Minor Upgrades
Hey Guys,
So i finally got around to finishing some things on my holiday at home. Apologies its all pretty minor stuff, but some may find it of interest.
So the first upgrade was the heating. When I built the camper, I used some second hand parts as at the time I couldn't afford new. I have since learned that buying any critical systems second had is FALSE ECONOMY! Everything second hand has broken, so its all been replaced now. Anyway, our Webasto hot air heating broke around a year ago, but due to having the secondary wet heating system, i've not been in a rush to replace it. However, due to the holiday we were planning a couple of weeks ago, i decided to fit a new one. I went for an eberspacher D4, which I must say, i'm very impressed with. It heats the van within minutes, and regulates itself when desired temp is set on thermostatic controller. It also does cold air blowing, which is nice to use when cooking etc to circulate the air.
The foot print was different to the Webasto, so I had to make up a new spacer bracket to fit it:
Our reversing Camera gave up the ghost in Europe last September, so I replaced that. While I was up there, I fitted a 24v LED work lamp. I'm very pleased with this piece of kit, very bright and draws very little current.
Back in September I started the installation of the generator, getting it all mounted on the back. The idea from the start was to have the generator run in the box, with remote start from inside the van...which it now does!
I started by fitting two high temperature fans to the box, and making a hood for them from stainless steel. I seem to have forgotten to take a pic of that. Anyhoo, in order for it to work, i installed a system where by the fans in the box would run off the generator when it was running, and when shut down, the fans auto change over to run off the inverter/battery bank for a cool down period. For this to work, I had to extend wiring. The pic below shows the new plugs on the bumper, one for the fans, one for the generator remote control, and one for the 240v input from generator to the van.
I also installed an 8 pin plug on the generator (for the controls), so that the generator can be unplugged and removed from the box for use elsewhere.
The 3 new wires run along the chassis and into the van (one was already there for tank level gauge):
The system to auto change over the fans was made from a 240v change over relay, and a bathroom fan timer, shown here installed in the garage. The box next to this is the RCD for the inverter.
I also installed an RCD in the generator box, so all incoming 240v feeds are now protected
The box inside the van to control the generator has 3 buttons, one for on/off, one for the starter, and one for the eco mode. Again made from stainless steel:
So that's the generator install all finished. We used it every day on holiday, particularly useful for the wife when she want to use the hair dryer! Unfortunately the exhaust manifold cracked on it, so i'll have to fix that next time i'm home.
Another job long overdue, was lights in the garage. I've had these kicking around the about 2 years, but just haven't got around to fitting them. Now I have them, I don't know how we lived without them!
And showing the switch location:
The last mod I have picture of, is the installation of the waffle boards. These are particularly useful when stopping somewhere a bit soggy to park the van on, and also apparently up to the task of bridging, although not sure i'd trust them for that. So, I had some complex design for a bracket made from stainless steel to hang these on the outside of the van. However, the wife wasn't to keen on that, so I was going to put them on the roof. It would have been a bit impractical, and taken up valuable solar panel real estate. So, my dad came up with the great idea of mounting them in a swingout at the back of the garage. That way, they are hidden, but don't get ****e in the garage, and act as a garage door. My dad is excellent at carpentry, and knocked this up in a couple of hours. Of course, I made the stainless steel corner pieces!
