Glossary

Speak the language.

Gross Vehicle Weight – the maximum loaded weight your vehicle is legally rated for. Exceeding it invalidates insurance.

GVW minus the empty (kerb) weight of the vehicle. What you've got left for the conversion, water, fuel and people.

Smart charger that takes the vehicle alternator's 12V and gives the leisure battery a clean, regulated charge profile.

Maximum Power Point Tracking – the efficient solar charge-controller topology that delivers up to 30% more energy than a basic PWM.

Permanent low-level vent in a gas-cylinder locker that lets any leaking LPG (heavier than air) fall safely outside the vehicle.

Threaded sleeve set into a thin steel panel that gives you a strong machine-screw anchor without welding.

Insulation with sealed cells that won't absorb moisture – essential for van walls and floors.

Individual Vehicle Approval – the UK and EU process to homologate a significantly modified vehicle.

A high-rupture, slow-blow DC fuse rated for the very high interrupt currents that LiFePO4 banks can produce on a short.

Lithium iron phosphate – the standard chemistry for modern leisure batteries. Safer, lighter and longer-lived than AGM.

Residual-current device / breakover combined. Trips the 230V supply within 30ms of detecting current flowing to earth.

An annual third-party inspection of gas, water, electrics and damp – required by most motor-caravan insurers.

Certificate issued by an NCC-approved engineer after a habitation check passes.

Toilet with a removable lower tank that you carry to a dedicated emptying point.

Toilet that separates solids and liquids and uses no chemicals or flush water.