Vario project started

[jostein]

Iceland is next summer, but travel tips and suggestions are very welcome at any time
Does this old track have a road number?

A couple of pictures from last weekend:

First night sleeping in the camper was here:


Not as nice a view, but more social Met some friends at a festival:


Learned that I need to carry some leveling ramps/blocks next time
Had to borrow some wood from a neighbour farm..

 

[thebigblue]

Nah - this, not used were much, track has no road number - IMO the F26 i awful - just a dirt road with undulation that will have you go insane... Best to drive the Old Sprengisandur track North to South - will offer the best view. The track meets F752 just west of lake Fjórðungsvatn. Also don´t take the F26 when you reach Versalir, take the smal - also unnumbered tracks west from it. You will be able to bypass F26 all the way to Hrauneyjar. This will also allow you to visit the waterfall Dynkur. The track leading to it ends blind, but worth the detour. The tracks west from F26 might be demanding with your dualies if it has been raining - the track will be flooded and muddy, two years ago even my G struggled a bit there... . Bring some maxtracks and you will probably be okay.

But as you might know - on most of the normal mountain roads you won´t even need 4x4 - the problem is fording the rivers.

 

[jostein]

Thank you for very uselful info thebigblue.
Are there maps (paper or Electronic) that indicates this small tracks even if they are without a number?
In Google maps they are not, but some places they can be seen if switching to "satelite mode"

 

[Sturmy]

Hi Jostein,

Iceland is an excellent choice. Though I gather some areas are victims of their own success, leading to new restrictions unfortunately.

The bible for my trip was "Adventure in Iceland" by Pal Asgeir Asgeirsson. Excellent reports on some of the less used routes with information on the history and natural history, as well as hiking options. Visiting the sites associated with the outlaw Eyvindur kept my daughter interested and entertained! I hope this is still available, as it was excellent and made our trip special.

Gaesavotn, south of Askja was my personal highlight along with Laki. There was a lovely campsite by the Blagil hut on the track from Laki back down the Lakagigar track (this runs parallel to the F206). Only one other Icelandic couple when we were there and we had explored Laki late in the evening with it completely to ourselves.

Then again, I really loved Norway 

Cheers

James

 

[thebigblue]

Iceland - maps

Yes, you can buy maps locally 1:600.000 and 1:300.000 - very useful:

 

[thebigblue]

Last visit (2015) I bought a complete set 1:300 000 (4 pcs) to have scanned and use for my OziExplorer GPS mapping software, haven´t got around for it yet - maybe I will succeed soon

 

[jostein]

After a couple of trips and other priorites it is fun to get hands on with the Vario again.
Pizza Oven / grille installation

 

[jostein]

And then some interior work. Installed a door between the kitchen area and the luggage/ lower bed area as well as some steps to ease access to the master bed.

 

[A_anu]

Wow awesome work with this vario! Congratulations
What else have you done lately? Interesting! ^^

 

[jostein]

Thank you!

Not done much lately I am afraid, been using it a bit though



Also ordered Ferry ticket to Iceland for next summer, figured it will be a good motivation factor to get the last bits and pieces in place.

 

[jostein]

Hi again,

After last summer season, I did put the camper project on hold, focusing on other less important things in life. Now I suddenly realized the summer is here again...
Back to business:


Finishing touches on the bathroom, just the shower wall missing now.

 

[thebigblue]

That wet room looks simply amazing - nice work!

 

[jostein]

I see there are several builders implementing or considering hydronic heating. Thought I could share some details on my approach.

My truck has a factory fitted a 9kW Eberspräscher, which is the starting point for my installation. The heater is of course in the engine bay. I will connext a 3-way valve on the outlet side of the heater so that I can select engine or camper heating. From there I will run hoses to the rest of the installation in the rear of the camper.

Main Components:
1) 9 kW eberspräscher
2) 3 way valve
3) Indel Webasto 24l dual coil calorifier with 230v electric heater.
4) 2l expansion vessel
5) 3pcs 24v circulation pumps with pwm control
6) mixing valve (shunt) for hydraunic heating temp adjustment

Here are the dual coil 24l calorifier from Indel Webasto, the expansion vessel for the floor heating and one of the circulation pumps:

Calorifier being mounted under the truck:

Plumbing and pumps ( hard to get it lookimg tidy in the very limited space):

 

[jostein]

There are 3 hydraunic circuits, kitchen, bathroom and for heating of Fresh water / grey water tanks. They are connected to the calorifiers second coil, thus isolated from the engine circuit.

 

[jostein]

System pressurized Plumbing mess hidden behind aluminium cover.