LFGSS Camper Van owners?

Depends what your duty cycle is like. How much driving vs parked, any mains hookup etc.

Fridge would almost always be on the leisure circuit: being stranded is worse than having a few gone-off things in the fridge.

The battery designs used for cranking and leisure are different. Cranking batteries deliver high current but are expected to be recharged immediately after doing their work. Leisure batteries are typically rated for lower current but can be run lower before charging without completely killing the battery.

Yep, that's all stuff I know :)

Is there any reason having the cooler on while the leisure battery is charging (from the alternator, no mains for now) would cause issues? Then just disconnect from the starter when the engine's off and let it run off leisure?

No plans to run it all the time, only after a big fresh food shop and when we need to keep beers cool for half a day or so...

The split charge system should stop current flowing from the cranking battery to the leisure side when the engine's off or the cranking battery's low. Shouldn't have to manually disconnect it. If your alternator is undersized and the fridge is way above target temperature, there might not be enough left to charge the leisure battery.

I have yet to wire the smart split charge stuff, hence the manual connection.

Is there any easy way to check the size of the alternator?

Stedlocks, one thing I've been looking at wistfully is one of these

http://www.amdro.co.uk/products/boot-jump-camper-car-c-10_15.html?osCsid=cos131kc1igiujmqmqpouk46v0

Although i think you would need a Maxi Caddy but still a quick east way to get a camper

When I had the alternator in the (diesel) Renault Grand Espace last year, (at age 15), it had a big sticker on the side with the rating. (Turned out to be the alternator used by the vans, Renault/Nissan/GM produced, in the UK, at the old Isuzu plant in Luton).
Of course, have now forgotten its output.
Do you have ready access to your alternator?

Decent, but fucking spendy!!

Yep, hence looking wistfully :(. Thinking I might try and bodge something together myself!

Someone ripping it off for you, lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ZXb4Lss6k

Edit: what @Emyr said.

You really should put in a split charging relay but you already know this I guess. A good one will prioritise charging the starter battery first before the leisure battery, but the alternator should charge both batteries and run the fridge simultaneously so I’m not sure your proposed additional 12v socket will bring much benefit unless the engine is running and the leisure battery isn’t being charged. The danger of a simple switch is that if you leave the circuit closed and try to start the van, you’ll be pulling power from the leisure battery as well. Leisure batteries are constructed of different electrochemical materials and designed for long, slow drain, starter batteries are the opposite, and they can’t be interchanged. So you would damage the leisure battery irreparably the first time you do this.

That aside, a 12v socket powering the fridge from the leisure battery will work best. Fridges are notoriously inefficient however so expect about 24-48h before you flatten the battery. (This would be preferable to draining the starter battery though). You can obviously improve efficiency by using freezer packs in the fridge and not opening it too frequently.

How does this work then, do the front seats swivel?

I dunno - I'll have a look later!

Re: relay - yeah, well aware of the issues with the switch, both draining the battery and starting with them both connected. I've got a sweet system set up to protect against this though which I'll post about later. It's only a temporary measure used while trying to diagnose an issue with either our VSR or leisure battery without access to a multimeter (turns out it's almost certainly the latter) where the charging setup was causing the starter battery to boil.

I now have a multimeter, which is fun and am pretty certain the battery is at fault. With the manual switching set up and nothing else wired in it's never getting above 5v charge and is slowly discharging overnight despite being disconnected. We considered taking it to an autoelectric place and seeing if they could blast it with a grunty charger but some digging in the previous owners receipts it looks like it was already a reconditioned unit and most likely at the end of it's life. Thankfully we've been tipped off about 25% off a new deep cycle unit on boxing day so we're hanging out to replace it with that.

Well aware of the drain for the cooler, it has a male cig lighter socket for the power so I'll just wire input in with a switch to turn it on/off from the front of the van. We're not really going to use it too much and will be selling the van in ~6 weeks anyway, just trying to get stuff fixed up in a cheap+safe manner so we don't lose too much on it (already spent a bunch on panel/rust work, new tyres, new radiator etc.).

You can certainly make em swivel, if required....I wouldn't feel the need though.

I am 6' tall and can lay down in the back of one. Anything above that is overkill for my needs!!

This is what it would be replacing, due to lack of use.

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I know nothing about campervans.

Next year, I would like to use a campervan for a long weekend over August bank holiday. Hiring a van for this period seems to be around £800. I'm likely to do this about 4 years in a row.

Can I buy a campervan for around £3000 that will last 4-5 years? What are the top things I'd need to look out for? Needs to have 2 beds+space for baby. Needs to be mechanically sound, can be cosmetically unsound.

Or does anyone know cheap hire places?

I'm looking to buy a van in the coming weeks. Can you pm me some details?

Are you in New Zealand?

I wouldn't let a silly little thing like multiple oceans and continents get in the way of a good deal!

I've had a couple of VW T25s at around the £5k price point. They wer both fine but did require regular maintenance at a cost. For £3k frankly I think you will struggle to get anything that will be trouble free over 4-5 years, it will need maintenance and investment.

There are still some little gems out there, but you have to really look. You'd probably get some kind of T4 bus that could be camped in (with a bit of fettling) for around that mark....or look at Mercedes, but be wary of rot on those!
Nobby flew through his mot today with no advisories!

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The smug feeling of owning a camper van driving in to the Wickes car park was quickly eroded when I couldn't fit in the 8x4 sheet of MDF I had bought. I was the person that you point and laugh at.

Cue running back inside to buy a screwdriver to take apart the furniture so it would fit. I won

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What with that and the Mercian - Sir, you have style.

Ha! Thank you sir!

Not according to my wife I don't!

Awesome van!

Thanks! 2nd child on the way may force us to sell as we can't all stay in it. I want a 4 berth but the wife suggested a...shudders caravan. Would rather keep it as a day van