Pretty Ugly... 1835, The Build Begins

[joeblack5]

We use 48 volt in our house solar system with battery backup gridtie and outback gvfx3600 inverters. There is not a whole lot of other stuff out there running 48 volt.
In our Dory bus build that already was running on 24 volt being a MB euro bus we stayed at 24 volt with 900 watts of solar and two 3500 watt inverters for induction stove and heated shower head.
The fridge and light run directly at 24volt. For the TV screen we used a used dell monitor that runs on 19 vdc. 24vdc is easy to step down.
Nice battery bank . congrats.

 

[Madoxen]

We use 48 volt in our house solar system with battery backup gridtie and outback gvfx3600 inverters. There is not a whole lot of other stuff out there running 48 volt.
In our Dory bus build that already was running on 24 volt being a MB euro bus we stayed at 24 volt with 900 watts of solar and two 3500 watt inverters for induction stove and heated shower head.
The fridge and light run directly at 24volt. For the TV screen we used a used dell monitor that runs on 19 vdc. 24vdc is easy to step down.
Nice battery bank . congrats.

Hi Joeblack5 yeah I was thinking 24v is going to be easier for all round but the 48v option enables me to use some gruntier equipment, but having said that I have to be realistic on how often things will be used, IE a welder may hopefully be used never ;-) as that means something broke, but if I did need to use the welder it will most likely be in the middle of Mongolia with little chance of plugging into the mains to weld..

although I have purchased the batteries and solar I still am not sure which way to go. 24v or 48v that is the question

 

[loonwheeler]

A 24V house system seems like the most obvious choice. If you are stranded in the middle of Mongolia and needing to weld something, disconnect all other loads, get out your spare connect cable you have in your welding kit, series connect the banks together, and do your welding. When done, disconnect the connect cable and return the system to normal operating mode. From a practical point of view I don't understand why one would complicate the house system just for the odd chance you have to weld on a very infrequent basis (actually, only in emergency situations most likely). My vote goes for basing the system on 24V and designing it to be flexible enough to convert to 48V when necessary.

 

[Madoxen]

Sounds like Sage advice to me thanks, I had wondered about the possibilities of doing something like that (temp upping from 24 to 48 ) but did not think it would be a simple thing to do.

 

[loonwheeler]

I think you might even be able to wire in manual battery switches which would allow you to change your configuration on the fly.

 

[loonwheeler]

Good point regarding the BMS. Those details would have to be investigated more thoroughly. One of the added complexities with this battery chemistry, whereas lead acid is much more straightforward.

Manual switches with 600 A continuous are easy to source. That comes to around 28 kW which I would think would be plenty for a small welder, but one would have to check the specs to confirm.

The poles would be dictated by the wiring routing, wouldn't it? Whether or not the connection is made is determined by the manual switches.

 

[joeblack5]

Check out Ready welder MIG on battery.
Your BMS and wiring is going to be much simpler at 24 volt.
For safety it would be best to individually fuse each cell wherever you put cells in parallel. If one shorts out by whatever chance and the other parallel cells start discharging over the broken cell then you want something to cut it out..
We drive two home made electric vehicles and I think a BMS is not really required as long as you keep manually track of the voltage of cells and not over discharge or overcharge. We use Nissan leaf and Chevy volt cells, different chemistry, and different voltage... 4.1 to 4.2 volt max.. But we stop charging at 4.0 volt.

If you go to low temp then be sure to add battery heaters as you do not want to charge close to freezing.

