The building of

Ernie Tortuga

our Sprinter van

We were camping in a tent and driving a Subaru Outback, which can be problematic in Bear Country. We decided to upgrade to hard shell camping, and bought a Mercedes Benz 2016 Sprinter 3500 with the long wheelbase and a Super High fiberglass roof. The extra height gives us over seven feet of head clearance, which allows more room for my 6'8" height.

We bought the van as an empty shell wrapped in plastic, with holes where the windows should be. Once the windows were installed we were street legal (though it took a few tries before the installers were able to properly seal them from the rain). A friend Mike led me through building the bedframe, and he also built the footlocker with the spare wood and other hardware he had.

The floor was our first foray into solo work, the result of numerous YouTube videos. In retrospect, I should have done better, making it thicker with more insulation. C'est la vie, it is functional. Next we stuffed insulation into the walls and mostly hid it behind wall coverings. Sharon liked the idea of a bead board ceiling, so we packed insulation up there before screwing in the boards that she painted off white. With the ceiling we had a home!

When we tent camped in our Subaru, we kept our clothes in plastic bins, and we figured what was good enough then would be good enough for now. So I built a pair of open boxes with a middle vertical board, the width of each side defined by the width of the bins we were using. I built a pair of shelves with slides for canned goods. We had a Yeti cooler from our tent days, and we kept it for our initial year's travels. I built a humongous box to store stuff beside the bikes, which were

Our second year we replaced our bins with drawers, and we added upper cabinets. I got the doors wrong initially, we spent our second year trying to find a good way to keep them closed. In the back, we put the bikes on a slide, and then tossed the big box and replaced it with another slide and a trio of plastic bins. We later added a shelf above the bins to hold our pair of inflatable SUPs.

Our electrical journey started out very simply. We originally got a plug put in the side of the van, which our first big trip was connected to an extension cord. Then we had a more proper electrical installation, with a 100 amp hour GSM battery, a charger when connected to shore power, a breaker box, and a few outlets that only work when plugged into shore power. And a 50 watt solar panel and controller and inverter. The panel failed fairly quickly, and the installer wouldn't honor their own warranty or the manufacturer's. So we replaced it with a 160 watt panel and a better controller and better inverter. (The original inverter was modified sine wave, which causes issues with some products, so we upgraded to pure sine wave.) We used up the battery in less than a year, so we replaced it with a pair of LiFEPO4 100 amp hour units and a battery management system, so I can monitor its status from my phone.

Our Theory

We want to be self-sufficient and reasonably minimalistic. Ideally, we would like to collect enough solar to drive our van and cool the insides, which is not feasible with current technology. Ideally we would like to have air conditioning running off our house batteries, which is supposedly feasible with current technology, but is problematic enough for us that it isn't on our immediate plans. But being able to do everything else that we want while traveling is pretty much in place. We have adequate battery power (a pair of 100 amp hour LiFePO4 batteries), we have as much solar collectors that fit, plus drawing "extra" power from the alternator while we're driving. And we have a vehicle that gets more than 21 mpg on our travels. With our inverter we can run our household appliances (one at a time), and we have enough DC outlets for providing a charge for everything else. We have enough water on board for our basic needs. We have a solar shower that is quite functional, though lacking the luxuriousness of a steaming hot sharp needle spray. And we have bikes and SUPs and hiking gearso we can get out and enjoy the nature we visit! Life is good. 2019 was the third year of our Mercedes Sprinter. The first year (2017) was a bare bones build-out with the bed, some floor cabinets, a Yeti cooler and left over window coverings. The next year (2018) we made lots of improvements, adding drawers in the cabinets, new upper cabinets for more storage, and improved our interior with much nicer window covers. Our bikes moved to the outside so we could bring our inflatable SUPs. And we replaced the Yeti with an ARB, a DC powered refrigerator. In 2019 the improvements were less visible, but focused on making our life on the road easier. The 100 Amp-hour GSM house battery of last year was inadequate. The problem with lead acid batteries is you can only use 50% of their power before you start to shorten the lifespan of the battery. Towards the end of our trip last Summer we were finding the battery wasn't really holding its charge, and we found ourselves buying ice to keep the ARB cool. So we talked to Simon at Battery Distributors Southeast in Jacksonville and replaced the single GSM with a pair of RELion Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries and a Victron Battery Management System. Lithium batteries can be drawn down 80-90% without degrading the battery's lifespan. I look at it as the GSM gave us 50 A-Hr of power, while the new batteries give us 160 A-Hr (80 from each). More power in reserve, more options for comfort! We also ran a line off the alternator to assist in keeping the batteries charged. Between the solar panel and the trickle charge we get while driving we expect to be in great shape powerwise. Todd from Beaches Electric in Jacksonville Beach came out and made sure that the wiring was correct; I don't want to do anything that would impact the operation of the Mercedes drivetrain! Alas, I misinterpreted the documentation, and this never worked as planned. (It kept blowing a 10 amp fuse.) So in Fall of 2019 we went to Freedom Vango to implement a better, proven design.

