Tables upright...........

And stowed away for travel....

The first attempt at an install.

On-board gas tanks need to be,for safety reasons,in their own metal-lined sealed container(which gives 30 minutes protection in case of fire) which also has floor drop-out vents to enable any leaking gas (which is heavier than air)to escape .My original specification to my installer was for the gas tank to be in such a gas locker. The tank was always going to be adjacent to the electric/gas heater, as there was really nowhere else to put either of them in my layout: however, when I got the van back I found the gas tank was not in a metal lined locker, and the only floor vent was under the heater. At this stage I was not too alarmed but it was clear that it would be hard to completely separate the gas tank from the heater, a potentially explosive combination. This, I think, was partly my fault for being unclear in my demands,and this was due to lack of knowledge on my part.

With this first install,the regulator and tap(in the silver unit)were angled at the top of the tank.This proved to be a mistake,as these tanks are designed to be under-slung, with the silver part below the tank.There is a  the safety valve connected to a float inside the tank which senses when the tank is 80% full,and stops any further filling. With the silver unit on the upper side of the tank the float is permanently  tipped on/valve shut  in this position.When I came to fill the tank-nothing could go in ! Although the fitter had apparently installed such tanks under vans before, this was the first one  he had installed on-board .

Before I knew of these issues, in good faith I went ahead and built the bed ,encasing the tank and gas heater very solidly in an under-seat locker, as seen in this picture.

The second attempt.

Back the van went to Clutton.The tank needed turning over.The valve is now angled in a position which allows the tank to be filled.The cramped box which I had built around the tank after the initial install,created a challenge when it came to moving the tank,but it was just possible.I took the opportunity to request a further drop-out vent be installed under the gas tank, with a view to later fitting a divider between the heater and the tank.

All the pipework was then run to the 3 gas appliances,the air heater(in the picture),and the water heater and the cooker hob on the other side of the van (via a metal pipe that runs down through the floor, across under the chassis, and back in through the floor the other side).Isolation taps/manifolds were fitted to the pipework leading to all 3 appliances. In this position the tank could now be filled with gas.

Unfortunately,as soon as the tank was filled,a huge leak in the connection to the regulator revealed itself !!.

This was due to a faulty fitting of the regulator (it later proved to be of an inferior type,too)This was seemingly fixed after yet another return to Clutton ,but after 3 months during which the build  project continued ,eventually the gas started leaking from the regulator connection again.

Third attempt.

This time I did what I should have done at the start,and consulted an expert installer,Autogas Leisure 2000,of Thirsk.This is a small family business which fits LPG fuel tanks to vehicles, and  gas tanks to campervans. They have converted some of the Queens's cars to LPG.

They even offer a free overnight stopover in their yard with electrical hook-up, very necessary when I went up in January with snow on the ground,the gas part of the heater of course being inoperable at that time , but fortunately the 240v electric part works independently.

They removed the faulty regulator that had been poorly installed,and put in a superior version.I was given firm and sound advice about the need for the tank to be housed in its own sealed metal lined box.With the inflow pipe changed to a different position(coming up through the floor directly alongside the tank),this suddenly became achievable. The 3mm aluminium sheet which I obtained to do the job with was very easy to work with. It cut  easily with a standard hand held jigsaw fitted with a metal-cutting blade, and was easy to fold  to create right-angled corners, and overlapping seams.It was quite time consuming to craft panel linings from a number of interlocking pieces to cover over all the wooden bulkheads making up my box
I was able to make use of the wooden lid which had already constructed,which just needed a metal sheet fixing to it.With some draft excluder strip stuck all around the top lip of the box ,which forms a good seal when the lid is closed,I now have an airtight gas locker(except for the drop-out in the floor)I have not got metal lining the floor, but the Autogas experts felt this was not vital(there being,of course, the metal van floor beneath the plywood panel floor sheet)

The system was pressure tested--no leaks !!

Two considerations here-privacy and insulation.With the van walls and ceiling thoroughly insulated,the doors and windows are the weak spot for heat loss in cold weather and heat ingress in hot weather.Retrospective tinting of the rear and side door windows with film have done already a lot to improve privacy-you can now only see in during daylight if you put your face up to the windows-and this should also reduce sun penetration in the summer.

To insulate the windows I have acquired a set of "Silver Screens",which are made of multi-layered quilting and foil.The cab set for a Renault Master was bought off the shelf from CAK tanks,but ones for the rear and side windows needed to be made for me from the basic materials. They adhere to the windows using sucker cups.They are supposed to reflect heat in the summer,but keep it in the van in cold weather.

Thanks to Sue Petford for the work!

Issues during use: The velcro strips ,stuck to the white-painted metal surrounding the windows,with epoxy adhesive(araldite), do tend to peel/rip off with time.The incidence of this is reduced if care is taken when tearing the curtains off the velcro when stowing away. A strip peeling/falling off is not a disaster as the epoxy comes away without trace from the painted metal. A spare tube of glue  then allows periodic re-application of any loose Velcro strips.

