My 16.49.1 Mods Have Started

[dagree]

Looks good @jandl .
I know what you mean by "other" work taking priority..... It took me nearly 6 weeks to get the box mounted and wheel moved but the brick paving just had to get put on hold for one weekend

 

[jandl]

Thanks @dagree.
Renos or modding, I know which one I want to do. We just had a new driveway laid and can't even have the van at home. It is having a holiday at my parents house with the dog. We have the worst front garden in the neighbourhood at the moment because of the renos. I am surprised we haven't had a note in the letter box that we are dragging the neighbourhood house values down .
I forgot to mention earlier that I have the @crustt's clear window covers fitted, great idea and very well made.

 

[dagree]

I forgot to mention earlier that I have the @crustt's clear window covers fitted, great idea and very well made.

One of the best mods I've done so far!!!!!!!! Well equal to the ali box

 

[TRAKADU]

After having the van for a few months I have at last started the mods. Work and house renovations were in the way and the pile of "caravan stuff" in the lounge room grew to such a proportion I had to start installing them to reclaim part of the room back.
First up was the wardrobe shelves because my boardies, T-shirts and tracky dacks do not need hanging space. The Rubbermaid Slide and Stacks idea is @Lara's I believe, so thank you.
View attachment 22700
We wanted to set up the van for a lot of free camping so the electrical situation needed attention. The van is a new 2013 model sitting in Caravanland's yard( as mentioned in an earlier post I was looking at bathroom tiles and fittings and bought a van without knowing about this forum, "oops" )with no battery installed, just the wiring. I had trawled all over this forum since copying pics and a lot of "how to" from peoples experiences to come up with what I believe suits my family's requirements. I came up with the following:
130W Fixed solar panel (no reg, solar diodes to drop voltage below 22V on order)on the roof, not installed yet due to Perth's rain(hard to believe) last week, wiring connected to Ctek.
220W Folding solar panel to be connected to the Red anderson plug (@jvp and @ROnEM ideas) fitted to the side of the van when the regulator is bypassed. I am leaving the reg on the panel and fitting it with a blue anderson plug as eventually I will install another battery in the back of the Pathfinder to power the future fridge so I want to be able to use the fold up panel when I do not have the van attached.
2500W Inverter to be wired to three coloured GPO's for ease of identification for the family to understand which GPO's can and can not be used when free camping. GPO's not installed yet, ran out of time.
Two 120AH AGM batteries. I had to modify the large box that covered the Setec to fit them in. A lot of wasted space and I followed the advice from @daznmel, not very enjoyable upside down with a torch and a drill in the small vent cover space. Glad I was home alone as the odd bit of colorful language was expressed. The cat learnt some new words and was probably wondering who I was talking to.
A Cetek 250S Dual
A Cetek Smartpass, hoping this could back charge the future second battery in the Pathy and to give a greater charge rate to the house batteries when required. A lot of the wiring ideas I 'borrowed' from @ROnEM so thank you for posting your wiring diagrams.
I can not understand what Jayco were thinking bringing in the water from outside into the electrical area and then out again to the sink next to it. I have fitted the inverter and Cteks onto pieces of 25x18 wood to raise them off the floor in case of a water leak. Future mod is to put some kind of splash guard between pipe fittings and the inverter and electrical items and a small drain hole in the area so at least it would leak into the van and I would notice it if I did had a leak. Hose clamps and John Guest fittings lock rings to go onto any fitting that does not have these fitted to be done.
View attachment 22701 View attachment 22702 View attachment 22703 View attachment 22704
An LCD water tank gauge and sendor probe for two tanks, only one installed at this stage.
A BM-1 battery monitor, love this gadget
View attachment 22705
A 6B&S twin core cable from the anderson plug on the Pathy to the Ctek in the van.
View attachment 22706
Unfortunately as my van was purchased from the yard it has the standard payload limit of 300kgs and I have used a portion of that with the mods. I am in the preliminary stages of investigating what I have to do to increase the payload limit. Possibly higher rated axle, brakes, tyres and shocks but that is in the future as we are not planning any extended trips away for a while.
Hopefully I have acknowledged all the people whose ideas I blatantly stole and apologies to any one else I have not mentioned.

