Hi

I just wanted to introduce myself and say thanks for having me. I hope I’ve put this in the right place.

Hi everyone my name is Nicky and I purchased a super custom in May. I’m loving van life although on Saturday when I took a trip out I got in my camper and found my cup holders full of water and the visor soaking wet! So I clearly have a leak or two which is a bit of a worry. I don’t currently have heating in my van either so need to try and find a way to sort that too but have no idea where I will fit a heater oh and I’m not sure if I have a back to back charger for my leisure battery either so need to do some investigating on that front (I thought I did but my lights keep dipping and turning themselves off so now I’m thinking maybe I don’t lol.
So that’s my super custom journey so far haha it’s lovely to meet you all!

Hello Nicky I'm Nick and I'm also in East Sussex but my van isn't, it's in a container heading to South America and I'll be chasing after it soon.

With regards to the heater I replaced my diesel heater and where you put it depends on how your van's interior is set up mine fitted at the back in the corner, you can see it in this picture under all the electrics..


One thing that I would say is get a silent pump for it, they tick ! There is a man here in the UK that makes silent pumps and has started his own little business making them so people sleeping in van's don't go insane. Look up silent diesel heater pumps and you'll soon find him ( he does it all by email and he's very helpful ) or look up diesel heater pump ticking and you'll see all the weird and wonderful solutions like hanging them from cable ties or wrapping them in foam.. Which don't seem to work.

When I got mine running I freaked at the noise, phoned the company I bought it off and was told that was just what they do ! I then discovered it was a well known phenomenon that people in van's suffer from every time it gets cold.

I couldn't find my leisure battery charger and also didn't know what I had, I'm not sure if some vans have them it might just be a simple bit of wiring that connects the batteries. Either way I fitted a whole new charger and if I was you I'd look into putting a solar panel, that's actually very simple, not too expensive and doesn't require much wiring at all.

You can go from the solar panel to a solar controller and straight to the battery, that's how mine was originally set up. You can see the solar controller in my picture it's the small blue box at the top, they're not that big and you could squeeze one in anywhere. I'd also check your leisure battery it might be on the way out.

As for the water issues no idea but we've had way way way too much rain recently and I'm fed up with it !

ps. If you feel like a sleep in your van right on the beach.. Herbrand Walk Bexhill, bit cold, wet and windy at the moment but not a problem with the "authorities."

Hi Nick that’s for the park up I will check it out
I will have to get some pics of my interior up. Where your electrics are I have a sink and next to that is the hob then the fridge, above the fridge is a cupboard with some of the electrical stuff inside like an inverter and other things I don’t really understand then it’s seating which turns into the bed. I don’t think I can fit a heater under the bed so may have to figure out putting it underneath the van or completely changing the interior so the fridge is where the electrics are and a heater situated underneath but I’m not really sure that’s a good idea and would prefer the toilet went there out of the way. On the opposite side is a shelved cupboard that again sadly won’t fit a heater so not many options really. So much to think about! I’m pretty sure the seal on the windscreen is the water issue but have also noticed wet interior at the rear so again the window seal or maybe the rear door as it doesn’t feel right when I open/close it. I’m not very mechanically minded and to be honest it all scares me a bit . Yes I do want to get solar installed at some point as it would be nice to be able to be off grid for longer but alas that will have to wait until I’ve sorted the leaks as they are obviously quite an urgent repair. It’s all part of the fun though although like you am sick of the rain and much prefer van life in the warm and dry weather. How exciting that your off to pastures new is that a permanent move or just an extended holiday?

Back again,

I've seen pictures of heaters on the floor under a seat by the step as you go in the sliding door. So imagine you open the sliding door and look right inbetween the seat and the side of the van. If you've got an inverter then you could look for a small electric heater that doesn't use much power but.. Your battery's not charging well so maybe when it is would be better.

I've read quite a few things on here about rear door issues and them not closing or locks going wrong with some due to water. My reversing camera ( where the number plate lights are ) fogged up badly and when I took it off water dripped out, this had come from the plastic trim strip ( the red one that says custom ) not being sealed properly and the water got in behind it. Also beware of your rear lights make sure they're well sealed on because mine weren't !

Good luck with the leak hunt, if you start at the top and work down you'll know what level it's coming in and that'll be a good clue with the rear but the front is probably the windscreen there's not much else going on at the front especially if the van was just sitting there when it decided to pour you a drink.

Leaks or no leaks they're still lovely vans and nice to drive.

As for my travels hopefully permanent I want to roam around working as a volunteer planting trees and things like that so I figured I'd take my own accommodation... Shipping it's a bit of a beast, not to mention scary !

Yes the area you’re talking about I have a small seat there and my leisure battery is underneath so no room for a heater. I do have one seat that’s empty underneath but ideally want to use that for bedding instead of shoving it in the overhead but may have to sacrifice it but don’t really want to.

Thanks for the heads up about rear door issues I will try and check it out further and check the lights

Your plans sound lovely what a great thing to do. The idea of shipping a car anywhere scares me so much I don’t think I would have the guts to do it to be honest. I hope it all goes smoothly for you and can’t wait to hear how it all went

Hi there - another place to look for a leak is the front manual sun roof (if you're has one).

Thank you but no I don’t have a sun roof. I’ve had a quick look this morning and I’m pretty sure it’s the top corner on the passenger side. I need to tidy him up later after being away over the weekend so providing the weather holds for me I will have a proper look and get some interior pics too

Quote :

The idea of shipping a car anywhere scares me so much I don’t think I would have the guts to do it to be honest.

I must admit I'm rapidly becoming a bit obsessive with the ship tracking website and I've booked a hotel near the dock. I will be that person sitting staring out to sea with binoculars !

But there is a bit of a lucky omen, once my van leaves Hamburg ( where it is now ) it will be traveling on my saint's ship.. The San Nicolas !

NickZ wrote:

I must admit I'm rapidly becoming a bit obsessive with the ship tracking website

Absolutely - when I imported mine from Japan to the UK - I got a little obsessed tracking it. FleetMon was my favourite - especially when you could zoom right in and see virtual tugs pushing the virtual RoRo ship about.

Virtual tugs ! I'm off to FleetMon !

Just dug the old images out - this is it leaving Japan:



and this is it getting into Bristol:

Free spirit wrote:

I just wanted to introduce myself and say thanks for having me. I hope I’ve put this in the right place.

Hi everyone my name is Nicky and I purchased a super custom in May. I’m loving van life although on Saturday when I took a trip out I got in my camper and found my cup holders full of water and the visor soaking wet! So I clearly have a leak or two which is a bit of a worry.

Bizarrely (or maybe not if you think your phone is spying on you) - I had a facebook post pop up in a local group of someone's Ford Transit with a very similar issue - damp by the corner roof where the visor attaches and coming down onto the rear-view mirror. It turned out to be a leak on the roof seam where the side rain gutters are welded. It may be worth checking the gutters near the front to see if there's any way the water could come in there.

Thank you very much I will check there too. I’m a bit worried it’s leaked for a while before I bought it and am thinking I may have to remove the interior roof/carpet bits and replace it all but praying I don’t have to

Fingers crossed - there's been a lot of very heavy rain and strong winds in the UK the last week - so it may have been a one-off. Especially where you live. But you certainly want to stop it happening again.

That’s what I’m hoping but the carpet on the cab roof looked slightly discoloured when I bought it but not in a way that it looked like water damage but obviously now I’m reconsidering that I really need to find a good camper fixer person I think so if anyone has any suggestions please feel free to leave their info