Drovers 14.44.3

[bigcol]

STOP THE PRESS !!!!!!!!:eek-53: :eek-53:
Mrs D just told me I'm NOT going out to my shed all day tomorrow We are going to the Toowoomba Caravan and Camping Show tomorrow :biggrin-26:, that can only mean one thing Shopping for good stuff...... .

Have wrote a list so I don't miss anything................:greedy_dollars:.......:whoo:

you sure your not "dropping" in on the Lotus display???????

ooooohhhh there goes the trip for awhile, setting up a new Van

 

[Drover]

you sure your not "dropping" in on the Lotus display???????

ooooohhhh there goes the trip for awhile, setting up a new Van

Ha ha @Crusty181 , funny that, guess what I found today ??? and it was very nice I can tell you..............out of the hundreds of vans on display the Lotus was one of 3 that I would like, mind you I built my house 25 yrs ago for less $$$ and luckily the new horse has left the piggy bank dry so we are not tempted....this year anyway......:biggrin-26: ....................while the vans have discounted prices the cost of accessories and gear is not any cheaper than I can buy elsewhere, in fact some were dearer, though was not allowed to buy a Cetek D250s Dc to Dc charger ( sole reason for going ) $250 I thought was a good price but the thumb pressed hard but was given $5 to buy 2 inline fuse holders ......

Mind you I had earlier stocked up on oil and filters for the Colorado so think that may have killed attempts to reopen wallet.

I did prefer the Trooper..............

 

[Crusty181]

Ha ha @Crusty181 , funny that, guess what I found today ??? and it was very nice I can tell you..............out of the hundreds of vans on display the Lotus was one of 3 that I would like, mind you I built my house 25 yrs ago for less $$$ and luckily the new horse has left the piggy bank dry so we are not tempted....this year anyway......:biggrin-26: ....................while the vans have discounted prices the cost of accessories and gear is not any cheaper than I can buy elsewhere, in fact some were dearer, though was not allowed to buy a Cetek D250s Dc to Dc charger ( sole reason for going ) $250 I thought was a good price but the thumb pressed hard but was given $5 to buy 2 inline fuse holders ......

Mind you I had earlier stocked up on oil and filters for the Colorado so think that may have killed attempts to reopen wallet.

I did prefer the Trooper..............

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Good decision by Mrs Drover, cause you paid to much for the fuse holders ..... ha.

Ive not looked at a Lotus, must remember next time I get to a show. I was pretty impressed with the New Age tho. And I agree out of the hundreds of vans available, theres a select few that are a step above.

 

[Drover]

I've OD'd on vans now, need a break....................at least overnight, have to service the Tardis tomorrow, fix a power point thats had one terminal goU/S , suspect switch has failed and redo the 12v power feed to the van as well as a wash and polish, like to have it all ready to rock an roll at short notice, just in case.
Oh and repair the hinge on the bar in the bed frame thing, held by a stupid rivet of all things and it broke, replace with a bolt.......

 

[dagree]

I've OD'd on vans now, need a break....................at least overnight, have to service the Tardis tomorrow, fix a power point thats had one terminal goU/S , suspect switch has failed and redo the 12v power feed to the van as well as a wash and polish, like to have it all ready to rock an roll at short notice, just in case.
Oh and repair the hinge on the bar in the bed frame thing, held by a stupid rivet of all things and it broke, replace with a bolt.......

OH the life of retirement...... The working life is sounding easy after reading your posts @Drover

 

[Drover]

Never, @dagree ...............

Sorted out the power point looks like a new one will be needed as the plastic rocker in the switch had broken so just isolated the point as I only use one of the 2 points and since it's in the cupboard I'll leave it go also found a few of the screws holding the cupboards down had come loose so did some maintenance on them as well, may require a revisit to all of them later.
New cable for van power with Anderson plug and discovered that the connectors for the fridge were coming loose and while under the van I was amazed at the belting it's taken from rocks, thats with my big rock mat at the front, my tank plumbing covers work a treat and you can actually see where rocks have belted the rubber.
Still a couple of maintenance bits to do then wash, polish, grease her up, check the wheels aren't going to come off and may have to go to the beach to recover..................................

 

[Crusty181]

Hey @Drover, is the van under carriage getting peppered from the car flicking stuff about or the van tyres flicking stuff about.

 

[Drover]

Have to be from the car as it's in front of the axle, I'd hate to see what it would be like without the mud flap across the front as you can see the rock hits on the rubber. When I rebuild my stone guard I may move the stone flap to hang off the bottom of it and make one for the back of the Colorado as it's only got standard mud flaps on it.
Might be easier to stay off dirt roads I think.

 

[chartrock]

Might be easier to stay off dirt roads I think.

That'll be the day.

 

[bigcol]

though was not allowed to buy a Cetek D250s Dc to Dc charger ( sole reason for going ) $250 I thought was a good price but the thumb pressed hard

ok, now @Drover , can you please explain the need for this........???
and then to also have to buy the "Smartpass" that Cetek recommend.......

curious

 

[peterg]

STOP THE PRESS !!!!!!!!:eek-53: :eek-53:
Mrs D just told me I'm NOT going out to my shed all day tomorrow We are going to the Toowoomba Caravan and Camping Show tomorrow :biggrin-26:, that can only mean one thing Shopping for good stuff...... .

