Lenny's Modding the new Gin Palace

Gellyneck said:
Did you mount the pump directly to the ply board or did you put it on any vibration damping? Did you put any damping under the ply?
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Now managed to get some soundproofing rubber under the ply, it has made it slightly quieter but not sure it was worth the hours groveling on the floor to do it.
 
Lenny HB said:
Now managed to get some soundproofing rubber under the ply, it has made it slightly quieter but not sure it was worth the hours groveling on the floor to do it.
Click to expand...
You'd have been on the floor anyway with the bottle of gin so two birds one stone!:whistle2:;):giggle:
Pump is parked at the moment as now looking at scuttle. Tweaking Techno \ Bart instructions.
 
The SOG mod.
When we bought the van we ordered the optional SOG, not only did the van come with the SOG but also the parts to use the Thetford vent system. Nowhere did Hymer mention that the Thetford vent system was standard. So we ended up with a SOG, a Thetford fan fitted that didn't do anything apart from making a lot of noise & some Thetford bits. The first thing we had to do was disconnect the Thetford van as it was so noisy.

The mods, the supplied SOG was a floor vent type so I wanted to convert it to a roof vent. Also the SOG was venting from the cassette with the typical convoluted pipe whereas our last Hymer the SOG made use of the Thetford vent I think that was because it was a bench loo and an easy mod. I decided to convert this one so it vents from the Thetford outlet.

Here is the SOG pipe I wanted to get rid of, very awkward in this van, I've managed to split it twice, you soon know you have done it when you get your own back inside the van.:sick:

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The original SOG filter.

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Conveniently these bits came with the van. Just had to fit the blade in the cassette and the panel in the base of the housing.

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After removing the loo, the outlet for the Thetford vent was in the floor with a convoluted pipe that exited under the floor. Not impressed with the sealing around the pipe - none.

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Took out the pipe and glued a 40mm to 21.5 mm adaptor in the end with PU.

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Then after talking to my mate he was telling me sometimes with a roof vent you get condensation which causes a build up of fluid. As my take off was under the loo I decided to fit a drain at the lowest point, a right pain as I had already fitted the pipe and some connections.

So I made a very small funnel on the 3D printer to which I could attach some tubing.

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I was using 21.5mm overflow pipe there was a nice hole already there in the floor to route the pipe up into the wardrobe.

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Then I fitted the roof vent.

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Then the rest of the piping and the fan, not as easy as it sounds as the wardrobe is narrow making access difficult. I was using the existing SOG fan so I had to make a couple of adaptors to fit my pipe on the 3D printer and one to fit the roof vent.

P1010583.JPG


Wiring was easy as I just had to run a cable up to connect to the existing wiring in the original position.

OK, then we test, very disappointed not much suction but I did still have the Thetford fan in the way restricting the airflow, so I removed the fan - no improvement.

So a bit of investigation and we find some quality German engineering.
This pic is looking down the fan outlet.

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And with the loo removed showing where the hole should be, German engineering at it's best.
Yes, that's my blood on the back of the loo.:cry:

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Oh well, I cut another hole and used the plug from it to fill the original hole.

I took the drain pipe out through the original vent under the van, cut a plastic disc from a paint pot lid to seal it & found a plug that fitted the drain tube.

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Cut a piece of plastic to seal the original SOG vent, and sealed the outside as well.

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Final result with the wardrobe back together.

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All working well and no stupid pipe to disconnect when taking the cassette out.
 
Last edited:
Nice work, just need to test it now 💩😷

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And with the loo removed showing where the hole should be, German engineering at it's best.
Yes, that's my blood on the back of the loo.:cry:

Lenny HB

Blood on the back of the loo - time for a doctors appointment 😳:giggler:
 
Come on Lenny, a basic fan to drive your extraction system? why not upgrade to a decent suction pump? no more need to fart, the new system would pull that fart and crap straight out without need to strain. Aka Lenny's super shitter! :roflmto:
 
Did a bit more work on the SOG, because I'm taking the extraction via the 40mm underfloor pipe although it works OK suction wasn't that strong.
So I have now refitted the Thetford fan and wired it to the SOG switch. I now have twin turbo extraction you get a nice cooling breeze across your bum.
I mentioned before the Thetford fan was noisy, well its not the fan it's the way it is installed, I added some thin high density foam around the bottom edge. It's a lot quieter now you couldn't do it if you were using the filter as the fan sits a couple of mm higher.
 
