palebluewanders
Active member
Been a while since I browsed this forum but very cool to see your updates! You even updated the name, so long Gertrude. :)
1120 AF Build in Norway
- Thread starter Geo.Lander
- Start date
Geo.Lander
Well-known member
Thanks for the offer, but we are already under contract with another builder in the UK!
Geo.Lander
Well-known member
Thanks, things are coming along nicely design wise, I am going to share some more info about the build in the coming weeks.
Geo.Lander
Well-known member
Excellent! will do!
Geo.Lander
Well-known member
So not much "work work" going on here more like planning truck wise and design decisions being made, we are also working on a boat project at the same time so we will be thankful when the truck has finally been shipped to the UK for the real work to start. We are delayed and missed the June build slot because of the delays from the the window,door and hatch supplier (Outbound). We have booked shipping now for a 6 month build the end of July via RORO.
The most significant rust is located on this cross member:-
But she mostly just needs a clean
- We have decided to go for a custom water tank of at least 300l instead of the off the shelf 190l one we had spec`d
- We have been designing a rear lifting underrun underrun protection (parallelogram) with towing and light motorcycle carrying capacity via a 2" US style hitch receivers, one on the underrun bar and one built into the 4 point subframe as below. This solution suits us as we didnt want a permanent lifting storage for spares or motorcycle permanently fixed to the truck as they counts to the legal overhang allowed (at least in Norway):-
- Our chassis is in pretty OK condition, we optioned a complete strip down, blasting and repainting anyway just to be a bit more "future proof" as the drivers cab and box will be painted anyway
- We are opting for a rebuild of the fuel pump and have the injectors tuned on a bosch bench, in theory this should give us between 50-80hp more
- We are also looking into the fast axles, but cost might prohibit this upgrade for now, plus we can average 90-100km with the new wheels and tires right now in 6th gear so its more a "nice to have"
- Roof rack and spare wheel crane on the drivers cab is yet to be designed, we are working on that now, we will also have protection bars on the GRP box and maybe on the sides of the cab. Do we need to uprate the shocks holding the cab to handle the extra wheel weight? The drivers cab is designed for 6 people so i assume this will be OK to have another 15-200kgs on the roof while it will be mainly 2 people driving..
- We are removing the old air tanks and replacing them with alu ones that will be situated between the cross members of the chassis, this will make way for a full lenth box between the wheels and also form a wheel arch:
- Moar Pictures!
The most significant rust is located on this cross member:-
But she mostly just needs a clean
Attachments
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
As far as the power bump, I am also looking into doing something. Another option I learned about on the German LN2 forum is replacing the turbo with a more modern one from a later generation Mercedes. My turbo doesn't build much boost in the lower RPM range due to design. A slightly more modern turbo will build more boost lower and a bit more overall. The conversion is supposed to be fairly easy and the parts are about $1k.
Alloy
Well-known member
Some places you may want to carry 2 tires on the roof.......these places the road will be rough so shocks and more fasteners to the cab is better.
Geo.Lander
Well-known member
I was following the thread on LN2 forum, from what I understood in the comments, from talking to Atkinson Voss in the UK and some of my own research the fuel injector and pump rebuild would be a stage1 upgrade and the new turbo (and therefore boost pressure) would more likely be a stage2 option as you would need the uprated injectors and pump assembly to handle it. Also there are some options with stage1, a full blown pump rebuild or a partial rebuild and injector tuning. I was advised not to mess with any boost until you have had the injectors on a bosch bench. I am not an expert, but I opted for stage1 partial rebuild for budget reasons and it also makes more sense to me in the long run not replacing a working turbo if i can get a similar bump from tuning/cleaning/optimization of current parts.
I would really love to see a full blown turbo replacement thou! I hope you go ahead with the project Jon!
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Geo.Lander
Well-known member
This week Ive been mulling the electrical system and researching our power demands, products and alike. To help with the shopping list I made a very high level diagram of the setup, Once I am happy with the configuration my goal was to model the full installation in CAD, failing that at least a detailed circuit diagram with the poles and all the circuit protection, wiring gauges, etc detailed. So, here is where I am at currently, dont me kind, let me know what you really think
Joe917
Explorer
Pretty typical layout, although large! With enough solar you will only need the alternator power occasionally, I would not expect a second alternator will be needed. As long as you use a battery to battery charger you can control how many amps the batteries draw (to protect the alternator) and shut off alternator charging when not required.
Geo.Lander
Well-known member
Thanks Joe, the size of the inverter and bank is mostly due to the induction cooking. But when you refuse to do gas/lpg that is how it is. I might even "need" the Multiplus-ii 5000w inverter...
But they start to get big, heavy and expensive really fast.. I promised myself I would not do a full Victorn setup, but here I am.. Regarding DCDC charger, the victron smart unit I think has programable cut off and kickin charge voltages, so it is only designed to charge when the motor is running keeping the starter batteries at a set voltage. So I think it should be safe? Or I am probably overlooking something. Another thing I wanted to look at was to add a way to charge the service batteries from the house bank in an emergency, since I am running 24v it should be pretty easy I thought...
Joe917
Explorer
Victron make good stuff. You want to turn off the charging from the engine when not needed. It is not free power like the solar. Running the alternator hard will affect fuel mileage and alternator life.
As for charging starter batteries from the house bank we rely on jumper cables or a dedicated battery charger run off the generator. These are emergency backups.
As for charging starter batteries from the house bank we rely on jumper cables or a dedicated battery charger run off the generator. These are emergency backups.
Alloy
Well-known member
Thanks Joe, the size of the inverter and bank is mostly due to the induction cooking. But when you refuse to do gas/lpg that is how it is. I might even "need" the Multiplus-ii 5000w inverter...
