Fitting A Top Box

I won this top box on Ebay, I almost got it for £25 but the bids went up to £52.50 in the last few seconds.

But I am very pleased with it, as new with all the fittings, and it was only about 10 miles away for collection.

The box was grey and black like most others these days, but I wanted it white to match the van so I called at the local Hombase on the way back for a couple of tins of spray paint which is supposed to be OK for plastic; time will tell. Luckily Homebase were having a 15% off week-end so I got the paint for £8.25 a can.

Sprayed the box several coats and used up all the paint, possibly could have done with a couple more coats as it is a bit patchy in places but I had spent enough on the paint. It was a very hot day so the paint dried really quickly.

I had planned to fit the box the following day, but the paint was completely dry within an hour so I decided to carry on and get the job done.

The back of the transit where I was fitting the box has a raised square section and just sitting the box in place it seamed a bit wobbly as there was perhaps a 4" to 8" overhang all round, but that is where it had to go so I was hopeful that when it was secured down that it would feel more solid.

After a lot of measuring I got the box in the correct position and proceeded to drill the holes for the self tapping screws. The box came with the usual fittings for securing it to roof bars, part of the fittings are 4 metal plates about 6" x 2" with 2 holes drilled in each about 4" apart, these were ideal to use as backing plates inside the box. Drilled the 4 holes in one side then lifted the box and put plenty of Sikaflex around an in-between all the screw holes, then it was just a matter of starting the screws off to keep it in position while I drilled the other side.

The other side was done the same way and then all the screws tightened, a liberal coating of Sikaflex was then applied to the screw heads and round the brackets, although they are inside the box still better to seal them. And I am glad to say no wobbling, safe and secure.

So that was it job done, picked up painted and fitted in less than 4 hours, one thing now I need a way of climbing up the back to get into the box.

I have been looking at various van ladders on Ebay but they are either too flimsy or far too expensive.

While discussing this on the self build Facebook group someone mentioned that he had used these grab handles instead of a ladder, and they looked to me to be a very good alternative and a not too bad price of £35 for 4.

So they are ordered and I will get them fitted as soon as they arrive, need to buy bolts for them and some large washers for the back but I will wait till they arrive to make sure I get the right size.

Hopefully they will arrive in time for me to fit them before Saturday as I will be away in the van for a couple of days from Sunday. More photos and a blog on fitting them as soon as it's done

Two New Switches

When planning the installation of my solar panel system I decided that I wanted the inverter to power the same sockets as the hook-up, I didn't like the idea of having separate sockets like some do, as the fridge etc that it was going to power were all built in with no access to the plugs.

This of course meant feeding both supplies through the consumer unit, and that meant I needed a foolproof way of making sure that the hook-up and inverter were not connected to the consumer unit at the same time.

After quite a bit of research I decided that the rotary switch was the best idea for me, with an off position and 2 isolated on positions. After a search I found suitable ones on Ebay from a supplier in China, the cost was only £5.58 including postage, a similar switch purchased in this Country would cost quite a lot more. The switch arrived in just 7 days so I was pleased with the service and the quality of it.

One slight problem, there were 12 terminals on it (I only had 6 wires to connect) and unfortunately the wiring diagrams were in Chinese and not self explanatory; but another Google search brought up a wiring diagram of a similar switch and with constant checks with a multi-meter I was able to wire it correctly without any sparks or blown fuses.

So now I know for sure that when using hook-up there is no chance of the inverter being connected to the same circuit. 

Position 1 is inverter connected - Position 2 is mains hook up connected and Position 0 is both off of course.

The mains charger in my system came out of my donor caravan and as such it does not have an on/off switch and was connected by a plug and socket under the bunk, prior to installing the solar system and inverter this was not a problem, when you connected the hook up it was on and naturally when you unhooked it was off.

But with the inverter being connected through the consumer unit it meant that the battery charger would be on as well and that is not a good idea as you are taking power out of the batteries to run through the inverter to power the charger to put power back into the batteries.

