first time away for over a year on the weekend. When getting the van ready I opened the lid slowly...
it was empty
it was empty
Drovers new Rig - "Big Mal"
- Thread starter Drover
- Start date
They're like the Easter Bunny Dave, they aren't there all the time and you'll never find one if you go looking. They only appear at certain times and mostly when you least expect itfirst time away for over a year on the weekend. When getting the van ready I opened the lid slowly...
it was empty
A few weeks back or maybe a month anyhow one cloudy day I fitted the new /extra panels to Mals roof, after making a complete balls up of the angle brackets as someone was under the belief he had the big size angle in the rack, wrong, they are all screwed down, tested and working in fact have done a quick run, they didn't fall off so all good, just remembered it was xmas I tested them , panels from 4x4 Superstore and they so far have matched what the label says, so I'm happy, also put the scale under the hitch and spent ages tracking down a heap of kgs, duly noted and forgotten about, ordered new springs for Jeeperific so all is good.....not only better ground clearance but might be able to dispense with the WDH now that would be nice, save a heap of Kgs getting rid of that....
Been seriously thinking for a long time about ripping out the seats inside and fitting some single gamers chairs, redo the cupbards and folding table, so we can sit back in some comfort...... have seen a few mods in the flesh and the house type recliners take up too much room and while comfortable, dooley they woud break the bank for sure.............. weeks to roll coundown soon.
, panels from 4x4 Superstore and they so far have matched what the label says, so I'm happy, also put the scale under the hitch and spent ages tracking down a heap of kgs, duly noted and forgotten about, ordered new springs for Jeeperific so all is good.....not only better ground clearance but might be able to dispense with the WDH now that would be nice, save a heap of Kgs getting rid of that....Been seriously thinking for a long time about ripping out the seats inside and fitting some single gamers chairs, redo the cupbards and folding table, so we can sit back in some comfort...... have seen a few mods in the flesh and the house type recliners take up too much room and while comfortable, dooley they woud break the bank for sure.............. weeks to roll coundown soon.
I’m a bit perplexed with the spring change, mine are original but I did fit airbags from Michigan Truck Spares almost 10 years ago, I’ve never used a WDH either but I’ll be interested to see your outcome. I thought about those new small swivel recliner chairs for the Sterling but came to the same decision as you, the current van is fairly comfortable with the foot/leg rests.
Mine has sagged at the front by 35mm, so changing front springs will just mean I will be chasing the cherry to get it all balanced so new struts at front and new springs at the back with spacers for the Nivomats, that should give me about 35-40mm lift all round, and an all round better stance when towin, decent springs on the reat instead of the soft rides hopefully mean the WDH gets left in the shed..............replacing with original equipment is not even a thought bubble.
The Nivomat shocks really work which did surprise me, once upon a time the thought of doing this change would have me waiting for the delivery, not now, the excitement isn't there, its now a chore ...........but I'm looking forward to hooking Big mal up and rolling away for a test run, say to Lake Barambah or somewhere close....
The Nivomat shocks really work which did surprise me, once upon a time the thought of doing this change would have me waiting for the delivery, not now, the excitement isn't there, its now a chore ...........but I'm looking forward to hooking Big mal up and rolling away for a test run, say to Lake Barambah or somewhere close....
How are you using to test the panels, and what specs are you getting from them.A few weeks back or maybe a month anyhow one cloudy day I fitted the new /extra panels to Mals roof, after making a complete balls up of the angle brackets as someone was under the belief he had the big size angle in the rack, wrong, they are all screwed down, tested and working in fact have done a quick run, they didn't fall off so all good, just remembered it was xmas I tested them
Been seriously thinking for a long time about ripping out the seats inside and fitting some single gamers chairs, redo the cupbards and folding table, so we can sit back in some comfort...... have seen a few mods in the flesh and the house type recliners take up too much room and while comfortable, dooley they woud break the bank for sure.............. weeks to roll coundown soon.
