Vivaro camper Van conversion

[Eeyore]

Great work as always cully

[Blandy]

Great thread shame photobucket has cocked half the images up. Keep saying I want to do a similar thing once my 306 is built .. I think I’m now sold will keep a eye out for updates

[cully]

Full build with photos is on another forum as photos are unreliable here due to forum and photo bucket issues
Link here
http://vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/index...on.478585/

[cully]

recent additions to the van

swivel seat base for the passenger side



also getting so close to sending off the dvla convertion aplication just need the table fitting which is tomorrows job then to take a load of photos and write a letter

[Eeyore]

looks great cully. Tempted to get one myself although i feel more for transporting kit rather than living in! D:

[cully]

fitted the table with a temporary board until i can get to IKEA to get the correct colour door to use
time to mock up for some pictures and write a letter to DVLA

[C2K]

Looks v tidy Cully, almost there. Have to get the '6 on track somewhere far out from Devon to do it justice.

[cully]

photos taken letter written and all posted to DVLA time to wait and see now

the photos i have used in my description of point needed for DVLA conversion

[Ben]

Looks great! Hope the dvla don't make it too difficult for you like they seem to with engine conversions!

[cully]

Today is a good Day!
DVLA turn around 12 days I now own a motor caravan

[mr_fish]

cheaper tax or something like that now?

[cully]

not tax but insurance should go down and i can now travel at car speeds on duelcarriageways not commercial speed limits

[cully]

Insurance renewal has gone down by £100

[cully]

Have been playing with software to tidy my wiring diagrams






Van maintenance day well days
Van Had its MOT it Passed with advisory on the brakes all round

so have bought new brakes and the service items
Last weekend i set too and serviced the van
today i have serviced and replaced the front brakes
maybe next week I will get round to the rears too

[Mighty306]

Today is a good Day!
DVLA turn around 12 days I now own a motor caravan

Only just seen this.  A big win, n made even better when the insurance went down! Good work

[cully]

Rear brakes done today they needed doing!
bitch of a job to remove the centre hub nut
it was over tightened, i broke my 3ft breaker bar, had to go and get them undone else where before i could complete the brake change!

[cully]

time for an update.......

bought a solar panel to add to the vans charging capabilitys



then had a fight with an ebay seller over a faulty charge controller
bought a replacment from Bimblesolar.com instead



mocked up a fitting kit then fitted the panel





added more wiring!





charges the system quite nicely

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thought it was time to tart the wheels a bit

[Eeyore]

Looks great. So that solar panel in sun is charging 12v at 8.2A? Sounds mad as thats more than a mains charger.

[Nexus]

Great thread! This is something that I'd love to do as well someday.

[Mighty306]

Nice job!  I wonder if it'll produce 8A up in Scotland though!!    Shame about the eBay seller.

[cully]

Looks great. So that solar panel in sun is charging 12v at 8.2A? Sounds mad as thats more than a mains charger.

the solar panel is a 220W panel or 7.4amps at 30v


I am running the charge controller set to a float charge of 13.8v so not to cook the batterys
i should be able to get around 15amps at 14volts this is only dependant on a few things,
the sun!
if the battery's are discharged and able to take the charge current!

remember the charge controller will manage the battery charge and throttle the current back to constant Voltage when the batterys are topped off

Oh! the system also feeds back to the starter battery too so should never suffer a flat starter battery 
this has already shown to be good as the van turns over a lot better now

[Eeyore]

i didnt realise they provided that much power. its actually quite impressive!

[wainwrightj]

Where did you learn how to do all this wiring guff? Also how much-ish did the solar setup cost?

[cully]

i didnt realise they provided that much power. its actually quite impressive!

remember its a big domestic panel not a shitty little fleabay one

[cully]

Where did you learn how to do all this wiring guff? Also how much-ish did the solar setup cost?

I am an electrician by trade

second hand solar panel £100
charge controller £30
MC4 plugs and solar cables £15
roof entry box £10

roof mount reclaimed roof rack ends and 20mm box from the scrap bin welded with paint

[cully]

went away Thursday night for a shakedown of the van
stayed in north Devon on a site, glorious weather and quiet!

Van worked!
solar kept the cool box going all day without EHU or running the engine, and didn't have a flat van battery next day to start van,
solar was running all day at about 6Amps Battery was at 13.8v so was fully charged, my solar is more than capable of running my load and charging the battery's,
Tv worked Very well managed to tune it and watch the football with a beer, while cooking food
and my new tent awning was easy to put up and gave enough shade for two,

all in al a good couple of days
we have decided not to do scotland!
due to the time of year and midge's we have decided to do the lake district instead we leave on sataurday
im looking forward to it now i know the van is more than capable

[Mighty306]

It really is hard to imagine that was once a work-a-day van. It looks the biz!

Have a great trip to the Lakes.

[DeeTurbo]

Great work Cullly, not checked for updates as much as I used to.

If you or anyone would like a similar PV panel let me know as we sometimes have spares at work for a lot cheaper than retail price.

[Magenta Sunset]

Great work Cullly, not checked for updates as much as I used to.

If you or anyone would like a similar PV panel let me know as we sometimes have spares at work for a lot cheaper than retail price.

I might look for one for my caravan in the future.

[cully]

Great work Cullly, not checked for updates as much as I used to.

If you or anyone would like a similar PV panel let me know as we sometimes have spares at work for a lot cheaper than retail price.

May be interested in a couple more if the price is good enough