Kemerton xl making improvements

I had looked at the colour plastic strips but did not find a great match to the roof colour then the mastic not a great match so had the white and white sealant to give a good match
with all the colours I have on the roof ref solar panels roof vents the roof rack bars aerials my kayak.
I have multi colours so the white is fine as you say Roger
but I do now have a roof that stays cleaner and was what I wanted to achieve

How did you go about butting it up to the roof lights with the special shaped frames that they have , does the trim sit lower or level with the frames Glyne

First I resealed round the roof lights
The roof lights maybe lower at the position of the plastic I have fitted  or could be level it’s down to the amount of sealant that has been put when the roof lights got fitted from new
I may put sealant to angle the water away from the roof light section that dips down for the roof grove more so from the back of the camper as the water runs towards the front if not could hold a very small amount of water 
I may bond a thin bit of plastic to make the water fully run off
The section you are asking about Chris that held water before my mod on the sections looking from the rear of the camper

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Having enough solar as to your needs
Like FreelanderUk I have just been away for just under 3 weeks and not using ehu but cooked with my electric hot plate outside every day used my electric kettle  and the 12volt kettle used the toaster on mains . The fridge was run off the inverter in the day time and on gas when I cooked in the evening and put back on 240volts off the inverter in the morning.
I put the 12v kettle on before I sit down to eat my meal and then is boiled to do the washing up yes it does take some time to boil .when I wash up I then boil the 12v kettle again for my cups of tea.the mains kettle I only use if I want to boil a kettle in a shorter time as the 12v has enough power from the solar to not need to take any power from the batteries I use this most of the time. I had a 15kg gas bottle connected to the camper and my tank turned off to use up the gas I have in some bottles to be able to then sale the bottles the gas was on to heat the water heater .on getting home tested the bottle and is still more then half full. 
So for what you now have to pay to use ehu on sites the solar will not take long to pay for its self from the saving in price
When you are parked up at the coast as I do a lot and go out in my kayak can get back to the camper shower and clean up cook from solar power to my batteries boil kettles 
So yes the solar works very good for my use and in the winter with shorter day light I fit a 3rd 80w panel but in the summer 2x 80w panels a good mppt controller and nice sunny days is enough power for myself

Glyne, I’m itching to find another mod to do and I’m very envious of yours and Chris’s off grid upgrades.
So are you saying that 2x80W panels (which I have) does all you describe in summer? I’m particularly interested in the fridge usage, if I could just use gas for cooking then a tank of gas would last me all season.

I ordered 2 100w renolgy portable folding solar panels today from there eBay shop with a discount code I got both for £212 on there website they £119 each, running these in parallel with a 75/15 Mppt Victron regulator will give me 40+volts at around 12 amps , earlier and later charging with the greater volts

Dbvwt
I had used the camper for long weekends using the solar to power the hot plate kettle and fridge but this was the first time with this camper and and parked for nearly 3 weeks
I was putting  the fridge on gas when using the hot plate to cook the evening meals and put the fridge back on electric in the morning 
If the power was to get to low the inverter would stop and the fridge go to gas on the auto setting .I did have very good weather so had plenty of solar power. This was a good test but in good weather and was my reason I had my 3rd panel as a back up if needed. With what you save not paying for ehu on a site will soon pay for the panels and inverter and when parked at the coast can still use all the 240volt items .I do get a lot of looks when people see my kettle boil on the mains. when I boil the kettle I see the solar amps go from just the trickle charge to over 10amp .on mains the fridge as it cuts in and out taking power the amps go up and the back to trickle charge not long after the fridge cuts out. I do have a electric ring for cooking if needid and not use the gas rings. I only used the hot plate as the weather was so good this time and is 800w.not only do you save on gas but don’t need to have to go and fill up with gas that is not always easy to do without going some distance 
I did have a 1000w inverter but when I tested  the power used by the microwave that should have been 800w went over 1000w when it started up so got a 1500 inverter that will power up to 3000 for a short time and the 1000w would go to 2000w for a shot time .you don’t want to get a inverter with lots more power then you need as this will just draw power that you don’t need to use as with the correct size inverter as to your needs .I do have 2 batteries as this is what’s needed to run the inverter

