Ford Transit conversion to camper MKII

Buford T Justice

Buford T Justice wrote: »

I also noticed that the B2B charger that I bought has a temperature sensor for the device,

Yeah it almost works except undermined by not doing their research.
Use it because it's better to have it but the compensation is half of what it needs to be and the maximunm output of the unit is limited so it stops compensating below 5°C on the flooded battery profile.
You'd think they'd do better for a £360 box wouldn't ya?
Probably wasn't anything left in the budget after the warehouse rent and warranty claims were factored. :rolleyes:


They don't really design hardware so much as copy what's already on the market or rebadge things.

The temp sensor goes on the house battery by the way which I'm guessing lives at the end of the red cable with the B2B?
You could stick it on the van shell. It just wants to be heat sinked to a metal lump in the same environment. Sure the battery is more accurate but lump of lead or internal body tin...usually the same temperature.

Nice touch with the anti chaff grommits, a lottov people don't and regret it. Don't forget the seat base.
Screwfix do bags of 100s of rubber wans for peanuts.



PS. when I'm opening up access like that if you only cut three sides and bend it, it's much easier to repair after.

Buford T Justice

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Yeah it almost works except undermined by not doing their research.
Use it because it's better to have it but the compensation is half of what it needs to be and the maximunm output of the unit is limited so it stops compensating below 5°C on the flooded battery profile.
You'd think they'd do better for a £360 box wouldn't ya?
Probably wasn't anything left in the budget after the warehouse rent and warranty claims were factored. :rolleyes:


They don't really design hardware so much as copy what's already on the market or rebadge things.

The temp sensor goes on the house battery by the way which I'm guessing lives at the end of the red cable with the B2B?

Yes

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

You could stick it on the van shell. It just wants to be heat sinked to a metal lump in the same environment. Sure the battery is more accurate but lump of lead or internal body tin...usually the same temperature.

Nice touch with the anti chaff grommits, a lottov people don't and regret it. Don't forget the seat base.
Screwfix do bags of 100s of rubber wans for peanuts.



PS. when I'm opening up access like that if you only cut three sides and bend it, it's much easier to repair after.

Aah, up there for thinking......

Though I deliberately wanted to plate over the hole. The welder I have will burn through the steel if you're not careful, and though I'm ok with welding heavier steel I'm not skilled with lighter stuff. It was easier to do that rather than to try and bridge the gap and risk burning it through

TIG country stuff that light. Always the last machine people pick up.

Santa's bringing me a 180A inverter stick welder. Looking forward to it. Too many jobs around here I'd do if I could only melt metal together myself. Bittovan expensive habit...I won't be happy until I have a multi-process machine.

I reckon I can power the welder with my truck. :cool:

Wouldn't worry too much about the extra cables, fiver says you'll use 'em for something.

Buford T Justice

So this is interesting.

Where is this coming from I wonder?
Its not a leak at the top of the glass since it's not running down the glass on the inside, and after the weather we've been having it's not a lot of moisture to correspond with a leak.

There is a 2x1 baton behind this join sandwiching it together, but it's behind the vapour barrier. I wonder should the barrier be behind the batons.

The only other thing I can think of is there was a few drips of water on the back of the barrier when I took the panel off to re-run wires. It could be those drops have hit the screw and run out through to the front, though I'm not completely convinced.

Buford T Justice

I did a dry run of the layout today. Marked out the depth of the bed and using 1 meter for the toilet (since that's what the last one was) and I put the seat in front of it. There's some things to notice.



There seems to be ample space between the drivers seat and the back seats to have a table in the middle though it's dubious as to if it can be fixed to the side of the van because of the window. Maybe, maybe not. Added bonus, the seats seem to all be the same height.




It's also occurred to me that the cables I've run are directly in the line of the cassette door when it comes to removing the cassette. I'll need to mingle around that when it comes time.

Buford T Justice

I built the boxes to cover the wheel arches so they can be insulated. They won't be fixed in place just yet, but I needed them in order to have dimensions to be able to lay timbers on the floor of the van for the bed.

Buford T Justice

This came today, my new battery charger. It's larger than I imagined it would be, so here's a remote beside it for scale




My B2B charger that I stole bought on ebay was delivered to parcel motel on the 23rd December, before their brexit cutoff date but as of yet I've not had any notification from them. I'm hoping it's due to volume but I fear it could be a lost cause.

