Leak-free, heated and removable Expedition Camper shower pan
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- I install an molded acrylic one-piece shower pan for DIY composite expedition camper that is heated, thermal-transfer free from the outside, and fully repairable and even replaceable, with a drain that is accessible with a clean out outside via the thru-hull floor connector.
I recently built this Total Composites expedition camper on my Mitsubishi Fuso EarthCruiser CORE 4x4 expedition truck chassis, installed MAD expedition windows and skylights, and now framing out the interior cabinets.
This builds on my previous videos of the camper build, including: • Building a Total Compo...
The camper layout & design: • Designing the perfect ...
Planning out the interior build: • Total Composites Campe...
The selection of the chassis: • How to Choose the best...
And also same framing I installed in my camper van: • The 10 Best things I l...
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@totalcomposites484 @motorcraftadventuredev @vantripping @EarthCruiserOverlandVehicles @8020llc - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Hi I watched many of your videos. I love what you do, and thank you so much for sharing. Total amazing.
That's great. Thank you for saying and watching.
That is such a good idea to have your shower pan be your entry way for muddy boots, etc. love that layout! Your camper is coming along nicely!!
Thanks! Having the shower pan under the entry way will definitely keep dirt out of the main portion of the camper and make keeping it clean a lot easier!
Great to see your progress 👍
thanks! Much more appreciable progress soon to be made.
Hello, great quality video👍is it possible to do the same conversion on flat bed sprinter and who can build a box? Thanks
Thank you. Yes indeed. I seriously considered a 4x4 Sprinter can chassis to build this onto. @aeonrv builds a similar box onto a Transit.
well, this is one tight fit. have you considered the possibility to the siphon on the underside of the box to freeze up and expand?
Yes, I expect that the exterior and freeze rated drain port/connection under the floor outside will freeze, but should never be enough water in it to break it, as all of the water in it should drain out to the gray tanks, which the hose slopes to. Any minimal amount in the "trap"/clean out will easily accommodate the 9% expansion of water in it to expand into the hose that volumetrically is about a hundred times larger.
Here is the compact shower drain that immediately turns to a barb fitting which takes much less space underneath a shower pan or sink: amzn.to/3S6icry
@vantripping I might have missed it in your video, but is this connected to a grey water tank inside or outside of the camper? I am trying to figure out how to do something similar with a fully contained composite camper box, but I am having a hard time figuring out how to make the drain go to a grey water tank inside without flow issues or clogs. Any ideas are appreciated!
My grey water tanks are located between the chassis rails, under the camper. The benefits of the grey tanks being outside of the camper and in the chassis rails is space, leakage and drainage. By not taking up valuable camper space, larger grey water tanks can be installed, any leaks of grey water will be outside instead of inside the camper, and as you're finding out, you'll have to either raise your shower level which usually means corresponding total ceiling height increase as well, or install a pump from shower into the tanks, which is another leak and failure point. My shower pan gravity drains into hose, an outside custom P-trap, and the hose runs over the transmission to be heated by it before emptying into the first of three grey water tanks. I have three tanks to get more capacity in sizes that fit where there was space. All of them I can access from below should I need to and same with the hose and fittings interconnecting them and electric drain valve. By There is no real need to freeze protect them or keep them warm, since, warm water flowing in from the camper and engine and transmission heat will thaw some of any frozen water and all of the plumbing and fixtures can take freezing temps. As long as the tanks are kept to 90% or less full, the expansion of frozen water shouldn't affect them and I've installed a remotely controlled stainless ball valve to regularly drain the water to keep grey tank level low. I do have a video on this early in this series.
Another point is that I installed thru hull plumbing connectors for the plumbing from inside to outside so that there is a direct and fully sealed connection that is air and water tight other than the liquid within the piping, and that plumbing fittings can be easily changed. The other benefit is it's easy to fully seal from any air or water or insect intrusion, and it's very strong and durable.
@vantripping thank you for the detailed response! I was hoping to find a way to make the chassis fully isolated from the camper in case I ever wanted to separate the 2 or wanted to upgrade to a different truck later on, but it is proving to be more complicated than I had originally anticipated.
@@alexiswhetstone8681 I was also trying to keep the camper and chassis separate but have realized that a few things like grey water tanks left in the chassis are very minimal things to add to a new chassis should the camper be relocated to one some many years later and yet having the in the chassis vs camper adds way more value.
@@vantripping that's a good way to look at it
We all have our own preferences on build but, at 7.20 you talk about working to a tolerance of 1mm so you utilize every available space - But I'll wager that if at the end of the build you reversed engineered it and stacked all that 1" box into a pile it would be highly significant percentage of your build space. Highly significant. Do I think it's a bad way of construction - No, used in moderation. Would I use it - No. Why? Because you've done your ground work with the subchassis and the (in my view overengineered) box. You already have way more integral strength than you're going to need so I see it as overkill apart from maybe retaining the water tank and the washing machine in the case of a major crash. Me, I'm going the other way this time (my last build in the late 90's was like yours and the finished weight was frightening!) so this time I'm bonding most surfaces using tape and silicon. My other big difference which doesn't apply to your construction but might help other who follow your channel. Bc I can't use a sub-chassis I'm constructing each internal unit (wardrobe, kitchen. shower, toilet etc) as an independent structure so as when the (Merc) chassis does flex each unit can move independently ..... Like I said, we all have our own preferences but I hope these comments might give thought to others who are building/planning.... now, IF that 8020 box was 1/2" instead......
PS - the shower pan.. You're building in a pristine level garage. The only effective floor pan for a Overlander shower either has two diagonally opposed drains - or like mine will be a deep channel so that it will always drain 100% when parked on an inevitable angle....
Yeah all good points. 1" profile is still wider than the typical 3/4" plywood used, and could be as heavy; I've been weighing along the way and will do a comparative calculation when done. Several benefits of 8020 over plywood are strength and durability but also adjustability and more multi-use like holding heavy objects, or more easily installing things like drawer slides. Every build type and style has its pros and cons. My camper is very feature-rich, and I am limited by materials and construction techniques available to me. I wish more low-weight and strong materials were available and easy to use as 8020 is. I also like you wish 8020 had a common smaller profile than 1", as 1" is even more than needed for most camper cabinet framing and uses. I too think adhesives and other bonding methods will become more common.