Johan

 

[Madoxen]

Doesn't the time fly by, I have been fixing well truing to fix all the little problems with the truck,
the Instrument cluster needed a new screen so had one lazer cut then had 7 of the stepper motors replaced in it as they were all a little ropey or just plain simply not working at all.
I have discovered that both the cab locs on the rear and the rear shocks that lock into the locs only had about 1/4 of the meat left on them and had worn through each other and into the housing of the loc, managed to get hold of 2 brand new shocks for less than 1/3 of just one as quoted from Merc which was a real shock they wanted 750 plus gst each and 450 each for the locs, Day light robery.
while looking for parts to either improve or fix the broken ones I managed to find a whole truck that had been written off
=
It has the same walnut panels, dash electronics etc so i can swap out all the broken ones from Pretty Ugly, this one is a V8 570hp with Auto trans but the trans has only got low ( in high it keeps jumping out of gear)
even though they are different engines and gearboxes there is a huge amount on this that is a direct swap for Pretty Ugly, I just need to figure out a way to put the fridge from the cab into ours lol .

I do have a question for you all , this Dominator has got all round Disc breaks does any one know what would be involved in upgradeing ours from the drums to the disks , also not sure if I should even think about the Air suspension system with ride height control.
I did for a short while hope I could swap the cabs and have the sleeper cab but that is now confirmed as impossable due to the red one haveing a flat floor as opposed to the blue one being shaped around the engine.

 

[pairospam]

Hi, Madoxen:

Maybe the floor is not the same on both cabins, but nothing can stop a determined man with a powergrinder on one hand and a welder on the other.

In my humble and poor opinion, messing with the brake system is not worthy. Too much to change and adapt and think on, and your truck is made for much more weight than you are going to use it with, and it is reliable and proven system. We talk about a security issue, and there is no doubt about the security of the original truck with its original brakes.

Air suspension and ride height control is a different stuff, and this is rather a comfort issue. I would give it a deep thought before throwing the idea away.

Cheers.

 

[Madoxen]

Hello Pairospam, thanks for your reply. Yes I think you might well be right with the brakes, and yes I am thinking a little too hard on the air suspension setup.
It is funny that you reply to my last post as I have just started to Re-read your build from the beginning again, it really is Inspirational and does motivate me to do more thanks

 

[Sitec]

View attachment 596030

I did for a short while hope I could swap the cabs and have the sleeper cab but that is now confirmed as impossable due to the red one haveing a flat floor as opposed to the blue one being shaped around the engine.

So, how does that cab have room for the V8 yet has a flat floor... Does the engine sit higher in your chassis? I swapped all the mounts over from our donor prime mover which lifted the cab 70mm... I recon that cab would look amazing grafted against a body.... a bit like this....

 

[Madoxen]

o, how does that cab have room for the V8 yet has a flat floor... Does the engine sit higher in your chassis?

Hi Sitec, the cabs sit at almost the same height from the road to floor of cab , on the 1835 the engine and gearbox are mounted a wee bit higher on the chassis. I will take some pics next time I tilt the cabs , I have not written off the idea but it will not be easy, My other thought was to speak to some scrappers and see if I can do a kind of swap or PX sleeper cab for sleeper Cab of the right floor type? . but then I loose having the fridge etc in the center of the cab. uuurrrrggggg. I want the sleeper with all the cool extras so bad but I can see it turning into a year long project just to get it half way there .
oh also the Red cab has some rust which would not take much to cut out and patch but is still work. and work I would be willing to do if it makes this work lol.

What I really need is a really clever Merc guru to say do this and that and all will be great ;-)

 

[Madoxen]

I recon that cab would look amazing grafted against a body.... a bit like this....

Yes Me too I might even do a photo shop on it tjust to give me some inspiration to make it happen haha

 

[nick disjunkt]

It might not be important to you, but the disc brakes on my old 1823 were too large to fit wheels smaller than 22.5s. If you want to use 20 inch wheels and tyres, you'll need to stick with the drums.

 

[Madoxen]

It might not be important to you, but the disc brakes on my old 1823 were too large to fit wheels smaller than 22.5s. If you want to use 20 inch wheels and tyres, you'll need to stick with the drums.

Hello Nick thanks for the advice, I am running 22.5 supersingles on the actros so this would not be an issue , I think the hard part would be electronics etc