Converting my work van to a camper - first timer

peanuthead

Hi

The OH and I are converting the work van (Mercedes Sprinter) to a part-time camper.

We are looking for advice in doing so.

OH is a carpenter by trade so it's not an off the wall idea in that respect!

It will not be wired permanently with a 240 hook up and the furniture and fittings will be removable so as to turn the van back to a works vehicle after the trip.

My main first question is if I can connect a household natural gas hob to a bottle of gas? Will this work correctly?

The plan re: power is to use a very powerful inverter to power our electrical appliances. We are wondering how we will power our fridge overnight? Will it not drain our second battery completely?

The reason for not setting up the hook up, in case anyone is wondering, as it is obviously the smarter thing to do, is because we don't want to make any permanent holes or access points in the van.

However, having said that, I was toying with the idea of putting a window in the van. This would be made on the side door as a recent bit of vandalism meant that I will have to replace that door anyway.

Now, if I was to go ahead with the hook up, can anyone tell me how much it costs generally to connect to one of these at a campsite? We will be travelling all over Spain if that helps.

Hopefully we can count on you guys for support and advice throughout the conversion!

spaceHopper

First off it won't qualify as a camper for cheap insurance, there is no such thing as a part time camper, it' either a full timer camper or a commerical van.

have a read if this tread.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056062727

You could put in a camping stove and a 12v cooler box + a few other bits but it's only a van you use for camping not a camper, very legal grey area here don't know about spain.

peanuthead

spaceHopper wrote: »

First off it won't qualify as a camper for cheap insurance, there is no such thing as a part time camper, it' either a full timer camper or a commerical van.

have a read if this tread.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056062727

You could put in a camping stove and a 12v cooler box + a few other bits but it's only a van you use for camping not a camper, very legal grey area here don't know about spain.

Wow, I never considered there being legal/insurance issues, will have a read of the above thread but we don't have a prob insuring as a camper for 8 weeks if possible.

Anyway thanks for post, v. helpful, will have a look at link now

peanuthead

spaceHopper wrote: »

First off it won't qualify as a camper for cheap insurance, there is no such thing as a part time camper, it' either a full timer camper or a commerical van.

have a read if this tread.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056062727

You could put in a camping stove and a 12v cooler box + a few other bits but it's only a van you use for camping not a camper, very legal grey area here don't know about spain.

Wow, I never considered there being legal/insurance issues, will have a read of the above thread but we don't have a prob insuring as a camper for 8 weeks if possible.
Edit: oh I see now, camper ins is cheaper- wouldn't have thought that.

The 12v cooling box sounds good, but with the stove do you think I would be best off using electric rather than gas? Seems I would have problems getting insured with gas in van

Anyway thanks for post, v. helpful, will have a look at link now

spaceHopper

The best thing to do is get a book on camper conversions and a read up. Also because of the recession campers have really dropped in value, you could get something decent for a few k, road tax is 88 euros and insurance is about 350

Look on donedeal.ie and gumtree.ie

About the gas, bottled gas tends to be LPG (butane, propane etc) and therefore would require a natural gas hob to be converted.

peanuthead

Karsini wrote: »

About the gas, bottled gas tends to be LPG (butane, propane etc) and therefore would require a natural gas hob to be converted.

Thanks for that. What is involved in converting a natural gas hob? We don't have either but it seems we can source natural gas hobs second hand for cheaper than ones that take bottled.

Considering we haven't purchased either, would we be better just buying one that takes bottled gas or is there very little to the conversion.


@spacehopper - part of the fun in this is doing the conversion ourselves. However, we are now thinking of downsizing the work van and making the conversion permanent. Are there any set requirements we have to meet? And where can I get a hold of them.

Thanks for all the help and advice by the way, will be sure to post pics when we get going!

peanuthead

Also, another question.

What about insulation types? Of course the obvious choice would be domestic fiberglass insulation, but as this has a tendancy to retain moisture from condensation, is it suitable material to use? The other stuff I'm thinking of is that silver bubble wrap stuff, I can't think of the name of it right now!

I see in a previous thread there was a link to a VW conversions forum, I'm going to look for a forum on converting regular vans, if anyone knows of any please let me know.

Peanuthead

peanuthead

peanuthead wrote: »

Thanks for that. What is involved in converting a natural gas hob? We don't have either but it seems we can source natural gas hobs second hand for cheaper than ones that take bottled.

I don't know the specifics but I believe the jets in the burners have to be replaced due to bottled gas being at a higher pressure.

Malta1

Hi

If you do a search on this forum you will find many threads on the requirements that must be met when converting a van to a "campervan"

Also, you will find much info/tips as to how others have converted their vans

Good luck with the project

del88

Heres a great site for converting vans into campers

http://sbmcc.co.uk/forum/