Camper King

[richi]

Who needs insulation? its a load of rubbish created by most campervan converters to get more money out of you......this is just my opiniun. One other thing regarding insulation. Not that many years ago converters didnt insulate vans and they are still running around today with happy owners. I have spoken to many of them and they dont have a problem without insulation in the vans.

Everyone I have spoken to wouldn't dream of not insulating their vans.I didn't trust any conversion company to do mine,I did it all myself.


The difference is a bit like chalk and cheese.


Definitely not an area to scrimp and save on,especially as most will have spent a good 30 grand on their van to start with.

 

[RichDavies82]

I did contact Camper King on this yesterday. They said that due to the quality of their carpet lining and the cavities, they don’t insulate their vans.

I’m with @DPDP on this as it’s having a diesel heater fitted. I guess it’s a “suck it and see” situation. If it becomes an issue, I’ll retrofit some (hopefully).

 

[Salty Spuds]

I did contact Camper King on this yesterday. They said that due to the quality of their carpet lining and the cavities, they don’t insulate their vans.

I’m with @DPDP on this as it’s having a diesel heater fitted. I guess it’s a “suck it and see” situation. If it becomes an issue, I’ll retrofit some (hopefully).

Good luck retro fitting insulation.

 

[Davenjo]

Get ready for your diesel heater running on full all night in the winter to maintain a reasonable temp rather than backing right off as it should

 

[Alby42]

And what about noise ..... insulation helps there as well...and in summer it stops heat getting in .... think thermoflask.... they keep hot things hot OR cold things cold

 

[airhoguk]

Bilbos don't fit insulation either or carpet their vans and a absolute PITA to do it retrospectively

 

[Steve H]

Also, hot air heaters such as Eberspacher only heat recirculated air and not air drawn in from outside. Anyone that's driven in rain with the vehicle heater recirculating will understand the condensation it creates..!

 

[Carndearg]

We approached two local dealers in Cambridgeshire and asked them to supply van. They both use camperking but didn’t tell us that leaving us thinking they converted them in-house. Neither got back to us despite chasing them so we looked elsewhere, there loss as we ended up buying a pre reg van with 18miles then got 3Bridge to convert, once seen it became very clear that we were paying for and getting bespoke quality. Love our van.

 

[Mwillis]

What about condensation, do you really want it quietly gathering on the inside metal panels, wet, moumoul carpets, damage, loverly....... all for some pretty cheap insulation.

You pays your money and makes a choice as they say.........

 

[RichDavies82]

Talk about getting it from all angles!

Thing is, the van’s in production and there’s not a huge amount that can be done about it now other than attempt to retrofit as much as possible later. The only way to learn is to make mistakes, so we’ll have to see how it goes.

There must be more people on here who have no insulation in their vans?? How do you find it and do you wish you’d had it/self installed??

 

[$immo]

Hi @RichDavies82 I'm not sure people are beating you up over it or mocking your situation.
I have found the guys and girls on here to be extremely helpful and so so knowledgeable around T6's and conversions. Yes it could be seen as a mistake not having insulation, but at the end of the days it's about enjoying what you have, getting out and using it to create memories and have adventures.
Is the lack of insulation going to change that to a massive degree.... Prob not.

Enjoy your camper when you get it, have lots of adventures and post lots of pics on here showing us all what you have been up to.

Perhaps buy a thicker duvet or sleeping bag to go in the van.

All the best buddy.

 

[DXX]

If you have a heater and don’t mind using it more frequently then cutting corners on insulation might be seem acceptable in cold conditions.
Waking up on a sunny day with a banging hangover in a 5m long uninsulated ‘oven’ definitely isn’t much fun.........forget the flash wheels and do the insulation.

 

[lucas3232]

Hi @RichDavies82 I'm not sure people are beating you up over it or mocking your situation.
I have found the guys and girls on here to be extremely helpful and so so knowledgeable around T6's and conversions. Yes it could be seen as a mistake not having insulation, but at the end of the days it's about enjoying what you have, getting out and using it to create memories and have adventures.
Is the lack of insulation going to change that to a massive degree.... Prob not.

Enjoy your camper when you get it, have lots of adventures and post lots of pics on here showing us all what you have been up to.

Perhaps buy a thicker duvet or sleeping bag to go in the van.

All the best buddy.

Like you comment $immo enjoy what you have
We all have different budgets look at me blow up air bed in the back and camping cooker but still loving it
And the forum is a great site for advice

 

[Spaghetti]

Hi @RichDavies82 . I’ve got a conversion with no insulation installed (not a CK van), and run a 2KW Webasto. We’ve found it perfectly adequate in the winter with 4 of us in, with the kids in the pop top. The heater soon quietens down and it maintains a good temperature over night.

