Commer Camper Shenanigans

[John Pankhurst]

My '71 Commer Auto-Sleeper has never had a 240v hook-up, we've always relied on posting an extension lead through the side of the roof which was not ideal. We got a bit fed up of tailing leads along the work top so I decided an up-grade was needed. I made the mistake of buying a cheap £15 consumer unit off eBay and set about installing it to feed the fridge and a pair of twin sockets. I went all fancy and used sockets with built in USB connections and pattress boxes for a nice neat and flush installation and much to my surprise everything worked
Next I decided to test the safety trip while under load. The usual breakfast electrical appliances were plugged in (toaster and kettle) and the RCD trip button pressed - there was a distinct POP and a smell of singed insulation as the breaker minced itself That's was a little sub optimal so I decided to fit a half decent RCD and also replaced a couple of the dodgy MCB's while I was at it, the other one was only to the fridge with minimal load but at least the original enclosure seems OK Tests which the new components proved successful so now we're all ready for next year, except for the brakes

The lucky consumer unit shares it's cupboard space with the original Elsan 'Thunder Bucket' chemical toilet

[mickthemaverick]

A couple more pictures of the camper would go down well John?

[John Pankhurst]

Our other camper, the coach built Jennings Roadranger, has other problems.I was tracing a small gas leak which turned out to be from a valve in the wardrobe (now fixed) when I noticed a little dribble of water running down in the corner. After a poke and a prod it became clear that the timber frame was a lilt rotten. I'd done the other side a couplele of years ago so sort of knew what to expect - but it was a little worse than before

Shelves out and cladding stripped off, it didn't need much persuasion.
The little dangling junction box is for the connections and relays for the LED rear lights I fitted.

Most of the frame had turned into a black soggy mess that collapsed as the cladding was removed, luckily it seems to be confined to the corner section. Much scraping and digging out what was essential compost later the area was a little cleaner and tidier ready for some new wood. I went to the local Wickes and bought the relevant section in tantalised stock, which will hopefully last for a while, but rain stopped play as storm Austen was doing it's best to find the leaks that caused the original damage.
More to follow when it's dry enough to get out the Tigerseal.

[John Pankhurst]

A couple more pictures of the camper would go down well John?

You wish will be granted

Harvey the Auto-Sleeper

And Bonnie the Jennings Roadranger

[mickthemaverick]

A lovely pair there John, I will be looking for something similar when my MX3 finally finds a new home!!

[John Pankhurst]

They're lovely vans but do demand your time quite a lot, but they're worth it

[PaulC5]

Looks good.

For the last 10 years new consumer units in houses have to be made from metal and I vaguely remember our 2011 caravan (when we had it) was installed to the same electrical standards (BS7671) but then was plastic. A search suggests plastic ones can be used in camper vans but I would make sure the cable connections are tight every now and again whether plastic or metal.

Another search says campervans also have to satisfy BS7671 which looks to now be on version 18. They seem to add stuff every few years so probably costs electricians a lot keeping up to date. If you can get hold of a copy you can check your installation against it unless you have already done this.