Busy Busy Busy…….

15-2-20

Its been a hectic couple of weekends getting all of the little bits and pieces done, it’s amazing how long the simplest of jobs can take.

Once the rooflights were in and secure the interior roof panels had to be trimmed, fitted and the interior lights had to be wired up in their new position.

Next on the list was to lay the flooring, this is industrial strength, anti slip Lino, it came in one piece approx 4 metres by 2 metres and is 3mm thick, doesn’t sound too bad, but believe me its a beast of a job to fit. This stuff isn’t the nice soft flexible Lino that you put in your kitchen, no, this stuff was made to withstand a nuclear holocaust, its like trying to lay a steel plate and cutting it was a thing of nightmares, thankfully I bought the Stanley blades by the hundred as after only a couple of cuts the blades were useless.

But once stuck down it transformed the look inside the van, its one of those jobs that you’ll never want to do again but you feel like you’ve really achieched something when you stand back and admire your handiwork.

Its at this stage things start to take shape as all the stuff that was ripped out a month ago can start to go back in. First off it was time to refit the auxiliary batteries and associated electrics.

My original set up includes 2 x 100Ah leisure batteries with a Voltage Sensitive Relay to charge them whilst driving, a Mains hook up with Durite 20 amp charger for when on campsites that have hook-up and a 10 Amp solar charger.

All these systems charge the leisure and main starter batteries as well as run all the auxiliary stuff like the fridge, tv, lighting, inverter etc etc..

Every single item that uses power is fused, and as such a 12 way fuse box distributes the power all around the van, and this can be isolated by a flick of a switch to ensure that when the van is stood for any length of time there is no accidental drain on the batteries.

Once the batteries were back in I was able to refit the solar panels on the roof, these are a great bit of kit and in the sunnier climes of Europe they keep everything topped up with power, reducing the need for electrical hook-ups on sites. As long as I don’t run the inverter I can last indefinitely off grid just from these panels.

I have found that if you stick to 12 volt equipment rather than 240 volt, that has as low a power consumption as possible and use LED’s for your lights its possible to keep your power usage to a minimum when parked up overnight. By far the biggest drain on the batteries is the fridge, and this is where it pays off to get the best you can afford, electric cool boxes are a waste of time as they could drain your battery flat overnight. The best by far are the compressor fridges like the Waeco CFX 50 that I use, these can go down to as low as -18’C to keep food frozen or as a normal fridge at 5’C, thats cool enough to keep them German Pilsners perfectly chilled.

Next up was refitting the night heater, this is the Eberspacher D1, it pumps out 2kw worth of heat and will keep the van nice and toasty warm even once you get down into the minus figures. Essential if you plan on touring the UK, the British summer being what it is.

Tidying up the wiring that could be seen hanging everywhere was needed, the wires on the left hand side near the roof were hidden behind ducting made from cut down plastic guttering thats covered in the same carpet as the walls, with just a few screws holding it up this allows easy access to the wiring if needed.

As you can see from the picture above, a big improvement, the wiring on the right hand side will be routed behind the furniture that will be built all along that side. Another addition was to put Lily’s seat back in but I moved this back about 6 inches to make it easier to get in and out the side door and in the final stage of the build the bed will reach from the back doors to the back of the seat.

With all the bits and bobs done it’s now time to plan exactly where everything is going to fit and this will decide the final dimensions for the furniture, no off the shelf stuff here, I’ve already had to change a few things around and all because the folding chair was 2 inches too big, oh well, back to the drawing board.

Thats it for now, when I get time I’ll fetch the plywood and get stuck into building the furniture. I think 2 weeks of self isolation should be enough time to get it finished. Maybe go for the whole 28 days just to be on the safe side……….

Stay safe and stay healthy folks…………