[Closed] I bought a campervan.. and have some questions

Sounds like a great plan! enjoy. I can only advise what I did so not sure if it is the best options but they worked for me.

1) you want to get a long hook up cable. Not all campsites have one power point per pitch, you might have to go across a number of pitches to get a power point. I had a 20m cable...too long most of the time but was needed on a handful of occasions. Also get a 3-pin connector to 3-pin means plug, handy for home and you can use a euro adapter if you venture onto the continent as they tend to have 2-pin mains plug hook ups rather than the 3-pin connectors. I also had a 1 - 3 branch connector as I also had a secondary reel line, so could get power into the awning when we used it. Might not be handy in your case but handy to know such things exist.

2) My van had a 90AH battery but I think I'd have preferred a 120Ah or so as I was running a fridge. I think the fridge was only good for a couple of days on the battery. Obviously the more leccy you plan to use the bigger battery you'll need, so if you're going to be constantly charging stuff and running electric pumps etc then you might need more and maybe some roof solar.

3)I used a small portages potty chemical toilet - so took the bright pink stuff and the dark blue stuff. Was fine but tended to limit to number 1's only.

4)Not sure...maybe an external shower connection? or a BBQ gas point? Mine had a 20ltr water tank which I filled up with a hose but tended not to use it.

Fridge sounds like a 2 or 3 way.

Do not attempt to run this on 12v when parked up. It'll flatten your leisure battery in half an hour or less and not get cold.

Cool it down on mains at home.

Run on 12v when traveling.

Run on gas or 240 when parked up.

Looking at the age of it I would go through ths gas system with a fine tooth comb If confident. /competent. Or pay someone who is.

Is there anything to look for in the cables for them

They come in 1.5mm2 and 2.5mm2, bigger is better. The ones occasionally on offer in Aldi/Lidl are 2.5.

What size of battery do I need?

As big as you can afford and will fit! Does it have filament or LED bulbs? If LED fridge is likely the biggest power drain. Remember you'll need roughly double your maximum use to avoid prematurely killing the battery.

That sir looks a fine wagon.

That looks cool

If the fridge and boiler are gas and the lights are LED (a cheap change) then a 90ah battery will last a while, but as above, nobody says ‘I wish I has a smaller battery’ so get the biggest that will fit, maybe more than one. Has it got a battery charger? Split chargers don’t do a good job at charging long term, good chargers cost a bit but so does a new battery every season.

Get the gas checked +1, there will no doubt be much sucking of teeth. You should see if there is anything immediately likely to kill you at least even if you don’t bring it up to date.

That looks proper ace!!

Mint 🙂

Alright, a couple of things to think over - especially re: the fridge.
Lights are all old fashioned polar bear murder ones so I will look at swapping for LEDs.
In fact, will probably pick up a mains cable, getting it working and run a meter over it while turning things on and off to figure out the current drain calculations then see about the battery size. Might even be better off paying for a good coolbox and ditching the fridge as I live in a flat and can't really put the van on mains before leaving for a trip. I'd hoped that I could cool the fridge whilst driving to where I'm going.
I am also unlikely to use proper campsites - more likely to be parked up in forest campsites or laybys near good trails for a couple of days at a time.

A gas engineer owes me a favour, so I'll get him to give it a once over. It's not a home made job, but it is old, so worth getting an expert in on.

What is the difference between a battery charger and a split charger?

@Matt - it is old and slow, but has the air of a good donkey about it. It'll get me where I need to go. And was only £2k which I think was a bit of a good deal.

That's a dream of mine to get a camper van.

Looks a lot better than what I've generally seen for 2k.👍

I'm bloody envious, have a great summer touring around mate.😁

Edit: Split charger charges both main battery and leisure battery I believe. Others on here will confirm.

Just cool it on gas then they are silly quick to cool on gas.

Doesn't use alot of gas either.

A 6kg cylinder* lasts us about 3 weeks with heating and about 6 weeks without

* We use pump lpg as calor cans are like 25 quid a shot. LPG is 6 quid to fill from empty.

