Van crew - assemble

[Neil]

those of you with a power pack and solar panel, do you have a way of monitoring how mucgh charge is in the battery?

[paulshane]

Not a van strictly, but a 'van 🙂 Dug my folding caravan out of storage (my mums drive) where it's been since late 2019. Given it a clean and now I need to see what needs fixing - the panel with the door is shagged - the wooden frame that the hinges attach too has dry rotted away, so it'll need stripping and re-framing. I've done this on the other panels already over the years (I've had this for about fifteen years now, and it was made in 1982, so it was old when I got it 🙂 ) but it should be match fir to June 🙂

 

 

[DirtyLurker]

19 minutes ago, Neil said:

those of you with a power pack and solar panel, do you have a way of monitoring how mucgh charge is in the battery?

Ours was fitted by a specialist, solar panels on roof hooked up to 2 leisure batteries and came with a gauge, actually 2 gauges as we had the solar panels added at a later point to the 1st leisure battery.  So we've got a gauge with red, 2 Amber and a green light that's next to one of the plug sockets and a larger, think it's called a zig gauge, which is in the cupboard with same light system but additional green flashing light that indicates the batteries are being charged it flashes in daylight but also when the engine is running or plugged into electric hook up.

Not sure if that's helpful?  

[paulshane]

30 minutes ago, Neil said:

those of you with a power pack and solar panel, do you have a way of monitoring how mucgh charge is in the battery?

this is the gear I use - it's currently in my day van, but will be swapped to the caravan for the festival, it's a cheap charge controller with a small display , £20ish as far as I remember, this is a standalone system, so it's not connected to the vans electrics, which means it's very easy to setup - panel goes to the panel inputs, battery goes to battery, and lights etc go on 'load' (often marked 'lights)

I run heavy loads direct from the battery though - as i don't need to worry about the leisure battery going flat, as i don't need to to start the van, so the 'auto power off' that the 'load' funtion has on the controller isn't needed.

 

controller: this shows that it's charging (green LED is flashing) and that the battery is at 14.2volts

 

wider view of where it's mounted, as it's not a permanent install, i put it there as it was the easist place to drill holes 🙂

 

 

100watt panel on the roof - i made the brackets to mount it using the crossbars that you can get from ebay.

 

grommeted wiring, these are the factory holes used for hinges if the van had a tailgate, so perfect for running wires through 🙂

 

 

[ian the worm]

Van MOT day for me. (I recently found out that you don’t get a government reminder). 

Oopsie. 🚐😶

[gazzared]

1 hour ago, Neil said:

those of you with a power pack and solar panel, do you have a way of monitoring how mucgh charge is in the battery?

I bought a Victron Energy Controller for my solar panels and it links to my phone via bluetooth so I can monitor everthing thats happening - current voltage, amps, state of the battery etc etc. Its really good 👍

sorry just seen you said power pack, not sure if its the same

Edited April 19, 2022 by gazzared

[hurdy]

+1 for the Bluetooth Victron controller here too. Great bit of kit. 

[Paul ™]

I use a Victron MPPT Controller, Victron SmartShunt, Victron Charger and Victron Inverter, which all link up via Bluetooth and give me way more information than I probably need, but it all works beautifully together. 

[yehbutnobut]

3 hours ago, gazzared said:

I bought a Victron Energy Controller for my solar panels and it links to my phone via bluetooth so I can monitor everthing thats happening - current voltage, amps, state of the battery etc etc. Its really good 👍

sorry just seen you said power pack, not sure if its the same

WANT! 
Assuming this would be an easy swap for what I already have in place, which is working at present? Just to say I haven’t a scooby about electrics & the solar system that was previously installed in the van (haven’t got to that bit yet) only that there’s a light that flashes to tell me the batteries are fully charged, and I can switch from the main battery to the leisure if the main battery goes flat.

[gazzared]

14 minutes ago, yehbutnobut said:

WANT! 
Assuming this would be an easy swap for what I already have in place, which is working at present? Just to say I haven’t a scooby about electrics & the solar system that was previously installed in the van (haven’t got to that bit yet) only that there’s a light that flashes to tell me the batteries are fully charged, and I can switch from the main battery to the leisure if the main battery goes flat.

my set-up is really simple as I dont have a split-charge system and I dont connect to any mains hook up either. Its just solar panels to my victron controller, controller to leisure battery, controller to fuse box with outlets to lights- 12volt cigaratte- usb ports, with 20amp switches between battery and another one between solar panels and controller. It's all i need as my fridge runs off gas. My leisure battery is a semi traction battery as I read these are best for when its gonna go through long periods without charge compared to a AGM battery.

If your set-up is working fine i'd leave it alone 👍

[Twiggy553]

+1 for the Victron MPPT on my setup.

i can check my battery charge status from the comfort of my lounge 🙂

[philipsteak]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:10 AM, Neil said:

those of you with a power pack and solar panel, do you have a way of monitoring how mucgh charge is in the battery?

I use one of these.

Nice and simple, although not currently available through Amazon. I think it may even have originally been recommended by someone on here.

