Ep 2. UK Van life. Preparing the van for insulation & repainting wheels
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2020
- We have recently purchased a 2005 Citroen Dispatch to convert into a small camper. In this video we prepare the van for installing the insulation and also repaint the wheels as they were not looking their best!
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Thanks for watching!
"That's where you'll hide your drugs." Haha! Enjoying the videos! Can never have too many solar fairy lights! 😉
Haha indeed
Love the window trims and back wheels :)
Solar is the way to go for sure, happy to answer any questions your guys might have. A split charge relay is a must, your engines alternator can produce loads of power so best to utilise it :)
Thanks! Yeah I am pretty keen to get solar just to be a bit more environmentally friendly. Having the back up of the relay charging the battery while we drive definitely sounds good. I think we'll be looking more towards doing this now!
Good job so far guys.
You can always lock doors from inside manually.
Solar is the way to go. Quite expensive start up but well worth it. Plus split charge.
Thanks! Looking to do the Solar with a split charge too to maximise power. We just want to get it right first time so it doesn't cost lots in the long run!
Thanks for watching and your advice 👍
I would suggest a split relay charging system. It costs about £75. I fitted one to my Renault kangoo, very simple to set up too. A few thick wires from main battery to you leisure battery in the back. So when your driving the relay will kick in and start charging your leisure battery. I used to watch a low wattage 24" tv for 3 nights without charging. All the best
This is amazing info for us, thanks so much! Will definitely be looking into this as an option.
@@dougthedispatch1902 you're welcome. Looking forward to next video guys.
@@aburaeese not forgetting the in line fuses between starter and split charge relay and another between split charge relay and leisure battery.
Do you realise this van already has a vent installed. I have the same van, although mine is the Peugeot Expert version, but exactly the same. The vent is just in the very back corner on the passenger side between the rear door and wheel arch.
I sleep in mine all the time. I have built a box in my passenger side sliding door which houses my leisure battery. I run cables from my leisure battery through the floor under the cab to a split charge relay then onto the starter battery. This way, your leisure battery charges as you run the engine and drive. It charges automatically and when the engine is off and you using the electric in the back. It will not discharge your starter battery. Easy to install. I also have a 12v 2000w inverter which is connected to my leisure battery and that is hidden on the floor of the cab under my passenger seat which can not be seen from the outside. It has 4 USB sockets and 3 240v plug sockets although I also have an extension cable with 6 plug sockets. This powers everything I need when I am away. The leisure battery lasts around a week on a full charge with constant use with my TV, microwave, kettle, 12v diesel heater which is also housed in the box next to my battery and all my lights. I find solar panels are a little tempermental in bad day light and wouldnt use the generator as it will take up too much space. However, I also have installed an electric hook up point with the hook up point hidden on the nearside under the side door behind the sill with the cable running through the floor into the battery box with 2x 3 pin 240v sockets so I can book into a site with electric hook up with my mains battery charger plugged into one socket to charge the battery and my other extension lead plugs into the spare socket.
For the living area, I have curtain behind the front seats, I have no rear windows, I have bought a sofa bed for £40 and took the folding bed frame out of the sofa and placed the base behind the cab seats and pull it out towards the rear doors. It is an exact fit. I have tables on hinges that are fixed to the side walls and a flat screen tv on a wall bracket. I use a portable camping stove and a cassette toilet and even a solar shower. Although, I main use site facilities. My van is a works vehicle as I travel all over the UK and Ireland delivering trailers or delivering goods on one of my trailers. As such, my van still looks like a van.
For storage. I have 8 plastic storage boxes that fit nicely under the bed for everything I need. I have a tarpaulin which I hang over my back doors if I am using my camp toilet or solar shower. I tend to leave my back doors open when I am on a site or somewhere well off the beaten track or some service stations as this gives a bit extra space for cooking and cleaning. I use a plastic sink dish for cleaning dishes or even laundry if I dont find a laundrette. I carry collapsable fresh water carriers for doing. My van is insured as a day van with hire and reward insurance at £22.37 per month fully comp.
I noticed with your van though that you dont have the electric windows or mirrors that my van has. I also installed an extra switch in the roof in the back so I can open the windows from the back if needed. Although, currently I need to have the ignition on for this. But leaving the rear doors open with a tarp to keep the weather out but allow cool air in.
P.S sounds like your fuel pump is about to fail.
Thanks for all the feedback and information. We are both new to driving a van so didn't realise the 60MPH limit for vans like ours. We did get informed recently about this but thanks for letting us know.
Also appreciate the information about how you've converted your van. Definitely helps to know what people have done with the same sized van. Hope you enjoy any of our future videos. Thanks 👍
@@dougthedispatch1902 You welcome, you never guess what. I was working yesterday where I had 4 deliveries in Central London. My van is bit too old for the ULEZ charge and I couldnt be arsed with the faff of dragging a trailer in Central London. So I hired a van from a local company. They given me a Peugeot Boxer Luton Van with a tail lift and a fold out day bed in the cab. I did the job fine although someone had tried to park on the tail lift and I got pulled over by the Royal Protection Police force for driving down past Buckingham Palace but got a caution.
On the A1 coming back, the van lost power, the engine was still running but lost the revs. I think I was in the same place as where you were just before you enter the 50MPH zone on the Northbound. I turned the engine off and back on and it was fine. I even drove through that little village but the van given up again so I had to wait for the RAC. Turned out to be a throttle positioning sensor as the engine was fine but lost its throttle.
Oh, the speed limit is only 10mph than the car speed limits on national speed limit roads, except for motorways where they are still 70mph. The A1 is only a motorway in sections which are identified with blue signs, sometimes a hardshoulder and if signed A1(M)
The nearest motorway section of the A1 to you would be just south of Newcastle which runs all the way down to Ferrybridge near the M62 junction for Hull. Then a short section by Doncaster, then Peterborough area and from Hatfield to the M25. But if their is an M with the road number with or without brackets. Then 70mph is allowed.
I thought Scotland had differant rules as I was caught doing 67mph on the A1 in my van by Haddington when it was signposted 70mph as in England, if you are on a single carriageway that is sign posted 60, then vans are also allowed to do 60.
@@stevecampbell7589 Have been down The Mall and past the palace on a motorbike many times and see lots of other traffic going past it also, so why did the police pull you over and give you a caution? I thought it was just general public roads round there, but it was a few years ago since I last passed by there
@@Fromatic I assumed the same as I drove down those roads before in a coaches and a minibus and in a van. But on this occassion. I got stopped. They dont stop every van. I think I was sort of unlucky on this occasion to get a tug. The coppers that stopped me were on foot too. They have control of the lights at the bottom of Constitution Hill. But turns out that there is signs coming off Hyde Park Corner saying no Trade Vehicles except authorised. Something to do with the Royal Parks. But I have never paid attention to these signs ever. I seen them a few times since I have been back to London. Last time I was on foot after I delivered a motorhome to Kent and had around 4 to 5 hours spare before I got my coach back to Sunderland so I had a walk around.
Time before that, I was driving a coach on a private hire and found myself just off Regents Park and I saw that the roads around there have the same signs too.
@@stevecampbell7589 oh ok, can't say I ever saw those signs either, or if I did I don't remember them as they didn't apply to me but good to know