Unimogadventures - Our build and travel thread
- Thread starter Iain_U1250
- Start date
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
Glad you guys are having a great time. .stay safe
Iain_U1250
Explorer
At the time the LiPo4 batteries were ridiculously expensive, I did design the battery boxes to take them ,but since I had bought 6 Optima 31Ts, I thought it best to give them a try. Once they become a bit cheaper and these Optimas wear out, I will swap over to LiPo4s.
Iain_U1250
Explorer
I have solved our power problem for now, with the addition of three 100W portable solar panels. I got the lightweight flexible ones, and mounted them to aluminium frames which I made from Tubelock. Got some strange looks from the fellow campers when I set up the tables and pulled a drill and angle grinder out of the tool bag. They are really light, and easy to lift on and off the roof of the truck using a rope to lower it down. Each panel has it's own MMPT controller stuck on the back. When we get home we will make up a storage bag for them, but right now we use a yoga mat to protect them from the ties downs and tree branches.
We have been driving for quite a bit, and the batteries have always been charged either from the alternator or the bit of solar we get during the day. After a 5 hour video and photo editing session, and quite a few coffees yesterday, the batteries were down to 70%. This morning I tested the panels for the first time in the weak Victorian sun at 8:30AM before we moved on down the Great Ocean Road.
The system was putting 18A into the batteries, which is great. The three panels putting out around 5A each, the roof top panels were at the wrong angle and in part shade, but helping a bit with around 3A. With this new system, we would have our batteries fully charged in about 4 hours,
We are using the diesel stove almost every night down here - too cold to cook outside. It works great, last night we had steak and chips, and it was real easy to cook the steak just as we like it - medium rare.
We are having a great time, really enjoying driving around in the Unimog. It attracts a lot of attention, nearly all of it good, and I am used to the "handling"of the truck that wallows around like a hippo on the twisty back roads. We can't wait to get away from the tourist attractions and get into the outback, onto some dirt roads to see how well it performs in condition that it was build for.
We have spent a few days down at Wilson's Promentary, great place and the weather luckily has been good.
Two days ago we made it down to South Point, the most southern point on the Australian Mainland, so that completes the set, we have been to all for extremes, North, South, East and West. We spent the night in a two man tent with just a space blanket and a sleeping bag, and it was so nice to get back to the truck and sleep on a really comfortable mattress. It was worth the 45km hike and the discomfort to complete the set though.
Currently we are down the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The scenery is great, and we got a couple of flights in with our Phantom drone. The scenery is great , but the wind picks up around lunchtime and makes things pretty cool.
We have been driving for quite a bit, and the batteries have always been charged either from the alternator or the bit of solar we get during the day. After a 5 hour video and photo editing session, and quite a few coffees yesterday, the batteries were down to 70%. This morning I tested the panels for the first time in the weak Victorian sun at 8:30AM before we moved on down the Great Ocean Road.
The system was putting 18A into the batteries, which is great. The three panels putting out around 5A each, the roof top panels were at the wrong angle and in part shade, but helping a bit with around 3A. With this new system, we would have our batteries fully charged in about 4 hours,
We are using the diesel stove almost every night down here - too cold to cook outside. It works great, last night we had steak and chips, and it was real easy to cook the steak just as we like it - medium rare.
We are having a great time, really enjoying driving around in the Unimog. It attracts a lot of attention, nearly all of it good, and I am used to the "handling"of the truck that wallows around like a hippo on the twisty back roads. We can't wait to get away from the tourist attractions and get into the outback, onto some dirt roads to see how well it performs in condition that it was build for.
We have spent a few days down at Wilson's Promentary, great place and the weather luckily has been good.
Two days ago we made it down to South Point, the most southern point on the Australian Mainland, so that completes the set, we have been to all for extremes, North, South, East and West. We spent the night in a two man tent with just a space blanket and a sleeping bag, and it was so nice to get back to the truck and sleep on a really comfortable mattress. It was worth the 45km hike and the discomfort to complete the set though.
