Sankey Widetrack Camper Conversion

Just a break from trailer stuff, here is the latest layout arrangement drawing for the Mercedes:



Bed slats arrived today, nicely made out of 70 X 20mm Beech.

Peter

One thing I don't like are camping vehicles with everything in them but no toilet.

Bare boned tent replacements I understand, but sometimes you see showers and kitchens but nowhere to go to the loo.

We used to have a caravan and could not have managed without one.

Sold it due to horrendous storage fees and children got too big.

We like our creature comforts!

Even Phil is probably going to have a small Porta-potti in the trailer.

The big 6-wheel trailer also has a shower, toilet, full kitchen and warm air heating.

Peter

listerdiesel said:

We like our creature comforts!

Even Phil is probably going to have a small Porta-potti in the trailer.

The big 6-wheel trailer also has a shower, toilet, full kitchen and warm air heating.

Peter

Click to expand...

Warm air heating - lovely

Our old caravan was basic, grill 3 burners, vinyl floor, small shower and toilet room, and one gas heater.

Propex in the trailer, Propex 1600, and we have a new HS2000 going in the Mercedes.

Philip can run his cooker for a short while for a quick warm-up, but you need to ensure good ventilation. The Propex heaters take combustion air from outside and exhaust outside as well.







Peter

Being from pikey stock I hate the idea of a loo in a trailer.
Some things should be done as far away from cooking as possible.

We put a cassette loo in the big trailer as that and the shower were the main reason we built it in the first place.

Too many shows and rallies where there was little in the way of facilities for exhibitors unless you went and found a site outside the venue or a hotel.

The trailer works well for us and we still have it. Philip has his own agenda but the shower and a porta potti were always on the cards.

The cassette toilets are very good but take up a lot of floor space, while a porta potti can live and be used in the shower and taken out when required.

Peter

Bobsticle said:

Being from pikey stock I hate the idea of a loo in a trailer.
Some things should be done as far away from cooking as possible.

Click to expand...

Don't bother me, had a cassette in the caravan.

But in my house I have two loos, 1 up, 1 down.

Replace the downstairs one in 2014 as the old one was tatty.

Solar panels arriving Friday, ali extrusion unequal angle arriving tomorrow from Aalco.

Solar panels are 2 X 100W 36-cell, running into an MPPT solar controller.

Philip should have an easier job of mounting his two on the trailer roof as it is flat. The Mercedes has four panels and the roof is full of stiffening ribs, which meant all sorts of compromises to get them fixed down securely.





Controller is this type:



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140661388530

Peter

listerdiesel said:

Solar panels arriving Friday, ali extrusion unequal angle arriving tomorrow from Aalco.

Solar panels are 2 X 100W 36-cell, running into an MPPT solar controller.

Philip should have an easier job of mounting his two on the trailer roof as it is flat. The Mercedes has four panels and the roof is full of stiffening ribs, which meant all sorts of compromises to get them fixed down securely.

Controller is this type:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140661388530

Peter

Click to expand...

I assume you are running two panels in series per controller and two battery banks? I'm using a Victron MPPT in the van and it is an excellent bit of kit.

Parallel, there's an upper voltage limit on those controllers, and to be honest there isn't a big difference once you get over 100W panels and into the sunshine.

2 lots of 12V 225AH AGM (4 X 6V)



Victron is nice stuff but horribly expensive.

Peter

Ali extrusion (unequal angle) arrived yesterday, solar panels coming tomorrow, so looks like a busy weekend!

Pictures to follow.

Peter

Solar panels are here, and right on cue it starts to rain!!

Philip has to get some longer cables on them before he can start to fit them to the roof.

Cancer operation has been brought forward to the 15th February, a week on Monday.

Peter

Good luck with it matey

Thanks!

Peter

Solar panels being installed, two 100W panels on the roof and an MPPT solar controller inside.





We have taken off the short cables supplied with the panels and fitted twin core TRS cable, easier to get through a standard gland.

Two P600 diodes in parallel act as blocking diodes to prevent reverse feeding into the panel, existing single inverse diode already there.

Peter

More:









Peter

Philip got the panels up on the roof and cables through the roof beams just as it started to rain, inside at 17.30.





Peter

More on the Sankey:

Philip has been fitting the side and marker lights today, in between fairly wintry showers.





These are LED lights, quite cheap but nice and bright.

Peter

More lighting:









Peter