Regarding DCDC charger, the victron smart unit I think has programable cut off and kickin charge voltages, so it is only designed to charge when the motor is running keeping the starter batteries at a set voltage. So I think it should be safe? Or I am probably overlooking something. Another thing I wanted to look at was to add a way to charge the service batteries from the house bank in an emergency, since I am running 24v it should be pretty easy I thought...
Some thoughts:
Depending on the panel configuration and wire (voltage drop) size the MC4 connectors on the controller may not be large enough.
We've camped close to/ downwind from people that run a engine (diesel) to charge batteries. A generator would be better in those situations.
Large enough shore power supply to supply 2 appliances or be able to plug each appliance into separate shore power outlets. The 3 hottest (105F) days of our last trip we ran the AC for an hour in the evening. One AC ran off (3000W Multiplus - 167A@12VDC) solar (1.3KW roof top + 1.3Kw portable) and the other was AC plugged into a 2000W generator.
The 24V-12V converter could be fed from the 24V distribution panel.[/QUOTE]
charlieaarons
Explorer
2 things:
1) regarding spare tire weight, recommend having only 1 mounted. That will save ~40kg at least up on the roof. Cracked wheels are almost always weldable. And destroying 2 wheels is much less probable than destroying 2 tires.
2) I too am going propane free. I found that a US type bbq 9kg canister lasts about 6 months or more when in Australia, for cooking. Based on that I calculated mean daily use of 2200btu/0.66 kwh/day. 55Ah in 12v system. I currently have 5 x 1 sq m panels, nominally 623w. I am upgrading them to new 190s. Just the 327w difference should generate ~98 Ah/day on sunny days in temperate or tropical latitudes. Much less in Alaska on cloudy days. But 285Ah nominally output of the whole system should do fine; I don’t have air conditioning.
This calculation doesn’t even account for the fact that heat transfer with an induction cooker is about 90% efficient; gas cooktops are only about 60%. Remember, when people have air conditioning they run it for 1 or more hours. When one cooks the most power intensive thing is boiling water. On my cooktop in the kitchen I boiled about 1 gallon in 18 minutes (1800 watts). I cannot think of many days when >1 kwh will be needed to cook.
I am confident your plan of 1200-1600w solar will be more than enough.
Regarding lack of air conditioning, I am installing a 2nd vent/fan above the stove (3rd counting bathroom) 2 more very small internal fans for over the front table/vent area, and when I pass through Germany on the way to Southern Africa in 2022 I will have Unicat install their upgraded actually effective mosquito net system for my 5 opening windows. Vents and fans when on low speed draw infinitesimal power compared to air conditioning.
1) regarding spare tire weight, recommend having only 1 mounted. That will save ~40kg at least up on the roof. Cracked wheels are almost always weldable. And destroying 2 wheels is much less probable than destroying 2 tires.
2) I too am going propane free. I found that a US type bbq 9kg canister lasts about 6 months or more when in Australia, for cooking. Based on that I calculated mean daily use of 2200btu/0.66 kwh/day. 55Ah in 12v system. I currently have 5 x 1 sq m panels, nominally 623w. I am upgrading them to new 190s. Just the 327w difference should generate ~98 Ah/day on sunny days in temperate or tropical latitudes. Much less in Alaska on cloudy days. But 285Ah nominally output of the whole system should do fine; I don’t have air conditioning.
This calculation doesn’t even account for the fact that heat transfer with an induction cooker is about 90% efficient; gas cooktops are only about 60%. Remember, when people have air conditioning they run it for 1 or more hours. When one cooks the most power intensive thing is boiling water. On my cooktop in the kitchen I boiled about 1 gallon in 18 minutes (1800 watts). I cannot think of many days when >1 kwh will be needed to cook.
I am confident your plan of 1200-1600w solar will be more than enough.
Regarding lack of air conditioning, I am installing a 2nd vent/fan above the stove (3rd counting bathroom) 2 more very small internal fans for over the front table/vent area, and when I pass through Germany on the way to Southern Africa in 2022 I will have Unicat install their upgraded actually effective mosquito net system for my 5 opening windows. Vents and fans when on low speed draw infinitesimal power compared to air conditioning.
Neil
Observer
Going fully electric has become a very popular choice.
I would make 2 observations that may be of assistance
I would consider being able to tilt the solar panels up to about 45 degrees to face the sun and be prepared to be constantly moving your vehicle to ensure that it remains so. The reason being that if mounted horizontally then there are many locations in the world where you will get Zero power from your panels as the sun will never get up to the required angle needed to create charge. I have been in this position where we were applying sun cream but zero charge.
Secondly you need a way to override the chargers tepreture safety mechanisms. If the ambient tempreture in your truck is high, maybe 38 degrees plus. Most modern intelligent chargers will simply shut down and refuse to charge the batteries as its tempreture feedback is telling it that the batteries are cooking . Again we had this in Brazil. Beautiful sunny hot days and zero charge from any device .
Hope this gives you the heads up on a couple of issues we have discovered
Neil
I would make 2 observations that may be of assistance
I would consider being able to tilt the solar panels up to about 45 degrees to face the sun and be prepared to be constantly moving your vehicle to ensure that it remains so. The reason being that if mounted horizontally then there are many locations in the world where you will get Zero power from your panels as the sun will never get up to the required angle needed to create charge. I have been in this position where we were applying sun cream but zero charge.
Secondly you need a way to override the chargers tepreture safety mechanisms. If the ambient tempreture in your truck is high, maybe 38 degrees plus. Most modern intelligent chargers will simply shut down and refuse to charge the batteries as its tempreture feedback is telling it that the batteries are cooking . Again we had this in Brazil. Beautiful sunny hot days and zero charge from any device .
Hope this gives you the heads up on a couple of issues we have discovered
Neil