The Toilet

Sitting on the Job

Now the frame was finished, I was hoping that when I done the shower tray measurements that it all fitted in.

The back off the toilet needs screwed onto the frame, and then the toilet clips on to 3 hooks at the back to hold it in place.

It fitted fine at eithe side, enough room to put the ply and the PVC panels in, but was having a problem at the back.

I needed to put a couple of extra batons on each side, to bring it forward so the toilet lines up with the shower tray and then gets sealed.

It still needs a slight adjustment which I will do when I go to panel the walls, but it will look something like this when done.

The Frame 2

Yes it would

Stevie, the joiner came back last night after I had finished doing the kitchen unit and got back on with finishing the wetroom frame.

Despite it being dark, we even used my car headlights to help give it more light, he managed to finish it off.

So there are now 4 frame walls round it all, as you can see below

And he has put the plywood up on the living area side of the partition, and left a doorway.

Am still undecided on what to put over the doorway, was thinking just a shower curtain but might put a folding door on it... work in progress I guess.

Anyway I added a couple of bits on to it today, as going to be putting a flat roof on it and wasn't sure how I wanted it when Stevie finished up last night.

This was just to give a level joist to attach the ply then the PVC panels too.

Next job is to fit the toilet and then start plying the walls..

Link to Photo Album

The Unit

Saw it, done it

Today was a good day weather wise, so I decided to attempt the kitchen unit to house the oven, fridge, hob & sink plus some space for storage.

I had already done the base for the oven yesterday, so I just needed to build up from that. I have no joinery skills so this was a challenge.

I decided to start with the upright frames, so I just built 4 bits of wood screwed together.

First one went in and this seemed to work, so would just repeat this for another 3

I did measure everything at least twice, and was hoping that it would be level, did a check with a spirit level and most of it seemed to be!

Below is two photos of the other 3 uprights in place, 

       

Then I did some horizontal strengthening bars across the storage space and the oven enclosure.

       

The bit across the front of the oven was lower and fitted in so the oven sits neatly in, I put another piece across the top to level it off to the worktop level.

Next was to build a frame round the top of the fridge, in this space I might put a drawer in depending on space once the sink waste pipe is fitted in.

So now I had a complete top I could place the worktop on it and get an idea on how it would fit, as it happens I needed to trim 100mm off the back of the unit.

I was a bit wary about cutting this again, so used masking tape so I wouldn't damage it with the jigsaw.

Once it was cut, I placed it on top of the unit and checked to see if it needed to get a bit more off it due to the window profile and centre column. 

As it turns out, it was ideal size as if I went back any further then the glass lids would hit the windows.

One thing I did make a mistake with was the 2 struts across where the gap is were interfering with the underside of the hob gas pipes, so I removed them and will replace them again about 50mm further down.

Overall I am happy with it, I've not secured the worktop down yet as will leave that till all the services have been run round that way.

Still to decide what I am doing to panel it off with, probably either ply then varnished or contiboard.

All in all not a bad days work!

Link to Photo Album

The Platform

Raising the Oven

Probably what annoys me (and no doubt loads of other self builders) is the wheel arches. The just get in the bloody road when you are planning and building your campervan.

I've avoided the one on the drivers side, which will sit between the sofa/bed and back storage area, and I will put a wardrobe over it.
But the passenger side one is where the kitchen is going, and the oven needs to sit on top of it.

Firstly, I put in a couple of slats where the fridge will slot in, this gives me the measurement I need for the unit length. The slat going up the side was removed, as am going to use slightly thicker wood for the uprights to support the worktop and Smev.

Then I built a couple of simple legs up to the height of the wheel arch, from where the oven will go up to, this gives me a gap in the middle which I will probably use for some simple plastic trays on rails for shelves.

Then a 3rd leg was put where the corner of the unit will go, this will form part of the frame eventually too.

Then it was just a case of cutting a bit of hard ply to sit on top of the legs which the oven will sit on.

So now I can start to figure out how to build round it all, never was any good at woodwork at school but quite happy on progress so far.

