Off to the Europe after Brexit.

We’re now in April 2023 as I write this post, it’s been 9 days since I left the UK post Brexit in a van and I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts so other travelling friends may find some useful tips when leaving the UK for the continent.

I have to say I was wholly unprepared for this trip, between work, finishing the current van (or trying to) I left a lot of things until the last minute, this included getting a crit’air for France (if you need one click here, don’t go via 3rd party websites), booking a ferry or tunnel, buying travel insurance and sorting a sim amongst other things!

Schengen Shuffle

My first mistake on this trip was believing I had 90 days of travel within the Schengen area, sadly as I went to Poland for 10 days over Christmas and had 4 days in Prague for my birthday in January I am down to 76 days within the zone before I have to leave for a minimum of 30 days, the period is a rolling 180 days so when you leave the zone border control will work back to see how many days within the 180 you’ve remained in the Schengen area.

There are ways you can stay in Europe without remaining in the Schengen zone, Croatia has recently joined so that’s no longer a safe haven but if you travel east you can dip in and out of Romania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Armenia, Serbia Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova and Turkey are all countries which are not part of Schengen zone, diving between these countries and Schengen countries you could remain outside of the UK indefinitely if you wanted to without having to apply for extra visas.

Ferry or tunnel?

I was originally planning to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander so I could miss France and get straight to the warmer regions, I checked the prices and after factoring in fuel to Dover and then through France there wasn’t much in it with the ferry costing around £560.00 including a cabin for two nights, ferries from Dover to Calais typically cost around £120.00 for a one way journey in a van and I’d estimated 3.5 tanks of diesel to Santander, at todays fuel prices (£1.65/L) that was going to cost around £448.00, due to work complications I had to cancel the Santander ferry and could not get a cabin on the next sailing, so I decided to go from Dover to Calais I didn’t feel like roughing it in the public spaces trying to sleep for 2 nights in a row!

Euro tunnel used to hold a frequent traveller pass for the tunnel making each crossing around £65.00 in a camper van, you had to put around £500 down up front to get the base tickets but sadly Euro Tunnel have now stopped offering this service, I love using the tunnel because it’s so quick and effortless, you drive on, sit in your car, have data service for the journey and you’re in France in around 25 minutes however when booking with short notice there seems to be a huge difference in prices, if you book in Advance the tunnel seems to be around £20/30 more, if you book last minute it’s around £100.00 more.

Mobile data plans

Gone are the days where you can just turn on data roaming and enjoy using your plan as you would in the UK on most plans, I did some googling before I left and realised that Lebara who operate on the Vodafone network still offer data roaming at very good prices, I stopped at a shop in Dover and my girlfriend ran in to buy 2 sim cards, these were just £1.00 each, as we got onto the ferry I began trying to set my sim up, I set up an online account, purchased a package and then realised I didn’t have a pin to open the sim tray in my iPhone, I thought I’ll just sort it when I get to the other end, I’ve purchased the plan now it’ll be fine, WRONG! You must activate the service and carry out some kind of activity within the UK before you leave, sending a text, making a call or accessing the internet. I managed to find an eSim deal online which has enabled me to get a UK number with roaming for 30 days, after this I’ll take a local sim in Spain or Portugal as most EU sims allow data roaming, then I’ll make sure I’m on Lebara when I go back to the UK.

If you’re thinking about getting a Lebara sim then click here and you’ll get 50% off for 3 months when you take a 12 month plan.

Taking your vehicle to Europe

You’ll want to check your policy documents to make sure you’ve been issued with a green card which covers the countries you want to travel to, if it doesn’t you’ll need to contact your insurance company and make sure they can provide cover, if you plan to go outside EU countries it may be possible to buy 3rd party insurance like you can do when travelling Morocco however beware this is only the minimum legal requirement to drive in the country and will not cover your vehicle against fire, theft or damage if the accident is deemed to be your fault. Most UK insurance policies cover 90 days outside of the UK but check with your insurer.

If you’re planning to go to EU countries you have no need to get an international drivers permit IDP as long as you hold a valid licence.