Good looking van that. If in no rush I'd recommend going everywhere slowly - makes a big difference to fuel consumption and puts less stress on the old girl.

Re fridge - def keep it. Other good trick is to fill it with precooked frozen meals (as it stuff you have cooked yourself and frozen into a solid block) and leave them in there to slowly thaw keeping the fridge cool while they do it. Part of your 'pre flight checks' as you set off every day (alongside locking cupboard doors etc) is switching to 12v.

Hookup - use when you absolutely have to. It often adds quite a bit to a nights camping and also frequently puts you on the regimented row with all the old boys in campsites. Not having hookup frequently gets you a more scenic spot with the cool kids. Without a solar panel you'll just have to be frugal with your battery use.

Split charger - a bit of kit that splits the power from the alternator to charge your leisure battery whilst you are driving too.
Battery charger - to charge the battery when on hookup.

Battery - there will probably be a vent port in the battery compartment and a tube to push into a hole in the battery. Do this - nothing like being poisoned to death in your sleep or getting a bit explody on start up after a night charging on hookup. We have a couple of 90ah batteries in parallel but our fridge is only electric so that makes a difference. I'd recommend no less than 80ah, ideally more. Only half of that number is actually usable without bricking it by flattening too far so it does not go as far as you think.

Toilet - not much idea about the freestanding ones, our is a cassette job. They are so much better smell wise than they used to be. Most campsites have a separate area to empty them. Sometimes known as blackwater, not to be confused with grey water. Use the eco chemicals as its better for the environment and some places will only accept your crap if you are using it. Sneaking into public toilets to lob down there is a stealth mission- if you go anywhere where motorhomes are common there will probably be bylaws against doing this and lots of signs. They fill surprisingly quickly.

Grey water - this is the used water from the sink - check out where this goes. Might be a tank under the van, might be a system where you put a container outside and catch it as it comes out under the van or it might be a container under the sink. Again campsite have places to empty this or crack open the tap as you set off and let it dribble out as you drive along.

Invest in a pair of ramps for parking if you value a flat bed and don't want to be too compromised where you park.

Think about what electrical kit you are taking with you. You may well have a 3 pin plug in there that will work when on hookup. You might consider getting an inverter but be a little careful with cheap ones. Our quasi sine wave one like to destroy electronic gadgets but is fine for electrical stuff. If need to charge lots of usb type devices it is more efficient to use one of the little things that plug into the cigarette lighter socket and give you a couple of usb outputs rather than using a plug in charger.

And wild camp if you can but don't be an arse about it - turn up at dusk and leave after breakfast.

@convert - very comprehensive info, thanks!

Slowly does it - very true. It's a 1.9 non-turbo with about 50bhp. Will do 60 on the motorway OK but not much more. Not very aero! I'll not be in a hurry though - I live a patient life these days.

Hookup - wasn't really planning on using it much, as like you say, I'm not really into the caravan-club style thing. Also, I am in Scotland so am not limited to caravan parks/campsites.

Inverter etc - that's a good point. It has a few domestic 3 pin plug sockets in it, but I hadn't considered that they'd only work on hookup - though that seems obvious now. I think the van is designed around an external hookup as opposed to off-grid style stuff.

@trail_rat - how do you fill a gas can from an LPG pump? Sorry if that's an obvious question! I am new to this.

