Help needed with conversion

blahblah06

Ive finally got my hands on a camper but want to change a few things.

The first thing is it doesnt have a leisure battery are they expensive and hard to fit?

It has the outside hook up so would a generator connected to that work alright?

no there is two pics here. u see the rear window what would be the best way to block that off because if you see the other picture the press with the plug socket is actually a toilet and i want to move it beside the sink as I am converting the rear into a bike garage.

Aidan_M_M

handiest thing to do with the window is just line the inside of it with hardboard?

Handiest place for a leisure battery is under the driver seat imo which is easy enough get into if you've no bulkhead and is a pre-made housing. If the van's set up to run off mains you might need to consider putting a 12volt system in place. As the battery will have a very hard time trying to run mains facilities.
My lighting system is 12volt dichroic and 12volt led with transformer bypasses. that way they run off a leisure battery straight or on mains by going through a transformer first (this needs to be foolproof or else you may risk blowing a lot of bulbs or caning your battery unawares)
Leisure batteries are more expensive than starter batteries but will endure better for camper requirements. However starter batteries will do the job fine with a shorter lifespan if you don't think you'll get the use out of them. Price depends on size and quality.
These are probably the best;
http://www.satellitetv.ie/shop/index.php?controller=category&path=71
Forklifts and height-for-hire-jobbies also use monoblock batteries too so you might get something cheaper down that route. It's easy enough to find alternatives in large car accessory stores.
I'm running with a 125AH and that'll give me light, a water pump and gas ignitors for a month. However it'll run an LCD monitor, laptop, 30watt surround sound and an invertor for only 4 hours so I'm doubling with another in parrallel soon and I still know I won't be content until I break 500AH.
Really it all depends on how much things you want to run.
If the hook up is wired through correctly, a 220v - 240v gene will work just as well as mains.
As regards the toilet I'd throw it in the skip and use your imagination. I don't **** on my own back door (I'm sure there's plenty who'll disagree with me on that, I appreciate this, this statement was not intended to provoke an argument).

You might want to consider more insulation too, if you're going to be using her in the cold weather.

blahblah06

Cheers guys. Id only be using it for one over night every other weekend ran of the genie.

Are normal batteries much cheaper then? I prob wouldn't notice the difference?

What do u have an inverter for?

I take it by installing a switch relay the battery will keep it's charge ?

blahblah06

Btw there is a 12v set up with fuse boxes etc but just no batteries connected

A starter battery should be fine for you so they're about 3/4 the price. I never bothered with a split relay...it's beyond my expertise. My two systems are independant. I charge off mains when i need to, when I'm in a pickle with a 6 hour drive ahead of me I occasionally parrallel the batteries to charge off the alternator.
You could quite easily charge off the gene too with a normal car battery charger...surprisingly halfords is the cheapest place to get one.

My invertor runs the LCD and surround sound highly inefficently on rare occasions and anything else with a 13amp plug if needs be. Laptop and phone runs off a butchered multicar adaptor that jumps 12v - 19v.

The idea behind a relay is that you charge both but only run down one (the leisure battery), it's a little complex to make work though.
The simpliest version is a switch which you turn on yourself after 45mins driving that adds in the leisure battery to your van electrical system to benefit from the alternator just remember to switch it off when you stop.

blahblah06

Jesus it's all very complicated

blahblah06

fridge pics. no idea why its not working has a plug on the end. what way should the switch be facing ?

Aidan_M_M

thats an old fridge. The top of the switch should be clicked in . And there should be a knob on the spindle beside it , turned fully clockwise.

blahblah06

Tried it but still nothing. The guy I bought it off said it was working. Anyone got one?

check the fuse.
It usually takes at least 6 hours for a fridge to reach operating temp...and how'd you notice in this weather? Is there a light?
That hand with the finger held out looks like your gas ignitor, if that's fully pressed in then it's not good cos you can't turn the gas on. Make sure the missing gas dial is fully clockwise too (set to 0) if you're testing it on mains, in case there's a fail safe.

Aidan_M_M

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

check the fuse.
It usually takes at least 6 hours for a fridge to reach operating temp...and how'd you notice in this weather? Is there a light?
That hand with the finger held out looks like your gas ignitor, if that's fully pressed in then it's not good cos you can't turn the gas on. Make sure the missing gas dial is fully clockwise too (set to 0) if you're testing it on mains, in case there's a fail safe.

A working fridge should actually makeice in the ice tray in less than half that tbh .
By fail safe , do you mean a preventative measure , that stops you switching on the mains/12v , when the gas is on? They don't have one . Which is surprising .

Aidan_M_M

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

A working fridge should actually makeice in the ice tray in less than half that tbh .
By fail safe , do you mean a preventative measure , that stops you switching on the mains/12v , when the gas is on? They don't have one . Which is surprising .

oh right i usually keep beers in the freezer not ice, but yeah they'd be condensing after a few hours...never counted. I was assuming it was just a fridge because the doors closed in the photo and i can't see a freezer compartment.
That's exactly what I meant. What happens if you dual power one so?

Aidan_M_M

haha when you have to check them as often as I do.....

You could actually Treble power the newer models , the ones with the red , green switches and the gas controls! and the 3 functions will work.... which is bizarre . I never left them all on for any more than a minute , I imagine it could overheat the flue..

I'll add that to my list of things I must observe to prevent blowing stuff up so, although I reckon I'm pretty safe it's quite hard accidently connect an external gas bottle.

paddyp

I imagine treble powering them would raise the vapour pressure much too high.

I know people who have 12v and gas on as the same time to 'accelerate the cooling' I tried to explain but they switched off at the ammonia part. Anyway ventilation and correct installation is the key to faster cooling.

While wonderfully quiet the 3 way fridges are very inefficient.

Good info here on ventilation:
http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/articles/fridges_one.htm
http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/articles/fridges_two.htm
http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/fridge_vent.htm
http://www.dreampod.net/boroma/fridgefan.html

Aidan_M_M

paddyp wrote: »

I imagine treble powering them would raise the vapour pressure much too high.

I know people who have 12v and gas on as the same time to 'accelerate the cooling' I tried to explain but they switched off at the ammonia part. Anyway ventilation and correct installation is the key to faster cooling.

While wonderfully quiet the 3 way fridges are very inefficient.

Good info here on ventilation:
http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/articles/fridges_one.htm
http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/articles/fridges_two.htm
http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/fridge_vent.htm
http://www.dreampod.net/boroma/fridgefan.html

Couldn't agree more ! I can't understand why Compressor fridges aren't in more use. I could live with the hum...

oops i don't recall the dometic manual saying anything about baffles. Mine's falling into the almost bad category. Ah well, cools the beer just fine.
I find the biggest problem with maintaining the temperature is actually people stopping for a chin wag with the door open.

Cheapest place to get 12v fans is electronic stores for computer graphics cards. I remember getting twice the fans for half the price of a camping store when i was looking.

blahblah06

hi lads. now since my fridge aint working can use tell me this. would it be ok to use one of those mini fridges with the plug in and cig charger?

I thought the cig charger would be a good idea while driving and the plug in would work when connected with the hook up to the genie right?

blahblah06

what do use think about this
http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290497345917&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT