Drovers new Rig - "Big Mal"

[Drover]

Thought I would start at the simple things first, just going to do the basics.............................Removed fridge vents to fit flyscreen to keep the bugs, especially mud wasps out................



So I find this jumbled mess at the bottom vent so decided to tidy it up, of course a couple of connections need refitting and the 12v power lead from tug, cable just a little bit smaller than my welders cable doesn't have a real good connection.....see the empty holes in the joiner, thats where it was but fell out when I moved the lead..................the cable from the front of van runs straight to fridge with an Anderson socket just out of shot, so I had a socket with a short bit of smaller cable so just swapped them over, cable is secure....Storm again so no pic...........also found while the back of fridge is sort of sealed I will hit the gaps with the old instant foam, also ran a 12v feed from here inside to power up the LPG alarm which I fitted inside a cupboard where any gas will fall to from stove or if somehow gets inside from the fridge....................

..........................funny thing is if I don't have my hearing aids in I can't hear it, rest of street can........................

The Mod Disease is trying to take hold, I can feel it..................
.No battery switch, just a fuse block on battery, not for long I'm afraid just gotta find the main 12v lead inside.
.........................I now have 2 deep cycle batteries so may as well hook them both up together but I suppose a 95 and a 105 shouldn't go together ????????

Only one fill point for both water tanks, thats gonna change................................

Seems like it draws from both water tanks at the same time, so when you run out, you have.............................not good....................2 Pope plastic garden taps from Bunnings, $5...added to list... along with some of those plastic fittings, bends, joiners usually about 50c each..
..

Is there anyone who builds vans that knows how to crimp wires ?????????.......looks like Coromal and Jayco share the same tools I think...how hard is it to pare a wire and use a bloody crimper, think I may have to slowly go over the 12v system on this one as well.....................

Beer oçlock..............................

 

[Dobbie]

How's the rain there this afternoon?

Heard the Lockyer was getting a bit!

And BigMal would get wet!

 

[Drover]

Got a couple of storms very near, we only got about 20mm this time but looked like Crows Nest would have copped it, tanks are full, dam near full, lawn is growing as I look so rain can now bugga off.
Big Mal did the rain just fine, sitting high in a lake but I was looking for leaks though..................and terrified about hail but then thought Why ???? roof get's done over by hail Insurance gives me NEW roof, which should mean new vents and stuff so don't mind.....Look on the bright side.

 

[Dobbie]

Oh so pragmatic!

 

[Base23]

Thought I would start at the simple things first, just going to do the basics.............................Removed fridge vents to fit flyscreen to keep the bugs, especially mud wasps out................
View attachment 38600


So I find this jumbled mess at the bottom vent so decided to tidy it up, of course a couple of connections need refitting and the 12v power lead from tug, cable just a little bit smaller than my welders cable doesn't have a real good connection.....see the empty holes in the joiner, thats where it was but fell out when I moved the lead.........View attachment 38599.........the cable from the front of van runs straight to fridge with an Anderson socket just out of shot, so I had a socket with a short bit of smaller cable so just swapped them over, cable is secure....Storm again so no pic...........also found while the back of fridge is sort of sealed I will hit the gaps with the old instant foam, also ran a 12v feed from here inside to power up the LPG alarm which I fitted inside a cupboard where any gas will fall to from stove or if somehow gets inside from the fridge....................

View attachment 38601..........................funny thing is if I don't have my hearing aids in I can't hear it, rest of street can........................

The Mod Disease is trying to take hold, I can feel it..................
.No battery switch, just a fuse block on battery, not for long I'm afraid just gotta find the main 12v lead inside.
.........................I now have 2 deep cycle batteries so may as well hook them both up together but I suppose a 95 and a 105 shouldn't go together ????????

Only one fill point for both water tanks, thats gonna change................................

Seems like it draws from both water tanks at the same time, so when you run out, you have.............................not good....................2 Pope plastic garden taps from Bunnings, $5...added to list... along with some of those plastic fittings, bends, joiners usually about 50c each..
..

Is there anyone who builds vans that knows how to crimp wires ?????????.......looks like Coromal and Jayco share the same tools I think...how hard is it to pare a wire and use a bloody crimper, think I may have to slowly go over the 12v system on this one as well.....................

Beer oçlock..............................

I have just fitted another 3 way tap to select what tank to draw water from as tank 1 and tank 2 were linked together.
As for crimping wire correctly i just think it is hard to get anyone to do anything the right way these days.

 

[Drover]

Oh so pragmatic!

A quick race to the dictionary...................Yes.

pragmatic
praɡˈmatɪk/
adjective

1. dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

 

[Dobbie]

That's the one!

Is it you, though?

 

[Drover]

Yep @Dobbie I think in a nutshell, most would probably agree and would more than likely say "Ä pain in the proverbial as well ", especially someone nearest and dearest ( who will read this soon enough as well)................