Cheers

Larry

Hi Larry, Beautifully setup... particularly the electrical work. I am planning to install an inverter soon and have couple of questions hoping that you can help.
1. I have noticed the Dishto Inverter you have. I just bought the same make from Ebay (1500W). What is your thoughts on the inverter? does it live it up to it?
2. Did you have to earth the inverter? or no earthing required?
3. Do you have to turnoff the inverter every time you plug the main power?
4. Was the Inverter easy to install?
Sorry there are few questions but appreciate your answers
Cheers TRAKADU

 

[TRAKADU]

After having the van for a few months I have at last started the mods. Work and house renovations were in the way and the pile of "caravan stuff" in the lounge room grew to such a proportion I had to start installing them to reclaim part of the room back.
First up was the wardrobe shelves because my boardies, T-shirts and tracky dacks do not need hanging space. The Rubbermaid Slide and Stacks idea is @Lara's I believe, so thank you.
View attachment 22700
We wanted to set up the van for a lot of free camping so the electrical situation needed attention. The van is a new 2013 model sitting in Caravanland's yard( as mentioned in an earlier post I was looking at bathroom tiles and fittings and bought a van without knowing about this forum, "oops" )with no battery installed, just the wiring. I had trawled all over this forum since copying pics and a lot of "how to" from peoples experiences to come up with what I believe suits my family's requirements. I came up with the following:
130W Fixed solar panel (no reg, solar diodes to drop voltage below 22V on order)on the roof, not installed yet due to Perth's rain(hard to believe) last week, wiring connected to Ctek.
220W Folding solar panel to be connected to the Red anderson plug (@jvp and @ROnEM ideas) fitted to the side of the van when the regulator is bypassed. I am leaving the reg on the panel and fitting it with a blue anderson plug as eventually I will install another battery in the back of the Pathfinder to power the future fridge so I want to be able to use the fold up panel when I do not have the van attached.
2500W Inverter to be wired to three coloured GPO's for ease of identification for the family to understand which GPO's can and can not be used when free camping. GPO's not installed yet, ran out of time.
Two 120AH AGM batteries. I had to modify the large box that covered the Setec to fit them in. A lot of wasted space and I followed the advice from @daznmel, not very enjoyable upside down with a torch and a drill in the small vent cover space. Glad I was home alone as the odd bit of colorful language was expressed. The cat learnt some new words and was probably wondering who I was talking to.
A Cetek 250S Dual
A Cetek Smartpass, hoping this could back charge the future second battery in the Pathy and to give a greater charge rate to the house batteries when required. A lot of the wiring ideas I 'borrowed' from @ROnEM so thank you for posting your wiring diagrams.
I can not understand what Jayco were thinking bringing in the water from outside into the electrical area and then out again to the sink next to it. I have fitted the inverter and Cteks onto pieces of 25x18 wood to raise them off the floor in case of a water leak. Future mod is to put some kind of splash guard between pipe fittings and the inverter and electrical items and a small drain hole in the area so at least it would leak into the van and I would notice it if I did had a leak. Hose clamps and John Guest fittings lock rings to go onto any fitting that does not have these fitted to be done.
View attachment 22701 View attachment 22702 View attachment 22703 View attachment 22704
An LCD water tank gauge and sendor probe for two tanks, only one installed at this stage.
A BM-1 battery monitor, love this gadget
View attachment 22705
A 6B&S twin core cable from the anderson plug on the Pathy to the Ctek in the van.
View attachment 22706
Unfortunately as my van was purchased from the yard it has the standard payload limit of 300kgs and I have used a portion of that with the mods. I am in the preliminary stages of investigating what I have to do to increase the payload limit. Possibly higher rated axle, brakes, tyres and shocks but that is in the future as we are not planning any extended trips away for a while.
Hopefully I have acknowledged all the people whose ideas I blatantly stole and apologies to any one else I have not mentioned.