That looks cool and retro 🙂

• It looks cool and retro, get yourself a steering lock bar and perhaps a wheelclamp as I can't imagine the security is up to much!
• Whats the deal with that water tank, check its meant to be down at an angle, and that the exhaust isn't too close to melt it
• It looks either well cared for, or its had a fresh lick of paint. Have a very tentative look under the arches and sills to see if its a rotbox...if it is, you can limit your investment whilst you enjoy it until it can't get through an MOT!
• As others have stated, the fridge works best on gas or 240v, so do your initial cooling with gas, 12v sucks lots of power so you should switch it over as soon as you park up. The fridge will probably stop working if you are not parked level. Definitely don't replace it with a coolbox, you'll regret it after a hot day at come back to a warmbox.
• Get a monoxide gas detector.
• Get your battery, and a volt meter so you don't run it below 12.1v (50%).
• If you want to camp 'offgrid', you can get battery to battery (b2b) chargers that will suck as much as possible from the alternator and fast charge the leisure battery. Standard trickle charge can take many hours of driving to top up your battery whereas a b2b will keep pushing a full charge until its full (i.e. mine is 30 amps, a Ring RSCDC30 which also can also accept solar panels to keep trickle charging during the day) If you want to be free from hookup, (and the more scenic/cheaper camping pitchs) solar is a massive game changer. My van is sitting outside with full batteries and the fridge has been on for two weeks (pure electric) via 200w of flexible solar panels. It only charges from the engine and solar, it doesn't have any hookup at all.
• Inverters, I would avoid if possible. They simply convert from 12v to 240v, and then your laptop charger etc just coverts it back to something between 12 and 20v. Quite inefficient, better to spend your money on 12v specific vehicle chargers. Especially as most of your other things probably charge from USB plugs running directly from 12v. I have a little inverter, practically never use it. And it likes breaking electric toothbrush chargers...and makes the mouse bounce all over the place when I try charging a laptop.

You can't fill a regular gas bottle from.a pump.

I have a refillable bottle from gas it.

They have an 80% max fill cut off built in.

Garages will only let you fill bottles from a vehicle mounted fill point

I have LPG refillable. Its a bit of an expensive upgrade so probably only worth it if you into this campervan lark long term. You can move the system between vehicles when you upgrade, although van conversions often have a tank underneath to save space (if you have a gas locker you'd choose a refillable bottle style). LPG filling stations are also getting rarer as pumps are removed so we normally try to top up before getting anywhere too remote.

I have LPG refillable. Its a bit of an expensive upgrade so probably only worth it if you into this campervan lark long term. You can move the system between vehicles when you upgrade, although van conversions often have a tank underneath to save space (if you have a gas locker you’d choose a refillable bottle style). LPG filling stations are also getting rarer as pumps are removed so we normally try to top up before getting anywhere too remote.

Agreed. I put an underslung lpg in ours too and regret it apart from the space saving. I'm still about 20 refills from actually making a saving and having no ability to fill it up when somewhere remote (Outer Hebridies last year for example) could have been a big hassle if we'd run out.

LPG filling stations are also getting rarer as pumps are removed

Very true, unfortunately. There were two local to me until last year - the cheaper one (Asda) went unmanned which meant no LPG.

I just fitted a refillable gas kit to my lorry last week. I went to fill it at the final remaining local LPG supplier (shell) to find that the pump is out of order and 'might not be fixed if it costs too much'.

Particularly annoying as I also run a gas powered land rover 🙁

@yourguitarhero at £2k that looks well smart, way better than many for a lot more money.

Those LDV's were never fast or powerful when new, but who cares when your mooching around anyway? From memory (I worked at three outdoor centres that had Pilot/Sherpa's and Convoy's) they are pretty simple things, with a few quirks mechanically. Rust was the killer. They drove like sh*te though!

Every Highland postie had one back in the day...I wonder wth yours being red if it's a postie conversion?

Rad van 👌😊

LPG filling stations are also getting rarer as pumps are removed so we normally try to top up before getting anywhere too remote

Conversely I find the more remote I get the easier it is to find. ...... But that's Scotland.

The lpg finder app is deffo worth having if you go down that route.

I'd deffo second having a good poke under the front end and checking it's steel not fibreglass

I'm happy with mine overall, we've probably only gone through about 5 tankfuls (100 litres perhaps) so most top ups are about £3! It only runs the cooker and heating. But like Convert, the main advantage to me is it saves valuable space in a van, but this is less important in a motorhome style coachbuilt as the gas locker is normally under a big bench seat or the dead space behind the heater/wardrobe. All my seats are vehicle style so a gas locker would have robbed space from the under bed area for bikes which already holds the fridge, batteries and spare wheel.

Good spot by Spooky on the water tank too - good to see what that's all about.

