Ah cool in that case I’ll try some bigger vents I guess. The tailgate seems ok it’s more the sliding doors need a good pull.
The Sandwich Van. My T6 project
- Thread starter Led Sandwich
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- build thread.
Well I managed a little more time on the can this morning. All of my leisure battery parts had arrived, bar a batter so I thought I’d spend a bit of time getting the front end stripped ready for wiring.
The comfort dash centre console was a bit of a pain as there was no guide or how to I could find showing all the fastenings. But I managed to get it out in the end. The issue was I had to remove the wine cooler to expose the last fastenings.
Once the seats were clear I pulled the factory carpet out and started cleaning and sound deadening.
I sadly ran out of time so re gutted the handbrake assembly for now and will do the rest in the week.
The last bits I need to do are around the drivers footwell. A little fiddly but if your patient it goes on well
The comfort dash centre console was a bit of a pain as there was no guide or how to I could find showing all the fastenings. But I managed to get it out in the end. The issue was I had to remove the wine cooler to expose the last fastenings.
Once the seats were clear I pulled the factory carpet out and started cleaning and sound deadening.
I sadly ran out of time so re gutted the handbrake assembly for now and will do the rest in the week.
The last bits I need to do are around the drivers footwell. A little fiddly but if your patient it goes on well
Only another small update but i got the last of the sound deadening down last night and ran the main power cable for the spilt charge as well as a signal wire for the ctek back to the main fuse board. pretty much sticking to stock routing all the way which kept things nice and neat.
I’m going to try and get the dash back together in the next couple of days so i can focus on fitting the ctek and the fuse board. Battery wise i’m still un decided if i’ll go agm or lithium. mainly on the basis i’m still apprehensive about having something as flammable as lithium under the passenger seat.
I’m going to try and get the dash back together in the next couple of days so i can focus on fitting the ctek and the fuse board. Battery wise i’m still un decided if i’ll go agm or lithium. mainly on the basis i’m still apprehensive about having something as flammable as lithium under the passenger seat.
AGM batteries still give off hydrogen and oxygen, and are supposed to be ventilated.
LiFePO batteries are much less flammable than some other types of Li batteries, and are for sure your best option.
LiFePO4 batteries are non-combustible and have very stable chemistry. I suspect your concerns re lithium are shaped by the reputation of Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries - these are the ones usually (not always) found in EVs and can experience thermal runaway.
Other than the higher initial outlay, I can't think of any reason not to go LiFePO4 when designing a power system from scratch - compared with an AGM battery, they're significantly smaller, lighter and have twice the useable capacity for the same Ah rating, plus they have a substantially longer lifecycle, resulting in a much lower TCO.
Other than the higher initial outlay, I can't think of any reason not to go LiFePO4 when designing a power system from scratch - compared with an AGM battery, they're significantly smaller, lighter and have twice the useable capacity for the same Ah rating, plus they have a substantially longer lifecycle, resulting in a much lower TCO.
Thanks Gents that's really helped me make a decision, do you know any that will fit under the seat nicely?
As above, you've basically got 2 choices - a 100Ah or one of the 230Ah seat base batteries. The 230Ah fills most of the seat base but there is room for other stuff if you are careful and tidy with your design.
Fogstar do both, either a 105Ah or 230Ah. £380 and £800. Both have a Bluetooth BMS and a heater for sub zero charging. There's other options in the 100Ah side - eco-worthy (no heater or low temp cutoff), Renogy etc. the only other seat base 230Ah is the Roamer which is more expensive.
Also bear in mind the discharge rates if you're looking to fit an inverter, you need 100a per 1000w of inverter, and generally you'll get 100a max discharge per 100Ah of capacity. So, if you wanted to fit a 2000w inverter you need 200Ah of battery.
That’s awesome will the fogstar 106 stand up under the seat or does it need to be laid flat?
It'll need to lay on its side but it's completely fine to do that with LiFePO4.
Excellent use of the "everything needs to have 2 uses" principle
There are exceptions:
The Renogy Pro Series 100Ah LiFePO for example specifically tells you not to mount it on its side.
It’ll be down to the internal construction.
Right thanks for the tips, I’ve gone for the fogstar. Should be here in about a week. I also managed to find a cheeky 15% code online so it was 340 delivered which didn’t seem too bad. I guess the next port of call is deciding what accessories to actually fit to the van in the short term. it goes in for a pop top and solar in a couple of weeks so that will give me internal lights. i will probably just add some accessories for a portable fridge and charging points to tie me over until it eventually becomes a camper.
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So I have booked in to get the pop top installed last week and realised I probably needed some routes to get wiring to the back after it’s installed and lined. after work I decided to strip the van and run conduit from the b to d pillars and finish the sound deadening on the arches.
Conduit run
Then the back all stripped out and the arches finished off
So it’s all back together now but I guess any advice on what wires to run sharpish would be helpful. I’m not sure if the leisure battery will arrive before next week or not. So that may have to be fitted when the van comes back from the roof fitting but I’m pretty pleased with the progress so far.
Next big decisions are bed and furniture.
Conduit run
Then the back all stripped out and the arches finished off
So it’s all back together now but I guess any advice on what wires to run sharpish would be helpful. I’m not sure if the leisure battery will arrive before next week or not. So that may have to be fitted when the van comes back from the roof fitting but I’m pretty pleased with the progress so far.
Next big decisions are bed and furniture.
well another small update, i decided ply rear panels would be a better option for securing cabinets and let me extend the bottom corner where the originals fell short. so i nocked some up quickly this morning ready for it going in next week.
i’m going to do the same for the seat belt covers as they will need replacing when the kombi seat goes
i’m going to do the same for the seat belt covers as they will need replacing when the kombi seat goes
So this weekend i took the exciting and nerve wracking trip up to Yorkshire to drop the van in for a pop top. The van has gone into Halifax Campervan Conversions for a Vamax pop top and carpet lining. Having a good loo round the vans the roof looks great a nice low profile and well made. Needless to say im really excited to be picking this up and making use of it.
Very neat work. So were these cut from 6mm 8x4's? If so I'm guessing you didn't get them both from one sheet...
It's gotta be one of the most exciting bits! Can't wait to see it!
Hey yeah, they were from 6mm 8X4 but i did get both out of one sheet as well as the little in fills for the seat belt panels. i used the originals as a template only extending the corner and one was cut back to front so they would tessellate letting me get both from one.
ah yeah absolutely, im really excited to see it and enjoy the van.