 

[17triton]

Looks good @Drover plenty of room now!

 

[Crusty181]

Really nice @Drover, and if it didnt need some tinkering what would we do for fun.

Whats the length and weight of Big Mal

 

[Drover]

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..................

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.....


....................Hello Sailor....

 

[DRW]

Hey @Drover a friend of ours had a heap of rot in his very expensive custom designed van, apparently the wast from the washing machine was faster than the drain could handle, it just cost him a heap to have it repaired!!! so what he has done now is place a bucket under the drain which in turn drains into the whatever, if the drain is to slow the bucket just overflows and doesn't cause any problems, just a thought with washing machines in general

 

[bigcol]

....................Hello Sailor....

LOVE the top sticker mate

not too sure about the one underneath

 

[Drover]

Thanks for that @DRW , I've given this one a run to see how it flowed and drained well even though it's only using 25mm hose, should flow even better now as the run is shorter. The big machine in the house only has 25mm so should be good.
A later Mod planned was to seal the area of the washer and have a floor drain for those times things go wrong, just paint this stuff I have from when I did the reno on the bathroom.

 

[Mick]

Totaly awsome van Drover the we will be checking out the new vans this year at the caravan show this year as we would like to go for a upgrade so time for our expanda to go to another famly to explore Aus

 

[Drover]

Do heaps of research before you go to the show, otherwise you will OD on caravans, well we did last year when we went to the one at Sandown last year and that was just the one's we were interested in.

 

[Drover]

Well the GWT is finished, fitted and it works , just needs a paint job and a stone shield fitted on the front of it, while I was underneath bashing my noggin I used the left over pipe insulation from the new AC that was fitted to the house to insulate the water lines at the rear, should keep stone damage down and help when in those colder places......the white stuff in the pics.

Side showing end caps and drain tap,
. ...tap will probably be turned to side when I get another fitting.

View attachment 38684


Underneath with pipe insulation shown............... ..

Top end of tank which is about 50mm higher than drain end, shower, basins and washing machine drains and made a flexy join into the tank....................

Another view of the insulated water lines, just have to do the rest now.. The drain from the kitchen sink I ran inside a bit of pipe to keep it out of trouble.
.

 

[Drover]

Now while the above was going on, I thought while at the handover they said the fridge was good on gas, the HWS was going on gas.........so I fired them up just to make sure, the HWS checked out bt I will need to add a small heat panel as the exhaust is very close to the plastic bits on the battery compartment door...New HWS as the old Truma had died so wouldn't have been an issue before I suppose.......
The fridge was running on Gas but when I put my hand over the plastic exhaust vent it wasn't all that hot but the wall around it was warm, had a look and the chimney had moved or a bit fallen off, being a big fridge needs a long arm to get down from the top vent, took awhile but managed to get the flu out but it wouldn't go back in place, so thought a bit must be still in the wall cavity so made a new bit up as I wasn't going to pull the whole damn thing out.

A bit of copper pipe, a screw and it's all back in place, vent now gets hot not the wall...........if I hadn't read on here about the chimneys falling out I wouldn't have found out till too late I think, so thanks fellas.........


New bit added to flu, another extension on the end to exit van not in shot....

 

[Base23]

Well the GWT is finished, fitted and it works , just needs a paint job and a stone shield fitted on the front of it, while I was underneath bashing my noggin I used the left over pipe insulation from the new AC that was fitted to the house to insulate the water lines at the rear, should keep stone damage down and help when in those colder places......the white stuff in the pics.

Side showing end caps and drain tap,
.View attachment 38683 ...tap will probably be turned to side when I get another fitting.

View attachment 38684


Underneath with pipe insulation shown...............View attachment 38685 ..

View attachment 38686 Top end of tank which is about 50mm higher than drain end, shower, basins and washing machine drains and made a flexy join into the tank....................

Another view of the insulated water lines, just have to do the rest now.. The drain from the kitchen sink I ran inside a bit of pipe to keep it out of trouble.
.View attachment 38687

Looks good.
Is the flex pipe you used to connect pipes to tank necessary to stop things breaking. I was thinking I should have fitted a bit of flex but did not do it. Should I ?

 

[bigcol]

while I was underneath bashing my noggin I used the left over pipe insulation from the new AC that was fitted to the house to insulate the water lines at the rear, should keep stone damage down and help when in those colder places......the white stuff in the pics.

I had to stop in at Geraldton to pick up some of the hose for my Fathers Van, and crawl around under it when we were in Carnarvon
both the hot and the cold lines had gotten brittle over the 3 years he had it, and split in numerous places
hence suggesting you look at it

as I didnt have anything else, I cut up some of his water hose, and slipped that over the top to protect it

was ok 3 years later when it was sold.............