As all the internal wallboards were off, it seemed like a good time to install the 12 volt electrics. We inherited one single ceiling light (not working) when we bought the Viking. Our new system will be more comprehensive.
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| Some of the original 12v wiring. Now in the bin. |
It was decided that all lighting would be 12 volt so it could run off a leisure battery. There was no point installing any 240v lights as, when on hook-up, the charger can top up the battery. We also planned that all lights would be LEDs as these use less power and generally give off less heat. In addition, we wanted some USB ports for charging phones, a pump for the water system, a fan, and a power socket for Lou's 12v hairdryer.
For anyone installing or upgrading their own system, or if you just want a better understanding, I recommend browsing this website
http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/ It is a mine of useful information on batteries, chargers, solar panels and more. The author of their website quite rightly (in my opinion) points out that in houses, we hide ugly fuse boxes under the stairs, so why would we want them on display in our caravan? Furthermore, one box dealing with both 240v and 12v power seems like a recipe for disaster, as well as being difficult to fault find and repair. For these reasons, we elected not to buy a standard caravan power supply unit, but to use individual components.
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| 12 volt system partially installed |
Our low voltage system will have the leisure battery sited under the bed, above the axle (for weight distribution reasons; it weighs 25kg), with 110amp cable going through an 80 amp fuse to a master switch.
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| Master switch |
This is easily accessed in the small cupboard under the wardrobe. The switch completely isolates all 12v power in the caravan (not including road lights which take their power from the tow car). From the switch, a further 110 amp cable goes to a 12 way fuse box, with individual 16 amp thinwall cables supplying each item. The exception being a car cigarette lighter socket rated at 20 amps (for the 12v hairdryer) to which we are using 28 amp cable. Each powered item will be individually switched, either on the item or at a row of switches above the toilet door (the only visible part of the entire system). The return (or ground/earth/negative) wires all connect back to a bus bar in the fuse box, with a further 110 amp cable completing the circuit to the negative terminal of the battery. All the ratings mentioned are well above the requirements of the items being powered; the water pump only draws 5 amps and LEDs only 1 or 2 amps. This gives us a healthy margin for safety plus scope for potential future additions.
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| Fuse box |
All wiring hidden within walls runs through trunking. Primarily to keep it separate from the wall insulation as PVC reacts with polystyrene, resulting in uninsulated wires (the plasticiser used in the PVC wire insulation to make it flexible migrates to the polystyrene, leaving the cable insulation brittle and it disintegrates, thus exposing the wires). Secondly, in the closet, we have located the trunking at the bottom of the wall, hidden by a uPVC skirting board, so it remains fully accessible for the purposes of fault finding or later additions. Elsewhere, the cables are routed inside the bed base, wardrobe, etc so they are hidden from view but remain accessible.
The row of six switches are original household bakelite light switches that we sourced through ebay, and were cleaned and polished by the vendor before putting on the market. They operate circuits for the water pump and various lights. They are mounted to the panel above the closet door, and the cables to and from the switches run behind the panel and are boxed in, so are not visible in the closet. The switches are labelled with "brass plaques" etched with the name of the item they operate. They are actually gold coloured aluminium, intended as trophy plaques.
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| Template for switch mounting |
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| Bakelite switches with brass plaque labels. |
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| Wires behind panel being boxed in. |
Lou wanted bright light in the kitchen area so we chose a 72 LED strip light from a seller called Future Green Light on ebay. This seller has over ten thousand sales with an impressive 100% positive feedback. They stand out above other traders because they list all the information you could want (many others don't state the number of watts or lumens of the lights they sell). Our kitchen light is 87cm long so reaches across both the sink and the hob. At 1200 lumens, it was the brightest light I could find.
The original, non-working ceiling light is a
Labcraft unit dated August 1969. We dismantled it and removed the old electronics, then sprayed the metal base white and cleaned the plastic diffuser. Inside, we have installed a 48 LED strip light also sourced from Future Green Light. This one is 810 lumens so is quite bright, and certainly enough to see with. There will be additional lighting at strategic points in the caravan to supplement it.
On the shelf around the front end, we have mounted a five metre LED strip. The intention was for this to provide low level "mood" lighting, but it is capable of so much more. It has red, green, blue and warm white LED chips and can provide steady light at various intensities and shades, fade, flash and all combinations inbetween, all controlled with a hand held remote. We can now go from sophisticated to tacky at the press of a button.
Wishful thinking on our part gave us hope for hot summers in the future, so we installed a two speed fan on the kitchen shelf to provide airflow when cooking.
Both Lou and I like the shape of art deco cinema wall lights, but these are huge. Lou managed to buy a couple of smaller versions through our favourite auction website. In the closet, one of Lou's ebay lamps was mounted on the wall, above a mirror. Again, this was converted to LED, and is operated by a tiny chrome toggle switch just inside the door. These switches are sold for model railways and dolls' houses. They are rated at 3 amps, and as the two LEDs are 2 watts each, they are only drawing 0.3 amp, so well within the switch's capacity.
A socket with two USB ports was installed in the end of the offside top locker. Phones and other devices can be charged from here whilst sitting on the shelf, but the socket is very unobtrusive.
A 20A car cigarette lighter socket has been installed in the side of the chest of drawers so that Lou can run a 12v hairdryer should we not have electric hook-up. Again, its location means it is accessible without being obtrusive.
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| 12v outlet on left & bakelite 12v socket for table lamp on right |
Another of Lou's e-bay purchases was a ceiling lamp and wooden rose. She liked the shape and colour of the shade so bought it "just because". I suggested turning it upside-down and using it as a table lamp. The rose was sanded and varnished and a groove cut in the base through which the cable could pass. We converted the lamp to 12v LED but all the bulbs we tried were too bright, and this lamp only needs to provide a warm glow. Our solution was to paint the bulb with green glass paint. This toned it down and gave the light level we wanted. Cloth covered vintage look cable was sourced, along with a torpedo shaped in-line switch, to get power to the lamp, and we re-used a bakelite two-pin plug and socket (found in the caravan when we bought it) to connect it to the 12v power supply.
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| Power supply for awning LED |
We have had so much fun with the multi-coloured LED lights inside the caravan, I bought another five metres for the awning; this time in an IP67 rated waterproof format. A socket is located just inside the door to plug the LEDs into. This means we can only use the lights with the door open, but we have no intention of leaving them on when we are not at the caravan anyway.
A Whale water pump has also been installed, but is covered on page 26.
Labcraft unit dated August 1969. We dismantled it and removed the old electronics, then sprayed the metal base white and cleaned the plastic diffuser. Inside, we have installed a 48 LED strip light also sourced from Future Green Light. This one is 810 lumens so is quite bright, and certainly enough to see with. There will be additional lighting at strategic points in the caravan to supplement it.