[Neil]

25 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

I use one of these.

Nice and simple, although not currently available through Amazon. I think it may even have originally been recommended by someone on here.

Thanks will keep my eye o on that. I ordered a voltmeter with Bluetooth today  to do much the same for my old power pack which I've put a new battery in. 

[Neil]

It is available, vive just ordered ot

[SecretFish]

Loved my bongo in 2019. Miss it!

 

 

[irnkrtn]

23 minutes ago, SecretFish said:

Loved my bongo in 2019. Miss it!

 

 

Outdoor Revolution? What an awning! Got ours for £100 from a lovely guy. Just bought an enormous Khyam Sleeper but definitely keeping this little guy. 

[irnkrtn]

@blutarsky thanks for pointing me this way. How did I forget this thread existed - I've already posted in it 😂. I swear, COVID has done a number on my memory... 

Here's our pride and joy at a naked Pyramid stage. Got the projector in, a new JetBoil to go with our gas cooker so we can make a speedy cuppa. Won a solar power battery set from Jackery in the summer so we should be all set and ready to go!

Anyone got any ritual stops on the way down or up or indeed across to the farm? We'll be doing our bougie services stop at Gloucester as is required and then off to Burns the Bakers for some buns before heading on site. 

[whitehorses]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:28 AM, paulshane said:

Not a van strictly, but a 'van 🙂 Dug my folding caravan out of storage (my mums drive) where it's been since late 2019. Given it a clean and now I need to see what needs fixing - the panel with the door is shagged - the wooden frame that the hinges attach too has dry rotted away, so it'll need stripping and re-framing. I've done this on the other panels already over the years (I've had this for about fifteen years now, and it was made in 1982, so it was old when I got it 🙂 ) but it should be match fir to June 🙂

 

 

Awesome thing!

[paulshane]

1 hour ago, whitehorses said:

Awesome thing!

it's super handy, as you can still see out the back window when you're towing it, but it fold up tall enough to stand upright in, and has solid sides so is much sturdier than a trailer tent. It's a keeper for sure 🙂

 

dug out some pics over the years, shows how often I change my daily driver 🙂 though since 2016 I've been using the Mondeo as 'tow car' as my daily is now my T5.

 

2010 (Subaru tow car)

2011 (BMW E30 tow car) this is an in progress shot of one of the panel repairs

2013 ( Mazda something or other tow car)

2015 (Peugeot 30-something tow car)

 

2016 (Mondeo tow car)

2017

2019

 

I'll grab some pics of the interior at some point, and how I built it - the problem with a folding caravan is that the furniture cannot be higher than the roof when it's folded down, so everything needs to be modular, which presents some tetris like issues for breaking it all down ready to tow.

 

 

 

 

[Neil]

@grumpyhack IS A BIG FAN OF THESE THINGS

[grumpyhack]

My trailer tent was possibly the best festival-going thing I've ever had.  Small enough to store in mother-in-law's garage, easy to tow and after you'd put up the awning and then the extension to the awning, a large social space.

However after borrowing a neighbour's caravan for a week I became hooked on creature comforts and for the last couple of years I've had one of these.  A very big, heavy twin axle caravan with a full awning.  It's worth it for the flush toilet and big, comfortable beds. The one drawback is that a big heavy caravan needs a big, heavy car to tow it.  I've got that at the moment but when my present car reaches it's sell by date I'll probably have to re-think.

Edited April 21, 2022 by grumpyhack

[curiouscat]

Our trailer tent, being tested a few times before glasto! 

Got a jackery and solar panel to power a few bits, lights etc. 

Nice and easy to tow, can put it up in about an hour or so between the 2 of us. Turns into a nice big living space. 

[Twiggy553]

My van 🙂 self-converted former British Gas van

[grumpyhack]

39 minutes ago, Lesley2337 said:

Nice and easy to tow, can put it up in about an hour or so between the 2 of us. 

 

I've sat at festivals watching couples turn up with their trailer tents or awnings to put on caravans.  The first bit is ually easy and then the domestics start as there are arguments about which order the bits go on.

[whitehorses]

2 hours ago, paulshane said:

it's super handy, as you can still see out the back window when you're towing it, but it fold up tall enough to stand upright in, and has solid sides so is much sturdier than a trailer tent. It's a keeper for sure 🙂

 

dug out some pics over the years, shows how often I change my daily driver 🙂 though since 2016 I've been using the Mondeo as 'tow car' as my daily is now my T5.

 

2010 (Subaru tow car)

2011 (BMW E30 tow car) this is an in progress shot of one of the panel repairs

2013 ( Mazda something or other tow car)

2015 (Peugeot 30-something tow car)

 

2016 (Mondeo tow car)

2017

2019

 

I'll grab some pics of the interior at some point, and how I built it - the problem with a folding caravan is that the furniture cannot be higher than the roof when it's folded down, so everything needs to be modular, which presents some tetris like issues for breaking it all down ready to tow.

 

 

 

 

Love it. This is what I’ll be arriving looking like.