I've been wanting to fit a thermostatic mixer to the shower for ages but not found a way of doing it that would be neat until BillyKontiki came up with the idea of fitting a TMV (Thermostatic Mixing Valve) in line with the hot feed to the shower.

The TMV was for standard domestic 15mm pipe & the Hymer plumbing is 10mm internal dia hose. I discovered that speedfit 15mm plastic pipe for domestic plumbing, if you heat it you can force it over a 12mm hose fitting. So armed with some 12 to 10mm reducers a tee piece, some speedfit pipe & inserts a painful job began (only painful from bashing and rubbing my arms on the edge of the floor hatch).

Conveniently there was a hatch in the floor under the kitchen unit and the shower pipes ran through there. after making up my adaptors just a case of cutting the cold feed and fitting a tee, feeding the cold into one side of the valve. Cutting the hot pipe and connecting the feed to the shower to the valve output. From the hot input on the valve I fitted a longer piece of 10mm hose and took it back to where there was an existing tee feeding the shower.
Couldn't lay the valve neatly on the floor too many pipes and cables so a bit crude cable tied it down with a block of insulating foam to support it.

Works a treat, no more getting scalded and won't waste so much water trying to get the temperature right.

TMV.jpg

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Nice mod.

I did the same but found some barb fittings that once wrapped with PTFE meant I could plug the standard Hymer hose straight in. Just used a 10mm tee to take the cold water feed for the valve and bought 1m of pipe to use.

Alas on the Exsis I couldn’t find anywhere to put it except on the boiler outlet so have to make do with washing up water that isn’t as hot as I would like.

Used the same fittings to make an outside tap and works a treat.

6A6D6727-5085-4ABE-BFF4-18100832A25B.png
 
Googlebot said:
Nice mod.

I did the same but found some barb fittings that once wrapped with PTFE meant I could plug the standard Hymer hose straight in. Just used a 10mm tee to take the cold water feed for the valve and bought 1m of pipe to use.

Alas on the Exsis I couldn’t find anywhere to put it except on the boiler outlet so have to make do with washing up water that isn’t as hot as I would like.

Used the same fittings to make an outside tap and works a treat.

View attachment 479384
Click to expand...
Now you tell me. :giggle:
 
Lenny HB said:
I've been wanting to fit a thermostatic mixer to the shower for ages but not found a way of doing it that would be neat until BillyKontiki came up with the idea of fitting a TMV (Thermostatic Mixing Valve) in line with the hot feed to the shower.

The TMV was for standard domestic 15mm pipe & the Hymer plumbing is 10mm internal dia hose. I discovered that speedfit 15mm plastic pipe for domestic plumbing, if you heat it you can force it over a 12mm hose fitting. So armed with some 12 to 10mm reducers a tee piece, some speedfit pipe & inserts a painful job began (only painful from bashing and rubbing my arms on the edge of the floor hatch).

Conveniently there was a hatch in the floor under the kitchen unit and the shower pipes ran through there. after making up my adaptors just a case of cutting the cold feed and fitting a tee, feeding the cold into one side of the valve. Cutting the hot pipe and connecting the feed to the shower to the valve output. From the hot input on the valve I fitted a longer piece of 10mm hose and took it back to where there was an existing tee feeding the shower.
Couldn't lay the valve neatly on the floor too many pipes and cables so a bit crude cable tied it down with a block of insulating foam to support it.

Works a treat, no more getting scalded and won't waste so much water trying to get the temperature right.

