Modifications to our 2017 Lunar Clubman ES

Alterations that we've done since buying our caravan

Fitted JE-50 fire extinguisher suitable for any type of fire

Removed fold-down flap over front seating (it was the biggest pain in the ass when wanting to make the bed up) (update - later in clog, Mike re-installed it but made it easily removable)

Fitted Alde battery backup - not necessary but saves having reprogramme your settings.

Mike fitted it behind the wood screen at rear of the control panel so these wires aren't seen.

Fitted Alde remote temp sensor - necessary, I think because the control panel & sensor are located by the door and directly above the cooker.  Not a smart place to put them.

It's that little black thing in the centre of the photo

Fitted Alde outside temp sensor - not necessary but handy for the gloat factor when you're warm inside

Fitted Alde load monitor - not really necessary but handy when we use EHU

Relocated plate rack from locker above cooker to locker with cup holders - necessary.

Only a bloke would would put crockery in separate places

Relocated toilet roll holder - necessary

From here behind your left shoulder

to here in front of you by the towel rail

Moved double hook

 from left of cupboard

to between sink and shower

Fitted additional towel rails

Fitted OceanAir toilet brush

The brush has a replaceable head, is compact
and has a good seal to keep them together. 

Removed shelf in middle cupboard and fitted bottle & glass holders.  Mike's not happy with this and will update the fittings to something else but needs must :)

Re-used middle cupboard shelf as rear overhead cupboard partition

Replaced 12v jack with USB socket - we didn't use the 12v socket so now we can charge phones on both sides of the caravan. Also fitted a water pump running light -  to monitor the whale pressure switch as sometimes it didn't switch off and went unnoticed.

We soon got fed up of having to adjust the Whale pressure switch (it's tucked  away under the seat) when living off grid so Mike replaced it with a Truma Ultraflow Smart Switch and while he was down there, he fitted a Floë Induratec 636 Integrated Water Drain-Down System.  This uses air pressure to blow out every bit of water out of the system.  Even though you can open the drain & taps - there's still 1200ml in the system.  I know because I measured it.

Added double towel hook to kitchen   - necessary

Added an extra toothbrush cup holder - necessary as there's not a lot of room around the sink

Added hooks to shower rail - now I can hang wet coats etc up.

Rear loudspeakers - necessary so you can hear the radio whilst cooking.

I made a laundry bag shaped to fit into the base of the wardrobe and Mike made pressed stud fittings and velcro to secure it.

Alko soft jockey wheel - just to help caravan over bumps when manoeuvring caravan on mover power

Fitted 3 position switch into wiring and night light

All the bathroom could be used individually now. 
Top position is for the vanity lights

Bottom position for night light

Re-installed the fold-down flap  over the seating.  This was the main gripe with the caravan as all the cushions had to be taken off before being able to lift the base.  It was definitely needed as it took 2 people and was so awkward.

      Mike used the original hinges and was thinking of painting the aluminium.  It has a polished aluminium effect and I think that matches light trim around the front area of the caravan.

   Mike covered up the holes that he didn't use with the same wood effect stickers that are used around the caravan.

It still looks original!

      The cushion base now easily moves over the toggles so I can get the Duvalays out.

      Mike made it from a piece of 2mm sheet aluminium and four heavy duty brass toggles used for supporting heavy paintings.  He then cut keyholes in the aluminium.

    So now all I have to do to remove it, is fold the flap down and lift the whole assembly up and away from the brass toggles. :)

Created ventilation holes in the end wardrobe.  

    This wardrobe was really cold when we went to Axminster after Christmas.  We tried leaving the door open but that didn't really work as we sometimes forgot.

     Mike's solution was to drill some 30mm holes in the shelves at 6 inch intervals from the corner so as to get air circulating up from the Alde heating pipes. 

     When drilling the holes, he drilled almost all the way through from the the top then finished off from below. This way you get a much neater hole.

     He then fitted stainless steel vent caps to the holes with a dab of silicone to keep them in place.
     We may fit another 2 on each shelf at the end, we'll just see how it goes. 

 Blocked off ventilation in cupboard above cooker.

     Steam from the cooker gets into this cupboard when cooking and so would grease eventually.   Mike has blocked it off using a piece of oak laminate flooring and glued it in level at the top so it wouldn't gather crumbs.

No chance of steam & grease getting anywhere
near the Alde control panel either

      Mike fitted two Truma gas filters to the inlets as there is not enough run off for any plasicisers  or condensation to run back to the bottles. It's all gobble de gook to me! We've had a couple of blockages in the past and since fitting the filters, we haven't had a problem.

     He's going to raise the regulator sometime but if he does that, we may not be able to use the smaller gas bottles because of the length of the pigtails.  Also the Calorlite bottles are getting phased out so we'll wait for the mo.