Items you’ll want to take with you:

EuroLites headlight reflectors – these are a must to stop you blinding oncoming drivers, they only cost around £8.99 and are easy to install, a lot less than the fine you’ll receive in most countries for not having them!

First Aid Kit, this is a requirement in some countries and an advisory in others, I always carry one just to be sure.

Warning triangle, this is a must in France!

Hi Viz jacket, something that should probably be a rule in the UK now with the use of smart motorways, if you’re involved in a breakdown these really help you stand out so motorists and emergency service workers can see you.

Fire Extinguisher (dry powder) make sure it’s suitable for electrical, oils and chemicals.

Other than these things not much else seems to have changed, I will be writing more blogs on my European travels with tips, locations and more to help you get the most out of your 90 day journeys on the continent! Until next time, Adios.

My mini cyclops

In this blog post I want to talk about my Mini Cyclops wood burner from Glastonbury Wood Burners, this is the second burner I have bought from the company and in this blog post I’d like to share tips on how I installed the burner, a little review on the burner itself and a video to help you choose the right wood burner for your tiny home.

Please note I am not a HETAS engineer, if you’re not confident you can safely install a wood burner in your tiny home then please make sure you hire someone who is qualified and competent.

Installation

Wood burners are very simple to install, if you’re installing in a static home even easier! You’ll want to consider where to mount it if you’re installing in something like a van as it will need to be bolted down, preferably to the vans chassis/floor. The wood burners from Glastonbury wood burners always come with 2 x 8MM welded locator holes at the bottom of the feet to allow you to easily anchor the wood burner to the surface it’s mounted on, you can either use 8mm threaded bar or 8mm bolts.

When installing consider the location of the burner as much as possible, if it’s in a van ideally away from the sliding door would be ideal if possible, you’ll want to make sure you have suitable ventilation allowing cool fresh air into the van at a point lower than the wood burners vent, be sure you allow enough room between the wood burner and the walls that surround it, using a non combustable material such as aluminium or hardy backer board with air gaps to help keep intense heat away from your walls.

Flue’s for this you have two types, insulated flues and single wall flue pipe, if you’re using insulated flue when exiting through the roof your flue can be much closer to combustable materials than without an insulated flue, again you can consult with a HETAS engineer or a narrow boat engineer who can give you specific guidance on air gaps. I have personally opted for the single walled flue, for a few reasons, the flue acts as a secondary heater inside the van, if you insulate it which many do from the collar all the way to the roof line you lose a lot of that heat, insulated flues are also bulkier, they’re not as aesthetically pleasing, they’re expensive and require a larger hole to be made in the roof.

Safety

Many people consider wood burners to be dangerous and if installed incorrectly they can be, however if installed with care and safety in mind they can provide a great dry heat source for your tiny home, we have to be mindful of air circulation within tiny houses as well as good ventilation, carbon monoxide alarms and smoke alarms should always be installed and checked on a regular basis to ensure they’re working.

Make sure you have a fire extinguisher in the immediate vicinity, ensure combustable items are kept away from the wood burner and always make sure you have emergency exits available to you. This doesn’t only apply to wood burners, the safe install of all systems in your van can present a similar risk to that of wood burners, poorly installed electrical equipment, gas systems, diesel heaters all pose great fire risks if installed poorly however people are often unsuspecting of these items.

If you’re looking for a smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm make sure you buy a good quality unit. There are 12v specific alarm’s such as the Tri Gas you can install in your vehicle, these are hard wired into the 12v system meaning you do not have to provide them with batteries, as long as your 12v system has power so will these alarms, not all of these alarms however monitor carbon monoxide so ensure to check with the manufacturer.

If you’d like to see how I installed the Gnome from Glastonbury wood burners check out this blog post, alternatively if you’d like to see how I lined the flue up with the roof and located it then you can see the Youtube video below.

wood stove install video

Glastonbury wood burners
Mini Cyclops Wood Burner
Wood burner for tiny homes
Wood burner for vans
Installing a wood burner in a van
Glastonbury stoves
Wood burning stoves devon
Wood burning stoves Bristol

Cable connections made easy.

