DIY Special pt 3 More great projects to start right now!
| SUMMER SPECIAL 2020
CROCKERY IS OFTEN kept in a top cupboard in the caravan kitchen, where manufacturers provide plastic-covered wire racks for this purpose.
Unfortunately, plate racks are often fitted in cupboards facing in the direction of travel, and have doors that come with non-positive catches.
In the event of an emergency stop, all of your plates might land on the floor in a heap of fragments. Even if not placed in this direction, wire racks usually waste a great deal of the available space.
Wire cupholders
In our caravan, I did think the original wire cupholders looked promising, but when I reached my destination, I found the top cup had been jumping up and down on the one stored below, with quite disastrous results.
A much better system would be to remove the fitted shelves from the cupboard, preferably side-facing, and fit your own shelving, which can be made to suit the specific dimensions of your plates and cups.
A weight-saving solution would be to fit wooden shelf support strips to the side of the cupboard, but to carry out this project without drilling any holes into the caravan, and to ensure that it is totally reversible, I chose to make templates for the cupboard sides and cut plywood sides to a loose fit.
This has the advantage of allowing you to glue the shelf support strips on the bench, before putting the sides in place. The only thing that retains these pieces is the shelves themselves, which keep them pushed to the sides.
Make the templates
Stiff paper is ideal for the side templates, which can be cut to fit around any corner fittings or wiring, and marked with the shelf supports, which are better when they can be angled down towards the back.
Next, transfer these to the plywood. I used 9mm hardwood ply, which takes a better finish when varnished than that of softwood ply. Some weight could be saved by using thinner ply, but our much loved Corelle tableware, although thin and stacking-compact, is heavy and will become, in effect, heavier when we go over a bump.
Cut out the plywood sides and mark them up together, back to back, so that all of the measurements for the shelf supports are matching.
Just a quick tip. When gluing on the shelf supports with PVA adhesive, or in fact, bonding any two pieces, knock a couple of tiny panel pins partly into one side of the proposed glue joint, then cut them off with wirecutters. This will leave a small prong protruding, which can prevent side-slip when the joint is clamped.
Measure and cut
Temporarily fit the sides, then measure and cut the shelves. If these are planned as an easy fit, they can be tightened later by using thin packing on the back of the side pieces. Now you just need to sand, and add a couple of coats of varnish.
By upholstering your shelves with vinyl over carpet underfelt foam, you can take out some of the bounce experienced when going over bumps with the caravan. However, it is best to fix your hardwood angle or aluminium angle edge trim with screws after upholstery is complete, so the vinyl can be replaced later if necessary. | SUMMER SPECIAL 2020
‘Remove the fitted shelves and fit your own shelving, which can be made to suit the dimensions of your plates and cups’
ON HOLIDAY, YOU want to be able to devote all of your time to rest and relaxation, not worrying about the security of your cash and your kit.
And what a disaster it could be, if you were to lose some or all of your portable valuables.
It is, of course, best to leave your jewellery at home when you tour, but there are some things you simply can’t do without.
Lose your passports and you will need to seek out a British embassy and pay £100 each for an emergency travel document. This is only valid for the one trip home – there will be extra costs in renewing your passports.
And if your cash is stolen, this is unlikely to be covered by your travel insurance. Losing your credit cards also causes a lot of hassle, because you will have to cancel and renew them.
Loss of your keys does not bear thinking about: having to replace a van’s locks can | SUMMER SPECIAL 2020 cost hundreds of pounds. The good news is, with just a bit of planning, you can protect your belongings and enjoy your trip.
Passports, cash, cards
It would be best if at least one member of your party carries a large belt pouch, worn under the clothes, to keep your passports, cash and credit cards safe, with only small sums of ready money kept in your pocket.
This arrangement requires some thinking ahead, but it’s not usually difficult to find a quiet place where you can pull out your pouch and replenish cash and so on, when necessary.
Handy belt pouch
An excellent belt pouch can be made from a 330 x 170mm piece of chamois leather. This material is hardwearing, flexible and comfortable. You will also need strong, 10mm, synthetic tape for the belt loops.
First, cut out the leather and prepare two 320mm lengths of the tape, which should be fixed temporarily in position. Cut a width of Velcro and stitch it to the front of the pouch, where the flap will close.
Use a simple running stitch and some strong, synthetic thread to sew around the two open sides, then go back over this in reverse to complete the stitches. Now turn the pouch inside out and add the other Velcro element to the inside of the flap.
