Search results

Started the AC unit at 8:30 this morning. Its been a bit over 8 hours. Total energy consumption is around 3.8kw-hr. The van has been in full sun since 9:30. Its currently 90F and 35% humidity. Its not cold in the van, but its stayed below 85F, and the humidity is low. So its comfortable...

Australia is quite flat. Even the high country of Victoria caps out at 7,300ft/2,280m. Assuming you don't want to do 120kph+ across the NT, not much need for higher power. Except maybe to get out of a road trains way. They are about the only vehicle big enough to enforce right of way on a...

Coming along. Wiring is quite tedious as usual. Got the BMS powered on, and it appears to be in working order. I need to work out a number of wiring runs between the main electrical cabinet and the battery box. I am still working out how to attach my negative cable to the terminal. There...

Quick update while I am waiting for the unit to stabilize. I charged about 11oz of R410A. Though I vapor charged (intentionally) to get more of the R32 out of the mix. R410 is a 50/50 mix of R32 and R125. I wish I could have run the unit previously to see what the superheat was. Anyways...

Got 6 of the cells today, should get the others tomorrow. Packaging was good, and cells all measure 3.298V. Got the busbars drilled and surfaced flat. I am about done with the battery box, just need to weld the hold down blocks to the bottom, and paint it.

Sooting the heat exchanger and combustion chamber is not typically a fuel issue. So using kerosene is not likely to help much. Lots of soot is a lack of air typically. Too many bends, too long of intake/exhaust. If you are camping at high altitudes, you either need to let the unit breathe...

Still working on the galley. Getting close to paint. Need to buff the top, and brush the visible welds. When I was removing the cooktop I got the corn cockeyed on some old silicone. Put a 3" crack in the top... I filled it with some windshield repair resin. However it looks like the top...

Got a notification that the cells have been delivered to Fedex. Guess I had better get this battery box finished...

Yeah, tradeoffs. Trying to balance, size, weight, complexity, and cost. I like the ball valves, they are just a bit big. I might be able to work with a manual shutoff to switch between winter and summer mode. Not as user friendly as a dynamic control scheme, but definitely smaller and...

Getting closer.

They are an option, and I am looking at some automotive options I can adapt. The first issue is power consumption, those valves can use 2A+ at 12V. The second is size, space and connections. I am trying to keep the package size down, and reduce the amount of plumbing I need to do. The...

Waiting for lunch to cook, and looking ahead to a few items that need resolved prior to winter. On of these is freeze control for the gray water tank and lines. Another (farther down the road) is heating the engine and possibly fuel tank/lines. Since I will need to relocated my hydronic...

Here is the busbar layout I decided on. I am making bubars from 2/0 flat braided and tinned ground strap. At each contact point I am soldering on a 1" square 1/16" copper tab (both sides). After a bit of experimenting, I made a flat spiral out of rosin core solder, and put it under each...

For repairs, you might see if there are any farm stays, or similar. Often they are more friendly to maintenance, and don't mind a paying customer doing a bit of work. You can also post up a request to the forums. Several times I have done so and gotten a place to park up and doing some work...

Making progress on the welding. I bought a new box of flap disks, which makes my welds look a lot better. I test fitted the sink and cooktop, They are a nice tight fit, and should sit almost perfectly flush. It will be great to have a flat surface to work on. The grey tank parts...

Here is a quick circuit diagram to help work out if limiting current with cable gauge is feasible. This requires a datasheet for the battery in question, or some experimentation. Since all components in this circuit must have the same current, and all voltage drops and sources must sum to...

Got the galley parts unboxed. Looking good thus far. Lots of deburring, but should go together pretty quickly.

I have been mulling the idea of a clearance camera on the top of my van...

Obviously not applicable to the OP, but if anyone else is going to attempt this particular mod, certain years of GM 2500 vans with active brake control have a 9.5 rear axle with 55 tooth tone wheels and inductive pick ups. Need to be careful though as some of them are dana super 70? which have...

It might be a little late now, but an oil analysis can tell you if you have bearing damage, and what level of coolant contamination there is. Surprisingly main bearings can tolerate a significant amount of water in some cases. Though sliding surfaces like pistons skirts and cams are less...