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Van Fit Out - Advice Needed

985 views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Peter101 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hey all, I'm ply lining the back of my VW transporter van as it has been getting pretty beaten looking over the years.

She's an old model (2001) and still running great so I want to hold on to her as long as possible. I use it for carrying tools and machinery around the county so it has taken some heavy service over the years.

The ply wood installation will be fine but I'm going to install one of those new LED interior lights in place of the old bulb one. Electrics and wiring are not my strong point. The cable that's running down behind the ply - should I cover it with conduit or heat shrink?

Any of you guys done an installation like this before?
 
#2 ·
If it's behind the ply, I would just make sure that any connections are properly insulated and that any rub points are cushioned to prevent rubbing. I don't see any reason to use conduit or other encasing in this application.
 
#5 ·
The wires should be safe behind the ply, but if you plan on attaching anything to the plywood, make sure you either route the wires in a safe place, or run it through conduit so you won't be able to damage the wires by accident.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for all the advice, it was a big help.

MrRon, I did think about the battery option, it makes a lot of sense, but I was just eager to try my hands at a simple electrical job. Especially when it's my own van.

HobieKen, you were right. There was no need for the conduit. As it happens there wasn't a lot of space between the ply and the van roof anyway. I just used some adhesive lined heat shrink instead. Some of this stuff did the job and it was cheap: https://www.truckelectrics.com/collections/heat-shrink

I ran some 2 core thin wall cable down the roof and used the adhesive lined heat shrink at the connection on the light fitting. I think this was a must to prevent damage to the electrics. The back of the van gets a lot of condensation during the winter so that electrical connection point needed to be sealed up right.

It wasn't the hardest job in the world. And I'll tell ya, it does feels great when you do it yourself.

Thanks all.
Peter.
 
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