View attachment 479378
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We’ll done Lenny maybe not quite city & guilds but pass with credit for ingenuity.
You can have one of those bottles of wine now. 😃

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Lenny HB said:
I've been wanting to fit a thermostatic mixer to the shower for ages but not found a way of doing it that would be neat until BillyKontiki came up with the idea of fitting a TMV (Thermostatic Mixing Valve) in line with the hot feed to the shower.

The TMV was for standard domestic 15mm pipe & the Hymer plumbing is 10mm internal dia hose. I discovered that speedfit 15mm plastic pipe for domestic plumbing, if you heat it you can force it over a 12mm hose fitting. So armed with some 12 to 10mm reducers a tee piece, some speedfit pipe & inserts a painful job began (only painful from bashing and rubbing my arms on the edge of the floor hatch).

Conveniently there was a hatch in the floor under the kitchen unit and the shower pipes ran through there. after making up my adaptors just a case of cutting the cold feed and fitting a tee, feeding the cold into one side of the valve. Cutting the hot pipe and connecting the feed to the shower to the valve output. From the hot input on the valve I fitted a longer piece of 10mm hose and took it back to where there was an existing tee feeding the shower.
Couldn't lay the valve neatly on the floor too many pipes and cables so a bit crude cable tied it down with a block of insulating foam to support it.

Works a treat, no more getting scalded and won't waste so much water trying to get the temperature right.

View attachment 479378
Click to expand...

Cheers Lenny that's another job you have give me 👍
 
After converting our green roof to a white version I am considering a modification to our van next week. Going to turn the wheels upside down.
Some say that if you repeat this procedure several times the said van is capable of movement.
The kit is only available to poor hillbillies in the Welsh wilderness.
 
Lenny HB washing machine hose fits the 22mm end nicely and the hose is 10mm bore cheap and tidy way of connecting.

IMG_20210408_143046.jpg

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Only found out by chance as I was already to fit cut the hot and cold feed to the shower and found the pipe was 12mm bore and not 10mm to suit my fittings more reducers on order 😤☹️😂
 
Lenny HB said:
I don't like the way the cab seats lock in the 180º position so a little mod was in order.
A peg on the release arm locks into a V groove in the turntable, there is a groove in both top and bottom sections of the turntable as only the bottom one rotates it was just a case of stopping the peg locating in the bottom one.
My tempory solution was to glue with epoxy a piece of plastic across the groove and it works a treat. We will see how long it lasts, if not that long a perminant fix will be to weld a piece of steel in place.

View attachment 169865

I used a double glazing window packer as it had a nice serrated surface to grip the adhesive, yes I did remove the burrs from my filing but forgot to take another photo before putting the seat base cover back.

View attachment 169866
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Lenny. Did you remove the seat or work through the side panel?

This was my number one frustration with the old van but had no access. Looking at doing it today, on the DL, the passenger seat (RHD in my case) looks do-able. Not sure about the driver's seat though yet.
 
Stewart J said:
Neither Lenny or I removed the seat it’s quite do-able if you remove the plastic trim across the floor join you can then remove the seat base back panels which makes it even easier.
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Thanks. I'll give that a go.

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showing my lack of knowledge again but how do you set the output water temperature and to what level?
 
dna said:
showing my lack of knowledge again but how do you set the output water temperature and to what level?
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I take it you are referring to the TMV they are adjustable between I think 32° to 48° I set mine to 37 then dropped it to about 35, I set it by measuring the water temperature.
 
Setting the temperature, depending on the valve you have but generally make sure you have plenty of water at maximum temperature remove the plastic head of the valve, on the spinal of the valve rotate it clock wise normally to increase temperature, once set there is a lock nut to lock the valve at your set max. Temperature.
Happy days.
 
Folkranger said:
Done. Just have to see tomorrow if the araldite holds. Difficult place to work in.
Click to expand...
1st one lasted 2 years last couple only about 3 months but it was Poundland epoxy. :LOL:

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