Bloated Black Kombi Build - #vanlife2.0

[t6blo]

Did nothing until 7pm when the sun had moved round and the temps started to drop.,…few little jobs done

More sound deadening - rear most roof section, near side rear solid panel behind sliding door and off side wheel arch.

Ran red and black 12v and 3 core mains flex from near side rear (where some CBE sockets will be) up to the roof, over the top of the tailgate opening, down the other side, across the offside rear, behind the second row seatbelt void and into the solid panel opposite the sliding door (where there will be more CBE sockets). There were small openings between all these panels so didn’t have to drill any holes and no wires will be showing.

When the battery generator thing arrives, I will have a 13a mains plug and a 12v connection coming out right next to the seatbelt mount on the drivers side where I will construct some under bench storage boxes, somewhere to locate the battery generator and also somewhere to fit rear speakers.

Also fitted the plastic wheel arch cover on the off side arch - testing whether it would still fit snugly with the silent coat strips - it did.

 

[t6blo]

Started to look at the 12v / 240v electrics for the van - based around the AllPowers.

Needed to buy a step down 12v-9v to power the security camera that will be mounted inside the van.



The Allpowers will be trickle charged by an ignition live - will investigate solar options too but not sure I want to mount anything to the roof of the van and the fold up panels intended to be used at a camp site won’t be any good either. Trickle charge input is a 5521 Jack plug

I will build some sort of enclosure for the Allpowers underneath the Kombi bench with the ability to disconnect the plugs and take it out to charge indoors from the mains too.

There will be a CBE mains socket on either side of the van along with USBs. I’ve just run these cables so ready to connect up. The DC outputs can be either a cigarette lighter style or 5525 Jack plugs.

I also intend to run some 12v LEDs in the back too so the OEM interior lights will just work as they do now from the door and the additional LED lights can be switched independently - possibly just from each light itself or a dedicated switch that does both.

Also intend to buy a Wi-Fi mobile broadband router that will be connected to the allpowers but this also has an internal battery to power it too.

 

[t6blo]

Simple wiring diagram - there will be just three plugs to disconnect so that the AllPowers unit can be removed from the van - either to use outside or to charge from the mains indoors.

 

[t6blo]

Some bench testing....

The Tapo camera is running from the AllPowers through the 12v to 9v step down and it is not even registering any drain - so must be below the wattage required to register on the display of the AllPowers.

 

[t6blo]

So the Tapo CCTV camera has been running from the AllPowers on the bench for 24h and the display on the AllPowers still shows 100%

I can install this in the van now and should get several days between trickle charges if required.

I drive the van most days, and on occasion every other day so this should work really well.

On the driveway it can connect to my home Wi-Fi, but away from home I need some mobile broadband in the van.

 

[t6blo]

Installing mobile broadband in the van is easy enough - bought one of these, with a data sim and a 12v to USB adapter to charge it.






The wiring will be hooked up to the AllPowers and then I will hide the 4G router somewhere in the van - but will need to think about the signal being blocked by the metalwork and all the silentcoat sheets which have foil on them.

 

[t6blo]

Temporarily installed my Tapo cctv camera to check field of view.

 

[t6blo]

More progress inside…

carpetted both seatbelt panels
carpetted near side rear Kombi panel
connected up CBE USB/240v modules and faceplate
installed inner wheel arch liners after silent coating the inner arch

 

[t6blo]

I‘ve used silent coat on the inside of the arches under the arch covers and behind all the side panels, tailgate, under the Kombi rubber floor and ceiling. I’ve also used B&Q plastic recycled insulation inside the tailgate and side panels.

So just the painted metalwork around the side panels and up the d pillars.

It is a lot quieter than the stock van and not really any perceivable difference from my last van from memory - I think the bare wheel arches are the loudest bit in a stock van so with silent coat and then the arch covers it is greatly improved.

As my van is a Kombi it is really two separate spaces - the load area for the bikes and general cargo and the seating area for picnics and getting changed etc so I think it is ok that the load area can look abit more functional without the full carpeting.

From the seating area I can see no more or less carpet than I used to see in my previous van which was a twin slider so I had all the silver metalwork round both doors visible anyway.

Yes, I was also looking at the d pillar covers and considering them with silent coat under them too but not convinced it will improve much more.