Currently we are down the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The scenery is great, and we got a couple of flights in with our Phantom drone. The scenery is great , but the wind picks up around lunchtime and makes things pretty cool.
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piratexpress1369a
Explorer
Cool shots...the last one is it from the drone. ..glad you were able to get the charging system working properly
Iain_U1250
Explorer
Yes, it was about 100m offshore - had to stay below the level of the cliff as there were helicopters around, they are not allowed lower than 500m, and I have to stay below 120m, but to be safe from their down-drafts I kept it around 40m maximum.
Sitting here this morning with no clouds and we are getting 24A into the batteries, so we are very happy with the sytem, just need to see how it performs in overcast conditions
Sitting here this morning with no clouds and we are getting 24A into the batteries, so we are very happy with the sytem, just need to see how it performs in overcast conditions
Iain_U1250
Explorer
Sitec
Adventurer
Trip sounds like its going well. I'm liking that diesel stove top! Are you getting as far as the Barossa/Adelaide Hills? I'd be keen to catch up if you were and I'm guessing Spudboy would be too!! We don't have much of a place to offer at the moment as we are building, but you are welcome if you need a stop in the Barossa.
Iain_U1250
Explorer
Thanks for the invitation, we are going to visit Spudboy on Tuesday 
Spending the evening at his place then off to his secret spot on the Yorke Peninsular, we are staying at another Unimog owners farm tomorrow night near Langhorne Creek, and only getting to Dave's place in the evening when he gets home. We are at South End now, going to follow the coast road to Tailen bend then across the ferry to Langhorne Creek. It's not far to Dave's place, so it looks like we will have the afternoon free on Tuesday, we have a bit of stocking up to do in the morning but could stop by after than, you around then?
Spending the evening at his place then off to his secret spot on the Yorke Peninsular, we are staying at another Unimog owners farm tomorrow night near Langhorne Creek, and only getting to Dave's place in the evening when he gets home. We are at South End now, going to follow the coast road to Tailen bend then across the ferry to Langhorne Creek. It's not far to Dave's place, so it looks like we will have the afternoon free on Tuesday, we have a bit of stocking up to do in the morning but could stop by after than, you around then?
Sitec
Adventurer
Quick catchup.
It was great to meet you guys and look over your home! Thanks for letting me have a look over it! Many an hour of hard work has gone into it, and it looks like you're loving it! A few hours in the Adelaide Hills, drinking cider and talking trucks! Truck heaven! Wish I was at the stage where I am building mine!! Thanks again!
It was great to meet you guys and look over your home! Thanks for letting me have a look over it! Many an hour of hard work has gone into it, and it looks like you're loving it! A few hours in the Adelaide Hills, drinking cider and talking trucks! Truck heaven! Wish I was at the stage where I am building mine!! Thanks again!
Iain_U1250
Explorer
Great meeting you as well, hopefully more inspiration to get building
Iain_U1250
Explorer
We are now in the more remote part of our trip - we only get an intenet connection when we are parked next to the offices of the camp ground, and it is now 37 Deg C outside, only 30 Deg C inside thanks to the insulation, but it will get hotter
So far the only problems have been loose wires, the first being the main feed wire from the 2nd alternator - turns out the liquid insulation I used to prevent possible shorts had seeped behind the nut, and whilst it seemed tight, there was no electrical connection. Cleaning it and tightening the nut solved the problems I was having with that alternator - now we get over 100A going into the house batteries when the engine is over 2000rpm.
first was a wire on the Auber Instrument temperature gauge I use for controlling the main electric fan - it was reading around 16 Deg C when we were climbing up a very steep hill in 40 Deg C weather - the MB gauge had it at over 100 Deg C. Since this controls the fan, I had to use the over-ride switch to get the fan to run. When we were visiting Dave, I fixed the loose wire, and the Auber gauges has behaved itself ever since, but now wanting to risk it again, we stopped off at an autoparts store and bought a mechanical thermo switch, and wired it in parallel with the Auber gauge. This gives me redundancy for the main fan, and I also changed the sensor input for the second Auber gauge on the dash to a temperature sensor on the radiator itself, I can see how hot the radiator is, and that shows me when the fans are running as well. I'm going to wire the a/c condenser fan in parallel to that when we get home, so it will allow me to switch both fans on if I ever need maximum cooling but so far despite my external temperature gauge reading in the high 40's Deg C, we have had to problems with cooling. We are heading off to Birdsville tomorrow, and the weather forecast is showing 44 Deg C, so we will find out if there are any problems on that leg of the trip.