Cheers

Larry

Hi Larry, Beautifully setup..particularly the electrical work. I am planning to install an inverter soon and have couple of questions hoping that you can help.
1. I have noticed the Dishto Inverter you have. I just bought the same make from Ebay (1500W). What is your thoughts on the inverter? does it live it up to it?
2. Did you have to earth the inverter? or no earthing required?
3. Do you have to turnoff the inverter every time you plug the main power?
4. Was the Inverter easy to install?
Sorry there are few questions but appreciate your answers
Cheers TRAKADU

 

[jandl]

Thanks @TRAKADU.
1. The inverter works well, it has done everything I have asked of it. The only item I don't use it for is the Aircon. Microwave and Nespresso machine work a treat.
2. No separate earthing is required. I have used a plug in RCD then outputs from there
3. I turn off the inverter when I am not using it as it has a small current draw when on 'standby' for want of a better description. I am planning to install an external switch as currently it is a pain to lift up the seat to switch on and off. I plan to break into the small on/off switch wiring for the new external switch.
4. I found it fairly easy to install, I am an ex RAAFie so used to working in small spaces. I did install all the items in that area on pieces of wood to raise them off the floor because of the water connections. The standing on my head taking apart the box covering the Setek tested my patience . A very good write up was done in how to pull apart the box by @daznmel.
I used some good ideas of @ROnEM to base my electrical mods on as they suited what I was trying to achieve.
Happy to help as others have helped me on this great forum.
Cheers Larry

 

[TRAKADU]

Thanks @TRAKADU.
1. The inverter works well, it has done everything I have asked of it. The only item I don't use it for is the Aircon. Microwave and Nespresso machine work a treat.
2. No separate earthing is required. I have used a plug in RCD then outputs from there
3. I turn off the inverter when I am not using it as it has a small current draw when on 'standby' for want of a better description. I am planning to install an external switch as currently it is a pain to lift up the seat to switch on and off. I plan to break into the small on/off switch wiring for the new external switch.
4. I found it fairly easy to install, I am an ex RAAFie so used to working in small spaces. I did install all the items in that area on pieces of wood to raise them off the floor because of the water connections. The standing on my head taking apart the box covering the Setek tested my patience . A very good write up was done in how to pull apart the box by @daznmel.
I used some good ideas of @ROnEM to base my electrical mods on as they suited what I was trying to achieve.
Happy to help as others have helped me on this great forum.
Cheers Larry

Thanks for the helpful tips Larry.
One thing if you could explain bit more would be using a plug in RCD for output. What did you mean by this?

cheers TRAKADU.

 

[jandl]

You can buy an RCD that plugs into an outlet (same thing that is in your house meter box that protects the outlets in the house, just a different style)I plug this into one of the inverters outlets and then whatever is plugged in is protected. An RCD works by equal amount of current in the active and neutral. If there is a short to earth then the current is not equal and the RCD trips, happens in milliseconds. Common name is a 'safety switch' but correct term is Residual Current Device. You can plug an extension lead or power board into the RCD.
I keep anything do with the inverter separate from the 240V supply in the van as the van's 240v system has been tested and certified at the factory and any alterations to this must be done by a licensed sparkie and re-certified. A plug in RCD is an option that anybody can use as it is not fixed wiring. For piece of mind, once installed, a licensed sparkie could/should test it with an 'RCD tester. It basically introduces a fault and it will trip thereby proving the protection. I have used this one.

Hopefully I haven't waffled on, just trying to give you as much info as I can.