To use it, simply rest the empty pouch, facing forwards with the tape loops overlapping your trouser belt, slightly to one side of the centreline. Pass one tape loop through a belt loop and then roll up the pouch and pass it through the end of the tape loop.
By pulling this tight, you form a positive knot to the trouser belt loop, so if you are required to remove your belt for security screening, you can rest assured that your pouch will remain securely in place.
Some people might prefer to position the tapes so that the pouch is worn horizontally. I fitted a third tape on my pouch for just this eventuality, but have never found it necessary.
Mobile phones
Keeping your phone secure can be a bit more difficult, especially if you use it a lot!
The risks are twofold – if your pocket is picked and you don’t immediately notice your phone has been stolen, the thief could easily run up a substantial bill on your account. Or you could have it snatched from your hand.
The common-sense advice is not to carry your phone in a back pocket where it is visible, and to avoid walking around with it in your hand.
If you can, stand with your back to a wall while using the phone, so you can spot anyone approaching you, including thieves on mopeds or bicycles.
Key safety
You could use a chain to keep your keys secure, but these can often be rather short, a bit too obtrusive and easily tangled. A far better option is a 1.2m length of 3mm nylon cord, in a dark colour. This is about the thickness of a bootlace and will be long enough to have a small keyring loop at one end and a larger belt loop at the other.
Handbags
If at all possible, decant the essential items from your usual handbag into a small, slim bag that has a long strap, so you can wear it across the body. If you can, wear a jacket or jersey over the bag. Keep valuable articles in your bag to a minimum and never hang it on the back of a chair or put it on the ground when you sit down in public – if you do take off your bag, it is safer on your knee.
Caravan safe
You cannot take valuables to the poolside – you need a safe in your van. On the site, with your belongings secured, you can then go and enjoy a relaxing swim. | SUMMER SPECIAL 2020
‘If your cash is stolen, this is unlikely to be covered by your travel insurance, and losing credit cards causes a lot of hassle’
CARAVANS COME WITH a whole variety of external doors and lockers (garage, gas, toilet cassette and so on).
Invariably, these will have some form of catch to keep them open while you are rummaging about inside.
In most instances, these catches employ friction as the retaining medium. Some are assisted by springs (nylon or metal), but still have a friction action as the mainstay of their operation.
I have an assortment of door catches spread around the outside of my caravan and they all have one thing in common – they’re not particularly brilliant to start with and their operation deteriorates over time, owing to frequent use and exposure to the elements. This project shows you how to make a magnetic catch, removing the reliance on friction.
Magnetic external catches are readily available on the market. However, they can cost anywhere between £25 and £30 for each pair, whereas the catch in this project costs about £6.50 per pair.
Not only is my catch cheaper by a stretch, but the magnets used are the rare-earth neodymium type (often referred to as
‘super magnets’) and are very powerful
(see below), ensuring a firm holding force when the door or locker is open.
These are the very magnets that have made the likes of drones and electric bicycles possible!
Warning note
It should be borne in mind that neodymium magnets are extremely powerful, and will attach to each other with great force if they are in close proximity to one another.
As such, they should always be treated with considerable respect, because it is very easy to get your skin, fingers or clothing trapped between them. For this reason, they should never be given to children as a toy.
Be aware, too, that when working with these magnets, metal tools should be kept at a distance, otherwise they will forcefully attach themselves to the magnets, possibly causing injury and damage.
Another concern with these magnets is that they are brittle and can shatter on impact – if allowed to drop onto a hard surface or to slam into each other, for example.
The magnets will also rust if they are exposed to water – in this project, they are sealed in epoxy, so that the aforementioned problems don’t arise.
For this project, to construct the catch assembly, non-ferrous materials (copper and aluminium) have been used. This means that the various parts will not be trying to grab hold of the magnets during the construction, which could make for a potentially difficult situation.
Parts Tools
Mark 7mm either side of centre 10mm 20mm
Mark external faces of both magnets
AB25mm
AA: 8mm radius B: 14mm radius | SUMMER SPECIAL 2020
LITHIUM BATTERIES ARE gradually coming down in price as more and more names appear on the market.
But what are they? Why are they so expensive? And what advantages do they offer? What do we need to look for when replacing lead-acid batteries with a lithium alternative?
Lead vs lithium
Look at any conventional 100Ah lead-acid battery – it’s just a pile of chemicals, lead, sulphuric acid and so on in a plastic box.
