I've always been an organized person, but when my partner and I were building our van, my organizational skills were put to the test. With limited savings, we had to time our purchases month by month, and sometimes things we ordered would arrive well in advance, causing delays.
One example was the 105-liter water tank we ordered. It sat in our living room for three weeks before we could install it in the van. It didn't occur to me until that weekend that the lid might not be watertight, despite the manufacturer's claim that it could be installed at a 90-degree angle.
Once we installed the tank and began testing our plumbing system, we noticed a leak coming from the red lid. We tried tightening it as much as we could, but it still leaked, so we had to remove the tank and figure out the issue. We posted a question in a Facebook group asking for help, and got some useful suggestions, like using batten and hammer, or Sikaflex.
Eventually, one person pointed out that they had the same issue and discovered a mistake on the lid. It needed to be amended with a knife and sandpaper to fit the threads properly and become watertight. I spent the whole day sitting with the tank in our bathroom, working on the lid and testing for leaks.
One of the most eye-catching items in our living room was our Sunwind Cuisine 50 gas range. After eagerly awaiting its arrival, I was quick to open the box and give it a quick glance-over. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not giving it a more thorough check. When we finally went to install it in our van, we noticed a massive dent on the left side and the top was loose. The brackets that held the top in place were also broken. Another delay!
After contacting the seller and explaining the situation, they agreed to take it back, but it still took a whopping 2.5 weeks to receive a replacement. This experience taught me a valuable lesson: always check items more thoroughly before accepting them.
Great news, we were finally able to test our shower! We had ordered a shower mixer from Amazon.de, which we chose for its small and sleek design, as we wanted to maximize space in our shower. However, we soon realized that the mixer was not functioning properly. During our showers, we were puzzled as to why the water was scorching hot at first, and then quickly became cold. At first, we thought that our water heater was not powerful enough to provide warm water for two people to shower, but after testing it, we discovered that the thermostat was actually stuck on hot water. We tried to remove the thermostat but were unsuccessful. We went to a plumbing company for help, but even they were unable to open the mixer. The plumber even admitted that he had never seen this type of mixer before, making it difficult to find a replacement.
We were able to find a solution at Biltema, where we purchased a new shower mixer. This experience taught us a valuable lesson to always thoroughly test our equipment before installing and using it and to do our research when choosing products. Check out the picture below of the faulty mixer.
In conclusion, building a van tested our organizational skills to the max, as we had to time our purchases with limited savings. However, we faced some delays due to the arrival of items well in advance, causing us to realize the importance of thoroughly checking items before accepting them. We faced challenges with the installation of our 105-liter water tank, which took some trial and error to make it watertight. Similarly, our Sunwind Cuisine 50 gas range had a dent and broken brackets, leading to a 2.5-week delay in getting a replacement. Finally, our sleek shower mixer from Amazon.de turned out to be faulty, leaving us with scorching hot water and a stuck thermostat. But we learned our lesson and got a new mixer from Biltema, reinforcing the importance of doing our research and thoroughly testing our equipment. Despite the challenges, we were able to overcome them and are excited to continue our van life journey.
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