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Fitting an Inside/Outside Temperature Gauge

 

   

 

This is very handy for working out if it's tooooo cold to get up and leave your warm bed in the A'liner! It is battery powered and available from Dick Smiths at around $25.00 - often on special as low as $19.95. If you travel with pets for instance, it is really essential to know the insulating capabilities of your A'van, but more importantly how hot it can get. It also helps when trying to work out anti condensation strategies, one of the big hazards of winter camping in an A'van. There are two types of digital thermometers available from Dick Smiths, and the installation is virtually the same for both. The unit above fits onto a small plastic bracket for simple battery replacement. The unit below is in our mobile office and attaches via the supplied Velcro. (so you can replace the battery) Both units work well, and the bottom one is $10.00 dearer - it was a present! But gosh it does look spunkier! We did notice a more expensive unit with a much larger display in the showroom at Caracs in Melbourne (up near the fridges).

 

   

 

Both units have a fine twin cable with a sensor on the end for reading the outside temperature. The diameter of the sensor on the end of this cable is 5/8". There are two choices with this project - drill a dirty big 5/8" hole through every spot you go, or cut off the sensor about 15" from the thermometer and just drill 1/8" diameter holes and reconnect the wires. There are no polarity issues (cable reversal) that we know of, as both the inside and outside readings are the same after installation. We opted for the latter method using 1/8" holes, being perfectionists and also not wishing to reduce the resale value of our A'van!

 

       

 

You will need to buy a small connection block similar to the ones above. You can believe it or not, but you get these from Bunnings in the Electrical Section and from Dick Smiths. With Bunnings you can't buy just one as they come in a blister pack. If you have done some of the other electrical projects you will recall that we generally recommend using the squeeze to connect type couplings. Please DON'T use them on this job as they are truly unsuitable for such small cable and you may encounter problems.

 

       

 

First up work out where you would like to mount the unit. We opted for on top of the draws near the door. We kept it to the right of the draws so that it would be still visible when a TV was on top. Simply drill a 1/8" hole at a slight angle, right in the corner where the bench top joins the wall . Cut the sensor cable about 18" from the thermometer end, NOT the sensor end. Pass the cable through from the top. Mount the backing plate using screws or double sided tape - either method works well.

 

       

 

Remove all the draws and attach the connector block (right near the top of the photo above) to any solid piece of timber framing. Your A'van wont look quite as "busy" as the photo as this van has had a few other projects carried out on it. If the draws wont come out just lie on the floor and poke the retaining clip with a wide blade screw driver.

 

     

 

The photos above show how we routed the cable to get the sensor UNDER the A'van. Please DON'T take the short cut and mount it on the side, as your readings will always be high as the sun must NEVER shine directly on the sensor. The photo on the right shows where it comes out of the drawer unit via an existing A'van wiring hole. The photo on the left shows where it goes through the floor immediately to the left of the mudguard. Drill a 1/8" hole through the floor. We used an offcut of the conduit/duct bought for the reading lamp project. Sadly you can only buy this by the length from Bunnings (called computer duct) for under $20.00. If you are on a tight budget simply use a piece of timber to protect the thin cable or visit any building site and scrounge a piece of round conduit and attach it with a couple of saddles (Bunnings).

 

       

 

Next pass the cable up through the hole and mount the sensor (it has double sided tape on it) on a small scrap of anything. We used aluminium and simply screwed it into the floor of the A'van. The idea is to give it something smooth to stick to. Use any sealing gunk you have on hand to waterproof the hole. Even Liquid Nails works OK as it will get covered over the next time you apply a dose of black "gunk"! Hold the cable using "P" clips. (Dick Smiths around $3.50) Strip the insulation from the cable, twist together and screw up the connections. You might find it easier to make the connections BEFORE attaching the terminal block to the wall particularly if you have a bad back!

You have done it all correctly, you will now get an inside/outside temperature reading roughly the same if your A'van is in the shade.

Bob Eustace

 

 

 

 

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Last updated: 24-Jan-03