Storing away your camper van for the winter

Just a tip for you. If you've any gas vents and sink waste in your van? 

I always tape mine over when stored over the winter to prevent creepy crawlies coming in from the cold...!! I simply use masking tape to cover over any of the vents, gas vents and the sink waste.  The sink waste is better with a flush with bleach too, of course ensure the gas is turned off, water storage emptied etc. I’ll post more as as put away for the winter

Ply line, carpeting and flooring inside a camper van

Ply line

Buy the ply from anywhere and pop holes in the ply to drag the wires through

 

Carpeting/lining

I’d use 4 way stretch carpeting, limited on colours but there’s lots and lots of people selling on eBay

I used this guy, the stuff turns up on time etc

 

And use trim spray - a 1 x 500ml tin of high temp adhesive / heat resistant glue should do 2 M2 of lining and this guy sells a pack of lining + glue in one order

Flooring

I used fairy standard flooring that you'd find in your kitchen at home, best fitted before the carpet but can be done afterwards

 

 

First fix wiring and the Panel

First fix wiring inside the camper van. It's important to plan where the switches and lights etc will be, where battery will be, and everything thought through  to have wires in right place. 

Careful not to snag any wires when pulling through steel work as will cause a short. Once the van is ply lined it’s a nightmare to trace wiring, and label every wire up

Technically I could fit out a van without one but if/ when come to sell having  a panel is a deal breaker, most wiring is brought back to where the panel will be so worth thinking through where to position it

Panel

I’ve always used a Zig panel but there’s others, lots of places sell them. Zig been helpful on phone and lots of forums and advice on line, wiring diagrams straight forward

 

There's a supplier here 

 

Converting the camper van from the start

This is a little back to front, as I have already posted images of a road trip to St Ives, but here goes

Cutting for the  glass for the sides with the glue etc, ready to fit

Roof lights/vents too, just be careful with the thickness...

At this supplier I bought a Mini Heki Plus (without fixed ventilation) for roof thickness 43-60mm, when you fit the ceiling and you need to bard over the insulation and foil then the thickness between the outer roof and inner of the ceiling will increase. Just make sure it’s not more than 43-60mm because they don’t make thicker depths of the window opening

Foil lining

I would always line with foil, stops condensation etc otherwise the can will drip moisture  through the night

Wickes do this product and it's not too expensive

Insulation

I used loft insulation and taped it in between the beams/struts of the inside of the van until the ply was on