Just sold my Dakota on craigslist.org the other day and bought a Dodge RAM 2500 with what I made . Very nice 96 van with around 110k miles on it, about the same mileage as my 99 Dakota had on it.

Had some questions concerning tricking out the entertainment system in there, however. I know that with a single battery, I may be a bit limited, so I wanted to get opinions (or fact) about what to do to get a good set up working. It has a small TV in it that runs on 12VDC, and had a VCR that ran on 12VDC as well. The guy threw in a DVD player that runs on AC, so I got in and bought a 175W DC/AC converter from radio shack and got it wired in and got the DVD player hooked up to the TV. Problem is that my DC/AC converter won't run unless the van is running, seems it's a bit too much for it. Would a lower wattage converter do the job, or would it still be pushing the battery? I can get a 75W for the same price.

This is a short term solution, however, as I'd like to set up a PC in there in place of the DVD player. I have a small shuttle system that would work well, which has a low power, power supply on it. I'd also like to replace the small TV with a larger HDTV or LCD screen. My thought was to find a fold down bracket I could mount to the roof for the purpose, but the question does come in, where to drill? Maybe adding wooden ribs to the roof? It would need to be able to maintain some shock as well... And again, power can become an issue. Pretty sure I will need a second battery in the van to make sure to have plenty of juice for this type of set up. I'd also like to enhance the sound with something a bit beefier, even just a simple 2.1 or 5.1 surround sound setup, similar, or identical to a set of PC speakers.

Anyone with any ideas around this? Other threads maybe?

 

The one you want to talk to here is "landyacht318". He has setup his van with the correct batteries, solar panels, wiring, etc. While you're waiting for him to jump in here, you could try searching for posts by him on this subject.

 

BTW, if you just say Dodge RAM people (and parts stores) will think you have a pickup truck. You do have to specify that you have a Dodge Ram Van when buying anything for it. Parts for the two vehicle are not interchangeable.

I dug up a couple threads to get you started.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...batteries.html

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...ml#post1806665

 

Awesome, thanks a lot alloro! I was in a hurry last night and know I need to do some forum searching, but couldn't really think of appropriate search terms, plus it was getting late and I wanted to introduce myself anyway. Thanks for the starter tips.

 

The Inverter you bought from radio shack should be mounted close to the battery and wired directly over some fairly thick wires 10 or 12 awg. Since you have it running through the Van's stock wiring (18awg most likely), the inverter could be as far as 25 feet ( half the circuit) away over too thin a wire. The battery voltage could be 12.8, but by the time it makes it over all that too thin wire it is down to 11.8, and the inverter will shut itself down at 11.5 volts or so. Your battery is not the problem, it is the wiring leading to the inverter. There is much less voltage drop over AC current than DC, So the use of extension cords on appliances is way better than mounting the inverter further away from the batteries.

There are a multitude of ways to wire in other batteries, isolated from the chassis starting battery.
Google "12 volt side of life".

Read parts one and two, and that will give you more concise information, and know which questions to ask to complete your project.

Is your roof a raised fiberglass roof?

Also your TV is probably not Digital Ready(ATSC) but analog(NTSC)

CRT tv's draw twice as much power as LCD flat panel TV's
You will be able to add a 12 volt converter box (google antec) for your current TV, but that is another energy draw.

For now I recommend buying a jumper battery pack like this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=39954.
And keeping it fully charged, for when you inevitably run your battery dead. When your current chassis battery can no longer hold a charge, then think about adding new deep cycle battery to the vehicle which can be isolated from the new starting battery.

It will give you an Idea of how much energy you are using and can get from a battery.

 

If it is not digital ready, you will have to buy a analog to digital converter box- and rescan it averytime you move the vehicle.... EVERYTIME. I know, I had a temp job troubleshooting these kinds of questions. The converters in the US cost about 50 dollars and up... and no, you do not need a special 'digital' attenna. Canada will be transitioning in 2011.

 

Well that can get annoying after a while. I'd rather just go and buy a flat screen digital TV. It would use half the power, give a nicer picture, and there would be no playing around with a converter box.

 

While to get every available channel in a new location an autoscan is necessary, but if you are within 1 station's broadcast area, it will come in in a different spot, theoretically up to 100 miles away without running a new autoscan. Even a new LCD flat panel digital TV will have to autoscan, not just the converter boxes.
I regularly check to see what is available in different areas, and run the gamut of available channels in one area and compare to the others. The strongest stations come in without an new autoscan.

 

Ever thought about simply installing Direct TV in that thing? As long as you can point the dish at the satellite, you'd get all of the same channels each time.

They even have high speed internet over the satellite.

 

On my Need/Want list.

Direct TV is in the latter column, near the bottom.

Below the 2nd alternator dedicated to the house batteries.