Berlingo Camper - Fitting Chapel Motorhomes Double Conversion Kit
Vložit
- čas přidán 20. 09. 2021
- ** UPDATE **
Since filming this video we have now changed the bed to make it easier to both store the bed boards and to set it up. It still gives a generous double for your upper body, but now is set as two separate singles for your legs. Gives space to put your feet down too.
Please check it out on the following link
• Buddy Berlingo Camper ...
When we finally managed to buy our Chapel Motorhome Double self fit Conversion kit, we thought it may be useful to others to see how easy it is to fit.
We're no spring chickens, bit it's lightweight, despite its size and very well designed for both use and ease of fitting.
Should we have missed anything, or you have any questions, please don't hesitate to send us a message and we'll do our best to help.
We love our Citreon berlingo Micro Camper
link to supplier.
www.chapelmotorhomes.co.uk/
#berlingo #berlingocamper
What a good job you both did! All the way through, I was wondering about suspension upgrades to the Berlingo….then I read the comments…not required. What a great advert for Chapel !
Thanks. Yes we were obviously concerned about any extra weight but, the units are so light. Even with the whole kit in it must weigh far less than the original thee rear seats even without passengers! 😊🐕🚙
Brilliant comprehensive video - Thankyou 🤗
Morning. Thanks for watching and commenting. We're pleased you found it useful 🙂🐕🚙
That looks a great conversion. Take care Gill
IThanks for watching and commenting. It's proved it's self over our almost one month recent trip. It's amazing how 2 people and a wee dog can adapt to living in such a small space. You just need to be tidy and super organised. Everything has its spot. 🙂🐕🚙
Thanks for showing us how to fit the conversion . Watched it a couple of times before I fitted mine.Anita
Hi Anita. Thanks for watching and we're pleased you found it helpful 🙂🐕🚙
Great video, very informative, well done.
Thank you. If it helps someone then that's a win 👍😊🚙
A good informative video. Thank you.
Thank you John. You're most welcome.
Hi a fantastic video. Job well done. Take care
Thank you James. We have since undertaken some small changes to make the setup work better for us and I'm sure more to come as we take further trips.
Thanks, it's clear (ish !). Sounds like a good outcome as van road tax and insurance higher than cars I think. Love the compact set up.
Found you via Life is too Short. Those window cupboards are genius!
Thanks for popping over. Carol and Ken have been our inspiration. As for the window cupboards, they hold so much and can't imagine how we'd manage without them. 🙂🐕🚙
That is fantastic.
Thank you. It works very well for us 🙂🐕🚙
A great video and very informative.
Thank you. We do try to include as much detail as possible.🙂🐕🚙
@@the-other-windsorsI think the micro campers are brilliant. I’m picking up a Fiat Qubo and want to do a single bed conversion with it. I know it’s smaller than a Berlingo, but it will be ok for one person.
Don't actually know that vehicle, but we watch a guy called Adam on Wandering Where. He car camps in a Ford galaxy and is about to convert a Kia Picanto into a fully fledged campervan!!🙂🐕🚙
Very informative video.you did a great job showing both installation and use I am considering buying one for a single person if I buy a Berlingo. (My other choice is a Kangoo)
Thanks again Susan. It's a very good starter kit that we are amending as we use it to best suit our needs. Chapel Motorhomes also do a single conversion that would suit you best if you want to travel alone, it will give you more floor space.
One thing I took from this video was that the arm rests clip off and how the seats fold flat in the front .. and I have a Peugeot Partner! Thank you .. I wouldn't have know otherwise.
Hi Patrick. Thanks for watching and pleased we have been if some help. To be honest, we knew about the arm rests, but it was a good couple of years later that we discovered the seats lock flat. Its great isnt it! 🙂🐕🚙
This is a very good video, and congrats that you didn't fall out during production! You don't say what you're using to sleep in, a double sleeping bag, fitted sheet and duvet? And where do you store all the base bits that dovetail together? Re your waste water, could you perhaps drill through the floor and extend the wastepipe into a bigger receptacle? The loo is an essential, but during the night how do you access it? Will you have your suspension jacked up for the extra weight, and what about staying cool in warmer climates?
Our intention/hope is to drive down to re-visit France, Italy, and maybe back up and down the Adriatic coast into Greece.
