AmboLander

[FDM2012]

One good thing about TS Hermine, is that it has me holed up and on the Interweb, even more than usual....

So, I found and scored another great deal on Craigslist today! $175

Another 12 volt fridge/freezer. I now have many different operating options. I like the idea of running the
afore mentioned and smaller Dometic, as a freezer (Eric likes ice in his beverages), and the using the Stirling
as a fridge.

And no, this is not a thermoelectric cooler. It runs on a helium charged free-piston Stirling engine.
Refrigerant is R-170 (Ethane).
http://www.stirlingultracold.com/lib/sitefiles/pdf/10329_GLOBAL_ULT25NE_Technical Data Sheet_Web.pdf

The power consumption of the Coleman is .66 Amps for the lowest setting to 4 Amps on the freezer.
The temps for the 5 settings are;
1. Cool one- 50 degrees 8 watts/.66 Amps
2. Cool two- 43 degrees 16 watts/1.33 Amps
3. Cool three- 37 degrees 27 watts/2.25 Amps
4. Freeze one- 19 degrees 42 watts/3.5 Amps
5 Freeze two- -.4 degrees 55 watts/4.1 Amps

I know a lot of people say ARB or Engel is the only way to go, but I do my due diligence and try to be
as frugal as possible based on intended usage, and considering I have less than $400 into BOTH of the
fridge/freezers, I feel pretty good about things.



While driving, it will be up between the seats, and serve as an extra arm rest. While stopped, I will
turn it and put it where the "soon to be removed" jump seat is. I will also be cutting out that divider wall behind
the drivers seat.
Anyone ever do a swivel on the driver seat? I am curious if that works out well, or not???


With it having plenty of room to breathe, this is where the Dometic will rest. I may even leave the seat cushion there.....

 

[patoz]

Anyone ever do a swivel on the driver seat? I am curious if that works out well, or not???

From what I've read on here, it does not. Check out this thread here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/114704-The-not-so-definitive-guide-to-Sienna-seats

I was just about to give you a buzz and see how you were doing down there. A friend of mine sent me something concerning 'Hurricane preparedness in Florida', and I posted it on my thread. Check out the last post (#453) here, it's pretty funny!

 

[FDM2012]

Hey Pat,

******** "$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator
from a man with no discernible teeth."

That was pretty funny!

Yeah, we have had TONS of rain, with another big band approaching in a couple of hours, but flooding
has been minimal and the winds haven't been much to worry about. Of course, I live in Brandon, which is inland.
Although, if a Cat 4 or 5 hits just right, Brandon will be hit pretty good by the surge. Which seems strange to me,
but them people in Colorado (NHC) have it all figured out, right? Hmmmm.....

Not too interested in doing anything with a Sienna driver seat, but if someone has done a swivel with a stock seat,
I would be interested in the mount. I am trying to get over to the nearby RV junkyard soon, so will see what all
they have.

Keep yer powder dry up there in Pensi!

Eric

 

[patoz]

Glad you're OK!

Nothing happening here right now, and if we get anything at all it will probably be tomorrow or Saturday, maybe just some wind and a little rain.

 

[rlrenz]

I just went out and checked, its a IOTA DLS-30.

There is also an old one on my 77' Trojan 25' Express that I will be srapping out. No tag, but I will pull it in the next day or 2.
It's a 4 battery set up, so it will be interesting to see what amperage it is.
I am going to use MANY parts off of that old boat. It can be seen ion the background in some of my pics.

The older IOTA chargers may not have the 4-stage feature, but it can usually be done with a plug-in module from IOTA.

 

[FDM2012]

The holiday weekend discount at LKQ got me this combo stereo for about $15.

Oh, and since it finally stopped raining, Light Bar on. (Flood/Spot 52'' curved.)

 

[FDM2012]

Another productive day.

Battery delete, and air intake mod.

