minutes. After that it fired right up.

We had to drive about 12 miles on tar roads with the chains which was slow going (20-30mph), but when we turned onto the back roads, the first section was about 1 mile up a 5 or 6 percent grade, so I was glad we had them.

The mini split worked once the temps got back into the positive teens. Even though we had a few issues, the outing was a success.

[ermracing]

We scored 2 overhead racks from a friend's cutaway he is scrapping. I mounted one in the workshop for light duty storage.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by ermracing

We scored 2 overhead racks from a friend's cutaway he is scrapping. I mounted one in the workshop for light duty storage.

Man that's great.

[ol trunt]

Nice report and a great rig layout. I carry cable chains for the rear duallys and hope I never have to be bothered with them. My hat is off to you.
Jack

[CalDayton]

I like your chains. Do you remember what brand/model they are?

[ermracing]

Quik Grip by Security. Stock #QG2843CAM. They fit 275 to 295x22.5. We had to cut one rib out of each to fit properly on our 255/70x22.5 tires.

[ermracing]

Did a little stress testing on the solar setup today. Ran the mini split while it was about 35F out and bright sunlight. The draw on the batteries was up to 80amps (12v) and we were pulling 40amps from our panels. Not a bad tradeoff, given the mini split lowers its draw as it needs less heat.

Anyway, a few minutes after that i noticed the solar controller shut off... After testing voltage from the panels (good) and battery bank voltage (12.8+). I found the fuse between the solar controller and batteries looked good, but was only letting 4.5v through. Also turns out it was a 30amp fuse. Turns out it was blown, but not visibly. Still not sure what fool put a 30a fuse on a 40a solar controller (me...) Fixed it by upgrading to a 40a fuse. Easy and simple and glad this happened in our driveway.

[Native]

It is a good thing you found it.


Please check that your wire runs can handle the 40A current. I do not know your installation thinking ... but you may have put in the 30A fuse to protect the wire ... which is the purpose of a fuse in the first place.

[ermracing]

The wire should be fine, it's what came with the controller for the solar panels. When I was going through the the manual to trouble shoot the problem I was reminded why I had a 30amp fuse in there. It said to not use a fuse larger than 50amp. Well, 30 amps is not larger than 50.... I guess I didn't make the connection I needed at least 40 at that time.