Thanks for doing the video. We intend to go through Chapel Motorhomes, find a used vehicle and have them do the work.
Thanks again for sharing!
Hi. Sorry about the delay in replying. We've just been away on our first trip out in this new setup.
We've been married for 46 years tomorrow and have always done things together, we just don't argue and know each others limits lol.
To answer your questions, if you check out our latest video, it may shed some light on how we sleep and store the bed boards. We've made some personal adjustments to the supplied setup to make it work better for us. This includes revised bed boards, an extended waste pipe, that as you say drains through the floor into the supplied waste container laid on its side under the van.
To be honest, regarding the loo. We both don't need to use it during the night and use a bottle for emergency wees only.
Not sure you'd need jacked up suspension. The unit is extremely light and when you take into account, the weight of the removed seats and lack of passenger weight, this more than compensates for the weight.
Can't help with the European travel element as we only intend to tour within the UK. Hope that helps. Tina
@@the-other-windsors Wonderful, thanks for the helpful response!
3:12 Bernie, the bolt. Golden Shot moment, yes I am that old.
Ha..ha..brilliant. just watched it again to see what you meant 😁 yes, we're that old too! 😁🐕🚙
Jobs a good one!
He did a grand job and we love the unit.
@@the-other-windsors what size is the gas bottle?
Hi. It's a camping gas 907 bottle. Only one that will fit the space.
Absolutely brilliant, thank you for the video, pretty convinced I'm going to do this myself. Just wondering, do you still have access to drop down the spare wheel with the kitchen in place?
Hi. Thanks for watching. Not sure what model of vehicle you have. Ours is a 2014 berlingo multispace and the nut to drop the spare wheel is in the centre on the lip of the bumper. So it's well proud of the kitchen unit and still accessible.🙂🐕🚙
@The-Other-Windsors thank you, I have the same year and model, I will watch your channel with interest this year as I upgrade from a boot jump to the Chapel conversion :-)
That's great then. No problem. Thanks again for watching. It'll be a little while till we're back in the van, but there's lots of tips and tweaks in the playlist of that title. Hopefully, won't be too long till we're back in our Buddy. 🙂🐕🚙
Great video, thanks. I also wanted to ask about your leisure battery. Did you install the split charging unit yourself or have it done professionally? Also have you considered installing a solar panel to charge the leisure battery?
Hi Stephen. The unit came with a leisure battery and used to be fitted with a split charger, but in order to make the unit easier to remove if needed, they changed it to charge from a cigarette lighter type socket fitted to the unit, we wanted a split charger. We are very fortunate to have an auto electrician as a neighbour and he fitted a split charger for us. We do have a small solar panel and may go down that route at some point, but as our camper is also our daily drive, the split charger is doing a great job at keeping it topped up. We do run a compressor fridge and so far so good.
@@the-other-windsors Hi, thanks for your reply. If I have understood correctly one of the requirements for the Chapel Motorhomes unit is to have a split charger installed so I need to budget for that?
Hi again Stephen. I think if you were to order the kit for home installation and you got in contact with Vince at Chapel and asked, they may be able to swap it around to include the original split charger. There's no harm in asking, always worth a try.
When i first started watching i thought you had given in and got a transporter, your old conversion was clever and quality and retained the grand kid seats but i like the bench seat on this, a side awning would be nice and help when setting the bed up in torrential rain.
Before our summer trip i re did all the cabinets in my NV 200 and the upholstery is all finished now, i will try arrange to call in if i am up your way again.
So can you cook inside to avoid the Scottish midges? Ed
Hi Ed. It's all about being able to cook inside. We can still easily unclip both the bench seats when we need to put seats back in for grandkids. That's usually only once or twice a year anyway. Looking into a side awning and will be able to store boards upright behind seats when travelling and then drop front seats ant put boards on top once parked. We'll find a way around everything I'm sure.
It would be lovely to see you if you're ever up this way. Tina.
@@the-other-windsors it looks a superb bit of design. When you have found your way around the conversion I would enjoy a film on jumping into the back seats to make a pot of tea.hope you get to use it soon. Ed
@@the-other-windsors Hi - Very informative videos, thanks for taking the time to post them. I’ve recently purchased the Chapel conversion kit - you mention side awning, we purchased the Olpro Cubo Breeze which is very spacious. It is quite large and heavy though when packed up.
