Electrics cont...

I have done a lot of work on the electrics, but at the end of the weekend came away late and disappointed... not much worked!

I had been busying myself withe the solar panel, battery consumer unit and various other electrical components away from the van for weeks. Most parts have come now (eBay and amazon thank you), but I am waiting on an energy meter and one circuit breaker.

First the LED lights, I bought a 5m strip with a couple of dimmer switches, I plan to chop it into 3 and expect this to provide enough light (except in bathroom). Below is a trial I did with the entire 5m strip to see what happened. I had this running on a 5A limited supply of 12V, no problems.

This setup in my bedroom was floating (unearthed). The instructions with the solar panel state that it must be positive earth, this has confused me no end, and this is what I planned to do at the weekend.
My consumer unit is original from the van, I have just bought a 20A circuit breaker to take the line for the kitchen (150W kettle).

Below is my sketched circuit diagram, and as I arrive I have the connections to the consumer unit intact seperate from the battery, and the solar controller is ready to be reunited with the solar panel.

The wiring route to the lights is set up so this is easy to connect inside to the 5A line. I have a recycled line of 27A wire running front to back strapped to the underside of the van, this links to the 20A line for the kettle. The third one for a double 12V socket, I don't connect.

It's a bit of a squash to get everything in the wooden box, but it's OK and apart from the energy meter I am still waiting for. Looks good.

I can run the inverter but the noise from the internal fan is quite loud. Now, I got confused with the positive earth instruction and decide it would be safer to put the switches/ circuit breakers on the negative line as this is 'hot'. I connect the earth to the positives, however whatever I try to turn on the breaker trips. I check all my connections and everything seems fine, but no joy... I have to leave it, I realise on discussing it, the current dirction matters through these breakers, so I will have to move them to the positive side.

Road lights

I return to the task of fixing up the road lights, and get the back ones off for a spring clean. They'll be fine, but I need a couple of bulbs.

Solar panel install

Very hot weekend in Lancashire, perfect for working outside - except I forgot to apply sunscreen and got burnt...

Working on joint fronts to get the solar panel up and wiring inside the van, to allow wall panels to be fixed in place.
First problem, while the panel manufacturer (Titan in Poole) says you can stick the flexi panel to the roof or screw through, I really don't like the idea of relying on sealant. Of course I nailed up the ceiling last time. So part of this has to come down to allow the fix. I buy coach bolts, washers and nuts, the panel has a rubber lined eyelets to help make a seal. I also smear the holes I drill in the aluminium skin with mastic to make sure.

 The cables end in MC4 connectors and I make up joining cables to go through the roof. The connectors are quite impressive with 3 o-ring seals each.
I will have to make a more permanent attachment to secure these cables, after painting.

I seal around the holes made for these with Tiger Seal on both sides (a setting sealant I am very impressed with, this sets like rubber).

Now for the inside, the solar cables have to run to the solar controller which will be close to the battery. I make a path for them down the side of the front window, alongside a cable already in place for lighting.

I replace a red wire going to a light bulb on the front right side - this was too short. I can now box n the whole lot with ply.

I remove lots of redundant cables poking through various holes in the floor, and install the box made for housing the battery and electrics.

Electrics

I have bought a 70Ah leisure battery, and a 50W solar panel kit.
I have built a box to house the batery at the front and been playing with the wiring set up. I also have an inverter (I am confident this will handle the 600w microwave I have my eye on, but not my 1.4kW coffee machine 😒😒)

Pleasing lights go on and off on the controller, just have to install now.

Also had to check and fix here and there the road lights, I can remove the grey cable, as I will not need this (for running fridge and trickle charging battery). This involved getting some 7 core cable from a caravan supplies shop.

Cladding

Lots of 3.6mm ply delivered so I get to work cladding the ceiling, and 2 side walls. All goes fairly smoothly, and I have some flexiply to make more substantial window sills.

 I started off using a staple gun, and find this is not really secure enough, so switch to using a hammer and nails.

I cut a 1 inch strip of plywood and bend it along the top edge, and this nicly finishes it off hiding the not quite perfect cuts.

I can finally now properly fit the surround for the new roof lights. I will use a strip of plywood down the centre to conceal the wires now routed to the back for lighting - you can see a wire hanging at the end and in the 'bathroom'.