My 2005 Citroen Dispatch Conversion

[RyanCharles]

Hello, My name is Ryan and I've been lurking this forum for a while fixing small issues with my 2005 Citroen Dispatch that me and my Girlfriend are converting into a camper.
I've got lots of great advice from here and appreciate it a lot!
We're currently at the stage of the conversion where we're thinking of how to power our electronics and lights when the van isn't on. We've thought a split relay would be a good idea but I am wondering
if the alternator in the 2005 model would be powerful enough for this?

Would really appreciate any feedback!

If you want to see how we're getting on so far this is our latest update...

Thanks again anyone who takes the time to read this or reply!

[Paul-R]

The split charge relay will be OK providing you're driving around between overnight stops and you have a big enough leisure battery. If you're staying for several days in a camping area that doesn't have mains electricity available then perhaps you should think about solar panels to charge the leisure battery.

My middle daughter bought a Vauxhall Vivaro camper van a year ago and that had two solar panels on the roof. Unfortunately they failed shortly afterwards and would have cost about £100 each to replace. They were also in short supply at the time so I suggested a split relay to get round the problem quickly. I wasn't able to do the job and an autoelectrician charged about £60 to wire it in and sort out some bad wiring at the same time. She still wants the solar panels sorting out at some time.

[RyanCharles]

Thanks for the reply!

We've actually been offered a solar panel from a kind neighbour so I think we'll install that on to the roof too to act as a backup when we've not driven or don't have mains hook up like you stated. I think it's a 60W panel. Should that be okay to put a bit of electricity into the battery?

Best of luck to your daughter with her travels!

[Hell Razor5543]

Something you might want to do (to aid with the insulation, if you are not already doing so) is to put rockwool in the unused cavities. My Mum lives on a narrow boat, and the rockwool insulation REALLY helps during cold snaps.

[Paul-R]

I think it's a 60W panel. Should that be okay to put a bit of electricity into the battery?

Well, it'll certainly put some charge into the battery and is better than nothing but I'm not sure it'll be enough - although I don't know what equipment you'll be running. Look at what you have and add up their consumption. Fridge, hair straighteners, laptop charger, TV, whatever...

For information, daughter's van had two panels and I think they were about 100w each

[RyanCharles]

Thanks for the tip Hell Razor, We didn't use rockwool but we did add insulation to all the empty cavities. Haven't tested it out in the cold weather yet but fingers crossed it keeps us cosy enough!

[RyanCharles]

Paul, Thanks for the reply again.

We'll get doing out homework and add up the consumption of all the appliances we plan on using and work out if the 60w will be enough. To be honest it would just be to keep the battery topped up when we're not driving it so hopefully it will be enough!