My Ford Transit Hi-Cube Conversion

Aidan_M_M

That's exactly how Adria do it with the factory built van conversion.

Buford T Justice

Ok, so i managed to get my hands on an eberspacher d1lc diesel night heater for the van. Its from an old 4 series Scania and runs on 24V
Now, the 24v part of it is not an issue for me, as I can easily get 24V in the van, but the wiring loom is a bit of a mess.

Does anyone have any experience in fitting this unit? I'm looking for the + and - in, and the controls to pulse the fuel pump.

MTIA

paddyp

Google is your friend...
http://www.eberspacher.com/downloads/technical-documents/airB1LC+D1LC_technical.pdf

Buford T Justice

Thanks, indeed google is a good friend, but when he gives you a convoluted wiring diagram, sometimes methinks they get a wee kick out of it.

I think I may have the conundrum figured out, but as things would go, I have some real work to do this week for a few days, so I can't put my theory to the test, nor can I wire up my fancy shmancy 24V relay operated system.

Will update soon (I hope)

Buford T Justice

Ok, so its been a hard slog these last few days, and I've been busy wiring the inside of the van.
All 12V cables have been run and all 240 cables have been run. The Consumer unit has been installed and the 12V charger has been done. Have also installed a split charge relay in the front of the van to take care of charging. 70AH leisure battery has been installed under the bonnet too.

Below is the night heater has been installed, and an additional cheap 12v battery has been put in to get 24v when needed for the night heater.



This photo is three of the four relays used to control the 24V on demand. It's quite cleverly done. Under normal circumstances, the two batteries are in parallel, and are being charged, giving me a total of 90 AH. When the switch is thrown for the heater, the charger is disconnected from the system and the two batteries are now put in series, giving me a 24V supply out to the heater. I can post a schematic of this if anyone wants it.



Below is where everything sits in context under the bench, when it goes in

Buford T Justice

Below is the power box, for want of a better phrase. On the right, an MCB Board and straight in front is the Charger type thing. Its a Logic 1 unit



Behind the MCB board are two buzz bars, one + 12V and one - 12V to distribute the power as needed



Next is the back of the main panel, water meter, fuse board and zig switcher unit. Lots and lots of wires.



Then the main panel in situe, and another pic of it, to show where it is in context.

Buford T Justice

Forgot to mention, I've installed one of the swivel seats in the van, which were taken from a renault espace. Interestingly enough, the drivers and passenger seats swivel the wrong way, so I've had to put the passenger seat in the drivers seat to get the right swivel, and the armrest is on the wrong side.

Buford T Justice

Finally, jut to add, I think the taps in the sink are leaking.

I was running them the other day and there was then a pool of water on top of the worktop afterwards. It looks as though its leaking at the base of the tap itself where it swivels. They are whale taps with microswitches. Does anyone know if this is a common issue with these taps, or is there an easy fix for this?

These be the ones I have

Aidan_M_M

I've had a few of them leaking , can't remember if I was able to change the o rings or had to replace them tho.

meercat

lots of work done
following with interest
hope to do something similar myself
good luck and keep us updated
cheers

defike

Had the same problem with my Ford galaxy seats so cut off the lug that was preventing them from swiveling 360.This lug was also to strenghten the seat belt reciever in a crash so moved them onto the base.
I came across a 12v to 24v invertor on ebay .It's supposed to supply 3 amps but its tiny.
Haven't fitted it yet so not sure if it will do.

Buford T Justice

defike wrote: »

Had the same problem with my Ford galaxy seats so cut off the lug that was preventing them from swiveling 360.This lug was also to strenghten the seat belt reciever in a crash so moved them onto the base.
I came across a 12v to 24v invertor on ebay .It's supposed to supply 3 amps but its tiny.
Haven't fitted it yet so not sure if it will do.

there is a 12 to 24 v step up on ebay for £65 STG, but its only rated for 10A. The night heater pulls 11.8 on startup so its useless and a 20A one is about twice the price.

I wired it with two batteries, the second was €40, a corsa battery, and four relays for €24 with a bit of wire and know how, i can now get 24V whenever I want and its not limited to 10A

defike

Thanks for the info invertor is out will have to get a second battery.

Buford T Justice

defike wrote: »

Thanks for the info invertor is out will have to get a second battery.

