I just called Direct Line, my insurers to tell them about the Reimo Roof that's going on. I've had to fork out an extra £33 for the 6 months left on my insurance to cover the extra value the roof is adding to the van.
They're not entirely sure how to deal with insuring this addition to the van and have decided to say that I'm in the process of upgrading my van to a full camper van - which isn't entirely accurate as I'm never going to go the full hog and stick in an oven, a fridge and running water. Well, probably not! So it looks like that will be the final mod for the insurance which isn't too bad.
Still going to look around for better quotes in 6 months time though.
The California Beach
Monday, 29 March 2010
Friday, 26 March 2010
Reimo Roof and other bits
I'm excited.
Tomorrow morning first thing I'm driving the van down to CMC in Hythe, Kent where it will be undergoing it's major transformation into part-camper. In one week I am hoping to get a new Reimo elevating roof with built in bed fitted; recarpeted throughout, new LED lights in the back of the van, wired into the leisure battery; a split relay charge fitted to charge the leisure battery whilst driving; and a mains hook up. The electrics will all be wired into the cabinet I've been building in the back.
When I booked it in I paid a deposit on the roof and carpeting. I then emailed CMC later on and followed up with a phone call with requests for the mains hook up and split replay charge work. They are very busy at the moment with a large number of conversions so they said they would try and fit the electrical work into the 4 days they have the van, but can't guarantee it. Fair enough, but I'm really hopeful it will all go in.
I've even written up a little blog entry explaining how I want it all wired in which I'm printing out and taking with me for them to refer to!
I guess if they can't get it all done next week then the van will have to go back in to get the electrical bits done at a later date - or I'll look at somewhere else nearer to home to do this work. I'm definitely keen to get a single installer to do all the electrical work in one hit so that if there are any problems I can take it back to them.
Tomorrow morning first thing I'm driving the van down to CMC in Hythe, Kent where it will be undergoing it's major transformation into part-camper. In one week I am hoping to get a new Reimo elevating roof with built in bed fitted; recarpeted throughout, new LED lights in the back of the van, wired into the leisure battery; a split relay charge fitted to charge the leisure battery whilst driving; and a mains hook up. The electrics will all be wired into the cabinet I've been building in the back.
When I booked it in I paid a deposit on the roof and carpeting. I then emailed CMC later on and followed up with a phone call with requests for the mains hook up and split replay charge work. They are very busy at the moment with a large number of conversions so they said they would try and fit the electrical work into the 4 days they have the van, but can't guarantee it. Fair enough, but I'm really hopeful it will all go in.
I've even written up a little blog entry explaining how I want it all wired in which I'm printing out and taking with me for them to refer to!
I guess if they can't get it all done next week then the van will have to go back in to get the electrical bits done at a later date - or I'll look at somewhere else nearer to home to do this work. I'm definitely keen to get a single installer to do all the electrical work in one hit so that if there are any problems I can take it back to them.
Electrical Addons to the Cabinet
There are two main jobs that need doing regarding adding electrical power to the van: a mains hook up and installing a split relay charge. This entry attempts to explain what I'm planning with each job and how they are going to be wired in. Both are to be fitted into the existing cabinet which houses the leisure battery and charger.
CABINET
The cabinet comprises two sections, lower and upper. The lower section covers the wheel arch and is where most of the electrical stuff will be added. The upper section houses the leisure battery, charger and cool box.
MAINS HOOK UP
This will come in at the back of the van and run under the floor to the cabinet. It will provide two 240v sockets, both in the bottom section of the cabinet.
The first will be a double 240v socket which will be fitted to the forward facing side of the lower section, alongside the existing stereo speaker. This will supply power to the outside of the cabinet, into the back of the van.
The second will be a single 240v socket which will be fitted inside the lower section, supplying power to the inside of the lower section of cabinet. This socket is designed to provide power to the mains charger and thus be totally internal to the cabinet.
SPLIT RELAY CHARGE
The intelligent split replay charger needs to be installed and hooked up. The SRC box will be housed in the lower cabinet section. It has two main cables. One will be run under the floor to the front of the van and connected to the starter battery. The other simply runs up from the lower section of the cabinet to the upper section where it connects to the leisure battery terminals. All 12v appliances need to be plugged into the SRC box which is fused.
LED Lights
These will be wired into the lower section of the cabinet and plugged into the SRC fuse box.
Double 12v Sockets
There are two of these. One needs to go from the SRC and be fitted into the forward facing wall of the lower cabinet section alongside the double 240v socket. This will provide 12v power to the back of the main van. The other needs to be housed in the upper section of the cabinet. This provides 12v power to the upper section of the van – for the coolbox and other appliances (12v kettle, phone chargers etc) that might be housed inside the cabinet.