In this blog I just wanted to share a some knowledge I’ve picked up over the last few years whilst converting vans. Wiring is something many people shy away from but I’ve never understood why, if done safely with fuses in the right places 12v dc electrics are safe to work on and are a good place to start in gaining a basic understanding for electrical systems.

In this blog post I just wanted to share some information related to cable connections, this is often one of the more frustrating parts of wiring, soldering takes some practice, patience and determination, other types of connections can be unreliable if not crimped correctly or if they’re poor quality, as we’re converting vans the one thing that’s top of my list when it comes to priorities is how well the connection will fare against vibration? Some people use various connectors that are made to use in houses but certainly not vans, solid core cable should not be used when it comes to van builds.

Snap on cable connectors, this is a genius invention, Wago are the connectors I’ve purchased however, not the only maker of these cable connectors, they’re robust and reusable, you don’t need to use heat shrink and should you need to remove a cable you just unclip it and make your adjustment. You can check out these being installed in the video I’ve made below.

There are other types of connectors such as your usual insulated crimp tubes, bullet connectors, wire nuts etc when it comes to creating electrical connections in your camper van however these are single use items, if you crimp them poorly they may come off, if they come off then they need to be wasted. Be sure to check out the YouTube video above if you’re interested in learning how to wire your camper van.

Crimp style connectors

2 way Wago connectors

3 way Wago connectors

Chocolate connectors

Just remember when it comes to making your connections they need to be rated well above the amp rating of your fuse, otherwise the connector will become the fuse, the Wago connectors I’ve used are rated to 32 Amps, you may find other connectors such as chocolate blocks have much lower Amp ratings so be sure to size your system accordingly.

Installing a Bullfinch BBQ point in your campervan

If you’re thinking about installing the Bullfinch BBQ point then you’ve come to the right place! I decided to recently install one of these in a campervan I built and have since sold as the new owner wanted to have an Outdoor shower installed, if you want to see that post then click here.

Why would you want to install a BBQ point in your van? I’d say for many reasons, it enables you to use LPG appliances outside of your camper saving you money and space, utilising your onboard LPG source. You can power LPG BBQ’s, external LPG fire pits and outdoor shower systems!

Obviously everyones van is different and the location where you need to position your LPG BBQ point will vary however, if you’re positioning the BBQ point in a vulnerable position such as the side panels/bumpers I would advise fitting your van with an automatic isolation valve to ensure the gas supply is isolated whilst in transit should you be involved in an accident.

I really like this addition as you’re not limited to using it with one appliance, you can install one of the quick connectors which can be applied to various LPG powered items, including an LPG generator should you be using one making great use of your refillable LPG system.

How I installed the BBQ point. As you can see from the photos I used a hole saw set to make a neat hole in the bumper, for Bullfinch BBQ point I used the 64mm hole saw, I then made the same sized hole in a piece of plywood and left around 25mm around the edge for the backing to take the screws, obviously this will depend on what you’re screwing the BBQ point into, in my case it was a plastic bumper and I wanted to ensure the BBQ point would not move so I decided to create a plywood backing for the screws to tap into.

To mark up there I wanted to cut the hole I removed the brass part of the BBQ point to allow the black fitting to sit flush with the bumper, this allowed me to mark the centre of the LPG BBQ point with a pencil, I then used a 1.5mm pilot drill to ensure the hole saw didn’t move around damaging the body work or bumper.

Above you can see the plywood cut out I made, this was placed on the inside of the bumper to ensure the screws held tight, I was worried if I just screwed into the plastic over time the BBQ point would become loose.

If you would like to buy the Bullfinch BBQ point you can here, I may receive a small commission if you purchase through this link however, this will not cost you anymore money.

Please view the YouTube video below if you would like to see the BBQ point install video.

As always, thanks for checking out the blog! I hope this has been helpful, Adam.

