What did you do to your van today?

[saxonborg]

One major benefit of using the brackets is in the situation when you have a dog on a lead next to your van, it stops the lead getting wrapped around the uprights and dragging the whole lot out of shape.

 

[Exwindsurfer]

Will be fitting brackets to the side ofvan to carry the awning piles so as to not have to pin into ground
also general clean up inside after last nights campout in the van

The only thing I can say Gordon is the side of your van are quite thin so not very strong unlike the side of my van and you may not get a really good fixing mate.

 

[Deleted member 3048]

new 310w solar panel, bmv, mpt100-30 , adding the invertor tomorrow
removing the old panel was the hardest part used the cheeky little tool below though made it easier to "saw" through the silkaflex

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[The laird]

Installed the wall brackets NOT ON THE FABRICATED WALLS but on the skirts which has a reinforced strip along the inside to carry the ally skirt ,hope these photos explain ok
any questions please reply and forward to shorty runnoch

 

[The laird]

Alloy skirt, I would have tig welded

I was trying to annoy you with the misspelling of runnoch but you’ve no picked up on it

 

[tonybvi]

Sorry to say it Gordon but I can see 2 problems here, especially as the awning generally comes out in good bbq weather. Problem 1 is you can’t open the garage door to get the bbq out if the awning is out and problem 2 is that you can’t fully open the hab door and clip it wide open to let a nice cooling breeze get through the van. Nice work though despite the absence of tig welding!

 

[The laird]

Got two hymer door keepers to go on the hab door to keep it in an open position ,be made from a non rust metal with these parts fitted to it and it will be a twist in the bar to accommodate it.
i knew the garage door would not open but hey I can enter from other side ,never plain sailing
on the wilding front I would never dream of putting out the awning as I never put external screens on either
but I’d just leave the table and chairs and be propelled off the van levellers

 

[Lee]

We emptied it after our time away and as it won't be used for a while, Linda decided to take all the half used toiletries and other things out.
Now I can start on the small list of things thst need either mending or replacing, there's always something to sort out after our trip to Spain and Portugal.

 

[Deleted member 1063]

Job finished, 500watts of solar, 200 electric tilting

 

[wildebus]

One major benefit of using the brackets is in the situation when you have a dog on a lead next to your van, it stops the lead getting wrapped around the uprights and dragging the whole lot out of shape.

I understand as well that according to the official rules of French Aires you are not allowed to have an awning out if it is supported by legs that are touching the ground? so a side-mount keeps you legal if challenged by an overly- zealous official.

 

[wildebus]

Job finished, 500watts of solar, 200 electric tilting View attachment 53873View attachment 53874

Looks very good and very robust.
I'd be interested how much extra you get with the lift on just part of the array (I tried a short experiment on mine - doing 100W out of the 400W and it didn't seem to make a difference?)

Also, just an observation ... the very bottom of the tilted panel looks like it might be shaded when tilted? not sure if there are actually any solar cells that far down, but might be something to check out as if there were, you could be creating partial shade at the very time the tilted panel would be optimal.

 

[Deleted member 1063]

I like how you have utilised roof rails to give a secure installation.

Two reasons , firstly more secure and secondly for every hole you drill in roof it's another potential leak. I've seen some people fix direct to roof with dozens of screws.

 

[Deleted member 1063]

One would need to have a screw loose to drill straight through roof.

I've seen a video of some guy fitting panels, can't remember how many panels there were but I calculated there was about 60-70 screws, I was cringing, it would be like a shower in there.

 

[Deleted member 1063]

Looks very good and very robust.
I'd be interested how much extra you get with the lift on just part of the array (I tried a short experiment on mine - doing 100W out of the 400W and it didn't seem to make a difference?)

Also, just an observation ... the very bottom of the tilted panel looks like it might be shaded when tilted? not sure if there are actually any solar cells that far down, but might be something to check out as if there were, you could be creating partial shade at the very time the tilted panel would be optimal.

I'll let know about the difference in power between up and down ones the sun stays out for more than 30 seconds. As for the shadow at the bottom on the panel, I think it's ok as the edge of the cells is about an inch from the edge of the panel.

 

[Exwindsurfer]

Great job.

 

[Exwindsurfer]

One would need to have a screw loose to drill straight through roof.

Guess I have more than one screw loose then Terry .Think I drill 18 holes in my roof lololol.

 

[Exwindsurfer]

I'll let know about the difference in power between up and down ones the sun stays out for more than 30 seconds. As for the shadow at the bottom on the panel, I think it's ok as the edge of the cells is about an inch from the edge of the panel.

I found when I tryed mine flat on roof I was getting between 1and 2amps but at 90 degrees I was getting 17amps but that tilting all 400watts of panels.Forrory

 

[saxonborg]

Put it on blocks.

 

[Forresbroons]

Noot.

 

[The laird]

Walked past it early this morning and just patted it on my way into home from being up north working