CABINET CHANGES
To install these electrical items a few changes need to be made to the cabinet:
A hole will need to be cut in the shelf that the charger sits on. This hole will allow wires to be fed from the upper section to the lower section. It needs to be big enough to get a plug through as I want to pass the charger power cable through this into the lower section of the cabinet to plug into the single 240v socket housed there. In addition to this the cables running from the SRC to the Leisure Battery will need to pass through this hole, as will the wire from the SRC to the double 12v socket that will be housed in the upper section.
A pair of holes will need to be cut in the forward facing wall of the lower section, one for the double 12v socket and one for the double 240v socket.
CABINET
The cabinet comprises two sections, lower and upper. The lower section covers the wheel arch and is where most of the electrical stuff will be added. The upper section houses the leisure battery, charger and cool box.
MAINS HOOK UP
This will come in at the back of the van and run under the floor to the cabinet. It will provide two 240v sockets, both in the bottom section of the cabinet.
The first will be a double 240v socket which will be fitted to the forward facing side of the lower section, alongside the existing stereo speaker. This will supply power to the outside of the cabinet, into the back of the van.
The second will be a single 240v socket which will be fitted inside the lower section, supplying power to the inside of the lower section of cabinet. This socket is designed to provide power to the mains charger and thus be totally internal to the cabinet.
SPLIT RELAY CHARGE
The intelligent split replay charger needs to be installed and hooked up. The SRC box will be housed in the lower cabinet section. It has two main cables. One will be run under the floor to the front of the van and connected to the starter battery. The other simply runs up from the lower section of the cabinet to the upper section where it connects to the leisure battery terminals. All 12v appliances need to be plugged into the SRC box which is fused.
LED Lights
These will be wired into the lower section of the cabinet and plugged into the SRC fuse box.
Double 12v Sockets
There are two of these. One needs to go from the SRC and be fitted into the forward facing wall of the lower cabinet section alongside the double 240v socket. This will provide 12v power to the back of the main van. The other needs to be housed in the upper section of the cabinet. This provides 12v power to the upper section of the van – for the coolbox and other appliances (12v kettle, phone chargers etc) that might be housed inside the cabinet.
CABINET CHANGES
To install these electrical items a few changes need to be made to the cabinet:
A hole will need to be cut in the shelf that the charger sits on. This hole will allow wires to be fed from the upper section to the lower section. It needs to be big enough to get a plug through as I want to pass the charger power cable through this into the lower section of the cabinet to plug into the single 240v socket housed there. In addition to this the cables running from the SRC to the Leisure Battery will need to pass through this hole, as will the wire from the SRC to the double 12v socket that will be housed in the upper section.
A pair of holes will need to be cut in the forward facing wall of the lower section, one for the double 12v socket and one for the double 240v socket.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Cabinet New Doors and Hinges
Just bought and fitted some 6mm MDF panels on the front of the cabinet to replace the plywood ones that were there before. The MDF ones are a lot more solid and aren't warped like the plywood ones. They should also provide more support as we want to use the top door as a light weight table as well when opened.
To that effect I also bought and fitted some side hinges - the sorts of things that go into old fashioned bureau desks. These stop the top door opening more than 90 degrees and give it some support when open. It won't hold much weight but should be enough to handle a kettle and a couple of mugs when required.
All that remains to do now is to cover it with a wood veneer but I'm going to wait until the van has been carpeted and the mains hook up and split relay charge fitted first as that will involve cutting holes out for the power sockets to fit.
To that effect I also bought and fitted some side hinges - the sorts of things that go into old fashioned bureau desks. These stop the top door opening more than 90 degrees and give it some support when open. It won't hold much weight but should be enough to handle a kettle and a couple of mugs when required.
All that remains to do now is to cover it with a wood veneer but I'm going to wait until the van has been carpeted and the mains hook up and split relay charge fitted first as that will involve cutting holes out for the power sockets to fit.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Curtains
Just been trolling through the Brickyard forum and found this thread on thermo mats for the rear of the van. What a great idea.
Basically the idea is that you take some thermal bubble wrap - the sort of thing I used as part of my insulation job. You then buy some blackout fabric and sew them together making warm, completely dark curtains. Make them slightly bigger than the windows and then either edge them in velcro, or even better sew some magnets into the lining, and they can be easily attached to the edges of the window. As I own a kombi I have a metal frame around the window so the magnet idea works well.
They'll have the advantage of being insulated (as that thermal bubble wrap is awesome), being totally black (blackout fabric is easy to acquire), very simple to put up (just use velcro or magnets to stick the curtain to the window frame), simple to roll up and stow when not in use (meaning no flapping curtains getting in the way) and dead cheap compared to the £130 I was budgeting for curtains.
Sweet.