I will be ordering/adding a negative post and will fab another bracket to mount it to right above the blower motor. That way, I can still
jump or receive a jump from the front of the vehicle. Obviously, it will be handy to have the power points up there
for sourcing power for a winch, etc....




From Amazon and ebay, I ordered my 45's and a straight coupler. From Lowes, I grabbed some 4'' seamed
ducting and went to work at cutting and edge cleaning. I then straddled the pieces over a small pipe and
hammered the seams tight and drilled the holes for the temp sensor and the filter indicator.
Then, I painted them with a couple of coats of plastidip, and then a couple coats of flat black high temp engine paint.



I also trimmed the top radiator bracket and its not in picture, but a couple inches of the hood (for clearance),


It seems rare that I get projects started and finished (except for the sourcing of parts) in the same day. Other than
2 more 4'' clamps, this one is done. I did fire it up and let it idle for a bit. I swear it sounded better. I can put
my ear to the K&N filter, (the one that Bill Hewitt recommends) and I can hear all the way through the motor.
Meaning, I can actually hear it breathing. Sounds just like the tail pipe, but only 1/10th as loud.
I am QUITE confident that it will be a noticeable difference in power, and am hoping to see the EGT's drop a tad.

And, with the hood down, I do believe I noticed a bit more (still slight at best) air moving out of the hood vents.

BUT, before I drive it, I am taking the intake back off in the morning, so that I can change the thermostat to
the 203 degree, and to do the coolant temp gauge and fuel pressure gauge.

Unless I am forgetting something, I believe this will wrap it up for under the hood stuff, and will then move to
gutting the passenger side bench in the box, solar, and sink/water/propane systems. For this winter, I am
thinking I will just go with a propane on demand water heater, and a Mr. Heater Big Buddy. But first, I will
go to the local RV junkyard and see what is available for a good deal.

Hoping to do a shake down towards the end of the month up near Blue Ridge, Ga. I REALLY want to take it to Bill,
to give it a once over. I have done pretty much all of his recommended power mods, and would like his opinion on
how it is performing.

Trudging right along.......

 

[FDM2012]

So, I got my coolant temp and fuel pressure sensors put in today, but not the gauges. The pod I order has the
wrong size holes. Will finish it up the weekend, or early next week, when the new pod arrives.

Went to do the 203 thermostat, and this is what I found.



In comparison


All cleaned up


It went back together fine, and no leaks, so far. The OEM housing looked fine, and I am just assuming it
was the original thermostat. I boiled it, and it opened about 1/8'' at around 208 degrees, then at about 212 (boil)
it opened up to about 1/4''. I took the heat up slow, so that I could clearly see when it opened, but I figure it might
have issues. I dunno.

The good news is that the test drive was nice and smooth, and I could DEFINITELY tell a difference with the intake mod.
All was well, until I gunned it too hard, and at 25lbs+ boost, I think I ruptured a plenum boot. Now, at about 15lbs,
I lose boost and can hear it woooshing outin the engine compartment. I just ordered new boots, as well as crush sleeves.
Total of about $102 through DieselSite.com. No worries, I have known that I need to do this.

While I had the intake out, I measured the pipe lengths, in case anyone wants to try this mod. You won't regret it!


Other than doing the battery delete, all you need is:
The lengths of duct
2ea 45's
1ea straight coupler
7 clamps
and the filter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00029WZE8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It felt good knowing I was done with that dang oem airbox and resonator. I just wish there was room for an intercooler....

 

[lockedwheels]

Have anymore pics or info on your fabbed fender vents? I am looking to get rid of mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FDM2012]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FPAUU0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are plastic, but not horrible. I did buy 2 extra just in case they break at some point.

 

[vwhammer]

One good thing about TS Hermine, is that it has me holed up and on the Interweb, even more than usual....

So, I found and scored another great deal on Craigslist today! $175

Another 12 volt fridge/freezer. I now have many different operating options. I like the idea of running the
afore mentioned and smaller Dometic, as a freezer (Eric likes ice in his beverages), and the using the Stirling
as a fridge.