 I didn't like having the bikes off the back of Ernie in 2018. Yes, the Yakima rack swung out nicely so we could open the rear doors easily, and they were secure on the rack with it's integrated lock. But they were susceptible to road grime and dust around the bottom bracket and wheel bearings and shock tubes. So we have moved the bikes back inside, and added a shelf over our storage boxes on the left side of the back, with just enough room to stuff the SUPs in. So now we are back to our original stealth mode, or as stealth as a 10' tall and 24' long van can be!

 The wall cabinet doors were a pain in 2018. The storage space was wonderful, but we went through several iterations keeping them closed. We found some good rubber ties at an REI around Seattle that wrapped effectively around the latches, but it was a lame solution. So we replaced the side opening doors with top opening ones, and making two of them wider. And I finally installed better hardware that keeps them closed without any extra attachments.

Electric

Our electrical setup is based on a pair of RElium 100 amp-hour Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries. These two 12 volt batteries sit in the back corner of the van, attached in parallel to provide 200 amp-hours of 12 volt power. We monitor their charge level with a Victron Battery Management Sytem, which broadcasts via Bluetooth to an app on my phone. Beside an overall percentage the app also tells me how many amps and watts are charging the battery, or are being sucked out of the batteries. We try to use direct current for as much as we can. We have 12v plugs (car cigarette adapters) around the van, most with USB multi-ports plugged in. We have a multi-port on each side of the bed for charging our phones, Kindles, and mini-fans. We have a multi-port by our overhead cabinet for charging random stuff (Bluetooth speaker, bike computer, charging brick, etc.), and a second adapter for our DC box fan. Our ARB 5 liter refridgerator plugs into another adapter. We still need ac current, so we have a Renogy 2000 watt Pure Since Wave Inverter. We have two extension cords from it, one to each side of the van. We plug our appliances (electric skillet, Instant Pot, coffee maker, Bullet) into one of them, one at a time to make sure we don't overload the inverter. We also have our phone/laptop chargers so we can fast charge them when need be. To supplement the power from the solar panels, we can also charge the batteries while we're driving from the alternator. We went to Freedom Van Go and let them do the work. They have the experience and expertise that I don't. We also have a shore power outlet on the side of the van, and it connects to four wall outlets, as well as replenish the batteries with all the power they want. Ideally, we will never have to plug in while we travel, that between the solar panels and the alternator the batteries will always have enough power for our needs.

The Details

      Lots of gear is needed for ready electricity. Ours is only one solution, but it's a working solution!
  • Renogy 160W Solar Panel
  • Renogy Charge Controller
      • Our initial foray into solar was a bust. The panel failed and the warranty proved to be worthless. It was also insufficient for our needs when it was working. So we went to Renogy and bought their flexible 160W panel and their Rover 20 Amp Charge Controller with Bluetooth. It installed easily (with help from my friend Stephen), and I could monitor the system from my phone. We liked it so much we added two more panels, and upgraded the controller to the 40 amp version to accommodate the extra power from the panels.
  • Renogy 2000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter
      • The 2000 watt Pure sine wave power inverter gives us cleaner ac power from the house battery than we had from our previous Modified sine wave inverter. Now we don't worry about burning out electronics and motors prematurely.
  • RELion Battery
  • Victron Battery Management System
  • Battery operated Clip-on Mini Fan
  • Endless Breeze box fan
      • The best upgrade we have is from the inadequate AGM battery to a pair of 100 A-hr Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries and a management system. The two batteries give us 3x more power, which should be get us through days of overcast weather with little solar charging. We still don't have enough power for air conditioning, but our fans are proving a fair substitute. We each a mini-fan on our headboard, and the box fan pushes air throughout the cabin quite efficiently.
  • CTEK 40-186 D250SA 5-Step, Automatic DUAL 12 V 20 A Battery Charger
  • CTEK 40-185 SmartPass 120 A Energy Management Unit
  • Victron Blue Smart IP67 Charger
      • We have two alternatives to solar for charging the batteries, the alternator and shore power. From the car battery with have a CTEK battery charger and SmartPass Energy Management box to take enough power to sate our RELions and no more. If we happen to have shore power and low batteries, the Victron charger is smart enough to manage the lithium batteries correctly (which our originally installed system doesn't). I've tested it and it works beautifully. That said, I expect that its usage will be exceedingly rare if the other two systems work as planned.
  • Battery operated Clip-on Mini Fan
  • Endless Breeze box fan
  • Maxxair 0007000K MaxxFan
      • We got rid of our roof top A/C unit (too noisy and it only worked with shore power), and upgraded our air movement and it's working out pretty well so far. We each a mini-fan on our headboard, and the box fan pushes air throughout the cabin quite efficiently. The Maxxair is quiet, adjustable and power sipping, and replaces a taller, louder and less capable fan.
  • Puck Lights
  • Bar Light
      • The puck lights are the best we've found. They dim, they're easy to turn on/off with just a touch, or control them all with the remote. The remote is also how the dimming is enabled. When you set the level on a puck it will remember that level when you touch it on/off. Battery operated, so you don't need to do any wiring, and we have them simply sticking to the surfaces. The bar lights are also handy, they provide more intense light for work areas.
  • Surge Protector
      • RV'ing friends were unanimous that protecting yourself from bad campground power is well worth the price.
  • 5 Port USB Charger
  • Two Socket Smart Car Socket Splitter
      • This is the nicest multiport USB charger I've found running off 12 volt. We can charge both phones overnight, our salt night light, and room to recharge our Kindles or other items all at the same time. We've got three of them, one of each side of the bed for phones and Kindles and watches, and one in the main area for bike computers, camera batteries and the like. And the splitter allows us to plug two devices in without swapping cords all the time.