The other problem we have had is the main earth wire for most of the equipment under the bonnet came loose - this mean no fans, lights etc as all the relays use this earth. I replaced the nut, not before burning my arm on the hot radiator getting the old nut off. After cleaning all the terminals, and putting on a new serrated nut, and tightening it as tight as I dare, there have been no problems since. When I get home, I will add some conductive past to the earth to protect it and give it better conductivity, and use a Nylock nut to it as well.
We have added quite a few scratches to the paint and windows the other day, doing a pretty tight track called the Echo Camp Back-track. Initially the people here at Arkaroola were not so sure about letting us go on the drive, they have never had something as big as our on the track. It was pretty steep in places - I had to use the low range/working gears for the first time. It as so steep in places, Trish got out an walked!
We had the GoPros on most of the time, and got some great footage which I will edit into a short video, I was really impressed with how easily the truck handled the terrain, just chugging up the steepest hill at around 1500rpm no problem at all. Going down using the gears was also fairly simple, but a bit more more scary as the rocks were pretty loose and we wallow around a lot, but all in all it was great and the truck did everything we wanted it to.
So far the only problems have been loose wires, the first being the main feed wire from the 2nd alternator - turns out the liquid insulation I used to prevent possible shorts had seeped behind the nut, and whilst it seemed tight, there was no electrical connection. Cleaning it and tightening the nut solved the problems I was having with that alternator - now we get over 100A going into the house batteries when the engine is over 2000rpm.
first was a wire on the Auber Instrument temperature gauge I use for controlling the main electric fan - it was reading around 16 Deg C when we were climbing up a very steep hill in 40 Deg C weather - the MB gauge had it at over 100 Deg C. Since this controls the fan, I had to use the over-ride switch to get the fan to run. When we were visiting Dave, I fixed the loose wire, and the Auber gauges has behaved itself ever since, but now wanting to risk it again, we stopped off at an autoparts store and bought a mechanical thermo switch, and wired it in parallel with the Auber gauge. This gives me redundancy for the main fan, and I also changed the sensor input for the second Auber gauge on the dash to a temperature sensor on the radiator itself, I can see how hot the radiator is, and that shows me when the fans are running as well. I'm going to wire the a/c condenser fan in parallel to that when we get home, so it will allow me to switch both fans on if I ever need maximum cooling but so far despite my external temperature gauge reading in the high 40's Deg C, we have had to problems with cooling. We are heading off to Birdsville tomorrow, and the weather forecast is showing 44 Deg C, so we will find out if there are any problems on that leg of the trip.
The other problem we have had is the main earth wire for most of the equipment under the bonnet came loose - this mean no fans, lights etc as all the relays use this earth. I replaced the nut, not before burning my arm on the hot radiator getting the old nut off. After cleaning all the terminals, and putting on a new serrated nut, and tightening it as tight as I dare, there have been no problems since. When I get home, I will add some conductive past to the earth to protect it and give it better conductivity, and use a Nylock nut to it as well.
We have added quite a few scratches to the paint and windows the other day, doing a pretty tight track called the Echo Camp Back-track. Initially the people here at Arkaroola were not so sure about letting us go on the drive, they have never had something as big as our on the track. It was pretty steep in places - I had to use the low range/working gears for the first time. It as so steep in places, Trish got out an walked!
We had the GoPros on most of the time, and got some great footage which I will edit into a short video, I was really impressed with how easily the truck handled the terrain, just chugging up the steepest hill at around 1500rpm no problem at all. Going down using the gears was also fairly simple, but a bit more more scary as the rocks were pretty loose and we wallow around a lot, but all in all it was great and the truck did everything we wanted it to.
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