Link to Photo Album

The Base

Getting down to size

I'd already cut out the shower tray but now the partition and frame was started, I could do a 2nd fix on it and I had 2 out the 4 walls to line up with.

So I have left 10mm round the edges which will allow for the ply and the PVC panels to be fitted.

I used 38 x 89mm CLS to build the frame for the base to sit on, this gives enough room to sink the shower tray in and all it will require under the tray is a bit of foam to prevent it sagging a couple of mm and cracking.

Just need to figure out what am doing with the ceiling for the wetroom and then the holes in the floor and van roof for the draining and ventilation.

Link to Photo Album

The 12V's

Ground Control

Am at the stage where I am planning my 12V circuits and getting a bit confused.

I work away from home a lot, and will be using the van for perhaps a week at a time and sometimes without 240V hook up, although will be putting that in too.

I am also going to be using a 5 way control panel, connected to this will be Water Pump, Fridge, Lights, LED Colour lights and Aux (Spare).

List of 12V stuff so far

Water Pump
Shower mixer tap
Shower Fan/Light (with switch)
Toilet Pump
Storage Area Light (with switch)
Sink Taps
Fridge
LED Colour Lights
2 x LED Ceiling Lights
TV

I plan to get a 10 or 12 way blade fuse box too with a common ground/earth.

Rough Plan of the 12V accessories

What am not 100% sure on is how it should be all wired up, and if I need any further fuses ie from solar panels > controller, controller > battery, battery > fuse box.

Also do I run the cables to the control panel first from the fuse box, then out to the devices and then run the earth cable back to the fuse box common ground?

I believe I also need to calculate the size of cable based on the Amps of the items being installed and cable length. None of the cables should be any more than 4m.

I've asked on a couple of forums for help, as  I've been reading a few websites on it but getting myself confused.

**EDIT**

After some advise on this on a forum, it was pointed out that for only one 110A Leisure Battery isn't really adequate and having 200W Solar Power, I would be better having 2 so I have ordered another one.

I've also decided to get a better Solar Charge Controller which will charge both the Leisure Batteries and the Van Battery.

This also has a LCD Remote Display which will allow me to monitor the voltage and other diagnostics of all the batteries.

So hopefully after a bit of work, the diagram below should be how it will all go together up to the fusebox, I've still to work out how all that goes together!

**EDIT 2**

Apparently  my fridge should be connected up via a relay to the van alternator/ignition so it runs on 12V when on the move. 

Something like this I believe

The Cuts

Making holes

Got the replacement fridge vents today, which will now sit flush, unlike the previous ones, so it was time to cut some metal.

I had three holes to make, a small square one for the fridge exhaust to go out, and two larger rectangle ones for the vents.

I decided to tackle the hardest one first, as this needed to be in the right place first for the exhaust to fit up against, which looks like this.

Started off by lining up the fridge into the right place in the van, trying to get it as far to the right as I could in the van as the sliding door could cause an issue with it hitting the vent cover.

Then it was a case of judging as best I could where it would protrude, I did stick a pen up the exhaust from the inside to help. Then I drilled a small hole from inside, to get an idea where it was on outside.

Once that was done, I drilled some holes around that, trying to gauge the diameter for the hole.

Once I had that done, I could get the jigsaw in and widen the hole to make a square shape that would be slightly too big but once the fridge is fitted in, the exhaust vent can be sealed up.

Pic below is not the finished hole, I did straighten it up a bit :)

And here is the finished item in place, the picture on the right shows it does actually get skimmed by the sliding door. This shouldn't cause any problems as the cover is curved and the carpet just hits it and no more then the door moves out on the rail.

So with that one done, it was time to tackle the 2 other vents, which were easier as didn't need to line up 100%.

First of all I marked them out where they would go, then put masking tape round to try not to scratch the paintwork (I did a little bit on the smaller vent.. oops!)

Then drilled a small hole to get a bigger drill bit in easier and drilled out the corners, and instead of using the jigsaw, I was going to try the angle grinder in it.