 

[t6blo]

Before you all say the obvious (not very secure as you can just turn it off or unplug it ), here is my CCTV camera install.

It is a Tapo 3MP camera that is running from my AllPowers via a 12v-9v step down.

At the moment it is only connected to my home Wi-Fi when on the driveway and I can view the camera from the house/get alerts - however, I have also bought a mobile broadband dongle/sim to install in the van so it will be connected to the van internet, so I can view the camera from my phone whenever I leave it e.g shopping or on a day trip.

So the reason for the switch?

It is configured to record motion to the local SD card but it also uploads to the cloud. If it is active whilst driving then it will be constantly uploading shed loads of clips to the cloud filling up the space and rinsing my SIM card data bundle in a matter of hours.

Whilst the van is parked I can switch it on and when I go to get in the van I can switch it off.

It doesn’t matter if someone breaks in and turns off the switch (assuming they knew what it was for) or pulls out the power lead as it should have saved their mug to the SD card and also the cloud - so even if they remove the SD card it should still be visible online.

And the reason it is not just connected to ignition live is that I couldn’t work out how to do it so it was connected to the AllPowers/leisure battery - although thinking about it now I could probably use a relay with the ignition live triggering the switched power taken from the AllPowers.

If I ever change it to be ignition switched then I will use the switch for the additional LED lights running from the AllPowers that I intend to install next.

 

[t6blo]

Little trip out today to see a field full of sunflowers. Found some photo opportunities to get some snaps of the van…

 

[t6blo]

Sound deadened inside tailgate, insulated, carpeted the tailgate panel and reinstalled.

Sound deadened and insulated inside the final panel (solid panel opposite sliding door), cut holes for CBE sockets, carpeted and reinstalled.

Wired up the CBE sockets and fitted to the panel along with the 240 and 12v connections to the AllPowers.

Still got to wire an ignition live to trickle charge the AllPowers and install the LED lights in the ceiling (wire already run and behind roof panel).

Next up will be the ‘under Kombi 3 seater bench’ storage, rear speakers and enclosure for the AllPowers and Wi-Fi box.

 

[SamD]

great work! looking good, i think i will be looking to install some internet into van.

 

[t6blo]

Attached Vanstyle splitter and a nice bath for the van today…

 

[dave_b]

Why do you need mobile internet? Your phone would do the same job if used as a mobile
Hotspot for laptops and tablets?

 

[t6blo]

Why do you need mobile internet? Your phone would do the same job if used as a mobile
Hotspot for laptops and tablets?

Bloated Black Kombi Build - #vanlife2.0

Did nothing until 7pm when the sun had moved round and the temps started to drop.,…few little jobs done :thumbsup: More sound deadening - rear most roof section, near side rear solid panel behind sliding door and off side wheel arch. Ran red and black 12v and 3 core mains flex from near side...

www.t6forum.com

CCTV

 

[t6blo]

Got annoyed with it - well with myself as I knew not to touch it, but still I did….

Noticed a 2” long blemish (circled in pic) on the rear near side panel under the rear light when washing my van yesterday - the paint was rubbed off and I could see the plastic panel underneath. No idea how/when it got there but don’t recall rubbing against anything.

I could have easily touched it in with a cocktail stick/small brush and you’d never have seen it, but inside decided to remove the panel, lightly sanded around it, masked up along the body line that is along the bottom of the panel, sprayed with base, clear lacquer next and then thought I’d be able to polish out the blend along the bottom of the panel.

F’d that up, so decided to lightly scuff the whole panel and clear lacquer it.

F’d that up too as I got a run in the lacquer and some of it looks as rough as an elephant skin. Decided to wait a couple of hours for it to go off, then used some Farcela G3 compund to try and remove the peel and run.

F’d that up as well as it is still pretty peely, so reinstalled the panel and came indoors with the hump.

I will try to wet sand and machine polish when fully cured or more likely will get the panel professionally painted and lacquered when I get a rear spoiler painted

 

[t6blo]

Today I have managed to wet sand and polish the panel to a reasonable finish - crisis averted anyway and compared to how it finished up yesterday it has worked out OK….

Still think I should have just touched it in and moved along

 

[t6blo]

Couple of snaps…

 

[david173]

Couple of snaps…

View attachment 167579

View attachment 167580

sun strip would set that off perfect!