Installing a Camplux shower in your van

Welcome to this blog post, in this blog post I’m going to talk about how I installed the outdoor shower, why I did it in the way I have, tips and comparisons. Earlier this month someone made an offer on my Peugeot Boxer aka “The land yacht”, unfortunately it hadn’t been getting as much use as I’d have liked and I wanted it to go to a nice owner who would have it this summer for adventures, so soon I’ll be building another! When he offered to buy the van he stipulated he wanted a shower mounted on the back doors, my first thought was ‘CRAP’ but it was a project I’d wanted to do for a while, I’d just never gotten around to it, so I began thinking about the best way to plumb it into the existing gas and water system without having to start from scratch.

My first option was to run copper piping up into the van and fix the unit under the bed, as the outdoor showers need good ventilation I did not want to have it in an enclosed space so the back doors seemed like the best option however, if it were to be mounted on the back doors using 8mm copper pipe wasn’t really an option as it would need Flexi hose and I don’t like the idea of having a constantly live gas line with Flexi in a van. A little while ago I remembered seeing a gentleman having an outside BBQ next to his motorhome but it was plumbed into the gas tank via an external quick release valve, BINGO! I began looking for LPG quick release points which is when I came across the Bullfinch BBQ point (see photo below).

This enabled a quick connection so the shower could be hooked up as and when it needed a gas supply, reducing the risk of an internal gas leak by bringing more copper pipe inside the van, not only that, but it allowed for the new owner to accessorise adding in a patio heater, propane fire pit or an outdoor BBQ for those summer weekends! Obviously this won’t be the best solution for everyone, but it was for me as the van had a 25L under body mounted LPG tank, this made plumbing a little bit easier as there was already one gas line running across the van, all I needed to do was tap into the existing line with a equal T compression fitting, this then allowed me to run more 8mm copper pipe to the rear of the vehicle where I’d decided the Bullfinch BBQ point would be located. If you view the drawings below you will see where I added in the equal T compression fitting the image on the left is prior to installing the gas line to the BBQ point.

The 4 black squares represent the tyres on the vehicle, the red line copper pipe, I forgot to list isolation valves onto the diagrams but add these in where necessary, the refillable LPG tank has a manual master isolation valve, you can upgrade these to an electronic solenoid but this may not be the best for your van, solenoids need to draw power to stay open as their default position is closed, if your heating system runs off of your gas tank for example with a PROPEX HS2000 like I have installed, it’s not ideal as it will kill your battery bank off a lot faster, especially in the winter when you’re trying to heat the van for extended periods of time. These diagrams just help illustrate where I’ve tapped into the existing gas system.

I wanted the Camplux shower unit to be stand alone in the same way for the water supply so when the back doors were opened on a regular basis you didn’t need to worry about hoses getting trapped in the doors, so I decided to make those connections quick release rather than permanent as well, I did this using a Hozelock fitting. If you look at the image below you can see the simple plumbing diagram I have drawn for the water side of the installation.

What does the Camplux come with? The Camplux shower comes with everything you need to get started in the box, a nice shower head with an on/off cut off on the shower head making it easy to save water, male hose lock fittings, gas hose and spanners. If you decide to plumb the water system in to the camplux all the time you wouldn’t need to install an in line tap as I’ve done however, it would make servicing/removal of the heater a lot easier and less messy! The only thing the camplux was missing is D cell batteries which are used for ignition, you’ll need two of those. The shower comes with it’s own gas hose and regulator attached, as my LPG system already has a regulator installed I did not need the one that this came with however I did use the hose, cutting off the regulator with a sharp knife installing the Bullfinch quick connect in it’s place. When you’re looking to install the shower head clip on the door be sure to locate it away from the heater, the last thing you want is water flooding the gas shower putting out the flame as this could lead to a build up of unlit LPG which would then become a fire hazard.

Where to install the BBQ point? This one’s going to depend on the layout of your van, if you watch my YouTube video at the bottom of this blog post you will see why I’ve installed it in this corner and how I’ve secured it into the plastic.