Sound like re-fillable won't be worth it for me at the moment.
I'll take a peek at the water tank.

@matt - van has a year's MOT on it, and nothing major about corrosion on the MOT history - mostly things like brake lights not working and some suspension parts needing replaced. It has done 170k though and yes - it drives like a bag of spanners - fishing for gears, pushing hard on the brakes and steering like you're working out at the gym.

it drives like a bag of spanners – fishing for gears, pushing hard on the brakes and steering like you’re working out at the gym.

Sounds like it's had loads of work since new then. They didn't come out the factory that good.

Camper is camper. Who cares about the age long as it's legal and your having fun. I actually like the old style kinda quirky. The modern fibreglas boxes just lack character

You can get adapters on eBay for filling your gas bottle yourself, £7 or £8 if I remember. Takes the cost down considerably.
A few videos on YouTube about it, some scarier than others. If you're a bit sensible it's not hard and you're better finding a sympathetic small fuel station that'll not give you any grief. You'll need to do a bit of calculation depending on the size of bottle you're filling then as long as you fill from empty each time then you're sorted.

Sounds really Convienant for filling up on the move.

And not legal.

The plug thing above the water point, if it’s two small holes, one bigger than the other, would be a 12v supply for a Whale water pump so you could fill the tank from a container 👍

Those adaptors, illegal. People say they are simple to use but seeing as the Internet cannot agree on tare weights, filling by weight (LPG is an unknown ratio of Propane:Butane) expansion rate of propane v butane, and the 80% max fill, I think it just proves they are not safe. The last video I saw was a guy claiming all the safety issues were rubbish, but then proceeded to film at the LPG pump and produce a handy stick from the top of the pump to wedge the fill button so he didn't need to keep the button pressed in!

If you need to do maths AND remember to shut the pump off at the right moment, then the risk of overfilling is probable, and the standard bottles lack the level gauge and safety pressure release valve.

What's handy for filling I find is a 5l water bottle.

Often the places I fill up have all sorts of magical tap connectors or I can't get close enough for a hose....

A 5 l bottle has just the right size of neck to fit the filler point nicely and let enough air in to fill quick.

We use our onboard water almost always I can't imagine why you wouldn't. - we do have 70 l and I do fill it from the hose at home.

On something that age I might run some puriclean through.....don't be tempted to Milton it or like wobbliscott you might find your self not using it.

Get a carbon monoxide alarm, please! Not spotted if anyone else has suggested one but it is a good idea.
She looks a great, have fun!

Do not attempt to run this on 12v when parked up. It’ll flatten your leisure battery in half an hour or less and not get cold.

Cool it down on mains at home.

Run on 12v when traveling.

Run on gas or 240 when parked up

Do this with our caravan. Using gas to cool it is some kind of witch craft but it works well. I tend to disconnect tge gas before bed as get a little paranoid!

If you cant cool it on mains before you leave just get all the beer cooled well before you leave and use some cool box blocks in it until you get to a hook up or switch to gas.

CO detector is a good shout!
Have to swing by Screwfix today to get a connector to make up a mains hookup cable anyway. I also have a couple of spare fire extinguishers kicking about so will leave one in there too!

Looks like you got lots of great answers already but if you ever need more specific help and don't want to spam stw with the endless the questions you'll no doubt have I'd join the motorhome fun forum. It's a really well built site and even does fancy things like remembering where you were up to on a thread!

Make sure to ignore all the sub forums on there as it's full of right wing gammon dross but the motorhome section has been invaluable to us as recent 1st time motorhomers. One very knowledgeable guy even came over to ours to help us out with an issue we had.

I believe your van would be classed a motorhome rather than a campervan with the body type you have. Good luck! We'll be up to Scotland in ours for some wilding next Spring hopefully but until then we are heading to the continent.

1) Get a 20m 2.5mm cable.

2) 100 amp hours or more! Don't run the fridge off 12v, use the gas or 240v if you have it. Older 3 way fridges draw a lot from a 12v battery. As you have said convert the lights to led bulbs. Solar is great but is a big investment.

