Lulu DIY build thread ........ The unconventional way !

[Sirfbum]

A pleasure to read as always!


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[arfur fox-acre]

Like already said, good posting. I'm sure it will help many.

[TURK]

Like already said, good posting. I'm sure it will help many.

Thanks guys,

I hope it does, I know I do things slightly differently than others, and there's really no need to go to the extremes I did ............. I almost turned the fog light installation into a major mission ! But it is rather easy if you keep to basics. I just wanted mine to look OEM as opposed to something that looks as though it's just been bolted on.



TURK

[arfur fox-acre]

Mine are oem and they don't look half as good as those.

[TURK]

Mine are oem and they don't look half as good as those.

................ made me laugh that one mate ! Thanks mate

Yeah, and I bet they're not half as good as well !




TURK

[chally69]

I think I'm going to have to read through your build thread again Turk, I have just noticed your dash with the volt meter and switches etc in it and I'm thinking I might do something similar. Your attention to detail is exceptional fair play to you.


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[TURK]

I think I'm going to have to read through your build thread again Turk, I have just noticed your dash with the volt meter and switches etc in it and I'm thinking I might do something similar. Your attention to detail is exceptional fair play to you.

Hi Chally, and many thanks for the kind comments

I was going to do a write-up on my leisure battery install this evening, then the Digital Volt Meters ........ as it makes sense doing it that way, because you are in effect monitoring the efficiency of the batteries. But now you mention your interest in the DVM's that I have, I'll do those first !




TURK

[TURK]

Hi all, and Chally

I hope you find this helpful Chally, at least it'll give you an idea of what you're up against.


Firstly, I bought some cheap eBay DVM, about six quid I think they were. From China ! I don't usually buy cheap Chinese junk, but why spend £90 on a battery monitor when a few quid will do the job. I'm not after accuracy here as I'm not converting to a full camper with full electrics.


Cheap eBay Digital Volt Meters >>







The first thing I did when they arrived was to see if the displays were pretty much the same. Sometimes, specially with cheap LCD screens the florescent background are of varying densities, or the numbers on the LCD don't display properly. So, by connecting them to a 9v battery I was pleasantly surprised to see mine were identical ! great, no need to send em back. If one would of been darker than the other it wouldn't of looked right ( when you have serious OCD as I have, this is a serious matter ! ) >







Another way I test circuits and gizmo's for my van, is a 12v ATX computer power supply. At this stage I had already extended the two inch fly leads on the DVM's with some light gauge speaker cable. Looked to be about 0.5mm2 ( about 11amps ) so that should be OK for the job >>







I had alread worked out where I was going to position the DVM's ......... In a space that looks as though it's designed for them ! There's a little cubbyhole on the heater control panel, it's not really big enough for anything so I never used it. So that's ideal. I also prepared the other part I needed. A computer hard drive blanking plate, in black ! >>







You have to cut one of the tabs down on the DVM as there's a large hook on it, cut it down leaving half an inch, just enough for a small hole for a self tapping screw >>







Drill a hole in the back and run the cables through and mount the DVM's in the heater control panel >>







With the DVM's now in place, we can now see the size of the gap inbetween the two DVM's. So we cut a section of the plastic hard drive blanking plate to fill the gap >>







Glue the plastic section in place, assemble everything, and that bit' done ! T: >>







You'll have to excuse my rather crude wiring diagram, but this is the one I used on the day. It should at the very least help you put together a system like mine. You could even make it much simpler, simply by not using switches with LED's on them, or even only one switch to turn both DVM ON at the same time. But I believe in being thorough >>







Some of you may of noticed where I Earthed my switches on the wiring diagram, and not even know what the 'Earth Rose' is. It's basically that contraption under your dashboard to the left of your fuse box, usually brown in colour with loads of connectors on it >>







I used 5amp fuses to protect the circuit, the main battery fuse was run to my OE fuse box, and the leisure battery fuse was installed in a small fuse box next to my leisure battery, which is under my passenger seat >>







Now to test it ! .................... Apologies for the very poor framing of the shot, I just missed the switches to the right, can't even see the LED's illuminated ...... you'll just have to take my word for it.
The Digital Volt Meter to the left is the leisure battery, and on the right my cranking battery >>









A very easy job to do, doesn't cost much and makes use of that useless space in the dash. I hope I've talked you into giving it a shot










TURK

[gavcampbell45]

I did something similar in my van but used a single dvm identicle to those with a 2 way rocker switch to flip between the two batteries worka a treet

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[Grubb05]

Looks good Turk, as always!