How much did the system cost? This one’s going to depend on how you’re installing the system, if you already have pump/accumulator etc so it’s going to vary depending on how much alteration you need to make to your system, I’ll list how much it’s roughly cost me then you can add/take away from that list to calculate your costs.

Camplux showe r £169.99
Accumulat or £35.00
Water hos e £15.00
Jubilee clips & fittings £20.00
Copper pipe £30.00
Hozelock fitti ng £6.99
Compression fittings and olives £10.00
Bullfinch BBQ po int £69.99
In line tap £7.00
Rubber P clip s £5.99
J oint compound £7.60
Leak detection spr ay £5.99

Bringing the total estimation to £383.55 on top of this I also paid £115.00 including VAT to have the system Gas Safe checked, which you’d want to do after making any alterations to your existing pipe work, you can get this done cheaper, some gas technicians will do a basic check for £50.00.

Value for money and alternatives? In my opinion these outdoor showers offer excellent value for money offering easy installation and there’s no need to cut holes in the side of your van, the downsides are, you need to have the back doors open when using the unit meaning you probably wouldn’t opt to plumb this into the internal water systems on the van. If you’re looking to install an internal shower/hot tap then you may want to look at the PROPEX Malaga, the price difference is significant, the unit alone costing £550.00 before adding in any pipe work, fittings or shower head but it does offer a storage tank allowing you to store warm water and a mains heating option offering electric water heating when hooked up to mains power. I have installed a PROPEX Malaga before, they’re great units and I cannot fault PROPEX’S customer service, they’re located in the UK, friendly and are always happy to help with any questions or queries you may have, they also offer installation services.

For the majority of self builders hot running water anywhere in the van is often a luxury many people don’t have, but after travelling in a van it’s often one you don’t need inside the van, especially if it’s just for washing up as you can boil a kettle much faster to wash the dishes saving gas, space, weight and a lot of money!

Would I install this unit in future vans? In a heartbeat, it’s effective, fantastic value for money and easy to install, I only wish I’d installed these units on previous builds, the pressure and temperature from the 45psi Seaflo water pump, accumulator tank and Camplux shower offers a better showering experience than most household showers can.

10 Tips for installation.

Only attempt to install the system yourself if you feel confident in your ability to do so.
Trust your nose, LPG smells, a lot! If you can smell gas turn off the system, leak check all of your joints in a controlled and systematic manner.
Use jointing compound, this will help seal the compression fittings and will reduce chances of leaks.
Use a good quality leak detection spray.
Go slow when cutting the 8mm copper pipe, let the cutter do the work, you don’t want to crush the pipe or change it’s shape.
Use rubber P clips to secure copper pipe, this ensures a firm hold without a risk of crushing.
Use PTFE tape on threaded gas connections (not compression fittings).
Don’t over tighten the compression fittings, you could end up causing a leak from over tightening, removing olives upside down under a van on 8mm pipe isn’t the easiest task in the world.
Don’t cut the copper pipe too short, allow some excess and make the final cut once you’re certain, the less compression fittings in your system the better as it reduces the chance of leaks.
After installation monitor the systems gas levels, if you notice it dropping pressure test/leak check the system again and have it Gas safe checked.

Tools you will need for the job.

Who can I get to check my gas system? Some Gas Safe technicians will not sign off someone else’s work if they’re not qualified, some will shout at you, some will just be rude and believe anyone who’s not a plumber should steer clear and in some cases they have a point, there again some qualified plumbers shouldn’t be working on gas systems. If you’re not confident or don’t want to take the time install a safe system don’t do the work yourself, if you want to take the time to learn to cut/bend copper pipe, secure and seal gas systems safely then give it a go! Just make sure you get a registered professional to check your work afterwards, it’s worth calling around local Gas Safe technicians and asking them what they want so you can work with them, then you’ll have a safe system they’re happy to put their name to.

Where can I find a Gas Safe technician? The easiest place is the Gas Safe Register, you’ll need to narrow the search down as not all Gas Safe technicians can work on LPG systems for motorhomes & camper vans, Quirky Campers have also started a builders directory that list people who can check your van.