3) Thetford PortaPotti

4) You might want to flush the tank with a Milton fluid solution before using. No reason you can't fill it up with a clean hose.

I would check the gas and electrics on a van of that age and all the belts, hoses etc. Get some breakdown cover as well which at least tows you off the motorway.

Enjoy the adventure, I'm a little bit jealous!

Camper looks good, any pics of the inside.

After spending five years of mainly off grid holidays, race events and most weekends away.

Get the biggest leisure battery you can fit, its no fun without power and a nuisance when you have to run the engine to top it up.

If you can run to it solar would be top of the list, the latest panels will top up on a cloudy day and you should never run out of battery

We started off with calor lite bottles which were a pain to swap abroad so went with the Safefill gas bottles, easy to get topped up and about a quarter of the cost of calor.

We went with the arctic grade extension lead, a 15m and a 10m, if you are using it in the winter the cable doesn't kink as much. Don't keep it reeled when plugged in, have seen a few fire.

Pet hates from camping off grid, especially at races.

Inconsiderate campers running generators through the night.

Van campers running engines when it gets dark trying to keep battery topped up, or early hours of the morning when the battery is almost flat.

Get out as much as you can and enjoy it, cant wait to get back out in ours.

@Tracey - did you convert to SafeFill yourself or get someone to do it for you?
We've got  Campingaz 907s in our van but I'd prefer to switch to something better for longer off grid trips.

safefills certainly getting better - when i went to gas it the reports were that it was very difficult to get safefills filled without arguement.

You don't need to convert, the bottles lift in and out just like the calor ones, we got ours from ebay when their was a 20% off deal. The equivalent size bottle is a bit chunkier than the calor lite but still fits in with loads of room.

Fill up at local Morrison's with no problems, dont know if you are supposed to but we topped up a half full bottle before last years Alps trip. Something you cant do with the calor lite

Some info here, we did look at all the alternatives and they seemed the best option for our needs.

http://www.safefill.co.uk/

thanks @Tracey

having no ability to fill it up when somewhere remote (Outer Hebridies last year for example) could have been a big hassle if we’d run out.

huh ? it was the outer hebrides that pushed me to go LPG as i couldnt get a refil for my calor ANYWHERE out there. but LPG was easy enough at Stornoway - the two alternatives were carry two calorlites or go - gas it cost 200 quid. that was 10 fills to break even - ive exceeded that.

but we digress.

Interior shots YGH

I was going to say I might have had a spare mains cable in the attic for you.
But you're probably already at Screwfix!
It's also a good idea to have it on some kind of cable reel a lot easier keep it neat!

If you need any help with the electrical side of things give me a shout I am local-ish.

Looks like a cracking investment!

We did 2 weeks of grid in Italy and the Alps last year, temperatures were high, ran the fridge/freezer and all the cooking of the 7.5 safefill bottle and still had a good half bottle left.

It would have been topped up this week for our Lake Garda/ Alps trip which should have been Friday but is now cancelled.

I cant envisage a time where we would run out and cant top up, the map of sites on the Safefill site shows the extent where we are in the UK compared to Europe.

The same size bottle seems to last longer which makes me think you don't always get a full calor bottle when swapping over

The same size bottle seems to last longer which makes me think you don’t always get a full calor bottle when swapping over

im inclined to agree with that statement. 6kg seems to last for ever.... calor lite never seemed to last.

Given its age I'd be tempted to run some bleach through the water system before my first trip.

Nice looking van.

@giant_scum
If you do have one, I'd happily buy it off you.

Re: the water system, I have pub line cleaner I use in my home bar, so I'll run that through it first - good shout!
I checked the water tank underneath, it is meant to tilt down like that.

I've parked it a wee bit away, but here are interior pics from the eBay auction:

I can fit in the above cab bed OK, and the cushions in the main part sit on a couple of pieces of ply to make the main bed.

