Friday 12th August Update

Instead of writing new individual page listings of all the work that I have carried out I've decided just to have a weekly update on the work that I have carried out on the van so here is week 1 report.

It's Friday the 12th of  August  2016 and it's chucking it down outside and I am sitting in the van listening to the rain battering off the caravan roof, some how i feel completely relaxed typing up my report/blog.

Since my last photographs I have made some internal cosmetic changes to the van. The van now looks cleaner brighter, fresher and more modern with the paint work and repairs I have carried out, even my neighbor popped into see the changes that I have made.

We have have had a few arguments about what the colour scheme should be for the van. I wanted to keep the early 80s wood affect look but Joanne wanted nice bright colours and to be honest I think she has chosen the correct colours as i think the van looks pretty good.

All the origanal electrical system was removed from the van by the previous owner I have had to install a new electrical system that will run off the 12 volt leisure battery and the solar panels that I have installed. The solar panels will charge the battery slowly and the control panel should protect the battery from a complete discharge.

I have chosen LED strip lights simply because they are cheap to buy easy to install and they do not use a lot of power to run approx 1.1 amps. The LED's have sensors and can be operated by the remote control. The whole lighting system COST no more than £50.00 that includes the solar panel and some extra wiring that I to fit.

I also have plenty of LED's left over which I will use to light my man shed for the up and coming winter.

In this photograph you can see the LED light changes and also the 2nd hand cushions that I  bought

for £30.00 

I have set up a small control panel for the led lights, solar panels and the battery smart charger. I dont think my 2nd hand battery is holding a charge it's a 60 amp hour leisure battery I only paid £20.00 for it but a lesson has been learned I should have bought new one!!!!

The power drops very quickly from the battery when its not in use 14 volts to 10 volts within minutes of the charger being turned off.

My DIY Power board that still needs painted and the cables tidied up.

12 Volt Smart Charger

Voltage and AMP meter that I installed above the ZIG Control panel

I have also repaired the damaged door by removing and replacing the rotten panels using the old panels as templates and sealing all the joints that were previously letting water in.