Bongo Fury

Hi guys, Ive just bought my Bongo and want to do a couple things to it when it arrives. I will be fitting a small side unit with hob and sink combo. I will also be fitting a leisure battery under the bonnet and linking it to the regular battery in parallel with a cut off switch for when im stopped and not at a camp site. I wanted to know two things:

-When camping away from a power hook up (i.e. using leisure battery only) what is the best way to heat your Bongo without running the engine or running the battery down in 10 minutes flat? How long would a 12v fan heater run from a 85amp leisure battery? Is there a better way?

-I would like to install a 110v hook up for when im at camp sites or have power to hand. What kit do i need to convert the 110v to 240v so i can run oil filled heaters and tv’s etc?

Have read lots about Zig units. Can i get one that will monitor my batteries and sort out the problem of 110v hook up?

Cheers
Dan

Any form of electrical heater will flatten a leisure battery very quickly.
Why 110v? Just run heaters etc straight off the 230v hook-up.
If it's a Mazda cube that you're fitting, you'll need a transformer to drop the voltage to 110v (although the cube is actually 100v)

I thought it was 110v hook up at a camp site. Is it 240v? I have never used power at a camp site before so didn’t know, green showing through It wont be a Mazda cube, i will make my own kitchen unit but wanted to have external power as an option for heating. What leads will i need and where can i get them from?

Dan

Daniel wrote:I thought it was 110v hook up at a camp site. Is it 240v? I have never used power at a camp site before so didn’t know, green showing through It wont be a Mazda cube, i will make my own kitchen unit but wanted to have external power as an option for heating. What leads will i need and where can i get them from?

Dan

Well that's your first attempt at looking stupid (don't worry, we've nearly all been there)
All hook-ups are standard UK voltage, although the power available seems to vary between 6 and 16 amps.
You just need something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RCD-SUNNCAMP-MOBI ... 240%3A1318

Slight confusion between building site & camp site?

You just need something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RCD-SUNNCAMP-MOBI ... 240%3A1318

Well it doesn’t get more simple than that. Big thanks!!

Slight confusion between building site & camp site?

Yes, spot on. I work in the building industry and thought it was 110v on a camp site for the same safety reasons. Should have been able to tell by the cable colours, 110v yellow 240v blue.

So what are the Zig boxes all about?

Cheers guys!

Zig is a trade name for electrical control panels. They do all sort of meters (water and electric) but generally people refering to a 'zig unit' will mean one which does 12v supply and control and also 240v charging for whilst on electric hook up. Some units have the 240v side incorporated, some need it added alongside.
It all depends on what you want to incorporate into the conversion as to how far you go with it all (its easy to get carried away when all you want is a simple conversion). If its any help, pop over and I can point you in the right direction and you can have a look at zigs and the alternatives for yourself.

Ed

Just had a leisure battery fitted with a split charge relay. I have been advised that I can use the rear cigarette lighter to boil kettles etc? However I was under the impression that you could fit a plug in the back with a cable running to to the battery or and have socket form the van to campsite plug ( I have a cable).

Help fellow bongonauts I am really confused.

chief wrote:Just had a leisure battery fitted with a split charge relay. I have been advised that I can use the rear cigarette lighter to boil kettles etc? However I was under the impression that you could fit a plug in the back with a cable running to to the battery or and have socket form the van to campsite plug ( I have a cable).

Help fellow bongonauts I am really confused.

The rear socket is notoriously poorly wired and I think if you tried to boil a kettle you would end up frying your Bongo instead.
In any case I wouldn't try putting a load like that on any standard (and well hidden out of sight so you won't see it melting) wiring.

So basically a leisure battery is just a back up?

It certainly isn't some sort of personal power station, lights and low consumption items like radios, small TVs and DVD players maybe - but anything more juicy like cool boxes will flatten one quickly.

chief wrote:Just had a leisure battery fitted with a split charge relay. I have been advised that I can use the rear cigarette lighter to boil kettles etc? However I was under the impression that you could fit a plug in the back with a cable running to to the battery or and have socket form the van to campsite plug ( I have a cable).

Help fellow bongonauts I am really confused.

If I read that right, you are asking if you can run a 240v lead to your leisure battery - definitely NOT .
Depending on the type of lead you've got, you can fit a socket, to your van, that the lead plugs in to. You will then need a Zig unit (or similar) to reduce the voltage to 12v to charge your battery.

After a lot of thought im going to keep the power situation and the rest of my planned conversion as simple as possible. On my Bongo which i haven’t even collected yet
Im going to fit a second battery, same as the existing one, and wire it in parallel but include cut off switches into the connections. I will simple disconnect the battery on the passenger side when im parked up so I know I will always have a good battery to start up in the morning. Don’t plan on using any thing more than dvd, tv or radio while stopped so the regular battery will do just fine. For mains hookup i got a three plug with circuit breaker extension cable from ebay. So that’s my power all sorted. Have already made a very snazzy rear side kitchen but its not quite 100% yet. Stainless steal finish with combined sink and hob. Looks the bizz if i do say so myself. Now i have to work out how to add pics so you all can see......

Daniel wrote:Now i have to work out how to add pics so you all can see......

Yes please

Your battery strategy sounds fine to me, though I'm not expert.

Have posted the pics on the "Making a side kitchen unit" thread in the conversion section. Let me know your thoughts.