A list of alternatives to the Camplux shower.

Fuel source	Make/model	Price
Gas only	Camplux Shower	£169.99
Gas or 230v	PROPEX Malaga 5E	£545.31
Gas or 230v	Whale water heater	£825.00
Engine coolant or 230v	SureCal	£390.50
Gas or 230v	Trauma water heater	£549.50
Diesel or LPG space heater/230v	Bobil vans water heater	£375.00

I hope you’ve found this blog helpful, be sure to check out my Instagram and YouTube accounts, if you have any questions please put them in the comments below or message me directly via Instagram.

Fitting a shower in a van, Dodge pro master shower ideas, Fiat Ducato shower ideas, Citroen Relay shower ideas, van shower, off grid shower, Uk vanlife, How to install a shower in a van, how to.

Victron Orion TR Smart

Good afternoon, you may have seen my youtube video and wanted to head here to pick up on some written tips and tricks, if so, welcome!

Non Isolated VS Isolated

The non isolated version is suited to most peoples needs and applications, the only time you would specifically need an isolated model is when the leisure or auxiliary batteries are not sharing a common earth with the input source, if you are building your own camper you can just bolt into the chassis/body to create an earth point, make sure to clean away any paint so you can create a nice clean earth. By using the non isolated you’ll save on wiring the non isolated model is also cheaper.

Why Victron?

In my opinion the victron products are very user friendly, high quality and reliable. The fact that they offer bluetooth on top is a huge bonus, allowing you to monitor nearly every part of your system from a phone or tablet.

Boot Lace Ferrules

These little cable end tidying crimps make a very safe and clean way to crimp the end of cables that are going into terminals where stray wires could move into another area causing a short in the circuit, you can find the link for these here.

How many amps do I need?

Bigger isn’t always better in this scenario, a 12/12-30a Orion TR smart will suit the needs of most users, if you go larger you will need to begin checking the rated output of your vehicles alternator, as most vehicles alternators are designed to charge batteries whilst a vehicle is moving it is cooled as the vehicle moves along the road, if you overload the alternator on idle you will burn the alternator of your vehicle out prematurely. If you’re on a budget but would still like the quality and reliability of a victron unit you can get Orion’s with lower outputs.

User instructions

If you’re looking for specs, diagrams or cable sizing check here Victron non isolated Orion this will open a new page where the stats will be provided to you.

Shopping List to install the Orion

VSR or B2B?

I always have people asking why can’t I just use a Split charge relay? It’s cheaper! It’s cheaper for a reason, the split charge is a very simple switch, it’s not suitable for lithium battery banks or the majority of new vehicles, even if you have an older vehicle you may want to consider using a modern b2b charger like the Victron Orion as it’s much more efficient than a split charge relay.

If you need help sizing a system, calculating your needs for living off grid or just want to run through your systems details you can contact me at whitbread.adam@gmail.com or find me on Instagram and send me a direct message. I can supply a wide array of Victron equipment, non victron items, cable, fuses and everything you’ll need in your system.

I hope this article has been helpful, Adam.

The importance of fuses

This afternoon I had a message from David at @comparethecampervan after talking a little bit about various systems he asked me if I would mind contributing with some knowledge snippets that could help the van building community to raise it’s standards therefore improving safety.

Why are fuses so important and why can’t we just wire the batteries straight to the source, after all a 12v fuse box is a fuse box? The issue is if the fusebox itself has a melt down or the cable running to it shorts out there would be no fuse between the battery and that fusebox to prevent the battery shorting, this goes for all appliances.

If you look at most modern batteries in vehicles there will be a master fuse box connected directly to the terminal, this ensures the fuses are as close to the positive terminal as they can be therefore protecting the battery from a wire that could short out on the body.

Think of the fuse as the gate keeper to the appliance where the power will end up or come from, this ensures that a short can’t return to the battery and that the appliance cannot draw too much current, the fuse should always have a lower rating than the cable it’s in front of to ensure that the cable doesn’t act as the fuse and start a fire.

