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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: February 23rd, 2016, 1:11 am
by Phoenixsp1
saDgit wrote:
OK, stuff about the door ...
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I've made the door a bit thinner than the rest of the shell, using 20x20mm timber for the framework...
What size is the door and being a bit smaller than normal is easy enough to get in and out of the camper?

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: February 23rd, 2016, 8:35 am
by saDgit
Phoenixsp1 wrote:
What size is the door and being a bit smaller than normal is easy enough to get in and out of the camper?
What's with all these early hours posts Clive? Are you on nights or can't you sleep?! :lol:
The door is 1300 x 500 mm. No problem getting in and out but if I did it again I would make it wider - 600 mm would be an improvement. Only occurred to me the other day to check that I could get the fridge through as well. I can but with only a mm or two to spare! :o

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: April 11th, 2016, 6:11 pm
by saDgit
Well there's been a big interval between this and my previous post but, needless to say, not all of that time has been spent working on the camper - all the other bits of life keep getting in the way. Despite that I've made steady progress on the build and various parts of it are now complete.

The cabinets are all finished (varnished, doors hung, etc.), as this wide angle shot looking forward shows.

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But, as always it seems, I'm waiting for bits - this time for the combined sink and two-burner hob which, once I've got it, will enable me to fit the L-shaped worktop and finish that kitchen corner on the left.

The gas locker below it is all ready for two 3.9kg Calor propane bottles (or equivalent). Drop-out and regulator are fitted as is the 8mm pipe running through to the water heater in the cupboard next door and, when I get it, to the hob above it. Plumbing to and from the sink is also on hold of course but, apart from that, all the plumbing and pipework is done.

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The other kitchen item which is still missing is the fridge - a Waeco CR65 which will fill that large space to the right of the picture above. Being a compressor fridge it has no need for a flue or ventilation to the outside of the camper but it does need air to be able to circulate behind and above it. That's what those three large holes in the side panel are in aid of. (Incidentally they won't be visible when the camper is finished.) There are three matching holes in the other side panel and a grill in the floor of the cupboard above it so that our clothes can benefit from the circulating warm air. Warm pants on a winter morning - that's what you call luxury. :D

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The tall, thin cupboard in the right-hand corner is really just the unavoidable consequence of having the fresh water intake built into that corner of the camper but it also houses the fuse box and battery isolation switch and hides a lot of wiring. In any camper space is at a premium of course and so I figured we could also use that otherwise inaccessible space to hang a couple of fleeces and maybe even waterproofs - hence the coat hooks. Again they'll benefit from the warmth of the fridge.

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Nearly all of the electrics are in and finished. The only outstanding item, except for the fridge, is a double 12-volt and USB socket that I want to install on the 'control panel' on the front wall of the camper so that panel is still not fixed in position.

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Apart from the very stylish (though I sez it myself ;) ) spice rack on top of it, this panel also houses a pretty useless battery gauge, switches for water pump, lights and the aforementioned 12-volt sockets, a slightly less useless fresh water gauge, and switches for the gas/230v water heater. Everything that's in so far has been tested and it all works! Even the awkward corner cupboard ...

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... with its door-activated lights.

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Ooh, fancy!! :lol:

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: April 12th, 2016, 8:11 am
by derestrictor
Two self builds on one day! this one is coming along great now too, might it be ready for use this year though there still looks a lot to finish off doesn't there

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: April 12th, 2016, 8:52 am
by saDgit
derestrictor wrote:might it be ready for use this year
I bloody hope so. Might have to leave home if not! :lol:

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: April 16th, 2016, 2:54 pm
by saDgit
Anybody who read my early posts about the design of the camper may remember that I wasn't at all sure about the pop-top and how, or even if, it would work. Well, I was right not to be too confident. Today though I finally finished the Mk.2 version and it seems OK which is a major relief. :) Mk.1 looked much nicer, in varnished marine ply like the rest of the camper body, but it didn't work at all. This one works but, being clad in aluminium, I don't think it looks so good. (At least it's not chequer plate! :lol: ) Sometime I'll do a Mk.3 and get it all right but, for now, this one will do. There are more important things waiting to be done.