I decided to keep the original ply lined floor in situ,as it was in good condition.A big advantage was not having to remove it,and fill in all the screw holes--but a disadvantage in that there was no insulation  layer underneath it, which you ought to add if starting from scratch with a new van.

There were a number of cut-outs in the existing floor board, revealing load fastening rings.Discs of ply needed cutting to fill the holes.Some of the load rings could be unscrewed,and were saved and transferred to factory-set holes available on bulkheads near the door,and behind the seats. These may well  be useful for securing internal loads such as a bike,for transit.

Medium duty non-slip hospital-grade vinyl flooring sheet was fixed,once the furniture build was complete.This was a bit of a nightmare to cut out and  install in one piece ,due to the irregular shape of the furniture, seat, and washroom,on left and right. Enormous time was taken carefully measuring a template but it was worth it in the end as the single sheet could be hauled and manoeuvred round all the bends and obstacles ,and stuck in place perfectly with the help of some final trimming.

Heat resistant vinyl glue was used.I don't want it peeling off if I do end up anywhere hot in the van(I'm thinking 30 degrees +)

Waste water tank 
(to the left)

Fresh water tank
(to the right)

Under the kitchen worktop:

The Truma Ultrastore water heater. 
This had to be raised on a plinth to allow the flue to exit above the plastic external trim on the wall outside.

This left room for the Shurflo pump to be fitted beneath.

The pipes are colour coded-red for hot,and black/blue for cold.

The start---the floor of the washroom.The toilet is designed to fit exactly into the cut-out section.

The biggest challenge of this section of the project was to find the best location,given that there is a fixed drain hole(top right in picture).The base will need to be located to allow free flow down the drain(through the van floor)so care has to be taken to locate all underfloor structures,and map them out on the upper side of the floor.Having decided to site the washroom just behind the drivers seat,and have the toilet cassette hatch open,rather unusually,inside the van,as opposed to through a hatch in the van wall(in keeping with the "stealth " image of the van),there were not too many options.In the end I found a place where the drain fell unimpeded,but only 3 inches from the exhaust pipe.Ultimately,a metal heat shield was added next to the exhaust,to protect the plastic drain.

Building the supports for the shower tray-this needs to be strong enough to support someone standing in the shower or sitting on the toilet.

Perfect fit !

The throne ,a Dometic CTW 4110 Cassette Toilet :-

From the seller's website-
"Identical with household toilets in shape, height and material these toilets offer top comfort".

The toilet has a lightweight ceramic bowl(although the rest is plastic),a flush tank with electrically operated flush,and the bowl can be rotated 90 degrees,which is vital for my washroom design.The toilet has a chemical holding tank(cassette) that is pulled out of the void beneath the toilet when it needs emptying

The tray has been fixed,and the sidewalls have been constructed as stud walls.3mm maple colored ply will line the outside,while sheets of white  PVC coated 3mm ply line the inner walls.

The toilet resting in place,the main wall will need constructing before it can be fixed.The blue cassette is visible

In the pictures below,the previously fitted skylight is visible,also the waterproof LED wall light.

The door needed constructing from scratch,using the same materials as the walls.The two white doors are (above ) the filler point for the flush cistern reservoir,and (below) the waste cassette door.
The sink basin is plastic,with a single mixer tap connected to the van's hot and cold pumped water.The tap head pulls out on  a hose and can then be slotted into a shower rail.

The waste water from the sink runs out to join the kitchen sink waste,and into the underfloor holding tank.It proved impossible to connect the shower tray waste to this,so this will either discharge directly onto the ground,or into a strategically placed receptacle.

Issues during use.

I was rather concerned that having the hatch for removal of the toilet cassette inside the van would lead to smells.However,there were no smells leaking into the van at all,even in very hot weather.Removing the cassette is also a clean process;although I took the precaution of laying a sheet of newspaper down the first time I puled a full cassette out,this was not necessary,and the chamber inside also remained clean.The only thing I would recommend is to empty the tank at intervals of at least a fortnight,even if not much used.I left it a month once,and a bit of a pong developed in the washroom,although this cleared very quickly following a tank empty and opening of the skylight.

The shower worked brilliantly: the proved to be enough room to shower standing up in the cubicle although the best technique was to hold the shower head in ones hand the whole time rather than put it in the holding rail.The shower tray was rather slow to drain,even if the van was exactly level.Usually it was necessary to  push residual pooled water in the gulleys towards the plughole with a cloth after taking a shower.

Between the bed and the sliding side door there is just enough room for a tower unit,seating ,from the bottom upwards,

Ducting from the heater,and filler pipe for the fresh water tank

The fridge(a Waeco 80L compressor fridge -running on 12v supply)

A worktop,with microwave(an ordinary domestic model,£25 from Tesco)powered from a 240 socket

Two shelf layers of electrics ,the ECU, 12V socket,and warning sensors.(Smoke,carbon monoxide and gas),the heater controls,and the solar panel display