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Hi all,

I'm new to the site and wanted to say Hi.
Im UK based and have been in my van full time since March 2019. I am planning a full revelopment next spring now I have learnt what I need, and don't need. I have a really nice sketchup model so I'm now planning on routing my electrics, gas & heater hoses.
I'm in a mercedes sprinter, SWB, High roof, no windows (the redesign does have windows).
Being in a van for the past 18+ months I hope any newbies can take my advice, but I also hope to learn from the old and the new.
Always here to help,
but will always be in need of help

Hi,
I may be a little late to the game here but I use a DC-DC converter. It takes 12V in and has a 12 different laptop plugs that give you 12V-19V for the laptop power. It's only 90W so draws 6A from my battery and is definitely the most efficient way of charging a laptop.

Congrats on getting the van, And apologies for getting it at such a bad time. I hope you managed to get on the road while restrictions were lifted for the few weeks.
Hopefully you've managed to do a nice conversion as well.

And a diesel heater is what you need. I got mine about this time last year and it's an absolute life saver

Hi All,

I am having issues that my battery is reaching 16V when I charge using my mains charger. It is a Paco, 7 stage, 12V charger that is advertised as plug and forget. So it switches off when the battery is fully charged and should only give a maximum of 14.4V when charging.

My solar controller is set to stop charging at 14.4V.
So why am I sometimes getting the 16V reading?
The mains charger is connected directly on the battery and obvioulsy the solar panels go through the MTTP controller. I got the mains charger because in the cloudy uk winter I was only getting between 6-10Ah of charge from the panels which isn't enough to power what I need.
I have a basic understanding of electronics so I have a couple of ideas on what may cause it;

1.   The mains controller is seeing the 14.4V from the panels and is trying to "charge them up?" Sort of like how a solar panel connected to a battery at night will draw current from a battery if you don't have the solar controller to prevent this.
2.   The solar panels are seeing the mains charger and trying to charge that up by allowing 16V from the panels? I don't think this is the case because the solar controller is set to 14.4V and when the mains charger is connected I would have thought that the panels will be disconnected.

I have thought that maybe I should connect the mains controller to the solar input on the MTTP controller. That way the mains controller becomes a 2nd solar panel.
I have also thought I should just disconnect my panels while I'm on electric Hook up and just allow the mains charger to do its thing.
If anyone can help that would be great. If you have a mains charger and solar panels I would love to know how they are connected.

Thanks for reading

Hi,
I'm new to the site so have just come across this.

I've been living in my Sprinter for 18 months now and I love it. It's big enough to stand up in and big enough to store everything I need (Although I do plan a redevelopment in the spring to make it more efficient)
Being 2.9m tall, inc. the roof rack, I am limited to some car parks, and finding parking at aldi on a Saturday afternoon is a nightmare. this has never been a major issue though as with a little bit of patience you will find a park up within a mile or 2.
Driving the roads in Cornwall can be a pain, but that would be true in any van or large car. Whenever I turned off the A30 my girlfriend knew it was pointless talking to me because I was so fixated on the road haha. But I have never scraped the sides on a wall and with the reversing sensors I've never bumped the back. Trying to avoid rush hours on these roads will save a lot of stress.
I would highly recommend the sprinter. The drive can be stressful, but it's usually on for half hour or so. Then you've got the full weekend in a beautiful location with plenty of space. IMO this outways the 30 mins of driving on winding, narrow roads with having to reverse 50 yards to allow a car to pass.
I would much rather have enough space that you're not tripping up over each other while trying to cook or get dressed all weekend long.
And when I drive to a town centre I will park on the outskirts and cycle in. Whenever I see I'm 2 miles from the town centre, I'm looking for a parking space. And if I make it to town I think "s**t, I hope there's a space on the other side of town"
Hope this helps