Have wrote a list so I don't miss anything................:greedy_dollars:.......:whoo:

Awe makes you wanna marry her all over again...:triumphant:

 

[Drover]

@bigcol, Why do I want a Ctek 250 ??? well to charge my extra battery which keeps my beer cold in my 37 yr old Engel and push some power to the van to keep Mrs D's wine cool.......................and with a Ctek 250s I can also charge it from a solar panel if I ever fit one on top of the Colorado, as for the "Smartpass" be nice but no thanks.
One can go overboard with all this tech stuff..................

 

[bigcol]

@bigcol, Why do I want a Ctek 250 ??? well to charge my extra battery which keeps my beer cold in my 37 yr old Engel and push some power to the van to keep Mrs D's wine cool.......................and with a Ctek 250s I can also charge it from a solar panel if I ever fit one on top of the Colorado, as for the "Smartpass" be nice but no thanks.
One can go overboard with all this tech stuff..................

just thinking, that, as the Cetek is 20A - and your Alt charges at - 75-100A

why bother???
just run a 8 or 10 mm cable to the battery from the main.....

but the ability to plug the Solar..... which would have its own controller etc.....

I dont understand alot of them,

curious.........

 

[Drover]

Don't get me confused @bigcol, I thought I had it all sorted in my head.......now ????.............better to have the ctek to charge things because it is good for charging cycle ? Smart charging alternator thingy, And if I fit solar it chooses between alt or sun and has a cutout, all those good things. But then I could just set up small yanmar genny which fires up to charge eveything and just draws from the main tank.

 

[bigcol]

I have watched this debate on a few forums -
and I am far from the brightest light globe in the packet, but my understanding is :-

1) your Alt will charge (fully charge) your battery and any others connected - in series or in parallel
2) your Alt will charge at 70 to 100A - depending on the Alt size
3) Cetek will charge at 20A
4) get the big flash Cetek, and it charges at 40A
5) dual batteries in a car - most relay / regulator / black box / whatever its called, controls the charge so the main is topped up, then charges the 2nd & 3rd & 4th batteries - at the rate the Alt is producing - 70 to 100A

now, not having a mind bent towards understanding electronics, I cannot (MYself) see the point in buying something thats not as good as what they fitted into my car to start with

dont know enough about these new fangled "smart charge" alternators that the newer cars have - I think the Ranger and the BT50 have them, not sure on any others


just my thoughts and ramblings @Drover

 

[bigcol]

then, if you throw Solar into it as well
most Solar setups already have a "Black Box" to control the charge rate into your battery

again, I see little Value in another charger, that runs off 1 battery to charge the other battery

I have seen & know of 1 guy who has one of these Cetek chargers
he has it wired, so if he is near 240V (Caravan Parks) he plugs it in, and trickle charges all his batteries

 

[Drover]

Yep, know exactly what you mean @bigcol, I'm old school but trying to catch up..... Even the old style charging systems prefered a unit like a Surepower to keep the aux battery charged up and nowadays with these smart charge alt's the computer has a spaz if another battery is hanging off the system. Might end up with 2 small panels on top either side of the Yak to keep the battery sorted.

3 weeks till we head off again, SA in Oct eventually......have to finish house reno, repair some damn fences and rebuild the stone gaurd, so a charger thingy has to wait, more thought and funds needed .

Suppose I should be serious.....the old alternators would have a sort of 2 stage charge thru regulator where todays rig will apply the right amount of charge depending on battery state and load, even will adjust things for battery temp, so charge can vary widely, therefore a smart 12v to 12v charger is required too keep things happy............at least thats what Ive worked out

 

[Crusty181]

The car alternator wont condition the battery with a loving embrace like a smart charger will, and I suspect its probably going to treat your very expensive deap cycle like a red headed step child. The onboard Setec charger will love your battery, but when connected via the cars alternator it next to useless with a very low rate of charge, I think from memory peaking at around 5amp/hr through its various cycles, so you'd have to drive a bloody long way to put back any decent losses from use .... or drive endlessly around and around the caravan park.

The Ctek 12v/12v charger has a max output of 20amp, so to be of much chop would need to have its own hotwire with nothing else running of it ie the fridge, because it will rob too much of the Ctek power and leave no enough to charge the battery

 

[Drover]

Thank you CrustyCon, ( @Crusty181 ) so I would be better off sticking 80watts of solar on the ute's roof ????? that way it would keep the aux battery charged up and could do away with a wire from the car battery and run the van all off the aux.........didn't do an inventory of what would be drawing from the aux just thought the Ctek sounded good so go with that but you and Bigcol have made me see the light..!!!!.....broke anyway so by the time the Treasurer hands out the coin there will be a new invention to get excited about.
Life was so much easier with a tilly lamp, wine and rum since you couldn't keep the beer cold drink it all the first day before the ice melted..........my old Nissan hand a crank so if you killed the battery you just wound it up.

 

[Crusty181]

Life was so much easier with a tilly lamp, wine and rum since you couldn't keep the beer cold drink it all the first day before the ice melted..........my old Nissan hand a crank so if you killed the battery you just wound it up.

Pi$$ed to the eyeballs on cheap rum trying to hand crank a Nissan by flickering fuel lamp .... good times