Buford T Justice

So I need some advice here, in particular from people who know more than I do (you know who you are).

Bearing in mind this van will only be used a number of times a year and not as a permanent live aboard thing I don't want to go completely crazy on batteries.

I've settled myself on two house batteries. I know I can get heavy duty batteries from my local motor factors for around €120 (ie starter batteries for a transit), but in looking around I can get two 110AH 'Leisure' batteries for €130 each, and free delivery from here

Is it worth my while getting the leisure batteries, or will the starter ones that I can get do?

Buford T Justice

Buford T Justice wrote: »

This came today, my new battery charger. It's larger than I imagined it would be, so here's a remote beside it for scale

Shiney. Wanna take it apart so we can see what's inside?

Buford T Justice wrote: »

My B2B charger that I stole bought on ebay was delivered to parcel motel on the 23rd December, before their brexit cutoff date but as of yet I've not had any notification from them. I'm hoping it's due to volume but I fear it could be a lost cause.

Don't give up so easy.
Use this "find my parcel"
Enter the original british tracking number. Most private sellers just ignore the virtual address identifier code. As with a lottov things if they don't understand it then it's probably not relevent. You can ask the seller for the tracking number if you can't find it.

Buford T Justice

Buford T Justice wrote: »

Is it worth my while getting the leisure batteries, or will the starter ones that I can get do?

Those "leisure batteries" are starting batteries with expensive stickers, if you want genuine ones then try here


I'm rockin' Crowns and I'm here after 5 years as a 6month annual live-aboard.







Battery Odometer: 11300Ah since install.

People say you need a leisure battery because it gives you 300 more cycles. Those same people kill it after 20. The problem is the charger not the battery but people never fix the charging system they just throw batteries at it and then complain they're junk.


You oughta be fine for 5 years easy with whatever you choose, the use yours will see as long as you keep them charged/get solar.


I'm playing with LiFePO4 atm....what a waste of money..:rolleyes:

Buford T Justice

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Those "leisure batteries" are starting batteries with expensive stickers, if you want genuine ones then try here


You oughta be fine for 5 years easy with whatever you choose, the use yours will see as long as you keep them charged/get solar.

Those batteries are too expensive for me at the minute. I'm not against them if they're the right job, but not in this phase of the build.

That being the case, locally I can get a 70AH for €100 + VAT, but for an extra €9 each including free delivery I can get these, so I'm assuming I can get a total of 220AH at 12V?
The latter would be a better option?

In terms of now long I get out of them / keeping them charged. In the case of Longer term storage in the winter will the ProMariner charger keep them topped up at minimal energy usage once the batteries are charged?

I also phoned parcel motel today and by fluke they actually answered the phone. The knew what I was looking for straight away. It was shipped but the seller never put my PMID on the label. It's in Dublin now so waiting on it to be shipped to my local locker.

The bigger battery sounds better value.

I'm an advocate of the phrase "Don't go half bitch!" ...Nobody'll respect you.
Meaning if you want cheap, go cheap!
Leisure batteries are rebadged starting batteries. If you want a true traction battery they don't come in 12v unless you go AGM.

So going with a cheap a$$ engine staring battery rated to 80% plated capacity after 300 x 100% depletion cycles.
When you think most people use a camper 12 weekends a year and get 2 years outtov the battery that's at most less than 100 50% cycles...so the batteries aren't failing from use and what they are failing from a good one won't do any better.

Next on the hitlist. 80% depth of discharge is fine. 30% more runtime and 30% less cycles. Compared to 50%. All the graphs agree.
Next, next thing is alternator efficiency. The lower the state of charge is the higher the alternator output so if you discharge the battery to 20% you can charge it back up to 50% in about half the time as if you went 60% to 90%.

Next, next, next thing is a battery is not as valuable as a solar panel. The battery does not "make" power. Save money on the battery and spend it on the solar.
Solar has a resale value, will reload a battery on the go and lasts 30 years.

As regards keeping the battery topped up yes the ProMariner is about 20 times better than that other yolk you have for this. It's very good at maintenence you can leave it on 24/7 and it will cost I'd say <€0.20 a day in lecky.
I think solar's much better for this purpose too but either will do.


You'll need to periodically water a battery on that Sterling B2B every so often so try to find one with serviceable caps.