Solar

We have three Renogy 160 watt Flexible solar panels taped to our roof, and a Renogy 40 amp MPPT controller to feed the energy accrued into the batteries.

The Details

      These are the items that we've purchased to put this together.
  • Renogy 160W Solar Panel
  • Renogy Charge Controller
      • Our initial foray into solar was a bust. The panel failed and the warranty proved to be worthless. It was also insufficient for our needs when it was working. So we went to Renogy and bought their flexible 160W panel and their Rover 20 Amp Charge Controller with Bluetooth. It installed easily (with help from my friend Stephen), and I could monitor the system from my phone. We liked it so much we added two more panels, and upgraded the controller to the 40 amp version to accommodate the extra power from the panels.
  • Inflatable Solar Lantern
      • A friend showed us one of these, and it looked darling, and we bought one on a visit to REI for fun. But these are great lights! It charges easily and stays light as long as we need it. You press a button for one of three light levels, or blinking. We have S-hooks on our ceiling for the box fan, and it's trivial to pop one of these on a hook, and it lights up Ernie as well as any of the battery lights we have. We now have two of these, and expect we'll use these more than any other light we have.

Water

Our water system is pretty rudimentary compared to most people we meet on the road. We have a sink with two 6 gallon jugs underneath, one for clean water to the faucet, one for waste from the sink drain. We are very careful not to pour bad stuff down the drain. We use environmentally friendly dish soap, and use paper towels on grease rather than make sludge that will come back and bite us. The clean water gets to the faucet through a 12 volt water pump and accumulator. The accumulator minimizes the running of the pump, and we have a switch on it so we can turn it off when we're moving or not using the sink.

The Details

      These are the items that we've purchased to put this together. This doesn't include links to our two 6 gallon BPA free jugs under the sink, one for clean water, one for the drain water.
  • Faucet
  • Water Pump, Accumulator, and Silencing Kit
      • We upgraded our faucet to give us more flexibility, this one has a sprayer and hose and can get out of the way if need be. It works great, drawing the water from our tank to the faucet. The accumulator keeps the pump for running as you move the faucet handle, much like the tank of an air compressor lessens the running of the compressor. And the silencing kit works, Sharon finds the noise no problem!
  • SteriPEN Ultra UV Water Purifier
  • Nalgene BPA-Free Water Bottle
      • More and more we find Boil Advisories on the water in the state and provincial and national parks we visit. It seems that an inexpensive way to make water potable is to irradiate with ultraviolet light for a bit, which incapicitates any germs enough that your stomach acids can complete the job. The SteriPen gets its power from USB, a nice plus. It only works on a liter at a time, hence the Nalgene bottle dedicated to the process. We will see if this solution is adequate.
  • Helio Pressure Shower
      • We play when we're on the road, we bike, we hike, we paddle. And we get sweaty. When we're in a campground and there are warm showers, Yippee! But when we're boondocking or at "limited facilities" campgrounds, we need an option. We have wet n wipes, useful for a quick cleanup sometimes. But there are times we need more. We've had a black plastic bag that we lay on our dash all day, but to use the bag we need a tree to hang it from, which is too often an issue. And it's a pain to manage the water flow, especially if you want to get two showers out of it. So we've upgraded to the Helio. It's more expensive than a simple bag, but it comes with a pump to pressurize the flow, and a bag that sits on the ground and a hose that you hold, and like the sprayer by your sink, it is trivial to manage the flow. The standard Helio is 3 gallons, more than enough for both of us, we're glad we didn't go for the XL model. You pump as needed during your shower, an easy process. It's a little thing, but the feeling of clean is wonderful.

Toys

We travel to get to places to hike, to bike, and to paddle. Hiking is pretty easy equipment wise, we have our shoes/boots and we each have hiking poles. Sharon's give her some stability and help her avoid tripping and balance on big steps. I use my poles like I'm cross country skiing, to use my upper body muscles more, and delay the onset of back pain that is too often a part of my life. Our bikes fit under the bed on a slide out shelf. We take off the front wheels and the seat posts to fit them, and lock the front forks to the drawer. This way our bikes stay clean and hidden. We tried carrying them on a rack for a while, but a seat cover was liberated, and the wheel bearings were subjected to more dirt and grit than we liked, so they are now safe from someone accidently backing into them. We have a pair of inflatable SUPs. I only use it as a kayak, sitting on a stadium seat for back support. Sharon uses it both as a kayak with a stadium seat and kayak paddle, or as a Stand Up Paddleboard with a SUP paddle. Both Tribal Boards are built Navy Seal mil-spec tough, so they stand up to any inadvertant run-ins with oyster beds or rocks we might encounter. We blow them up with a fan that we power from the engine. It only takes five minutes or running the engine to fill one up, and they roll up and pack away beside the bikes in the back.

The Details

      A few options to get started with.
  • Tribal Boards Inflatable SUP
  • Water Pump, Accumulator, and Silencing Kit
      • Tribal Boards sells military grade SUPs that will hold up to interactions with underwater rocks or oyster beds. We have a Sea Turtle and a Paradise model, and we also use the Battery Air Pump they sell. It takes about 5 minutes to fill each board.
  • Zinn Cycles
  • Giant Mountain Bikes
      • Bikes are wonderful devices. My Zinn fits me, but it's not a good bike for normally sized people. Sharon has a Giant that has sizes for normal folks. Zinn also sells custom length cranks, which are great if you have longer or shorter legs than normal.

Other Stuff

We have other stuff that's handy: a screen room that keeps the bugs off us when we want to relax at our campsite. We have a floormat for the screen room to keep things a bit cleaner when it's warranted. We each have a chair for our comfort, and a table that can fit between us.

The Details

      This is our current gear.
  • ARB cooler
      • The ARB runs on either AC or DC. We use the 12v plug to avoid the efficiency loss of the inverter. It is voluminous (50 liters), and that volume isn't reduced by ice as in a non-electric cooler. The ARB has some intelligence, so when the battery gets lower, it cuts back on their drain on it, and the refridgerator warms. This is nice from a battery standpoint, but you have to watch the temp when the battery isn't getting charged. For us, having the supposedly most efficient cooler is worth it.
  • Virtex 2-Way Radios
      • Our first year on the road, Sharon created an impressive array of hand signals to guide me as I backed into campsites and parking spaces. I never knew what they meant, I just kinda paid attention to how much energy she was expending on her random flailing. Then we got a pair of these radios, and now she can direct me verbally, and I can hear her. They actually make life a whole lot better. One of us takes off on a bike ride and brings one of these along, and if she gets lost, I can at least talk to her while I'm searching. All in all, they're like phones that work absolutely anywhere, for a couple of miles apart from each other. We don't use them every day, but they are a relief to have when we do.
  • 3 Qt. Instant Pot
  • 12" Electric Skillet
      • Sharon read that this was the hot item this year, so I bought her one for her birthday. The small size fits nicely in a drawer, and it's big enough for our meals. The pressure cooker aspect is a great time saver, and it makes delicious rice and oatmeal and grits. And the skillet makes short and efficient work of heating everything else. With the two, we may not need our old Coleman Propane stove.
  • Pioneer Receiver
      • The standard radio Ernie came with was poor. This is a huge upgrade, and wonderful. The HD radio is incredibly sensitive, better than any car radio I've ever had. Plus, it hooks seemlessly into my Android phone, so my downloaded Google Maps are displayed on the 7" screen for both of us to see. It also plays any of my audio apps for audiobooks or podcasts. And phone calls and texts work quite nicely, too. It also plays DVDs on the screen if we're settled in and don't want to read, and we have all my music on an SD card we leave in it. One silly feature is that the GPS directions volume can be set separately from the normal audio volume. Sharon goes nuts when the hears all the directiions at a loud volume, this one adjustment keeps her much calmer, and I can keep the audio reminders on.
  • Firgelli Full Extension Drawer Slides
      • These 40" slides are the basis for the two slididing shelves in the back of Ernie, and one for the foot locker. They supposedly have a 400 lb capacity, so they should handle whatever we put on them. (I weigh 220, and both the drawers and foot locker take my weight without complaint.) The shelves turned out to be pretty easy to build, and seem to work far better than any of my earlier attempts in the cabinets. In any case, they make the storage space under the bed far more accessible, and the foot locker easier to slide out and back.

Photo Albums of our Tortuga Sprinter.

Click to our photo albums from building out our hard shell camping vehicle.

A walk-through of the Version 2 upgrades