I wanted to share a little piece of kit that I’ve been using recently called the Mega/Midi fuse holder, Victron sell this piece of kit and it’s branded as the “lynx distributor”

This makes a very neat little hub where all of the loads and inputs can be connected in one place, a fused positive bus bar, it would be best practice to install a terminal fuse but if the cable between the battery terminal and the midi fuse box or Lynx but if the cable is away from earth cables and body work you can use the midi/lynx as the primary fuse just try to ensure this is as close to the battery as possible.

Fuses prevent fires, make sure they’re used and use the correct sized fuse, make sure the fuse has a lower rating than the cable it looks after, if you’re using 10mm2 cable that’s rated for 70 amps I personally would not go above a 60amp fuse, also remember with 12v dc systems you need to account for voltage drop, you can use this calculator.

When trying to size your fuses don’t go above 1.5x the amp rating of the appliance you’re using, sometimes on start up there is a higher demand for power for a split second so if the appliance is rated for 5 amps it may well surge to 6 or 7 before settling down to 5, make sure your cable and fuses allow for this.

If you don’t have the appliances amp rating you can calculate this by dividing the watts by the voltage e.g 70w/12v = 5amps this can be applied to any voltage.

I hope you’ve found this helpful, if you ever need any help with your electrical systems you can reach me on Instagram @aboutavan

Below you can find links to some of the products I’ve mentioned, if you buy the items I will receive a small commission.

Kitchen cabinets tips

Where to start? This has been a long but interesting journey, I have made a lot of mistakes along the way that can easily be avoided when working with sheet material to build kitchens if you read below I’ll share some of the tips I’ve learnt along the way to help you.

When you’re building a tiny home, tiny house or a van you might not want to opt for ikea furniture or similar, it might not suit your needs, the material used isn’t the best for being mobile, it may be heavier and it probably won’t fit perfectly into the spaces you had in mind, most kitchens from hardware stores are made from furniture board or chip board that’s laminated, when it gets wet it pulls apart and it doesn’t take screws that well, personally I don’t feel it’s a good solution for building furniture for your van.

Full Birch ply BB/BB kitchen in a MWB Fiat Ducato

Tip one; Material thickness, when considering this you need to think about the methods you’d like to use to assemble the kitchen, if you’re using a pocket hole jig then you don’t want to go below 12mm, for doors and draw fronts I would recommend staying above 15mm especially if you’re going to use concealed hinges or ‘european style hinges’ check your hinge hardware, it will tell you what thickness you need.

Tip two: Square, square, square.. when building units doors and drawers I can’t tell you how much easier your life will be if you make sure your frames are square, you can plan out your kitchen down to the last mm and if it’s square, you won’t have a problem, if it’s not you may find yourself having to cut each door and draw to suit each individual space. There are two squares I highly recommend for cabinets that work very well in tandem, the Bacho 300mm & the Bacho 150mm the biggest advantage you have using these combination squares is the ability to lock a measurement in giving you great accuracy when you’re marking out spacing and locations.

Tip three: Invest in a concealed hinge jig this not only speeds up the process but also allows you to set the depth with the stop collar meaning you won’t be guessing where the face of the material is, there’s nothing worse than getting your doors perfect and then going through a finished face and having to start over, there are other options but I’m personally using the kreg jig.

Tip four: Create a cut list and plan your dimensions out on a computer or paper, whichever works for you calculate how many dividing walls you need, by width and height then plan that out with a sheet of material, try and get the most out of each sheet, when you’re calculating don’t forget to take the wall thickness into account between cabinets!

Tip five: Overlay or Inset? I prefer overlay, theres a little more room for error here and being out by one mm is less likely to show than it will inset, when you’re choosing hinges remember there’s half overlay as well as full overlay hinges, sprung and soft close, for overhead cabinets I prefer soft closers but for kitchen doors I prefer sprung.

If there’s something you’d like to know then please contact me or leave a comment you can find me on Instagram here: @aboutavan

Building a bed frame in your vanbuild

This is going to be a very short but hopefully informative blog to save you hours building a bed frame in your DIY van build. The type of bed frame I am suggesting can be purchased from Ikea, in the UK it only retails for around £10.00 each beam but the brackets don’t come as standard with the items you will purchase so I will cover how you get those sent to you for free including all the links you need to build a bed in your van.