I’d probably put insulation in if I was building my own, but it’s not stopped us enjoying ours all year round.

Bet you can’t wait to collect!

 

[Salty Spuds]

.... think thermoflask.... they keep hot things hot OR cold things cold

....how does it know

If you have a heater and don’t mind using it more frequently then cutting corners on insulation might be seem acceptable in cold conditions.
Waking up on a sunny day with a banging hangover in a 5m long uninsulated ‘oven’ definitely isn’t much fun.........forget the flash wheels and do the insulation.

We’ve used our (insulated) van in Croatia & Portugal in 40C+ heat & in the Alps in -15C. We stealth camped a few nights in the Alps without hookup, we don’t have the Webasto on at night as it keeps me awake. We were warm & toasty in the Alps & it was cool enough to sleep at night in Croatia with just a small fan running. Ultimately it’s a personal choice depending on who you believe & budget. The young ladies upstairs in the Camper King showroom were quite persuasive, and anyone but a tight Yorkshireman may have been swayed by their charms

 

[DPDP]

The comments I made re insulation was made by seeing vans and speeking to people with experience of a van without insulation, they had not experienced any excesive condensation.

 

[Davenjo]

Anyone who has experienced sleeping out in their van during the damp and cold autumn and winter months will tell you that condensation is an ever present problem, especially when there are 2 or more of you sleeping in there.

The best you can hope for is to minimise it via good insulation, ventilation and (preferably dry) heat.

We use an insulated screen wrap on the front windows and tailgate which has eliminated the problem there but we still get loads of condensation on the rear side windows. Prior to using the screen wrap, during October and November, there was so much condensation on the windscreen that we were finding it took circa 20 minutes with the engine, air con and heated windscreen running before it was safe to drive off.

As to whether insulating the panels of the van makes much difference to this, I don’t know, but it would still be near the top of my list if starting again.

 

[Trunkey]

I looked at Camper King, Autohaus, Danbery, Nomad, Rolling Homes etc and went to the NEC show to have a mega poke about, there were things about all of them that I disliked, Camper King didn't tell me about the insulation or lack of it, a couple of the other companies made a big fuss of it so I went back to Camper King to ask what they used to be told they didn't as damp insulation was not better for the interior than a bit of condensation. I guess they might have a point?
You pay your money and take your choice, mines going back to the converter next week as the solar panel isn't working, wiring fault or dead panel?? find out next week its two and half years old.

 

[DBUK]

We have a new Camperking based build that isn't insulated and although early days it seems okay. We have no excessive condensation issues. After a cold, foggy, damp night in Norfolk on Saturday we had a bit of condensation on the glass but nothing the demister cloth couldn't sort out in 2 mins on waking up. We don't have an overnight heater but rely on a small oil filled radiator and a small fan heater. The oil filled radiator works well when the roof is down but totally useless when the pop top is up. Proves where most of the heat is lost! We flick the fan on when the temperature dips. We don't run it at night but a king size thick duvet keeps us toasty. I don't know how much difference the insulation would make but when we have funds we'll fit a diesel heater. At the end of the day for us it was down to cost. We don't live in the van but for odd weekends away we can manage with plug in heaters. The conversion looks smart though and is rattle free (which is my major bugbear!). Whatever you end up with you'll love it. Lots of caravaners tell me the van looks cool..... thats all that matters eh

 

[Warby]

Hi all

I have been looking at Camper King, Redline, Danbury etc etc, I really liked the look of the Camper King vehicles, but have been a little put off by the lack of insulation reported in these posts's and elsewhere.
however, on the Camper King website they state:

"Testing the product
All of our fitted items are the best on the market because cheap alternatives will not last, and you only find out something’s insufficient or broken when you are a long way from home. So we work only with products that are market leaders renowned for innovation and quality such as SMEV to maximise the quality of our vehicle, and your experience.

But we don’t just stop there, unlike any other conversion companies our product has been through a testing program to make sure it works in the more challenging conditions it may face, It is easy to take a camper to the beach and claim it does its job, but what if you’re caught in colder or even freezing weather conditions, visibility on left hand drive roads, wind noise and high speed cruising? After all “life is not always a beach!!”

We run winter testing sessions on our conversions so that we can confidently claim that it is fit to tackle most things it encounters, from Sweden in December, through to Denmark and Poland reaching minus 27 degrees Celsius, or The Autobahns of Germany at high speed exceeding 100 MPH where allowed. Soundproofing and cabin creak tests on Mountain passes in the Alps. You name it our conversion has had to endure it.

The result of this is that we are able to give a full guarantee on all of the converted items on a Camper King conversion, we have confidence in our product and so can you."

So this makes me feel conflicted !!

I'm as confused as ever!