I think I'll wait until the van is carpeted before sizing the blackout fabric, so I can cut them to fit the edges of the carpet neatly.
Basically the idea is that you take some thermal bubble wrap - the sort of thing I used as part of my insulation job. You then buy some blackout fabric and sew them together making warm, completely dark curtains. Make them slightly bigger than the windows and then either edge them in velcro, or even better sew some magnets into the lining, and they can be easily attached to the edges of the window. As I own a kombi I have a metal frame around the window so the magnet idea works well.
They'll have the advantage of being insulated (as that thermal bubble wrap is awesome), being totally black (blackout fabric is easy to acquire), very simple to put up (just use velcro or magnets to stick the curtain to the window frame), simple to roll up and stow when not in use (meaning no flapping curtains getting in the way) and dead cheap compared to the £130 I was budgeting for curtains.
Sweet.
I think I'll wait until the van is carpeted before sizing the blackout fabric, so I can cut them to fit the edges of the carpet neatly.
Cabinet Finished
Finally, after the best part of 4 days working on it I have finished my rear cabinet. Well, mostly finish it anyway! Here is the finished article in situ:
This weekend we put the doors on and installed a speaker in the side.
I also replaced all the screws which I'd used to fit the piano hinges with counter sunk ones so that the front of the cabinet is smooth. The reason for this is that I intend covering the whole thing with a wood veneer effect paper and so I'll be able to simply cover all the screws up and you'll not see them at all.
I bought and fitted some simple stud handles to the front of the two doors and added magnetic clasps to keep them shut.
On the inside I added a divider between the cool box section and the battery area, and then added a removable shelf above the battery and charger. The makes use of the space above them whilst still being able to easily remove it for access to the battery.
The bottom cupboard is where I'm currently storing things like my windscreen ice-prevention cover and other soft furnishings - anything that won't rattle. When the mains hook up goes in, this bottom section will include a double 240v socket on the outside, giving power to the inside of the van, plus a 240v socket internally into which I'll plug the mains charger, so that the leisure battery will be charged when the mains hook up is plugged in.
All in all I'm really pleased with what I've achieved here. I still have stuff to do: As I say I want to cover it with a veneer cover to make it look less like a plywood box. I am going to add side hinges to the main door, so that it stops at a 90 degree angle - meaning we can use it as a lightweight table when pulled down. I also need to cut holes in it to allow all the wires to be fed through into the right places when the mains hook up and split relay charge are added in a fortnight. So there is more to do but we are nearly there.
Split Relay Charge
After the world's longest delivery time (ordered in January, arrival in mid-March), my Split Relay Charger finally turned up.
It's a simple box with basically two wires leading from it. One plugs into the starter battery and the other plugs into the leisure battery. The intelligent box in the middle sorts out when to charge the leisure battery and how to deal with all the electrical wizardry of the starter system. You can then plug up to 10 appliances into the black box in the middle, each of which is fused.
I did have a look at installing this over the weekend but decided that as I'm getting CMC in Hyde to install a mains hook up in a couple of weeks time it would make sense to get them to install the SRC at the same time so that all the electrical stuff is done by one company - in case of any problems.
It's a simple box with basically two wires leading from it. One plugs into the starter battery and the other plugs into the leisure battery. The intelligent box in the middle sorts out when to charge the leisure battery and how to deal with all the electrical wizardry of the starter system. You can then plug up to 10 appliances into the black box in the middle, each of which is fused.
I did have a look at installing this over the weekend but decided that as I'm getting CMC in Hyde to install a mains hook up in a couple of weeks time it would make sense to get them to install the SRC at the same time so that all the electrical stuff is done by one company - in case of any problems.
Friday, 12 March 2010
European Tour 2010
Me and the missus are just starting to plan our European Tour for September this year. We're taking the van with a view to camping in her (when all the camping mods are complete!). This is our current route. We have 2 weeks off work and are planning on driving to Rome and back. We'll stop off at some of the listed places to have a look around. Some we plan to stay in for a day or two, maybe longer. Some (like Terneuzen in Holland) we're merely visiting to "tick off" another country on the trip. But who knows - Terneuzen might be wonderful and we may decide to stay there longer than a quick visit.
That's the plan: basically try and visit all these places but swap and change as we go using the versatility of a camper to stop wherever we feel.
The Route:
- Ardingly, England (that's home).
- Nice, France.
- Monaco, Monaco.
- Piza, Italy.
- Florence, Italy.
- Rome, Italy.
- Assisi, Italy.
- Venice, Italy.
- Innsbruck, Austria.
- Zurich, Switzerland.
- Strasbourg, France.
- Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
- Terneuzen, Holland.
- Brugge, Belgium.
- Ardingly, England.
16 days, 10 countries, 3000 miles, and a GOOGLE MAP of the route.
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