New Member Advice Needed

 
 
 
 
 
 
ivecodaily
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New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #1
Hi All, I am new to this forum and new to the whole world of motorhomes an campers.
I have recently bought an Iveco Daily which has been converted already however it has only two bunk beds in the back. My plan is to build a double bed/couch in the front behind the drivers seat with some storage underneath and some storage units overhead. I was wondering where is the best place to get cushions and roughly how much should i pay for them, or would it be cheaper to buy memory foam and get covers made up for them?
I would like to have the option to be able set up without electricity hook up, i have a 110 ah leisure battery so can I fit an inverter up to this battery and have 220v to power to run kettle,microwave,chargers etc.If so what size inverter should i be looking out for or would i need extra batteries?
I want to keep the costs reasonable because its our first van and we aren't even sure if we will enjoy it or if it is for us at all.
Thanks for reading this and apologies for all the waffle, but if i don't ask the questions I will never know.


Daffysparks
 
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #2
Forget about the kettle, if you are thinking of one like you have at home. The low power ones are very slow to heat up. IMO stick to gas for heating anything. If you don’t have solar, be careful when using an inverter of any size, and even if you have solar, if using it at night or for any length of time, keep your engine running, or your battery will be flat very fast. You will need a pure sine wave inverter to run most microwaves


eirebus
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #3
As above, no kettle, no microwave cook using gas or you engine will have to be run most of the time your parked, do get a solar panel though and enjoy your van


ivecodaily
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #4
Thanks for that. I 've obviously been reading some wrong information on this. I'm not very familiar with electrics unfortunately. I thought it was as simple as wiring up an inverter to the battery and I was good to go. What size of solar panels would I need? We go to a lot of music festivals which usually have "campsites" which are fine but are usually in football pitches and don't have any electric hook up, hence the desire to run off battery power.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #5
You can run your lights, tv, etc off your leisure battery. 2 batteries are better. More reserve, unless you get two 55 Ah to replace your 110 Ah, of course. Leisure batteries should all be changed at the same time. Solar will keep them charged, unless you are a really heavy user. I have two 75 Ah batteries and 200 watts of solar, and very rarely need to charge them from electric hook up “EHU” Change your bulbs to led bulbs also helps, as they use a lot less power


hillton9
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #6
I have two lessure batts we never pay to hook up if you fit led,s they use less power ,this is why I’ve never gone for solar panels looked at it yes ,but never had the need for one I run the two TVs lights music ,batts have never let me down I also have a small inverter which chargers our toothbrushes and runs my amazon stick and other small 12vold bits and pieces,by the way welcome to the craic ,this forum is worse than the Houses of Parliament full of head bins,but at least we’re smart headbins and can get the job done🤪🤪😁👍


ivecodaily
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #7
Thanks folks. I have led's in the lights already so not too worried about that. The previous owner kindly left in some led battery lights in it as well as a kettle and microwave and lots of other necessities like fuses bulbs fire extinguishers etc. I just thought that if we could use the appliances off grid it would make things really good. Not to worry! We haven't even gone out in it yet but looking forward to it and I'm sure it will be a steep learning curve. These forums are great for advice alright.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #8
Looking forward to seeing you at some craic meets 🍺🤪


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New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #9
We have a sprinter with a double bed across the back with all the storage under. Have a look at the set up of other vans before you change things, everyone will be only too willing to show you their set up, come over our way and look at ours anytime we are in Greystones.
We run a small gas oven instead of a Micro. And one 110amp batt with a small solar+a small or 220charger for hook up at home when van is not in use. 1000 watt Inverter but rarely use it once for a blender and once for movie on laptop. If I wanted to charge laptop I would do it while driving.


ivecodaily
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 05.09.2019  ·  #10
The van wasn't set up as well as it could have been, it's a huge van with huge potential but the bathroom and kitchen were set up too far back and there is now no room for a double bed in the rear (where it should be) and I don't want to take on re-modelling the whole thing. It's just too much work for me. If I had the time I'd buy a long wheelbase van and convert it myself, but for now I will make do with what I have.
Anyone any ideas on what reversing camera to fit? Should I buy an expensive one from a motor factor or are the ones on eBay for sub €100 good enough?.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #11
Quote by ivecodaily


Anyone any ideas on what reversing camera to fit? Should I buy an expensive one from a motor factor or are the ones on eBay for sub €100 good enough?.