There's a few switches here and there which I need to work out - will do it up at my parents' at the weekend where I can plug it in to the mains etc

Looks tidy

it actually looks really spacious.

where does the bike go 😀

That looks excellent 👍

If you’re using a gas fridge I wouldn’t stress too much about battery power.
110Ah powering LED bulbs, a bit of music & phone charging should be fine for a few days.

I saw it mentioned further up the thread but not sure if answered. A split charge relay will charge the leisure battery when using the van’s alternator when the engine is running. A van with hookup will often have a charger that will charge the leisure battery only when the hookup is plugged in. Some will be set up to charge both batteries.

Solar is excellent if you’re either using a lot of power or staying put for long periods. Ours will run everything indefinitely in all but the gloomiest days.

Op, hope you don't mind me asking but what's your insurance cost on the camper mate?

We have just renewed ours this week gone up from £260 to £275 for the year, fully comp with both of us to drive. They wont accept the girls till 25 years old so we are safe for a couple of years

If you have one nearby and still open go outdoors are cheapest for gas and leisure batteries.

Amazon or eBay for solar panels and a mppt or Pwm solar charger to keep the leisure battery topped up. I have a briefcase style portable solar panel that can put 10amps into the battery, on a sunny day. It’s rated at 120w, so doing ok.

Enjoy

Bike in a bike bag in the overcab. Out the way, can't be seen from outside, relatively crash-safe.

The LPG setup is great as it runs the oven, fridge and water heater for pennies. We went round Europe in our MH for a month last summer having only used it once (drive to layby and make a cup of tea. Abroad there are several different LPG fittings and in Italy they go batshit mental at anyone using LPG for anything except powering engines. We had a break in (at lunchtime in a busy carpark) and were pleased that the rear bike rack was fixed through a 3mm alu plate running the whole width of the vehicle as they had a bloody good go at ripping it off! The bikes had about five locks on them mind.

eBay for solar panels and a mppt or Pwm solar charger

I know I've said this before but watch out, there are a lot of dodgy mppt chargers on eBay. Dodgy as in sulfuric acid everywhere.

You've a great wee place there YGH.
I'm jealous - at that cost, I could afford to run a third vehicle!

@yourguitarhero

I have a 5 metre cable and a few spare commando plugs and sockets to make up a 13 Amp to commando socket!
You can have them for free as I don't need them anymore.
Let me know if you want them.

Aye, it's a bit dated inside but it is clean and usable.
I can see a few things to modernise, but figure I'll run around in it all summer to see what I like/don't like and re-decorate over winter.

Insurance was £215/year from Adrian Flux.

There is a fold down bike rack on the back - Hamma or something like that. Looks OK. There are also heavy crash/bull bars so I can chain bikes up with a very heavy duty Almax motorbike chain when stopped. Figured I'd put them inside in a 1 ton rubble bag if I was away out walking or kayaking for the day or whatever.

Also have some behind your radiator foil insulation lying about so will make up some blinds for the windows.

Also, just mulling over how to put in both internal and external beer taps. Think I've got it sussed.

The insurance is less than my 1.2 Vauxhall Agila... 😳

Is it limited milage or anything stupid on the insurance?

Am I the only one who thinks of Jaws out of James Bond ripping the roof off when I see one of these?

That is all.

5000 mile limit

That looks ace. I’d love a camper at some point.

we need more photos !!

😎

Love that, looks like a Lego build! Just for authenticity, could you shave your head and wear a little disc as a cap when driving?

My girlfriend and I had our first night in it up at my parents'. Handy for visiting and not going in the house.
The van is great - it's very comfy and a nice place to sit in. My sister's kids loved it too.
The beds are comfy and we didn't get cold or anything. Extra bonus - no leaks despite being in a thunderstorm.

The 240v hook up worked, so I have started deciphering the electrical system. Some of the lights and the 3 pin mains sockets were working, lots of others were not - that seems to be due to the leisure battery not being in place, so I have ordered a 100ah one.

The gas bottle it came with was empty, so I will need to refill to test the boiler and cooker. I also have a Porta-potti coming in the post.

The bike rack is a bit rubbish, but I can see how I can cover it with a couple of Thule roof carriers I have and to make it more stable - a wee project.