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[chally69]

Hi all, and Chally

I hope you find this helpful Chally, at least it'll give you an idea of what you're up against.


Firstly, I bought some cheap eBay DVM, about six quid I think they were. From China ! I don't usually buy cheap Chinese junk, but why spend £90 on a battery monitor when a few quid will do the job. I'm not after accuracy here as I'm not converting to a full camper with full electrics.


Cheap eBay Digital Volt Meters >>







The first thing I did when they arrived was to see if the displays were pretty much the same. Sometimes, specially with cheap LCD screens the florescent background are of varying densities, or the numbers on the LCD don't display properly. So, by connecting them to a 9v battery I was pleasantly surprised to see mine were identical ! great, no need to send em back. If one would of been darker than the other it wouldn't of looked right ( when you have serious OCD as I have, this is a serious matter ! ) >







Another way I test circuits and gizmo's for my van, is a 12v ATX computer power supply. At this stage I had already extended the two inch fly leads on the DVM's with some light gauge speaker cable. Looked to be about 0.5mm2 ( about 11amps ) so that should be OK for the job >>







I had alread worked out where I was going to position the DVM's ......... In a space that looks as though it's designed for them ! There's a little cubbyhole on the heater control panel, it's not really big enough for anything so I never used it. So that's ideal. I also prepared the other part I needed. A computer hard drive blanking plate, in black ! >>







You have to cut one of the tabs down on the DVM as there's a large hook on it, cut it down leaving half an inch, just enough for a small hole for a self tapping screw >>







Drill a hole in the back and run the cables through and mount the DVM's in the heater control panel >>







With the DVM's now in place, we can now see the size of the gap inbetween the two DVM's. So we cut a section of the plastic hard drive blanking plate to fill the gap >>







Glue the plastic section in place, assemble everything, and that bit' done ! T: >>







You'll have to excuse my rather crude wiring diagram, but this is the one I used on the day. It should at the very least help you put together a system like mine. You could even make it much simpler, simply by not using switches with LED's on them, or even only one switch to turn both DVM ON at the same time. But I believe in being thorough >>







Some of you may of noticed where I Earthed my switches on the wiring diagram, and not even know what the 'Earth Rose' is. It's basically that contraption under your dashboard to the left of your fuse box, usually brown in colour with loads of connectors on it >>







I used 5amp fuses to protect the circuit, the main battery fuse was run to my OE fuse box, and the leisure battery fuse was installed in a small fuse box next to my leisure battery, which is under my passenger seat >>







Now to test it ! .................... Apologies for the very poor framing of the shot, I just missed the switches to the right, can't even see the LED's illuminated ...... you'll just have to take my word for it.
The Digital Volt Meter to the left is the leisure battery, and on the right my cranking battery >>









A very easy job to do, doesn't cost much and makes use of that useless space in the dash. I hope I've talked you into giving it a shot










TURK

Brilliant Turk thanks very much. Did you put I in line switch in so they can be turned off


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[TURK]

Brilliant Turk thanks very much. Did you put I in line switch in so they can be turned off

No, they're turned ON & OFF independantly Chally.

As in this image, you can clearly see that the leisure battery ( left LCD ) and left LED is switched in the ON position ......... while the right LCD is OFF >>




You can also see that there are two switches in the wiring diagram.




TURK

[chally69]

Hep see it now, not sure how I missed that [emoji849]


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[TURK]

I did something similar in my van but used a single dvm identicle to those with a 2 way rocker switch to flip between the two batteries worka a treet

Yes indeed you simplify things even further Gav, but my aim was to also fill that gap in the dash .............. so two DVM's side by side fitted nicely. I guess it depends on where you want to install the Digital Volt Meters. Using a rocker switch you would have to use an ON-OFF-ON SPDT switch for it to work.



TURK

[TURK]

Hep see it now, not sure how I missed that [emoji849]

No worries mate !

If you get stuck Chally .................. just PM me mate.




TURK