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Subject Topic: What mods have you made to your FC?
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20/8/2016 at 1:10pm
 Location: Gloucester
 Outfit: Norfolk Lake 5m SoulPad Sterling FC
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I'm fixing the table at the mo. Replacing the battered chipboard table top with some 12mm ply, and reprinting the legs.


19/9/2016 at 1:17pm
 Location: Staffordshire
 Outfit: Conway Cruiser 2008 (Pullman)
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Quote: I've made up some plywood shelves, sanded, varnished and waxed.

I've stripped out the 2×8W fluorescents, and installed a COB LED.

I've also made up some LED strip lights that fix to the camper poles by very strong magnets and diffuse the light through the inner cotton sheet.

Looking forward to seeing how it works out in practice…



Very well, as it turned out from our two weeks in Austria. Shelves were very useful and the lights worked fine except for the too-cheap connectors I used.


19/9/2016 at 1:57pm
 Location: Poole Dorset
 Outfit: Conway Challenger 1997
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The only mod we've done to our Conway Challenger is to remove all the flaky brown paint on the table legs. It's now a lovely gloss black.
Also have put some foil backed camping roll mats under the mattresses to insulate and cushion my old bones a bit more. And I've grabbed a bargain at a car boot sale, 4 self inflating sleeping pads for £4 . Hopefully these will provide even more comfort , as like most of us we are used to ,mattresses that are like sleeping on a cloud on our on beds


06/4/2017 at 9:41am
 Location: Staffordshire
 Outfit: Conway Cruiser 2008 (Pullman)
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Quote: Originally posted by Troon on 22/7/2016
Thread resurrection!

I have a 2006 Conway Cruiser (rebadged Pennine Pullman) and have made a couple of minor mods to the wardrobe, rather than removing it.


The photos I used in my prior post were hosted in a Dropbox public area. They've now turned that off for free accounts, so here are the photos again:









06/4/2017 at 3:02pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: raclet quickstop 2008
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https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMWGojSCFjJYX2YQBuLg2eKLl4wLwTb5bCFQU7u


not sure if google photo links work...


anyway recently recovered some of the tatty old beech veneer with some dc fix vinyl. quite pleased with the finish and may attempt more parts.


not sure how long it will last but at least i have done the background work of drilling out rivets/hinges and replacing with bolts


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16/5/2017 at 7:51pm
 Location: Aberdeen
 Outfit: Pennine quartz 4
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Hi was wondering how you worked / set up the plinth heater thermostat would be really interested in this mod details would be really appreciated

Paul


16/5/2017 at 8:44pm
 Location: E Sussex
 Outfit: pennine pathfinder
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Hi Paul

The key thing is to find a thermostat that can take the current load for a 2KW (8amp) heater - as most are designed to only switch on a gas boiler - very low current contacts.

I used this one:
Salus RT300RF Radio Frequency Room Thermostat https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003EQ8FMC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_lo1gzb4NHKYH5

As it had contacts rated to 16amps.

I found the power wire for heater ran inside the seat locker next to the sink, so I cut the wire - after checking it was the right one (it was a bit tight as there was not much slack to work with) and installed the thermostat base unit in the seat locker. Wiring was fairly simple. Live in and Neutral on the wire coming from the fuse box end of the cut wire, a short jumper wire (but thick enough for 8amps) between the Live in and the Common terminal, and then the NO terminal connects to the live going out to the heater (along with the neutral again) - sounds more complicated than it is, I can draw a picture and take some photos if its not clear.

That way, we can put the wireless end of the thermostat wherever we want in the camper.

I have occasions where I seem to lose the wireless connection with that product, but not used it enough to work out whether that is a fault or not. Most of the time it just works .


16/5/2017 at 11:41pm
 Location: Aberdeen
 Outfit: Pennine quartz 4
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thanks for the info can i be a pain and ask you to post the diagram of how it would be wired

Thanks


17/5/2017 at 11:12am
 Location: Northern Ireland
 Outfit: Sterckeman Alize Concept CP480
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One of the best adaptations I made was to get some curtain wire, and hooks, and drill holes in the upright frames ... then sling the curtains on wires rather than those dreadful rods that weigh down on the roofing canopy ... i.e. the same methodology as for the end windows curtains and the bed pod curtains.

So much easier! And the roof canopy looks smart and taught!


17/5/2017 at 1:05pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: None Entered
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I don't have any pics, will take some soon but 3 things that spring to mind that we did:

Fitted shed hasp to the bottom of the beds so that when they are folded away I can lock them together, to slow down anyone wanting to have a poke around when it is parked

A car windscreen sun shade (those big silver things) fit perfectly in the bed side windows in my Pennine Pullman, and keep it nice and dark in there

On the same theme I taped a couple of those silver emergency blankets between the canvas and the inner tent, to make the beds nice and dark even on a sunny day. A bit rustley, but work it for good sleep we got at Glastonbury.


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17/5/2017 at 8:52pm
 Location: E Sussex
 Outfit: pennine pathfinder
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Here's a quick drawing for the plinth heater thermostat (hope the picture works, first time for me)



I used a chock/block (although domestic junction box would be better) to break into the cable and then used a 13AMP spur cable to the thermostat unit - otherwise it was too tight to install. Then I bolted the receiver unit to the inside of the seat locker next to the waterheater. This meant I didn't have to put any holes in my fairly new camper. But there is no reason why you couldn't use a hard wired thermostat if you were happy to do that.


18/5/2017 at 7:26am
 Location: Staffordshire
 Outfit: Conway Cruiser 2008 (Pullman)
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Quote:
I used a chock/block (although domestic junction box would be better)



Seriously? You have mains going through an unenclosed choc-block connector? That leaves mains voltages exposed where the wires enter and at the grubscrews. All it'd take is a bit of damp and you'd be liable to a nasty shock.

I'd strongly recommend swapping that out for a properly-covered junction box.


18/5/2017 at 3:46pm
 Location: Northern Ireland
 Outfit: Sterckeman Alize Concept CP480
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Or ... as an interim measure .... bind it in multiple layers of insulting tape!


18/5/2017 at 5:36pm
 Location: E Sussex
 Outfit: pennine pathfinder
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Forgot to add, yes mine is wrapped up solidly in insulation tape. I would recommend junction box, but did not have one handy. Always a case of do as I say not as I do.


via mobile 03/3/2021 at 1:13pm
 Location: 
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Quote: Originally posted by Troon on 22/7/2016
Thread resurrection!

I have a 2006 Conway Cruiser (rebadged Pennine Pullman) and have made a couple of minor mods to the wardrobe, rather than removing it.

I've made up some plywood shelves, sanded, varnished and waxed. These are removeable for the journey, as we often put sleeping bags in there when on the road.



To reduce the power consumption for non-EHU use, and to improve the quality of the light, I've stripped out the 2×8W fluorescents, and installed a COB LED driven by a constant-current driver that consumes about 6W, mounted to an aluminium plate for heatsinking:



I've also made up some LED strip lights that fix to the camper poles by very strong magnets and diffuse the light through the inner cotton sheet (at least, that's the plan, haven't tried it yet!). To control these without having wires and plugs everywhere, I've put a three-way domestic light switch in the side of the wardrobe, with three plugs on cables exiting at the top back corner. Once wired up, there should be no visible cables:





Looking forward to seeing how it works out in practice…



Hi I’m really interested in how your lights worked out? I’m thinking of doing similar. Did they work out as you hoped?
Thanks



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