And no, this is not a thermoelectric cooler. It runs on a helium charged free-piston Stirling engine.
Refrigerant is R-170 (Ethane).
http://www.stirlingultracold.com/lib/sitefiles/pdf/10329_GLOBAL_ULT25NE_Technical Data Sheet_Web.pdf

The power consumption of the Coleman is .66 Amps for the lowest setting to 4 Amps on the freezer.
The temps for the 5 settings are;
1. Cool one- 50 degrees 8 watts/.66 Amps
2. Cool two- 43 degrees 16 watts/1.33 Amps
3. Cool three- 37 degrees 27 watts/2.25 Amps
4. Freeze one- 19 degrees 42 watts/3.5 Amps
5 Freeze two- -.4 degrees 55 watts/4.1 Amps

I know a lot of people say ARB or Engel is the only way to go, but I do my due diligence and try to be
as frugal as possible based on intended usage, and considering I have less than $400 into BOTH of the
fridge/freezers, I feel pretty good about things.

View attachment 364342
View attachment 364344
While driving, it will be up between the seats, and serve as an extra arm rest. While stopped, I will
turn it and put it where the "soon to be removed" jump seat is. I will also be cutting out that divider wall behind
the drivers seat.
Anyone ever do a swivel on the driver seat? I am curious if that works out well, or not???
View attachment 364347

With it having plenty of room to breathe, this is where the Dometic will rest. I may even leave the seat cushion there.....
View attachment 364349

I have been in the Stirling industry for almost 10 years and used to work for the company that licensed the stirling cooler to the company (Twinbird) that built those units for coleman.
As your link shows, our company built their own 250 watt version using the "coleman" box with their own cooler for the ultra low temp freezer market (-80C, -112F)
I built many of those freezers and actually have a couple at my home.
I have one of Stirling Ultracold's units as well as some spare stirling coolers or engines as Stirling Ultracold likes to call them now.
I also have one of the 80 watt Twinbird units that will cool down to about -40c (-40F)
It sits in my living room set to -2C (28.4F) keeping my beer cold.
It has been running non stop for the better part of 6 years.

Anyway I only tell you this because I plan on building a fridge/freezer for my van using one of Stirling Ultracold's stirling coolers once the time comes and its a shame there are not more stirling powered fridge/freezers on the market.

For the most part they are super reliable.
There are only 2 moving parts and once it is actually started there is no real contact between parts.
They are also super efficient as well.
Unfortunately the cooler units are pretty expensive due to the super tight tolerances and labor involved in making them.

I think Coleman was charging 4 or 5 hundred dollars for them way back when and no one wanted to spend that kind of money in the late 90s on a camping cooler so they were discontinued.

Anyway, good find.

 

[FDM2012]

@Hammer

Thx for the feedback. I haven't found much on the interwebs about them, but what I did see,
looked positive. So I went fer it!

 

[FDM2012]

The Mailwoman just brought me my new faucet for the sink I pulled from my "parts boat",
and my cockpit switches. And yes, I am going to use 2 Engine Brake switches.
I like having the paddle, but will also have the flat rocker, in case the paddle gets bumped.
DO NOT want to be on the gas flying down the road and accidentally have it turn on....

Albeit, I have NO CLUE as to where I am going to put them, yet..........




And did some DEMO.



Steady as she goes..... :088:

 

[FDM2012]

This is what I am planning seat-wise. I need to be able to put a pallet back there from time to time for freight,
so this will work good. I have been using these in my other van, and they sleep pretty good.

They aren't mounted and are sitting a little wonky, but they flatten out fine. I really like the different configurations.
Having just the front one laying flat while on a long trip is awesome for watching a motion picture.



View attachment 365594

 

[patoz]

Are you planning on making the seats easily removable, because they will be totally in the way of using any of the counter space on the driver's side, such as for a kitchen, etc.