You don't really need a reverse camera, concentrate on the main things you want


ivecodaily
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #12
A reverse camera is one of the first things I need. it's 22 feet long with a bicycle rack and I'm not used to driving anything that length and more importantly my wife hasn't driven it yet, and there's not a hope she will without one. I don't want to be stuck with all the driving, both of need to happy with driving it.
One mishap would cost way more than the price of a camera, my only question was if the cheaper ones would be up to the job or has anybody any experience with them.There are some on eBay for around €60/70 as opposed to €200+ from the local motor factors. Thanks.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #13
I got mine from a British company. Parking camera company, or something like that, was about 100 euro with the monitor and camera and long cable. Excellent quality


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #14
I just used fairly cheap eBay ones and eBay screens. I have 3 cameras with 2 on the back. The one I get most use out of is one built into a number plate holder as it looks straight back. I use the high mounted one for checking the bikes when I am reversing as the low mounted camera can’t tell you how far the bikes are from a wall as you reverse in a petrol station for example. I use two screens but usually only have the number plate camera one turned on. I use a VGA switcher to flick to the wing mirror camera at some junctions as I drive a left hand drive. It is a little bullet camera and the only one that disappointed me quality wise. Try to get a camera with night vision as my number plate one does not have that.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #15
I got a cheap one on eBay and it does the job fine. The colour on the monitor is crap but OK for what it does, I'm not watching films on it. I wired it in off the ignition switch so as soon as I start up the camera comes on and acts as a rear view mirror.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #16
a few outings


ivecodaily
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #17
Quote by Flipperdipper

I got a cheap one on eBay and it does the job fine. The colour on the monitor is crap but OK for what it does, I'm not watching films on it. I wired it in off the ignition switch so as soon as I start up the camera comes on and acts as a rear view mirror.


I like the idea of this alright. Thanks 👍


ivecodaily
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #18
Witzend, the only things I'm going to do for now are the double bed and the camera, then we will try it out for a while to see how it goes.


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New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 06.09.2019  ·  #19
Quote by ivecodaily

Witzend, the only things I'm going to do for now are the double bed and the camera, then we will try it out for a while to see how it goes.


There was a video on here about a week ago where a guy fitted a wind down bed in the front have a look at it you may get some ideas.
Not sure of the post reference but someone will come along with it .
Found it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=…k4&ampcf=1


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 12.09.2019  ·  #20
Have you got a sofa area to sit in, around the centre of the van. Where your table is, is usually convertible for use as a bed at night. Check it out.


ivecodaily
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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 12.09.2019  ·  #21
I'm currently working on making a pull out or flip down bed ( I'm not sure exactly which yet) that will be a couch. I need to find a pair of cushions that will work, that will determine the exact size I need to make it. If anyone has a pair for sale I might be interested. I'm thinking maybe 2 2'x6' (or a bit shorter) or any other combination that would cover a 4'x6' bed.

I will put 2 bases for the table, one will be behind the two front seats and beside this (sofa) and another will be in front of the rear seats so that anybody in the rear can have somewhere to put things on when we're on the move.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 12.09.2019  ·  #22
You might be able to get an upholster to make some up for you? A car seat upholsterer maybe? I know one in Newry that could do something like that so you might get one a bit closer to you who could do the same.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 03.11.2019  ·  #23
This is quite the learning curve indeed. I got my bed made up and I'm happy enough with it, I went for the pull out option and am waiting on the cushions to be made. I fitted the reversing camera as well, I got a Durite wired set up for just over half price brand new from a guy locally on adverts. It was a bit of a job to get it wired up, but I got it done. Time for the cvrt next and it failed on a bit of corrosion on a metal brake pipe (no problem I'll get it done by a garage), rubber boots on two ball joints (easy enough fix at home) and the headlight switch, which stopped working when I was driving in to the test centre 😡. I got the switch fixed thanks to dr.google, I had to remove it take it apart and solder some of the connections, I put it back on and had to do it again as it it wasn't 100% so it's fixed now, happy days👍
When I bought the van the water pump wasn't working but I was given a brand new pump in the sale, (I know I know, I fell for it!!!) when I wired in the new pump the tap worked fine but the water lashed out of the water heater😂 On inspection of the heater the copper pipes on the heating element were bursted ( I don't know if it was like this all along or did it burst last week during heavy frost here). I soldered the split in the pipes and sealed them but now the push fittings where the water goes in and comes out of the bottom of the unit are leaking😭😭.
On top of all this when I moved the van today the camera has stopped working. I'm completely sick of it at this stage and we haven't even gone out in it!!!!
On a positive note,at least I know a lot more about how things work in the thing and hopefully they won't have to be done again(fingers crossed) and thankfully the costs are not much, just a bit of time. I guess that there is a much bigger risk involved with buying a "cheap" campervan when you are starting out than people realise.
Rant over! Feel free to slate, laugh, pity me.😂😂. Looking forward to when the "craic" comes into it.


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 03.11.2019  ·  #24
You're starting off on the right foot, we usually take a few trips to break everything ;)


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Re: New Member Advice Needed

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Posted: 04.11.2019  ·  #25
Sounds like my old defender. It’s only now that it’s getting miles on the clock, that things are going wrong. Just take it one thing at a time. Worth it in the end.

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