I've just bought a mid 80s Conway cruiser and I'm looking for some advice on a couple of jobs and improvements I'm thinking of doing.
1. Anyone know how to fit and wire in a leisure battery? I'm thinking about putting it under the seat Base next on the kitchen side of the camper in it own wooden box. What I'm unsure of is how to connect this to the existing 12v system that runs of the car when on site. Reason for this is that the camper will spend most of its time without EHU.
2. We want to improve the lighting to 12v led and wondered what people are using? We were thinking about some form of strop light that could be clipped to the centre upright poles.
3. Is it possible to dye the canvas back to its original colour as ours has faded over the years.
4. The camper currently runs on blue Campingaz bottles. What are peoples thoughts on these or are Calor bettet. Do people prefer blue or red Calor?
Many thanks in advance and looking forward to all the replies.
1. It's easy enough to add a leisure battery to a Cruiser, and the kitchen side seat base is the normal place to put it. My 1997 Sterling had the same, along with a standard car battery charger, circuit breaker and EHU input to charge the battery. Have a look at the Conway Owners Club web site. There are plenty of manuals on there, and you should be able to find a wiring diagram to help you get it all set up.
2. I use a pair of Kampa Sabre 150 LED strip lights. They are very bright and clip onto the camper poles, using C clips. This means they can easily be removed, and used in the awning, if required. They aren't cheap, at a round 40 quid each, but I've found them to be well worth it, plus I can leave them in position when folding the camper away.
3. It isn't possible to dye the canvas, as such. you can dye bed pods and roof liners very effectively, but the main canvas much less so. There is a product that is designed for this, and I am planning on using it on the roof of my Pathfinder this year, to cover some bleaching (I'm guessing from bird droppings). I will see how it looks on the roof, but I will be very surprised if it looks good on the side panels. That said, if any canvas is badly faded, what have you got to lose? This is the product; https://www.fabricspray.co.uk/product-category/waterproofing-spray-paint/
4. I, personally, don't really like the Campingaz bottles in a folding camper. Absolutely nothing wrong with them, but they are a lot smaller than the Calor bottles. Great if you are carrying them around with you, but, in a folding camper, that is less of an issue, so I much prefer the longevity of the larger Calor bottles. Also, the larger, refillable, Campingaz bottles are Butane which is not ideal (see below). The only time I would really advocate Campingaz is if you are planning on using the camper abroad, as Campingaz is a French product, and the only one you can readily get hold of on the continent.
The Calor bottles are blue (Butane) and red (Propane). Propane is, generally, better for use in the UK, as it operates more efficiently at lower temperatures. LPG needs to be a gas to burn. Butane (blue) turns back to a liquid at zero degrees (although it tends to start losing effectiveness around 10 degrees C). Propane, on the other hand, remains in gas form down as low as minus 44 degrees, making it more efficient in UK weather.
Hopefully that will help to get you started.
------------- The one good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others..
By the way; forgot to mention in the original reply; only thing to watch out for with the battery, is that they should, ideally, be stored in a vented compartment, as they can give of gasses when charging. Modern batteries are much better for this, and tend to only do this if charged too quickly, or over charged, but it is something you will need to consider if you're planning on installing one under the seat.
------------- The one good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others..
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Topic: Upgrades to Conway Cruiser