I could have got under the bunk to switch it off at the socket but I decided that I needed a switch on view so that I could see at a glance if it was on or off.

My Solar System

A few people on self build Facebook group Self Build Campervans have asked about my solar panel set up so here are a few of the details.

I already had 2 x 110amp sealed batteries in the van, but depending on what you are running one battery may be enough, but the more batteries you have the more storage you have and therefore the power will last longer when there is not much sunlight or during the night.

Before I attempted to install my system I studied Youtube videos and any other information I could find about solar systems in general and espacially campervan and caravan installations.

Here is a list of the items I bought with the cost, but you need to shop around to find the best prices.

2 x 100w solar panels from Friendly Green Giant on Ebay, I paid £77 for one in auction then found out that they were also available at a buy it now price and open to offer. I offered £75 and this was accepted (lower offers were refused).

You need brackets to fasten the panels to the roof, there are 3 types to choose from, the cheapest being the aluminium Z brackets, they come in packs of 4 with all screws, nuts and bolts required. The brackets are bolted to the panel and there are usually pre drilled holes in the panel frame to take these. You can then screw or bolt the bracket to the roof, with plenty of Sikaflex under over and all round the bracket, you can never use too much. Some people just secure the brackets with the Sikaflex, but I chose to use the screws provided for extra security.

I paid £11.80 including postage per set and you need a set for each panel. Ebay link

The other type of brackets are made of plastic and you get one for each corner which is OK for a 100w panel or smaller, but a larger panel would need additional side supports, these brackets are screwed to the side of the panel and then stuck to the roof of the van using Sikaflex. These brackets are around £15 -£20 for a pack of 4, you cannot use this type if you have a ribbed roof as they have to sit flat,

The third type are similar to these corner brackets but are longer and just sit along the 2 narrowest edges, but again they cannot be used on a ribbed roof. They are also quite expensive.

You will need a Y splitter to join two panels together, there are a couple of different types but they both do the same job, I paid £6.49 including postage for mine from Ebay link

Next item on my list was cable to join the panels to the controller, this is usually sold by the metre and can be bought with a male connector on one end and a female on the other. You cut the length of cable into two equal lengths, the two ends with the connectors plug unto your Y connector, or the panel connectors if you are only using one panel, the two other ends are stripped back to connect straight into your controller. So if you need a 3 metre length to connect from your panel(s) to your controlleryou would order 6 metres, 3 for your positive feed and 3 for the negative feed.

I got a 10 metre length which was £9.40 including postage from Ebay link

To get the cable into the van you need a double entry cable gland, mine cost £7.99 from Friendly Green Giant where I got the panels from (link above). The cable gland is stuck to the roof of your van using Sikaflex.

The only other main item you need now is the charge controller, there are two types you can buy, if your budget is limited then a PWM controller will do the job and can be purchased for £5 or less.

The other type is the MPPT controller, much more expensive but is much more efficient and if you can afford one then I would definitely recommend you get one to get the most charge out of your panel(s).

You have to be very careful when buying an MPPT controller, there are quite a few being sold on Ebay, Amazon etc that are fakes. They are being sold at an in-between price £30 - £80, but they do no more than a £5 PWM, in fact some don't do as good a job. Do your homework on this, check out video reviews on Youtube.

The one I got was a EPsolar Tracer 2210 with a remote display, this cost me £102.60 from Bimble Solar. This model has been superseded and may not be available now, the newer model will cost you another £12 I believe.

I also purchased a pure sine wave inverter, I got this to power my fridge when off grid and to be able to use my laptop which also doubles as a TV by using DVB-T adapter.

So the total cost of my set up not including the inverter was £302.80, I have not included the cost of Sikaflex, as I already had some left from previous jobs, but you need to add £10 -£12 to the cost if you have to buy some.

Hope this has helped in some way for those interested, I will do another blog tomorrow if I get chance on fitting the system, although it is pretty straight forward.