Cool. Keep us updated.

Everyone loves a van thread

Have spent a bit more time with it now, and am beginning to decipher its mysteries.
I put the second battery in - this allowed me to work out more of the electrical system.
The wiring isn't great - there were lots of random disconnected wires and so on and the voltage to the battery when the motor was running was pretty low. Worked out that this was because the earth connection to the chassis was poor - was on a rusty bracket under the van. So I have run a nice fat cable from the front engine bay earth which is in good nick. The connections to the main battery were loose and it was just lying loose in its tray, so tidied that up too. Am going to put in a brass earth connection block in the wiring area.

Got the fridge and some lights working on 12v. Fridge is switched by a domestic fused spur behind the driver's seat, which works quite well - can easily flip it once you start driving.

There's no charging system in there, the two batteries are directly connected which isn't great - could let them both go flat, and uses the rear battery for starting. There is a big orange pull switch on the dash which I think was used to isolate/connect the rear battery. However I have ordered a voltage sensing relay to do that automatically. Am also going to install a little marine fused switching panel with a voltmeter and some USB chargers too and run everything through there. Will tidy the wiring up. I also plan to label everything so the next owner can figure things out more easily! There are speakers in the back too, so think I will wire up an old bluetooth car stereo and sub woofer I have in the cupboard. Will also order up a dashcam with a reversing camera is it's quite difficult to judge. Van has a great turning circle though!

Got the portable toilet in, all works fine. Aldi are selling the pink and blue chemicals just now for £6 a tub.

Got a new gas bottle - it's a Camping Gaz 907. A bit expensive, I might swap to Calor Butane instead as they seem cheaper. I'll see how I get on with this though.
The cooker works, but I couldn't figure out how to get the fridge to run on gas. There's a sparker button but it doesn't make a noise when you push it.
Haven't tried the hot water boiler yet, as haven't got the water system running. The water connection to the cold tap was hanging loose, and I haven't quite figured out how the 12v water pump is switched on/off - I think it's a demand thing. The whole kitchen area needs some more investigation to figure out what is going on with it. There are some random switches/weird electric connection points/painted over bulbs?

Went to visit my pal in Fife, went for a bike ride then we had a couple of beers in the back and I kipped outside his place - van is paying off already. You also get random folk telling you how much they like it, and waving at you in the street - that's fun!

What do you guys do about the keys if you've had a couple of beers? You can get done from drink driving? Can you put a keybox under the chassis or something and leave them in there?

What do you guys do about the keys if you’ve had a couple of beers? You can get done from drink driving? Can you put a keybox under the chassis or something and leave them in there

Horse pish, so long as your parked legitimately.

If your parked in a questionable spot it could be assumed you planned to move to a suitable spot.

So if parked up for the night in a safe spot with the ramps under the wheels , keys out and in the habitation and the front seat turned round(or better still just no way into the front from the back) Your not going to get done.

There's alsorts of urban legends about people getting done and when you dig deeper you find they failed the attitude test if they did get done or it's just someone interpreting the written rules really badly and no one was ever nicked.

Horse pish, so long as your parked legitimately.

Not horse pish.

You can be done for 'drunk in charge' rather than 'dunk driving' if you're parked in a "public place" - this includes privately owned land to which the public has access (e.g. pub car parks) - it's a bit of a minefield.

The onus is on you to prove that you had no intention to drive if you get picked up on it.  (Things like having the van up on ramps obviously helps with this, but not particularly convenient for low-key camping. Not having access to the ignition keys seems to be good, too, but difficult in the case where the key is combined with the locking fob).

Good write-up of it here:

OUTANDABOUTLIVE.CO.UK "https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/userfiles/File/drunk+in+charge.doc"

(Linked from the click-bait here )

no one was ever nicked.

My brother was - whilst in a sleeping bag on the rear seat of his car. Ignition keys on his person though.

See also:

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/driving-ban/

Good job the op isn't sleeping on the back seat of his car.

Did you see the ops van. He won't be stealthing it up anywhere.