The last next thing; you mentioned a 2kW inverter. You can't run that off less than 200kg of traction lead it can't give the surge. But an engine starting battery can. Don't expect either to run it for very long.

Buford T Justice

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Next, next, next thing is a battery is not as valuable as a solar panel. The battery does not "make" power. Save money on the battery and spend it on the solar.
Solar has a resale value, will reload a battery on the go and lasts 30 years.

The last next thing; you mentioned a 2kW inverter. You can't run that off less than 200kg of traction lead it can't give the surge. But an engine starting battery can. Don't expect either to run it for very long.

For me, this isn't a one off job, so i'll be doing things like solar in phase 2. I'd like solar but I don't need it as yet - I want a van that we can use this year within budget, given the current situation. I can sex it up once its on the road.

Given your advice I'm thinking of using a 240V under counter fridge, as you say it's far more efficient. Do I need a 2KW inverter? No, I don't suppose I do - but I'd need an inverter of some sorts to run the fridge plus some ancillaries... ie a phone charger, tv that sort of thing. As for a kettle I have gas for that. Mind my last van we only had 240 when we had sore power and we never missed it.

So I'd need an inverter that could keep going while parked up with no shore power, but not for weeks on end either. I think 2KW is over engineering. How does 500W sound, or what would be preferable?

Buford T Justice

Buford T Justice wrote: »

Do I need a 2KW inverter? No, I don't suppose I do.....
So I'd need an inverter that could keep going while parked up with no shore power, but not for weeks on end either. I think 2KW is over engineering. How does 500W sound, or what would be preferable?

D'oh! I sawr a beauty of a yellar Xantrex 1kW go two week ago I was gonna tell ya about but reckoned you wanted bigger.


Er yeah 2kW is mad in a van with gas, I'd fit 600Ah beside it.


You'll want a 1kW with a sleep function for the fridge because them compressors are tough to start.


Tvs and USB come in 12v and running them off an inverter has horrendous efficiency. Add a DC-DC reg for a 12v/24v etc telly to give a stable output instead of charging voltages or inefficient rectified sine waves

Buford T Justice

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

D'oh! I sawr a beauty of a yellar Xantrex 1kW go two week ago I was gonna tell ya about but reckoned you wanted bigger.


Er yeah 2kW is mad in a van with gas, I'd fit 600Ah beside it.


You'll want a 1kW with a sleep function for the fridge because them compressors are tough to start.


Tvs and USB come in 12v and running them off an inverter has horrendous efficiency. Add a DC-DC reg for a 12v/24v etc telly to give a stable output instead of charging voltages or inefficient rectified sine waves

My kids have fairly big tablets, so an actual tv may not be a thing - more likely to use them for netflix or whatever, and they're already suitable for 12v.

£5 for USB QC3.0 these days



Don't put small loads on an inverter and you can double your range.

Buford T Justice

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

You'll want a 1kW with a sleep function for the fridge because them compressors are tough to start.

I've looked at some arbitrary under counter fridges online and I can only find the annual consumption in KWH for them. How many watts roughly would they use per hour, and would there be much power loss due to it?

A decent fridge between 150Wh and 500Wh a day depending on ambient temperature, condenser cooling & ventilation, fridge insulation, refrigerant remaining in the system and the frequency at which you open it.

The inverter on consumption can be 720Wh (Sterling Poower) to 12Wh (Studer SI with a low load sleep function) a day or anywhere in between.

I think those Yeller Xantrex have a sleep function, if it's adjustable even better. Dunno...rtfm..

Buford T Justice

This arrived today. The ground cable is 4mm thick.

Buford T Justice

Buford T Justice wrote: »

This arrived today. The ground cable is 4mm thick.

Lovely Sterling, nice work. :rolleyes:
32A cable on a 50A appliance.



30A fuse so if it's 80°C insulation.
40A if it's 105°C


If you've regen set it to regen. Otherwise, ignition switched. If you use automatic it'll create a feedback loop on mains charge or solar split charge.


Most performance setting with highest water consumption = Open Lead Acid
AGM 1 = least battery maintenence
Sealed = in between.

Buford T Justice

Should I fuse the 2 +ives and the -agtive?

Yurp

Buford T Justice

I removed all the panels on the side of the van again, partly because i needed to re-seat the power cable due to the cassette going out thorough the side of the van. I also ran a length of 2x1 from the front to the back of the van at the top which you can see below.
It gives better places to mount things to, and avoids the severe bend out a the top of the van.