Thanks Glyne, I’m sure you have seen that I started a new thread on the subject 

X290 sealing the bottom of the window to stop the water going past the seal and on to the engine 
This is a mod I did to my camper but have just done for a friend after I seen the engine top cover was wet
I removed the wiper arms and then the trim to clean the area that I want to seal .first I put a sheet over the engine to stop it getting wet .I then cleaned the cover to seal it to the window.then it needs to dry
before you put the sealant .I put the sealant on the screen and then put the trim back in place.the drain pipe that has the joint above the engine is best to also seal the joint on the inlet side as this also leaks on the engine
The pictures 
Cover over engine
The trim removed to clean 
Holding the trim as to showing the water just runs behind the trim 
The trim back in place sealed and tested now no leaks on the engine[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

To help the water not make the inside of the side loading door wet when open 
the light above the door on campers now is wider then the door but is not sealed and let’s the water run in the door when not fully closed  but if you seal the ends that you can see a gape for the water to run through now make the water run off the ends[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

So with the rain today and heavy rain the water is now running off the end of the light that I have sealed 
I also put a seal above the light and the water coming down from
 the sun canopy now is running away  from the door as can be seen in the picture 
The black seal inside the passenger door needs to be kept clean as this does take a lot of water coming of the roof of the van[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

To help protect the paint I have taped the bottom of the side door[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Glyne

Great job, so many really good mods, especially with the insulation, I was horrified last week when I removed the rear door cover to wire in a USB cable for a rear view dash cam.  There was very little insulation in the door, the panel was also glued on in two places using what looked like thick double sided tape or maybe some type of clear gel strip adhesive, it did retain its sticking properties though. I will definitely be getting some Dacron, what made you go for a foil film coated roll.  

Out of interest, when you fit your window thermal shields do you lose your phone signal as you now have almost a perfect Faraday cage?

so to help with the insulation I removed what was fitted in the doors but this was not much . I then cut this to size to go in the box section ref at the sides of the glass example .with the large roll I got I then filled all the area in the doors. I had a roll of the foil coated and this reflects the heat so now when I get out the shower is so much warmer.
I got a ground sheet to make all the window shields and can sit next to the glass window and no longer can fill a chill from the window and no I don't have any problem with the phone signal
for the Dacron I got a 40mm thick roll and lots of places put 2 layers
in the morning its still dark even when the sun comes up so is another good purpose with the window blanks

glyne lock wrote:To help protect the paint I have taped the bottom of the side door[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Where did you get the trim to do this

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
You can get sections to do a car door area or gets rolls as I do

glyne lock wrote:You can get sections to do a car door area or gets rolls as I do

Ordered some thanks glyne

The 50mm was what I used on the side door
It protects and looks tidy like my picture shows

So I have fitted a bigger panel to get extra power with a larger panel so now have 250w total .I had 2x80w before and put a 3rd 80w in the winter giving me 240w.
after fitting a 175 renogy panel 1263 x 699 in the space that A/S fit the 80w for a member on the forum and another camper but not a kemerton xl wanted to fit the bigger panel to my own camper but have fitted in a space above the side door as I still want to put the kayak on the roof and not be above the panels. I have fitted this panel to 2 other A/S campers and now the owners have more then double the 80w they had before so this is a good panel to up the power from your solar system

A [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]bit of security for a small cost . You can put the clip or a padlock

To light up better and it does that much more then the head lights that I have done a up grade to as well[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The Thule Ladder mount that can be used for hanging items and can be used with other ladder makes not just Thule . The part number is in the picture[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

What head light up grade have you made, please? The standard lights don't inspire a lot of confidence compared to those on the car or even my motorbike.

The head light up grades  there are different bulbs as to your choice.
I did one side went out on a road test and that side was so much better I have done both sides

For a small cost the heater pipes can have extra insulation put on them as to my picture and the long run pipes do keep the heat much warmer then [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
what it did before my mod