      Mike also wanted to fit proper glands for the mover wires exiting the battery box as the holes had been filled with silicone sealer and broke the seal when the wires were moved.
     On removing the wires, he found that the holes were too close together to fit his preferred glands so had to use one like the battery leads one and a smaller one.

Separated under sink wire baskets

     We found that we couldn't really stow anything in the baskets as they were joined together so we tended to put small things in there that were big enough not to fall out.  Mike started by sawing the arms in half using a hacksaw with a 32tpi (?) blade.

     Mike used the existing plastic T-barb trim to cover the sawn edges but to do this a channel needs to be cut in the panel to take the T-barb.

The top half is on the right

     Mike bought another set of runners to match the upper pair (Accuride 3832DH Ball Bearing Full Extension Drawer Runners)  He could have used a lighter set but they wouldn't have matched and detracted from the look.  He fastened the runners in exactly the same position as the top ones.

     But mounted the arms lower down in the cupboard but still give clearance for our toaster.  To remove the drawers, a black plastic tab has to be bent in the direction of the arrow on the arm on both sides.  It's located on the arms between the 2 pans shown.

     This is with both drawers fully extended and something that Mike found out whilst doing all this - the runners have a keep closed mechanism.  You don't just push the drawers back but by pushing slightly harder at the end of the travel, the runners locate on to a rubber bush to keep them in place.  (I had to be shown)

    A much more usable space now :)

Fitted digital clock above front seating area

    Mike sourced a 12 volt digital clock on eBay and wired it into the radio memory 12 volt supply.

Replaced 12 volt and TV aerial supply with USB power socket

    As we don't watch a tv in the caravan, we decided to replace the tv socket at the front of the caravan with a USB one.  As he was working on this, he decided to fit the same kind of socket housing to my side of caravan.  This is more usable as I can still read my kindle while it is charging.

Replacing cooker side shield

Glass everywhere, we even found some at the front of the caravan!

    On our way home after Mike's mum's funeral, we hit a big bump on the A34.  On getting home, we found that the cooker side shield had broken and spread glass everywhere.
    Mike had a word with our local glazier and ordered a toughened replacement piece of glass to be made up but with large holes to allow for movement.  Before fitting it, he put rubber O-rings between the glass and the wood to act as buffers.

Fitted Cooker lower hatch retaining clip

    After the problems with the above shield, Mike decided to find some way of stopping the lower pan cupboard from opening itself.  It's come open before but was cushioned by the carpet.  As we don't take the carpet when we go away with the grandkids, we thought it would be a wise mod.  Mike eventually found a clip to fit the Thetford Aspire (he was looking for replacement rubber feet for the cooker pan support) and was easy to fit and only cost £7!  Result :)

It rotates 90° so you can open the door

Moved & replaced stereo

   After a lot of deliberation, Mike decided to move the stereo away from the front right corner locker to somewhere more accessible.   Its present location meant if you were sitting at the table, you couldn't get up to adjust the volume or anything. 

   The app that came with the stereo was a joke as it wouldn't connect half the time and replacing it with another wouldn't solve anything as the problem was the location. 

   There weren't a lot of places to put a new stereo and eventually, we decided that below the microwave would be a good place as it was accessible from both ends of the caravan.  Mike eventually decided on using a mechless car stereo (doesn't have a cd and isn't as big) and also came with DAB+, Bluetooth Wi-Fi, USB, a remote and only cost £38 on eBay!

Looks a mess! - I hope he tidies up.

   Mike made up a shelf made from a door that matched the cupboard above.  As this shelf would make access to the services point light switch awkward, he moved the switch to the stereo shelf itself and used the switch hole for leading the stereo wires into the shelf.

   Mike then extended the wiring using a 5m ISO car radio extension lead and a 3m din coax aerial lead (??)   He took the wiring from the front corner locker along the upper shelves using the trunking that he'd previously used for the rear speakers.

   Haha, Mike's just seen this blog and says that he had to take the connectors out of the terminal blocks to feed the wiring through.  You can get cheap tools off eBay that you can use to do this.  He also says - don't forget to remove the battery or take fuse out for the permanent power feeds, otherwise you'll blow a fuse.  (I don't think he did take the fuse out 😉)

Looking good

    After 5 years of use, the Lunar sticker on the front of the caravan had faded in streaks and looked awful. 

The old

     Mike sourced a replacement resin one which should last longer.  However, the old one really tested his patience as it was really hard to get off.  The plastic had gone brittle, he tried hot water, steam, hair dryer and even a hot air gun.  In the end, he used an old debit card to pick away at the edges.  This took quite a  few days!  Its replacement looks so much better.

and the new :)

 

Things to do in the future 

Fit a rear-view camera



Then we'll have it like we want it. :)