Ceiling Headliner and Lighting - DIY Sprinter Van Build 

Thank you for watching!

The van will never be done if I can help it. :). Sorry for the three month intermission.

Yea it was too good to pass up!

Thank you that’s a huge complement.

I sure appreciate the complement!

thank you for following along!

Thank you, it works great for us.

Thanks for watching and good luck with your build!

Thanks for watching and I appreciate the feedback! We are very happy with the van build.

Thank you, you as well!

Thank you Larry, I really appreciate the complement! Good luck with your build as well.

Why thank you; good to hear from you again.

Thanks so much 😊

@@ourkaravan I was wondering if I could route the battery to the alternator so it charge while driving . Do you have any info on how to wire that ? thank you so much in advance .

On our website, ourkaravan.com I have an article that discusses how we achieve that. Basically we have an inverter/charger to provide AC power in our van, so we use an inexpensive inverter to supply power to the internal charger if needed. If you charge all the time via alternator, you'll most likely want a "battery to battery" charger due to the way modern alternators work. I hope that helps.

Thank you, and happy new year to you as well!

Thanks for watching!

Thank you, I always enjoy the feedback, especially when it’s positive. Happy new year to you too!

Hey Jes, I just shoved a piece of 1/4” bamboo into the inset of the black frame. I needed that 1/4” due to the depth of the dimmer switch.

Headliner has to come out from front to back. Unplug and remove the dome lights, then using those cheap trim removal tools from my store, pop loose the clips that retain the headliner. Pick up a bag of the cheap green replacement body clips from my store as well because you may break a few of them. The headliner is retained to the sidewalls by some forked spring clips that can be released by pushing up from underneath with a screwdriver. Hope that helps!

True 2 way lighting requires special switches and is a bit complicated. Mine is basically wired exactly how you would wire a dimmer, with the exception that the master switch interrupts the ground between the dimmer and the light. So the master has to be on for the dimmer to function.

It worked great for me. I did fully insulate the van with Thinsulate. I did a write up here: ourkaravan.com/insulation/

Happy new year! I found mine on the sprinter source forum website.

Hi Ray, if you google Penn Elcom recessed dish they should come up on amazon and parts express. I’ve ordered from both places. I can’t tell you how long it took me to find out what they are called.

ourkaravan Thanks Ken, found them!

Thanks Hugh! The dimmer switch has inputs for power and ground, then outputs for positive and negative to the light(s). All I did was install a rocker switch inline between the dimmer and the lights themselves. I interrupted the ground. The idea being that lighting can be turned on and off at the switch on the slider door as you enter and exit the vehicle. But when getting in bed you can use the dimmer and turn the lighting completely off without leaving bed. Inverse in the morning. The rear lighting is not on a dimmer and just has a separate single switch. The LED bulbs I used were discontinued, or at least the link no longer works. The VS30 Sprinters have factory LEDs that fit in the same headliner and some of my friends have purchased those from the dealership for apparently a reasonable price. Something worth investigating. The red light is a custom affair. I installed a Cree LED on a heatsink in the factory light housing, powered from a Luxdrive 350mA driver and hooked to a switch on my house battery system. It's separate from the factory lighting even though it's in the same housing. Let me know if you need more details. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Hope that helps!

@@ourkaravan Ken - Thanks so much. As always you provided just what I need to move forward. Plus you're ideas, like the red lighting is great. Excellent solution! Hugh

@@hughmontgomery7387 My pleasure Hugh!

@@ourkaravan Ken - another question regarding switching/dimming the lights. I understand your solution to the dimmer and main switch cutting the ground, but I plan to wire my lights on a 2 way circuit with two SPDT switches. I am curious if this dimmer you used could be wired into a 2 way circuit as one of the two switches? Or do you know of another dimmer that can be? Thanks -Hugh

Hi Hugh, I think so? I haven't messed with two-way DC dimming but I can't see why the dimmer wouldn't do it. The dimmer can be one of your switches as it has an OFF detent, but I suppose the less you use it for that purpose the longer it will last.

Hi Kevin, the switch is called the Marinco Contour. There is very little mounting depth behind the plastic for a normal switch, hence the reason for using this surface mounted one.