Cool van, very retro 😀
I dont know if its an issue, but i have heard that the older vans have an osmosis issue. Though that might just be fibreglass caravans. I think it makes it really cold inside, even in summer. Maybe look for a heater, sleeping bag or such if you do find it cold.

Water pump is usually switched by a micro switch in the tap, turn tap on and the pump starts.

A couple of comments from me. We set-up our van for extended travelling a couple of years back, expecting to be touring Europe for a year. I got headhunted while we were away though (I thought I'd retired!) so we ended up only doing a couple of months although the mods we did were still useful.

Gas: When wild camping in the summer you won't use much e.g. just cooking and the fridge. It's a different ball game in the winter though as most vans aren't that well insulated and the heating rips through the gas. We have a refillable LPG system from Gaslow however up the north and west coast of Scotland it's actually easier to find replacement Calor bottles than it is finding places with an LPG pump. For that reason we usually have one Gaslow bottle and one Calor one and find that a good compromise. We mainly got the refillable system to use in Europe.

Electric: We have 160W of solar on our van with a single 120AH battery (but room for a 2nd, and I carry our old 90AH leisure battery as a spare and charge that up when we're on mains as I stick an inverter on it and use it to charge my laptop when we're wild camping). We also switched all the lights to LED to save power. In the summer that works great but in the winter the solar panels don't get a lot of charge so we'll usually go somewhere with a hookup every few days. We also carry a 2Kw Honda suitecase generator (which is pretty quiet) and sometimes use that when there is no-one around.

it drives like a bag of spanners – fishing for gears, pushing hard on the brakes and steering like you’re working out at the gym.

Now that sounds familiar! I was dropped off at the Royal Marine Training place at Dartmouth to pick up a vehicle, and according to the transport manager it was the very last LDV minibus in the whole British military. Changing gear was the biggest challenge, it really needed two hands, but that’s not ideal while driving...

Will also order up a dashcam with a reversing camera is it’s quite difficult to judge

Tell me about it! Even just having reversing sensors makes a huge difference, it’s impossible to tell where the back end is on something with a Luton box, or is a long wheelbase with no windows - I had to move a 17-seater minibus last week, just manoeuvring the bloody thing around our car park was nerve-wracking, trying not to hit cars on the corners. I love the idea of a camper, but not having to squeeze one round narrow, steep lanes!
That does look very tidy, though, have fun! 😁
Actually, speaking of desirable campers, this was parked outside the pub I stopped at for a pint this afternoon after a walk, very nice bit of kit:

Anyone like to guess what it was in a former life?

3) It has a little room in it for going to the toilet. But it does not have a toilet – so I need to buy one. Is there anything to know about them? Looks like it is set up for a wee port-a-potty style thing which I am assuming I need to dump the contents somewhat responsibly?

Much like the space shuttle, separate facilities for liquid and solid waste is an idea.

A flexible pipe discreetly venting to underneath (either into a jerrycan or, depending where you are looking at staying, nature) is rather convenient on a cold night - using that then you very rarely end up having to poo inside the van,

it’s impossible to tell where the back end is on something with a Luton box, or is a long wheelbase with no windows – I had to move a 17-seater minibus last week

If it's your vehicle, you just need some tape or a small marker on the wheel arch. Then you can reverse within a few cm every time. It's like a visual reversing measurement.

Most outdoor centre minibuses have two or three bits of tape on them for this reason.

Sounds like more training would be beneficial if your moving these around professionally.

How ever ygh van looks are bad combo of small arms and small motors with a widened body.

Big mirrors sticking out a good distance in your case would be a mega improvement.

Most modern vans will have large mirrors for this reason.

You soon get used to the size. Can do a 3* point turn on a single width fire track now in my 7.2 m long camper. Folk look at me like I'm mad when I do it mind 🙂

*33

Anyone like to guess what it was in a former life?

Prisoner transport?

I have seen the wizzard wagon in real life and it truly is awesome.

I'll guess at a BT van.

Also ygh gave me a bottle of his own barley wine, 3/4 of it and I was feeling the effects!