Hi Ian. No worries. If the videos can help some one or bring them a wee smile, then hopefully, we've done our bit to brighten some one's day.
We've actually purchased the Outdoor Revolution Outhouse Handi XL, as we wanted a little shelter, rather than an actual living area and as you say, it needs to pack down small for travelling. It fits well into the drivers side bench with room to spare. When this god dam awful weather let's up, we hope to put it up and attach to the car, as I want to sort a better ground sheet out. Thanks for watching.
Great. However, I think those side cupboards would be lethal in a collision. Screwing into plastic trim wouldn’t be near enough to secure in an accident.
Hi. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Totally get your drift about the cupboards. We have since used some rivet nuts to secure them. Still not ideal but better than just a screw into the plastic.🙂🐕🚙
Where do you store the extra boards, cushions and all your bedding and an awning?
Hi Sarah. Thanks for watching. If you check out our later van tour video along with the latest tweaks video, links below. It gives an insight into where we store things in the van. We have now purchased a roof box to store the drive away awning, when we take it. Before we had this, we used to place it in between the side benches on the floor. Hope this helps explain some what. 😊🐕🚙
czcams.com/video/oEx80H0auzU/video.html
czcams.com/video/yWVr6QbjaqI/video.html
Where do you store all the mattress tort the beds when not in use?
Hi Robert. If you check out the van tour video czcams.com/video/oEx80H0auzU/video.html along with a later adjustment we made to storing the bed boards czcams.com/video/yWVr6QbjaqI/video.html
That should help explain board storage for travelling and for once parked. Cushions travel on the back with the bed made up. Hooe that helps. Thanks for watching.🙂🐕🚙
Nice video, Sorry for my bad Englische. How do you charge the battery. And how do yo you keep it not to cold or in the summer not to hot inside the car. Greeting R.
Hi again Rudy. Your English is fine, no apology needed.
We charge the battery with a split charger from the car battery, so it charges when driving. We also have a mains electric car battery charger that we can plug in when on Hookup at a campsite.
We have an electric oil heater on campsite and a gas top heater when wild camping (not tried that yet).
We have usb fans, that work off the battery for hot times.
Hope that helps.
@@the-other-windsors Thanks.
Hi, great video and very informative thanks. I have one question, I am between this and the Andro Boot Jump kit. You mentioned in the video you had the Amdro previously, which do you prefer? And what are the pro's and con's of both?
Hi, thanks for watching. We changed from the Amdro unit to The Chapel Motorhomes Conversion due to the desire to be able to tour in the colder months.
With the Amdro you aren't practically able to cook inside, as it's designed to pull out of the back of the unit, so you need shelter from any bad weather (or the dreaded midge in Scotland during the summer). So a rear awning of some sort is required, especially here with the UK weather. This makes touring a little more difficult, unless you intend to stay on campsites.
We have removed the rear seats to fit the new unit, but kept them indoors and have clipped the Chapel benches back out and put the seats back in when needed.
Think this is the only disadvantage of the new unit. You loose your boot space and if you needed to carry any passengers during your trip, you couldn't.
Hope that helps somewhat. Any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask 🙂🐕🚙
@@the-other-windsors Great thanks for the reply. How do you find the space with the table up, it looked really narrow on your video. Any issues with legs / knees knocking? lol
We won't lie, the gangway is narrow, but we don't sit opposite each other. Bernie always sits towards the driver's seat on the positioned bed board. Have you checked out any of our other videos? They show how we've changed the Chapel set up some what, especially how the bed works. The van tour video shows this. Along with the latest tweaks.
czcams.com/video/oEx80H0auzU/video.html
czcams.com/video/yWVr6QbjaqI/video.html
@@the-other-windsors Yes I watched the one where you have modified the bed, looks a good resolution to the issue of how to sit upright when you awake in the morning. It does look a really neat unit with lots involved. I'm just stuck as to what to go for, this or the Andro. It all depends on how often and what seasons I will use it.