 

[Colsar]

You can buy an RCD that plugs into an outlet (same thing that is in your house meter box that protects the outlets in the house, just a different style)I plug this into one of the inverters outlets and then whatever is plugged in is protected. An RCD works by equal amount of current in the active and neutral. If there is a short to earth then the current is not equal and the RCD trips, happens in milliseconds. Common name is a 'safety switch' but correct term is Residual Current Device. You can plug an extension lead or power board into the RCD.
I keep anything do with the inverter separate from the 240V supply in the van as the van's 240v system has been tested and certified at the factory and any alterations to this must be done by a licensed sparkie and re-certified. A plug in RCD is an option that anybody can use as it is not fixed wiring. For piece of mind, once installed, a licensed sparkie could/should test it with an 'RCD tester. It basically introduces a fault and it will trip thereby proving the protection. I have used this one.
View attachment 24374
Hopefully I haven't waffled on, just trying to give you as much info as I can.

good idea, but a question, ? my van has a 15 amp lead with a larger earth pin, and the device looks as ifs its only 10 amp ? please advise as would like to get one for safety.

 

[jandl]

The RCD is for the inverter only (converts 12V DC-battery to 240V AC household power) installed in my van which is connected direct to the van's batteries and had no protection for 240V appliances plugged into it. The inverter is only used when free camping and no external power is available. Your 15 amp lead is for connecting your van to caravan park power which by law is RCD protected. Also when the van is connected to a house there are two devices that I know of but there are probably more. An Amphibian and a Portable RCD box that both provide conversion of 10amp to 15amp and RCD protection.
Hope this helps.

 

[Colsar]

yep that helps, ur rcd is for invertor.
if in parks i should be protected anyway by law so to speak.
at home my house has RCDs



thanks.

 

[skippy]

The RCD is for the inverter only (converts 12V DC-battery to 240V AC household power) installed in my van which is connected direct to the van's batteries and had no protection for 240V appliances plugged into it. The inverter is only used when free camping and no external power is available. Your 15 amp lead is for connecting your van to caravan park power which by law is RCD protected. Also when the van is connected to a house there are two devices that I know of but there are probably more. An Amphibian and a Portable RCD box that both provide conversion of 10amp to 15amp and RCD protection.
Hope this helps.

Sounds correct @jandl but maybe @boots33 can elaborate a bit more if possible

 

[boots33]

Hey skippy 240v is above my pay grade but i think the guys are on the right track. The only thing i will mention to those who are new to inverters is that they are real power hogs and best used for short term bursts. things like tv's that can be on for long periods of time will always be more efficient (power wise) to get one that will run on 12v.

 

[jandl]

Time for some more mods in between the house renos in time for next school holidays.
The obligatory table under the bed base.

The new box on the front. Lined with rubber on the floor with a piece of thicker rubber under each gas bottle. Put a piece of 9mm marine ply under the box to avoid the metal on metal wearing. I am comfortable with the reduced clearance with the tug as the times I need to turn sharply is when positioning the van and there is nearly always a second person with me, and if not, will go very carefully. Thought of installing a proximity sensor on each corner. Night shift this week so hopefully can investigate the feasibility.

The spare wheel will be moved to the rear bumper. The holder is being made now by Glen from Ironmonger Fabrications to @dagree's design. Hopefully the new bed end covers will be fitted before I go back to work.

 

[dagree]

Looks great @jandl :encouragement: and very similar to something I've seen elsewhere

 

[jandl]

Thanks @dagree With the same box and rear wheel holder it will look like a mini me van of yours. I think my 16 wants to look like your 17 so it feels like a grown up

 

[wizzerwazza]

That box looks very good jandl. would love to do a similar setup on mine.
question, is your inverter earthed?

wizzer

 

[jandl]

The inverter is not earthed, there is no requirement as it is an isolated power supply.

 

[skippy]

How did you keep your LPG bottles in place in the tool box @jandl

 

[jandl]

I purchased two new 9kg gas bottle holders that enabled me bolt them to the bottom of the box and therefore the marine ply. The one on the left as looking at front of the van is attached to the original bracket with one bolt. As my van had only 1 gas bottle there is no bracket on the right side so nothing to attach it to, so before any dirt road trips will be adding a bracket underneath attached to the 'A' frame to make it more rigid.