Drovers new Rig - "Big Mal"

Drover

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Since we paid so much for a site, we are using the local ACT power station for the heater...................................................the flamin diesel died, combustion chamber fan stopped so now just a smoke machine, oh bother I said in a calm voice........after much thought I decided to leave it alone and hit a warranty claim when I get home, that way if they stuff me a round Ebay may give me a refund and I can buy another model, have a Webasto copy.....oh well it happens and this trip is full of breakdowns so whats one more.............................may have to use van parks to get home though running the LRPS all night could be a pain.............................LittleRedPowerStation is a Honda.
 
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Crusty181

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Since we paid so much for a site, we are using the local ACT power station for the heater...................................................the flamin diesel died, combustion chamber fan stopped so now just a smoke machine, oh bother I said in a calm voice........after much thought I decided to leave it alone and hit a warranty claim when I get home, that way if they stuff me a round Ebay may give me a refund and I can buy another model, have a Webasto copy.....oh well it happens and this trip is full of breakdowns so whats one more.............................may have to use van parks to get home though running the LRPS all night could be a pain.............................LittleRedPowerStation is a Honda.
After the sales presentation you pitched to Chris, i would buy tickets to watch the epic back peddle, duck and weave
 
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Drover

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I'm thinking along the same lines, so tempting to just give it a tap with hammer to see if it gets gong again but have been told firmly to leave it alone...........................................I wonder if it sucked something in and jammed the fan.
 
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Crusty181

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I'm thinking along the same lines, so tempting to just give it a tap with hammer to see if it gets gong again but have been told firmly to leave it alone...........................................I wonder if it sucked something in and jammed the fan.
Your in Canberra, it may have injected any number of dual citizen certificates being thrown out car windows
 

Drover

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Lots of rain, I have found the loose rivet in the off side sail trak which is causing a leak in a window, problem is 2 rivets are suss but I will remove 24 of the buggers as I will remove and refit the whole thing and stick it back on with sika and rivets.....................I hate rivets.
 
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It's 20ft and the plate says Tare = 2160 , GTM = 2590 and ATM = 2750 so with it loaded up to max and the Colorado also I reckon I would be on my GCM but after seeing the amount of stuff we pulled out of The Tardis some culling of gear has to be done, it's just that I like to be prepared if something falls off or a brilliant mod needs doing while on the road.
Been making a GWT for it, the price of 150mm pipe and fittings are getting scary, $20/mt and fittings around the $8 to $17 mark, so I restored some old bits by deconstructing the joins and only had to buy a couple of bits.
Not being tight, I'm retired okay, plus it does make it more enjoyable reusing what other call junk.

This time the tank will be a twin tube job and the guestimater reckons it will be about 69lts, have re-plumbed the shower drains and kept the back flow thing just in case the washing machine has a bit of a noah moment, all in bits laying everywhere, tomorrow it should all go together so long as someone doesn't glue a bit together before fitting a bit......have to spray the floor before I hang it up, a nice coat of underbody.

Just one pic, should have a couple more once it's finished.................. View attachment 38661


Of course the finished unit may not look the same as the design changes as we go............... have done the Ebay orders for Led strips for outside and cupboard lights as well as a bag of Anderson plugs to top the box and forgot the USB sockets to add inside.....

and of course I had to put the "Been There Done That " badges on the back, need to add a RAAF sticker as well or my RAAFie mates will start on the Sailor jokes.....


View attachment 38662 ....................Hello Sailor....
Hi @Drover, are they vent/overflow attachments that you have used to hold the brace on the two poly pipes?
 

Drover

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Had me baffled at first@AusSteve with your question but once I checked out the pic it clicked, the black things on the brace are just poly joiners which are just sitting on the brace, they eventually were used as the drain connectors and breathers later on and play no part in mounting of the tank. the brace was fastened with some sikaflex and tek screws, tank was fastened to the van cross members with house frame bracing straps...The end of the tank was supposed to have T sections joined like the other end but ran out of bits.......hasn't broken or given any problems and has bounced around for about 25,000kms or more to date.
 
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Had me baffled at first@AusSteve with your question but once I checked out the pic it clicked, the black things on the brace are just poly joiners which are just sitting on the brace, they eventually were used as the drain connectors and breathers later on and play no part in mounting of the tank. the brace was fastened with some sikaflex and tek screws, tank was fastened to the van cross members with house frame bracing straps...The end of the tank was supposed to have T sections joined like the other end but ran out of bits.......hasn't broken or given any problems and has bounced around for about 25,000kms or more to date.
Terrific @Drover, thanks for the clarification.
 

Drover

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I used poly joiners as the fitting to connect the drain hoses onto the tank with them pushed/screwed thru a hole drilled in tank wall then I used a larger joiner with internal thread sliced in half as a nut to fasten the connector with the usual dob of sikaflex as sealant.
 
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Drover

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I had posted on the "Good Morning " that my 12v for fridge had carked it on the rig, while I was going to sort it out when I got home, the ideal opportunity for a bit of grandkid respite came this morning as I grabbed my tool bag for just a quick look..................................

What I found was the fuse holder for the 12v tug power had a meltdown, so the fridge didn't know that 12v was there, so I stripped off the melted insulation and had a bit of a forensic look and reckon one of the terminals wasn't very tight so possibly the cause of the heat, checked rest of the wiring, jury rigged a set up and found it all working but I can tell you the heat in those wires is a lot

IMG_20171217_090339.jpg

The molten bit...and the quick repair job.IMG_20171217_100737.jpg
 
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Bluey

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Mar 31, 2014
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Nice job that reminds me i should have got better fridge fans going the one jayco put in has never kicked in and its crap a well spent 100 getting them to fit one
Not
 

Turtle

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Jan 23, 2011
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I had posted on the "Good Morning " that my 12v for fridge had carked it on the rig, while I was going to sort it out when I got home, the ideal opportunity for a bit of grandkid respite came this morning as I grabbed my tool bag for just a quick look..................................

What I found was the fuse holder for the 12v tug power had a meltdown, so the fridge didn't know that 12v was there, so I stripped off the melted insulation and had a bit of a forensic look and reckon one of the terminals wasn't very tight so possibly the cause of the heat, checked rest of the wiring, jury rigged a set up and found it all working but I can tell you the heat in those wires is a lot

View attachment 58828

The molten bit...and the quick repair job.View attachment 58829
How many volts can you measure at the fuse when the fridge is running on 12 volt?
 

bigcol

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Nov 22, 2012
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they are crappy fuse holders, I have had a few go pear shaped when using on Spotlight wiring

lucky for me I still have a few quality ones (somewhere)
 
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Drover

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The voltage at the fuse is the same as at the tug, @Turtle , it has 6 B&S cable from the hitch to the fridge where it joins up with the standard fridge wiring which is really inadequate for the power draw I reckon but i'm not going to pull the heater unit out and rewire, I was always going to upgrade that fuse holder just never got around to it.............might do an upgrade when I get home ( after I play with my new toy of course)

Interestingly I did find that if the battery is below 12.2v the fridge won't run, this model the brain box must have a cut out, I had plugged my jumper to the ute aux which was down on power, (someone hadn't closed the Engel lid so it ran most of the night)and the van fridge wouldn't run, the van anderson had 13.3 v with the solar pumping away and the fridge fired up nicely which was a relief.....no I didn't note what the Volts and amps was doing with the fridge running, I should have but !!!