@@WillC-pt3so yes, we definitely think regularity of use is the deciding issue. If its just for short weekends away in the warmer months, then boot jump, but if like us, you want to be able to tour for weeks on end, in all weather's, then The Chapel will win hands down. All self contained and useable no matter the weather or where you decide to park it. Good luck with which way you decide to go. Do keep in touch and let us know what you eventually decide on. 🤔🐕🚙
Can I ask , did installing the conversion have any impact on insurance or road tax/ v5 requirements? Thanks
Hi Ken. Thanks for watching. To answer your questions. Our berlingo is a multispace, classed as a car on V5. We Informed our insurers, Directline that we had installed the kit from Chapel Motorhomes and after much discussion, they decides to classify it as a Caravanette. Bit odd to be honest, such an old fashioned term. We double checked with them again this year to ensure they understood exactly what we have and that it was all covered and they're still saying, caravanette. It's almost impossible to get vehicles reclassified as a motorhome with the DVLA these days. Road tax remains as a car. Hope that helps clarify things. 🙂🐕🚙
Where do all the bed extension boards go when traveling if no roof box?
Ah...now then! We came up with a re-design. Using the originally supplied folding boards. We changed them. Removing one of the folding panels. Check out the video in "Some wee tweaks" at around 6 minutes. It clearly shows how we store them. Hope that helps 🙂🐕🚙
looks straigtforward, but what happens when the leisure battery runs out of power. how do you recharge it?
Hi. Thanks for watching and commenting.We have never had our battery run down. It's charged via a split charger when we drive and as we tour, we drive every day. Also we don't put a lot of load on it. We run a 25litre compressor fridge and usb rechargeable lights. We also have 240v hookup, if on site. We do have a portable solar panel, again only if staying on site for longer periods without hookup. We're about to release a video on our solar setup in the next few days.🙂🐕🚙
@@the-other-windsors thanks for replying. i was thinking of getting the same kit, but i'll have to work out how to hook it up so i get charge when i drive i guess.
Hi again. May be if you are thinking about a Chapel Motorhomes kit, give Vince a call. I'm afraid, we are lucky enough to have an auto electrician as a neighbour and he fit the split charger for us . 🤔🐕🚙
@@the-other-windsors will do thanks
can you show this on a toyota proace city
Hi thanks for watching. However, we're sorry but this video was us personally fitting the unit into our own car, to show what was possible in a citroen Berlingo. Not sure if these kits are designed to fit the Toyota Proace. 🤔🐕🚙
13:30 so how are you going to remove that gray water tank when full if it needs to be tilted this much to be inserted? Sounds like a risky business.
Hi. yes, we thought so too. We were concerned that if we forgot to empty it and then went onto topping up the water, it could overflow into the cupboard. So Bernie amended the waste container and drilled a hole in the floor, routing the waste through into a container now slid underneath. Far safer as long as you don't drive off leaving it behind! 🤔🐕🚙
@@the-other-windsors make sense, thanks for the fast reply ☺️
Hi is this your own car or a mobility car? Because the mobility people would not allow my mother in law to make any changes
HI its our own car. A standard Berlingo xtr model.😊🐕🚙
What if you need to move van quickly late at night
Hi John. It's not easy, but we did have to move during our Scottish Trip in 2022. We had all the bed made up, in PJ's. We removed the board over the drivers seat and passed it back to me, still in the back. Not ideal, but we did it and there's two of us and a dog. 🤨🐕🚙
I don't really understand how you use the kitchen or toilet. I assume you lean over the back when seated to cook etc, but no idea how the loo fits the scheme of things!
Hi Steve thanks for watching. If you check out the videos in the same playlist. Scotland Ep 4 Ridgemonkey Pie for the cooking and Everyboby Poops for what we use for toileting. We very quickly ditched the chemical loo as you have said, no real place to use it in the van, when touring. Only used in a rear awning on sites. Hooe that helps clarify things. 🤔🙂🐕🚙
@@the-other-windsors yes thanks. It's fine for cooking, I thought it would be a nightmare! I bought plans and built a boot jump and a Berlingo (for less than what you paid for your new rig) it was great fun but the Berlingo was a money pit, so we sold it. We are now looking for another one, later with low miles, and will build another jump kit, but this time with modification. Thanks for your reply, much appreciated! Keep the vids coming!
@steveelkins52 you're welcome and thanks 🙂🐕🚙
Too much messing about for me 😮 each to there own i guess....
We have actually changed the unit fir the bed setup now. Works better and all can be done from inside. A big bonus for weather and the dreaded midge! Check out a video...3 wee tweaks. We do agree however, that you need to drop the front seats, but hey Ho.😊🐕🚙