So first hole was done, did cut one corner too far down but this wasn't an issue as would be covered by the vent cover. Then put some anti-rust paint round it to help preserve it.

Then put some sealant round the inside of the vent, and then finally screwed it in.

Then it was a case of repeating the above for the lower vent, this time I managed to not over cut one edge and it fitted in better too.. practice makes perfect! 

So not only now does it start to look more like a campervan from the inside, it's also starting to look that way from the outside :)

Link to Photo Album

The Frame

Wood it work

So today was the start of the actual building of the frame for the wetroom, I got a local joiner called Stevie to do this, his company is SMK Joinery based in Kirkintilloch.

The weather wasn't great, drizzly rain which isn't ideal for working outside and in a van but he made a start anyway.

Not long passed and he managed to build the partition frame which goes right across the back end of the van with a gap for the door into the wetroom.

As there is already ply down the walls and ply/wood flooring, this made things a lot easier for him.

The air conditioning duct (which is metal) was probably the tricky part, but as you can see once the ply is on it, it will look good.

He also made a start to the frame for the wetroom back wall, but then had to go and will come back during week to finish that.

It's good to see a start on this though, will start to look more like a campervan than an empty van soon.

Link to Photo Album

The Sun

Not the gutter rag!

I've been pondering about how to keep the leisure battery topped up while not on a 240v hook up.

I need to think about what my usage would likely to be, and although a decent 110A leisure battery should last my relatively low consumption for a weekend, any longer and I would either need to find an alternative power source such as a 240v hook up, or a split charge system from the vans battery but this would need to have the engine running for long periods.

When am on a site, it's not a problem as I will 9/10 times have a hook up, therefore I could  run my 12V stuff plus have the 240v for 'luxuries' such as Laptop, Kettle and perhaps a small TV.

As I could be off grid so to speak for perhaps a week or more, then Solar Panels seemed to be the best option for me and the most economical and environmentally friendly option.

This would allow me to keep the leisure battery topped up, and perhaps with a small inverter I could have my laptop on for a couple hours a day too.

I've been looking a bit into solar panels, and the price varies a fair bit. This is down to the Wattage of the panels and the type of charge control unit I went for.

A good source of information is Bimble Solar, who some of you reading this will know from their awesome little tent at several festivals.

They do a good range of kit, and cheap 2nd hand panels, but the postage to here is around £45 so that put me off.

Then last night on eBay, I seen an auction for a 200W (2 x 100W panels) kit, which contained everything I needed. Ok so this size of panels are probably too much for what I need, but it's good to have 'extra' juice and to be honest, what I bid and paid for it was fantastic.

Somewhat ironically, the only reason I decided to go for this set up now (I was going to wait till next year) was the fact that yesterday I got my annual dual fuel bill/statement and got a refund which was enough to cover this kit...

Save power and create power

The Gas Test

Talk to Frank

So before I went ahead and designed the kitchen unit where the fridge and oven need to fit into, I needed to make sure the appliances actually worked before making them fit.

The oven is Gas only, the fridge is a 3 way fridge and I know it works on 12V and on 240V so yeah you guessed it, I just needed to test the Gas.

Now I don't have a Gas bottle, regulator, hose or any tools/skills to do this, so luckily a guy called Danny who I know from dealing with in spare 2nd hand parts for caravans/campervans, knew someone who could test it for me.

So we arranged to meet with Frank today, and after a bit of running about to get a hose, then getting the gas bottle swapped for a full one, Frank set out to test the oven first of all.

Didn't take long, and the oven fired up lovely, it's a nice and clean and despite not having a grill, it will do as I have the 2 rings on the Smev.

So the fridge was next, and again it fired up straight away on the gas, so looks like they are both working fine so will be able to get on with the unit.

Frank knows his stuff when it comes to conversions, he's done a fair few over the time so going to get him to fit the gas connections in the van for the Oven, Fridge, Hob and Water Heater.

So a trip to Plumb Centre later, and after I was advised what to buy, came home with the copper pipes, connectors etc to get this done soon as units are up.

Big thanks to Danny and Frank today, much appreciated guys!