Michael Janke

Chasing Fresh Air and Sunshine

  • Battery Monitoring – You can never have too much data

    Battery Monitoring – You can never have too much data

    Edit: An up-to-date description of the vans technology. I’ve been monitoring battery status with a pair of Thornwave battery monitors. They work OK, but because they do not log data. I have to be within Bluetooth range to check the batteries. There is no history, so I have to guess what happened when I’m not…

  • Re-insulating the fridge – chasing my tail

    After running for a year with my modified refrigerator compartment venting and insulation, the Nova Kool compressor fridge is still barely keeping up on a hot day. I had to pull the fridge again anyway (to replace the insulation that I pulled when fixing the drip) so I figured I’d try to add a bit…

  • Portable Solar

    Portable Solar

    Make a note. Compressor refrigerators are nice, but they draw significant amounts of power. Ours is large, poorly vented and poorly insulated, so it sucks (power). We’d like to be able to stay away from electric campgrounds more often, but because the 200W of rooftop solar doesn’t keep up with the refrigerator, our battery capacity…

  • COVID Camping – sort of…

    We returned from our Spring trip just as the virus was gathering momentum. Toilet paper was already in short supply & hand sanitizer was scarce. We made it home a couple weeks before Minnesota started shutting down. I’d rather not travel in and out of unaffected rural areas during a pandemic, just on the off…

  • Battery Monitoring with Thornwave

    Last summer I added a 100 amp-hour lithium (LiFePo4) battery to the campervan, and last fall I switched out the OEM flooded lead acid batteries for a pair of absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries. In the current setup: The combination works OK under most conditions. In moderate weather, the AGM’s will run the fridge and…

  • Campervan – Lagun Table Installation

    The Coachmen Crossfit/Beyond 22C comes with a not-too-useful 12″ by 28″ dining table – not even big enough to hold a couple of plates. Apparently Coachmen thinks that people don’t eat in campervans. Or don’t eat off plates. The dining table doubles as a filler piece to fill in the foot of the bed when…

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