Newbie: Leisure battery, coolbox and roof window questions

Home Forum topic Campervan Conversions Newbie: Leisure battery, coolbox and roof window questions

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #107279
    emilyb
    Participant

    Hello All,

    I bought a Citroen Dispatch 2008 (new style) last year and I am just planning the conversion now. I have never done this before and my brother in law is helping me with some bits.

    It won’t be a full conversion with appliances etc but I do want to fit a leisure battery that will power some lights, van stereo, 12v coolbox and have a couple of 240v plug sockets for a laptop and phone chargers. Any advice as to what battery I should get? Are the split charge relay kits worth getting? What about the adding solar panels to that lot? What else do I need or should consider?

    Is there a decent 12v coolbox that we could use instead of a fridge? Any recommends?

    Also I would like to fit a roof vent, can I do that if the roof isn’t flat metal but more corrugated?

    Thank you for any advice, I’m totally new to this so it’s going to be a very steep learning curve!!
    Emily

    #114987
    tee_cee
    Participant

    I’ve done a conversion on the
    I’ve done a conversion on the older shape Peugeot Expert, which has corrugated strips on the roof. At the time I rang around a few of the roof window people and most said that it could not be done, I did get one guy who had done one, but his attitude did no inspire confidence, so I gave it miss. Another possibility would be to fit a Flettner vent, which may fit.

    As for batteries, you don’t say how you intend to use the van which will have a large impact on your choice.
    A couple of points I would make though, is that standard peltier type coolboxes consume a lot of current – typically 4 or 5 amps per hour – which would men that you could only expect to get maybe 12 hours out of a 110Ah battery before it drops below 50% charge. 12V compressor coolboxes – like the waeco coolfreeze range will consume much less current – and will give a far better performance.
    Adding 240V is probably unnecessary since most mobiles now charge off USB – a 12V to 5V stepdown board will do the job nicely. Likewise laptops can be charged via 12V adapters.
    Some of these issues are covered in my build log http://blue-van.blogspot.co.uk
    t

    #114989
    tee_cee
    Participant

    I’ve done a conversion on the
    I’ve done a conversion on the older shape Peugeot Expert, which has corrugated strips on the roof. At the time I rang around a few of the roof window people and most said that it could not be done, I did get one guy who had done one, but his attitude did no inspire confidence, so I gave it miss. Another possibility would be to fit a Flettner vent, which may fit.

    As for batteries, you don’t say how you intend to use the van which will have a large impact on your choice.
    A couple of points I would make though, is that standard peltier type coolboxes consume a lot of current – typically 4 or 5 amps per hour – which would men that you could only expect to get maybe 12 hours out of a 110Ah battery before it drops below 50% charge. 12V compressor coolboxes – like the waeco coolfreeze range will consume much less current – and will give a far better performance.
    Adding 240V is probably unnecessary since most mobiles now charge off USB – a 12V to 5V stepdown board will do the job nicely. Likewise laptops can be charged via 12V adapters.
    Some of these issues are covered in my build log http://blue-van.blogspot.co.uk
    t

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.