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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: April 28th, 2016, 8:27 am
by saDgit
More things are getting finished! Because of the way the pop-top opens the roof was always going to present a perfect location for solar panels (as long as we're parked the right way round of course) and so, having finally got the pop-top sorted (see previous post), I've completed it by sticking a couple of 50 watt semi-flexible panels into the available space.

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Their output is delivered to two 100ah batteries which are now fitted into the sliding 'drawers' of the battery locker, complete with positive and negative bus bars. That whole locker has worked out very satisfactorily and, except for plugging in the fridge, there is nothing else electrical to do.

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The kitchen area is also finished now with the installation of the work surface and the combined hob/sink unit.

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Bearing in mind that the camper is very small (its footprint is only two metres long) it has as much, if not more kitchen workspace than many larger leisure vehicles. I'm really pleased with the way that has worked out as well. Generally feeling dangerously smug - something's bound to go wrong! :(

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: May 6th, 2016, 2:23 pm
by saDgit
With only the fridge and the seating/bed left to install I figured it was probably about time I weighed the camper again. The last time I weighed it was back in September last year when the shell was just a shell - unlined, unfurnished and empty. At that point it came to 230kgs which I was pleased with as I was hoping for a finished, dry weight of around 500kgs. So when I loaded it onto the pickup this morning I was a bit nervous because a lot has been put into it since then and I had pretty much lost any sense of what its weight had become. But I'm pleased to say it is bang on target! :D In its present state it is on exactly 450kgs. The fridge will add another 20 to that, gas bottles another 18, and I would guess the seating, cushions, etc. will probably be around 12 or 15 maybe? Something like that. So the 500kgs dry weight looks spot on.

I'm also very happy about the weight distribution. With the camper on, a full tank of diesel and the tailgate still fitted loads on the front and rear axles were 1015kgs and 1280kgs respectively - well within their limits ...

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... but, more importantly, I think those weights also show that, because the camper's design concentrates almost all of its weight directly over the rear axle and very little behind it, there is no tendency to lift the front end and take weight off the front wheels. It leaves us plenty of scope to pack things in the camper, the back of the cab, or the roofbox (which I'm hoping is going to fit on the cab roof in front of the camper's short luton) and so maintain a good weight distribution.

I haven't had a chance to drive it far enough to tell yet but, as things stand, I don't think it's going to need Air-Rides. It might be nice to have them eventually just because of the improved ride they offer, but it looks like they might be a luxury rather than a must-have.

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: May 26th, 2016, 3:45 pm
by saDgit
OK, I really am at the final stage of completing the camper so here's where I've got to since the last update ...

The Waeco compressor fridge arrived and fitted perfectly into its hole, though not until I'd changed the hang of its door - why do they always seem to be the wrong way round?! Now the fridge is in and working I've been able to finish the "cook's seat" which is in front of it. As a seat this hides a small portable toilet but it folds upwards and backwards to expose the portapotti.

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A two-leaf 'modesty screen' can then slide out from alongside the fridge to offer a little privacy (though admittedly it is only a little ;) ) to the toilet user and creates as near as the camper gets to an internal bathroom space containing as it does the sink as well as the toilet. The shower of course is outside (as described back in November).

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I've also received and fitted one of Reimo's articulated table legs.

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It's quite a hefty piece of kit but solid and stable and enables us to move the table in an almost infinite variety of ways which is helpful in such a small space. (If you're wondering about the unusual shape of the table, see the last pic below.)

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Finally I've produced what I expect will be the last SketchUp drawing for the camper showing the dimensions of the cushions we need to make up our seats/bed.

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I shall be hawking this around upholsterers asking for quotes. It's the only bit of the camper which we don't really feel equipped to tackle ourselves but, if the quotes are too silly, maybe we'll just have to try but this is where the cushions will go ...

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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Posted: May 26th, 2016, 8:53 pm
by Mike
That looks really good you should be proud of your achievements good luck just a shame you have no fuel !



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sorry :)