Shoring up the power
On a roll from yesterdays progress we headed out early to start day two of the bumper weekend.
The Solution
One of our big hopes this weekend was to install the shore power sockets on the van. Although we are not completing the rest of the electrical install just at the moment, we wanted to get the hole cut and fit the sockets ahead of time. I am mid-way through writing a fairly comprehensive guide to our electrics, which will be released soon. For now here is a brief explanation of the electrical plans, so far as it relates to the shore power side of things. As you know we are from the UK and are planning to visit both the US and Canada. This means that we need to come up with a solution so that the van can run on either 240v or 120v.
After an enormous amount of research we concluded that really the only sensible way and certainly the safest way forward, was to install two separate shore power sockets: one for each voltage. This impacts the rest of the system and we found that we’d need a rather beefy transformer to accept both voltages and then set the output to a steady 240v inside the van, keeping the rest of our electronics, such as laptops etc happy. It’s been a very cool and exciting process to plan out Gandalf as a ‘global van’ and we feel assured that wherever we travel to, we will be able to plug into any shore outlet.
Our attention then turned to investigating shore power plugs. It seemed that there was a huge array of choices on the market, from low cost plastic systems right up to marine grade stainless steel locking systems. We felt that going for a more robust solution was the right answer in our case, especially as we intend to get plenty of use out of the van. We will probably be moving around every few days on our trip. Therefore, the plug could potentially see a lot of use. I started to investigate the various brands of stainless steel outlets before coming across the Smartplug. It is a fairly recent addition to the market and I was surprised to learn that prior to it’s introduction, shore power delivery systems had remained virtually unchanged since they first appeared in 1938. Further research revealed that the Smartplug boasted a plethora of new and more ergonomic features, and what seems to be a substantial upgrade in safety features. As you can see from the pictures it look impressive and we felt that it would offer the robust solution we were looking for and had the potential to be future-proof. In addition to this the company also happen to sell the socket in both 120v & 240v, keeping Gandalf looking pretty with matching inlets.
The Install
The day started bright and early and the three of us gathered to discuss the impending task: the installation of the shore power sockets. After a quick read of the instructions that came with them, we noted that the sockets were designed to be bolted to the wall of the van and held in place with a nut on the inside. Next up we had a look over the sockets, finding that not only does the cut-out need to be an odd shape, the sockets themselves do have a bit of weight to them. Having now cut numerous holes in the van we know that the steel wall of the van is actually only a couple of millimetres thick, and were quite worried that the weight could cause issues. On previous installs, such as the windows and fans we needed to place a timber frame on the inside to act as a support beam, obviously in this case it wasn’t really a suitable option.
It was at this point, after a bit of a brainstorm that John suggested that we could make up a backing plate of some kind to help support the sockets. Neighbour John happened to pop over at around this time and offered to give us some aluminium that he had going spare. Delighted with the offer we eagerly accepted finding that it was just what we needed to get going. Ben quickly cut a piece off about the size we needed and it was then over to the engineer to create the template, we headed back indoors.
Whilst John set about drawing the template onto the backing plate, Ben and I reported in to chief box inspector Rosie the cat. After she established that our latest box offering was indeed satisfactory, we headed back outside with the completed backing plate. Ben would now face the tricky task of cutting out the odd shapes for the sockets, but as ever, the master of the jigsaw was once again victorious and the cutting was soon complete. After a quick file of the edges we carefully positioned the sockets inside to find that they were a really good fit, well done guys! The only thing left to do for the backing plate was to measure out and drill the holes for the bolts, after making short work of that it was now time to get it all installed onto the van.
Despite great success with the plate the bulk of the days work was still ahead of us. It was no easy feat to transfer the template to the van. Following some careful measuring in order to avoid the internal struts of the furniture and of the van, Ben managed to find himself a mildly comfortable position to make a start with the cutting. It took some time to get through the plywood wall and insulation. With everything now exposed we were able to transfer the template onto the van wall and Ben settled in for another stint with the jigsaw.
It was a very difficult task to cut everything accurately and it was important to go slow and steady, we kept checking how it was going and did need to file the holes, so that the sockets would slip in nicely. Once the sockets themselves were a good fit, we tested with the back plate. After this test we became concerned about how water tight this solution would be. The van walls curve slightly here and we felt that there was a bit more slack between the backing plate and the van wall than we’d like. In addition we were also worried about scratching the van’s paintwork with the vibrations as we drive. Ever the problem solver, John came up with an idea to use an off-cut of the vinyl flooring we had left over and to place between the backing plate and the inside of the van, he headed in to get started cutting the vinyl. Upon John’s return we were all determined to get the sockets installed before calling it a day. It was quite fiddly to work in such a small space but once we got everything bolted on, it looked great!
Girl Power
Not only did the guys have a busy day but us ladies also made cracking progress around the rest of the van. Despite providing all the refreshments throughout the day and a fair bit of moral support Linda joined us outside for a day of work. It was no easy feat to take on the mammoth task of not only priming but also applying the first coat of the waterproof tanking kit to the bathroom walls and the ceiling. Along with being chief photographer, I busied myself by building and fitting both of the lifting lids for the bench seats in the van, and replacing one of the cracked rear light casings, helping to stop the water getting into the electrics. All in all an excellent weekend had by all! See you for the next update!