I also put the batons that I had between the two panels on the outside of the vapour barrier and sealed up the holes that were made. I also tidied around the sides of the panels where the plastic was just ..... hanging around.

I've also run some cable in the roof, hence the conduit to hold them in place

Buford T Justice

Fitted the battery and the charger today too, along with the consumer unit

The more astute of you will notice that I had to take a corner from the wheel arch cover since I missed checking before I drilled my holes.

So far I've got one 110AH battery. That'll do for now.



I've set the charger to power supply for now and wired the output to the +bus bar. The batter hasn't been connected yet since i don't have any fuses or holders, I'm waiting them to arrive.
In thinking about this, I also have an isolator to fit so I'm most likely going to go direct to the battery with the charger & run from the battery to the isolator & switch to charge. I've also wired up some lights in the van temporarily, since y'now darkness



Consumer Unit




Brexit has royally fucked everything up. It's impossible to get anything of amazon as practically no one is shipping to Ireland, so most of my time is spent looking at stuff that doesn't ship. I've tried .fr and .de but they're not that great. I ordered a diesel heater on .de but it's still not shipped since last thursday. I had already bought one from .fr but it was cancelled and refunded since due to covid 19, we can't ship to your city - load of bollix - they are a drop shipper who has stock in the UK.

I've also ordered an inverter of another site, but same diff with them in regards to shipping. Sir Liamalot, the conversation with that guy dropped off a cliff. Had a deal done and he just stopped responding to me.

May have to go back to .co.uk and use address pal. That's fine for something that's a few quid, but when I"m looking for consumables like a roll of wire or crimp connectors and stuff it becomes prohibitively expensive.

£2 odd for a bag of connectors with £9.99 shipping. Its ridiculous.

colm_mcm

Big progress there!


How did your leak work out?

Buford T Justice

colm_mcm wrote: »

Big progress there!


How did your leak work out?

Took the window out again and re-sealed it without the rubber seal around the metal edge.

In terms of the roof, I don't believe the skylight is still leaking now, but not 100% convinced. Given the weather the roof of the van is riddled with condensation - you can actually see it some of my previous photos. Every time I move it there's a rainfall inside. That said, after the last bout of bad rain there was no water inside like there was when it was first noticed the leak.

I have 25mm kingspan for the roof and I'll have to wait for better weather to do it, plus I'm not ready yet. Not forgetting the seam seals on the roof will all be re-done too, in better weather

Buford T Justice

Buford T Justice wrote: »

Brexit has royally fucked everything up. It's impossible to get anything

Addresspal are +20% tax

+€4.50 handling charge.


Talk about shooting yerself in the foot. :rolleyes:
I'm not buying anything else until Sterling is £1.50 to the €. Gobshytes!
We're almost as bad, running around putting band-aids on things. Where's addresspal France?


If you buy from NI it's duty free to the Irish. In a coupla years that'll be the backdoor to Europe...Farcy Macb0ll0x...





The isolator oughta turn off the loads but bypass the chargers.
Albright make switch-disconnect ones that don't set fire when they break 100% rated load.


Most of the mickey mouse ones are no-load operation only.

Buford T Justice

Had a stab at fitting the b2b charger today.
I decided I'd fit it on the side of the seat, so it'd be beside the batteries and all that. I needed a bracket to support the bottom of it so I made one up, welded & fitted it. Had it installed and then I realised that the door wouldn't close because of the pocket - so that popoo'd that idea. Another one to chalk down


I moved it to the bottom of the B pillar, added the fuses along with one for the negative.
This isn't completed as yet, I have to find an ignition source for the control somewhere in the battery box if I can. Have to add the fuses and fit the temp sensor at the battery.

listermint

You happy with the charger and consumer unit location? They shouldn't really be fixed to that stretch cloth. Fire hazard there. I'd review that. I'd even examine the small fuse board connection location.

Buford T Justice

listermint wrote: »

You happy with the charger and consumer unit location? They shouldn't really be fixed to that stretch cloth. Fire hazard there. I'd review that. I'd even examine the small fuse board connection location.

Stretch cloth was cut out from behind the consumer unit and the charger for that very reason - can also remove it from the 12v fuseboard.