So you can find this mid beam here this will total £30.00 plus shipping charges if you’re ordering 3 beams from the UK, I paid £33.00 in total, I like using this bed beam as it’s easy to remove and the length for each one is fully adjustable in length. You will also need the mounting brackets which are Ikea Part number #116791 these are the retaining plates that screw into the wall that hold the Skorva beam securely in place.

Ordering your brackets

If you have ordered your Skorva beams online then you can click this link to request spare parts, if you have purchased your beams from an ikea store then you will need to go to the www.ikea.com scroll to the bottom of the web page and select: Help > Customer Service > Request Spare Parts and you will be asked which store you purchased from, fill out the details including your order reference number and how many you need, for each beam you need two mounting plates so for 3 beams you need 6 units. If you are reading this and live outside of the UK then please visit the Ikea website for your countries, the items should still be called the same and have the same part numbers.

Fitting the mounting plates to your walls, obviously you want to make sure they’re all level and at the same height, personally I would advise screwing these into a strong ply section and not just tongue and groove if thats all you have on the walls, as beds have a lot of weight to support I don’t believe purely screws into tongue and groove will hold that weight.

A NOTE TO CONSIDER WHEN FITTING

If you have bump outs/cut outs in the header/footer of your bed, the Skorva beams will need to be inserted up to the same height, when I went to fit mine this was not possible to mount it on the beam I had installed for this, fortunately I was able to place the skorva beams on top giving them more support, see the photos below for my install.

see the photo on the right hand side where the beams are fully exposed.

The reason I mention taking the beams to the wall at the same height is because once hooked into their brackets the beams drop by around 15-25mm meaning if I had mounted the brackets onto my wooden beams the ply wood would have sat to low and would have caused the mattress to be below the support beam I had installed, not inside the bump/cut out.

I have opted to use a sheet of ply for the bed base which will have holes cut into it to allow for ventilation so the mattress can breathe, I believe these Skorva beams make a great van life hack for installing a strong and easily removable bed system into your build.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comments section below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

To see more van related content please check out my Instagram @aboutavan

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Split charge systems

So why would you install a split charge system into your vehicle? The answer is very simple! Free electricity from the engine that would otherwise be wasted when you’re driving along. A split charge system takes excess power from the alternator/vehicle battery and sends it back to the leisure or “house batteries” when you drive keeping you topped up!

There are 2 types of chargers you will come across when researching this topic

If you would like to purchase a VSR for an older vehicle please click here where you will be directed to an amazon page to buy this product.

VSR or Voltage sensitive relay, these are the older type of split chargers and can only be used on vehicles that are Euro 4 and previous THEY WILL NOT WORK on Euro 5 and Euro 6 engines, recently a customer installed one and it immediately bought up an alternator fault on a 2011 Citroen Relay. They are cheaper in price as they are a simple switch, they are not as effective as DC to DC chargers so even if you have an older vehicle and can get away with using this, consider using a DC to DC charger.

B2B or DC to DC, these units are suitable to be used with all vehicles up to the current date, they are more intelligent than the old VSR’s and can work on vehicles that have regenerative braking systems, the sterling models also come with heat temp sensors to ensure you are not over charging the leisure batteries, they are compatible with lithium batteries and run through various charging modes ensuring your battery is being charged efficiently.

These kits are very easy to install, for safety you just want to fuse the connections as close to each battery as you possibly can, I have published a youtube video to go through the unboxing of the system and to run through the tools and components you will need to install this kit, you can buy a pre wired kit for a little more money if you would like to save time.

Self build kit list

60amp Sterling power DC to DC charger
16mm2 cable (rated to 110amps)
2 x midi fuse holders (4 x 16mm2 to 6mm terminal ends)
5 x 70 amp fuses (keep some spare)
Cable terminal ends
Heat shrink

Tools needed