You can wire them together with double pole relays to use it as a 12V addition to the leisure battery and get charged, and to get 24V in series when you switch on the heater. Charger to be disconnected when the 24 Loop is in use.

Buford T Justice

defike wrote: »

Had the same problem with my Ford galaxy seats so cut off the lug that was preventing them from swiveling 360.

Had a look at this today and there are four lugs preventing the swivel the opposite way. I'm a bit apprehensive about cutting them though, not sure if it will upset the stability of the seat in normal driving position if i do this.

nophd08

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Had a look at this today and there are four lugs preventing the swivel the opposite way. I'm a bit apprehensive about cutting them though, not sure if it will upset the stability of the seat in normal driving position if i do this.

Can you cut lugs and reweld on other side. I'm sure other seat is mirror image and only difference is position of lugs. Post some pics.

Buford T Justice

nophd08 wrote: »

Can you cut lugs and reweld on other side. I'm sure other seat is mirror image and only difference is position of lugs. Post some pics.

Its not possible to get the brackets off the seats, I've tried, so if I weld them again I run the risk of burning the seats. I'll post some pics soon, as I'll be updating with more work in the next few days

defike

I might be all wrong here but I think you should have brought your van to the revenue before work started.50 euro vrt.
If you bring it after conversion I think you will be paying vrt on a camper.

Buford T Justice

defike wrote: »

I might be all wrong here but I think you should have brought your van to the revenue before work started.50 euro vrt.
If you bring it after conversion I think you will be paying vrt on a camper.

Its still a work in progress at the minute, so I can drive it to the DOE Center and clear it as a van. Might ring them on monday and see if I can book it in.

Buford T Justice

Booked into the NCT Center for friday. Going to try to get Irish plates for it.

Updates:

The Kitchen unit is now complete. All overhead units have been built & Fitted, a light has been added and carpet put on all the panels. Was a bit tedious to be honest, but perseverance paid off on this one. Still need to sort out those taps though

Buford T Justice

Speaking of things being a pain, lining out the door really was. I didn't want to take the door off to do it, because of A) the weather and I didn't want to lose the alignment as it runs pretty sweet at the minute.

All done, and the door panel is on again now, and it looks the biz when the door is closed.
More work still ongoing, but it has been a little slow in the last week or two. Hopefully I can crack a load of it out this week now...

defike

Been on hols fingers.
Really was looking for the 24v heater schematic you said you had.
No rush going to tackle it at christmas.

Buford T Justice

defike wrote: »

Been on hols fingers.
Really was looking for the 24v heater schematic you said you had.
No rush going to tackle it at christmas.

Oh, I didn't realize that anyone wanted it. Will dig it out and post it soon

650Ginge

Fingers that is looking really well.

Buford T Justice

Well, not much has happened over the last while. I've had big people's work to take care of for a while, and will do for another few weeks.

Since i posted last, I've re-registered the van in the south for the princely sum of €50.

Also, I got a little emotional and bade a fond farewell to my old caravan today.... sniff sniff..... As if

Glad to get rid of the scrapheap to be honest. Gettin in the way takin up space.

Hope to get back to work on the van in the very near future.

That aside, although its a bit late, Defike, below is a schematic of the 24V relay system. Note, its important to follow this diagram very very closely. Pay close attention to the type of relay's that are used here and make sure that the correct wires are on the correct poles on the relays as you will have smokey problems otherwise. :mad:
Ignore the numbers beside the switches.
This definitely does work, and verbatim to the diagram


Click for larger image

defike

Thanks.

Buford T Justice

No Hassle. I just copped on that you've already done it and have it working, so its a bit late. Still, hopefully someone else can benefit from it

How did you get 24V in the end?

defike

Same as you 2 batteries 3 c/o relays and a switch and a free electrician.

Buford T Justice

I used the Aux switch on my little zig unit to do the switching. I like the fact that its not another switch out on its own, and you wouldn't know it was there unless there was a reason to - kinda thing.

How's you're job progressing?

Where did you place the lift pump for the heater? I've to plumb it yet, but it's already wired in.

defike

I fitted a permanent partition 2 ft inside the back doors to store my scooter.So the diesel drum and pump are in the boot with the heater on the other side in the cabin.