To be precise, it is six boxes connected in series (that is, side by side), as each nominal 12V battery has six cells, each delivering a nominal 2V.
Lead-acid batteries have a finite life, and the advice from many quarters is not to discharge your battery below 50% of its rated capacity, to achieve a reasonable life.
So in practical terms, your 100Ah battery should actually be considered a 50Ah battery.
In addition, we mustn’t forget Peukert’s law, named after the German professor who noticed that the faster you discharge a lead-acid battery, the less Ah you will get out of it. Not good if you are operating greedier devices, such as a powerful inverter to run the microwave, for example. And if you have ever had to change a lead-acid battery, you will know all too well that they are heavy!
In terms of their performance, lithium-iron-phosphate (LIFEP04) batteries beat lead-acid batteries hands down – but at a price of around £10 per Ah.
Lithium-iron batteries are not subject to Peukert’s law – what you put in, you get (almost all of) back out. Battery life is typically 10 or more times that of lead-acid units, and you can discharge the battery by 90% every time and still achieve this.
Weight saving
Lithium-iron batteries are also much lighter. One 150Ah battery will house the same amount of useable Ah as three 95Ah lead-acid batteries, but will save you more than 60kg of weight – that’s nearly a person!
So these are not just posh batteries for upmarket vans, but a valuable tool for those of us who are struggling to stay within weight limits.
Just four cells
A nominal 12V lithium-iron battery comprises, in effect, four cells connected in series.
Each of these cells is made up from many smaller cylindrical or prismatic cells, connected in parallel to make the four main series-connected cells.
Although the lithium-iron battery construction is said to be intrinsically safe, it is very important that charge and discharge voltage limits are not exceeded on a cell-by-cell basis.
Battery management
Within the battery case is the battery management system (BMS), which monitors the voltage of every cell and will switch off the battery if this exceeds set limits. Lithium-iron batteries charge and discharge very rapidly, so are ideal for heavy loads, such as that inverter-powered microwave. But both charge and discharge current are limited by the size of the BMS.
A battery with a 50A BMS will be no good to power the microwave, and a tad limiting if you wished to charge your battery very fast with a 100A battery-to-battery (B2B) charging unit when mobile.
This detail is important when choosing your batteries.
Temperature
Lithium-iron batteries provide power down to about minus 20ºc, although the minimum
temperature for charging them is close to 0ºc. It would be highly inadvisable to force charge into the battery at sub-zero temperatures – you will cause permanent damage.
Some BMSS will monitor temperature and stop the battery accepting a charge in such cases. Others have a heater, so the charger energy initially powers that until the cells are warm enough.
Advanced Battery System variants (from Hymer) have batteries with built-in heaters; each 135Ah lithium battery is six smaller 12V batteries.
General advice is to mount the battery somewhere in the living area – underneath the lounge seating, for example.
Charging
Most battery suppliers seem to advertise their products as ‘drop-in replacements’, but some caution is required here.
The ideal maximum charge voltage is 14.6V, some say plus or minus 0.2V.
Ideally, once this voltage has been reached, charging should be switched off until you have taken 10% out of the battery. Others say to reduce voltage to 13.8V maximum. All very close to many of the smart charging systems.
This means that your mains hook-up charger, the vehiclepowered charging system, the solar panel and regulator will all need considering. Note that major manufacturers of these systems offer dedicated units for lithium-iron batteries.
Some lithium-iron batteries are provided with a plug-in display, so you can monitor voltage, charge or discharge amps and the percentage remaining. Others incorporate Bluetooth and can be monitored through your smartphone.
Warranty, certification
Warranties for batteries will vary in length, although most are for about five years.
Even so, users are unlikely to get close to the cycle life of these batteries within the guarantee period.
Lithium-iron batteries must be CE compliant, so look out for the CE mark.
Lithium-ion (not iron)
Lithium-ion, which is a different kind of battery, provides the power for the many electric bikes that you see about these days. The cell voltage does not work out well – to add up to a nominal 12V would require about 3.5 cells!
But they are assembled similarly, from lots of small cells, to make higher-voltage batteries for ebikes, typically between 36V and 42V.
Many smartphones are also powered by one such cell.
These units do not share the intrinsic safety of lithium-iron and indeed, have been known to catch fire when chargers fail. But they are superior in terms of power-to-weight ratio. | SUMMER SPECIAL 2020