I bought mine used on the sprinter source forums, but of course they are available as an option when ordering the van. The headliners do come up from time to time, you just have to keep your eye on it.

Yes I did. Certainly do-able. I cut mine in the van to be sure my cut aligned with the fan.

@@ourkaravan I am going to look into this since I have the MB floor, might be a good match of colors

@@ourkaravan Do you have a part number for this? I have called the MB dealer and he's trying to find it in their catelogs etc. That would help him out even if it wasn't for my specific van. Mine is a 2019 Sprinter 2500

@@debberkebile4396 Hi Deb, I do not, I'm sorry. You probably want the optional crew van headliner as the passenger van version has a huge cutout for the factory rear mount air conditioning.

Are you ready for a long link...holy moly: rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FMARINCO-1101-BK-CONTOUR-1100-DOUBLE-INTERIOR-SWITCH-ON-OFF%2F254699080838%3Fepid%3D1637704031%26_trkparms%3Dispr%253D1%26hash%3Ditem3b4d3f8c86%3Ag%3Ak~UAAOSwYKZfRKOs%26enc%3DAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkrDx%252B2NLp21dg6hHbHAkGMYXwApC4u1qchghmT9Lpa2QSWJ9fMLGCvmiNG6uiiShQVqiw1%252BoiLuGWfTQEvCZchNWXtFDghfm%252FneOv%252B0e%252FC%252BoUJKD%252FK9jzFYIgoDUjLL1l5rvThTMm9f40wcvhr5F5WLoLhmzOyREspcQ60SKYkoRMAY3OMt%252B7jrA4VuPEii366e6MiEzUIZuyrQg5R51S8OyOhjTtzIJpvulvLELvomh5hPqpi6x4%252FMQm%252Fxg7p23oECgSMeGCNV7X4QsUFZE%252BfU93CHkpzrRpUe7uzdpoNOv1hyTXw3hEGN%252FZBtZS17DiwtoyOs9v0vJQHzyoc0C%252BVyNpZG56hl9rw9hFHYG7sa3RNVRiESYInvbJ34UbwPn1vq9BJrr414vfekD8Vy2dBxKeox%252F82U6RG0RvpLI9Vmp6UWGwyc2NBI4RszZBBrrzYjCe0lVCwtQcgC%252BaYKZJHrQ0E%252FXmJl%252FnXyYkfx6uHUfivaTPZoIU%252FQHqt76sHAwfzUdOp24Gq8y7ujIS2zn35%252BSTbCliSXQSF6h2fnxetVyd2Ye%252FQxkk5umkuY1pRCYqGWHc7b54bZpRyV0X27Mb9G1qMyv1aySblZC7ZyY5%252BHiIVqDX%252FTEYensPX%252B3odThjit6g6gFb4LTQZ4txERphCo%252BBcWEhfuSa1ObcULJuE9qOCb%252FPgLJvrPH2l2DI6sitI7RF3wVvti8H8V%252FdWvrHPmpL%252B9hjvwVkQnF09uDre0Y08in%252FkOs241u%252Bbe7Ddy5JSTF%252BiZ2JUfmQi6pTeBB%252FzQ%253D%253D%26checksum%3D25469908083898bfa73c75f649b2b085048b4bb47ee1&campid=5338288596&toolid=10001&customid=

I'm a member of the sprinter-source forums. Lots of good info there.

Some boats use multiplex wiring, which I have no experience with but it’s basically away to control lighting from a centralized panel. These lights have that capability but I’m just using a regular switch.

@@ourkaravan thank you very much. I've done a lot of basic automotive wiring but have never dealt with multiplexing

@@ourkaravan That's why the lights are so expensive, they must be addressable and able to decode MX signals. That will reduce control wiring significantly for a multitude of lights setup. Pretty awesome

@@dodgeplow It's basically a single wire communication bus.

@@georgedemean2228 Thanks for the explanation. I mainly bought these because two of my favorite van builders use them and I'm tired of LED lighting going bad. I've had particularly bad luck with the circuits in LED yard lighting, deck lighting and automotive replacement bulbs. Not taking that chance on the van.

It may have been an option, I’m not sure.

I totally agree. But given the luck I’ve had with cheap stuff I wasn’t willing to risk it. You could do the same install with any light.

It averages out well with the $150 headliner 🤣😂😅