Nice sunny day and put them on the meter, then just looking at the Epever as it gave a battery a charge when I had run one down a little bit, not doing it again as too much stuffing around disconnecting stuff, one of those jobs I started then wished I hadn't bothered doing... Ran down one battery with the Engel and compressor hanging off it, down to 12.2 then about 1100 just let the 2 new panels have a go thru the Epever and they booted up nicely and near enough to what the label stated , thats all I was after, then had a look at the 200w panel that I thought was going and even though water has got inside , it still got up close to output stated on label, didn't take notes but was near enough for me..............................Nowadays if it works and is close to speed thats good enough.......too much navel gazing these days............. Now you have me wondering what the figures were, even looking at the label doesn't jog anything, I may swear at you...
2 of these panels.................
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2 of these panels.................
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I thought you may have hit your head and bought yourself an inline meter. I have one on my xmas list.
Bad enough I went to the dark side and got an all singing all dancing mppt thingamabob, no need for one of those other doo dads......I looked at my note pad that I used at the time but rain had washed the pencil off the roof...
These things wouldn't happen if you'd tried harder and got your "pen licence" at primary school. Ill be using you as an example for the grandkids.
The original Coromal Lifestyle decal on the side of Mal are showing some age and the ones on the side replaced by "the Professionals" a few years ago after the hail aren't looking much better, remove them and replace with new ones, DiY as the experts can't seem to do a decent job, so I do some Googling, bluddy hell, Big Mal will be in mufti, the prices for some dodgy vinyl is laughable, $80 for just a COROMAL decal, $800 for the full deal and they are modernised versions of the original, get stuffed I'm not doing free adverts for them, Mrs D's hair dryer might just get some work as I cook the lot off, do it while she's at her Craft Morning, then I'll probably have good/paint bad paint areas........if I knew someone handy with an air brush it wouldn't be a big problem.....
Have a look around for a decal dude. Ebay and Facebook are the places to start, the commercial places are way to expensive. The backyard dudes will be able to knock them up for you much much cheaper, and if they use the better vinyl theyll last many many years. I have a 1200mm US Cutter plotter/cutter which does super huge construction plans, and it also has cutter heads. You'll be surprised just how many people there around that do this stuff. The machines arent overly expensive, maybe $300 for an entry level machine. Years ago I did all the decals on the cars, truck, factory signs, one of the decal'ed cars is around 10 years old and still looks ok
Now that grandkids are back at school I can start tinkering on the van. @Drover can I ask what size screws you used to mount solar panels to roof with, and are they just self tappers? I gather a sikaflex type sealant . Do I need to try and work out potentially where light wiring runs in the Pop top roof?
I'm looking at adding another panel or going portable. Weight is a consideration on roof though!
I'm looking at adding another panel or going portable. Weight is a consideration on roof though!
If you already have upgraded the roof top to 220w I don't think I would throw anymore on top of a pop top just mean more $$ on new struts or something but anyway I just used some stainless self tappers about 12mm I think but I can't recall the gauge, not skinny jobs, I have a tin roof so pre drilled the brackets but not the roof, I owould do the same for a fibreglass roof, stuck down the brackets with Sika 11-FC, then realised I did the same thing the experts did, if I want to remove the panels I have to remove the bracket, I was too smart for my own good.................
I would actually go for a portable panel, gives you more juice and options for position with a nice 5m or 10m 8 B&S extension lead with andersons, come in handy for other stuff as well........ I reckon my 120w portable made more than my roof 200w, certainly sometimes the batteries would be full noise before the roof ones kick into gear.
I would actually go for a portable panel, gives you more juice and options for position with a nice 5m or 10m 8 B&S extension lead with andersons, come in handy for other stuff as well........ I reckon my 120w portable made more than my roof 200w, certainly sometimes the batteries would be full noise before the roof ones kick into gear.
Thanks @Drover, yea, I keep climbing the ladder and look at the roof and think of all the things that could go wrong trying to add more panels. The 220w was a direct swap.
I did set up an anderson plug for portable panel connection to controller so I think my decision is made, that that is the way to go.
I did set up an anderson plug for portable panel connection to controller so I think my decision is made, that that is the way to go.
I have fitted an anderson plug inline from my roof panels to Epever where I can plug in the line from my external anderson which I plug my portable panel into, my portable panel is ambidextrious it can marry up to the roof panels and plug direct to Epever with no regulator or direct to battery with its regultor connected, thusly it can charge other batteries or increase the supply to van............ My external anderson is multi use also as it can plug into the Epever or direct to battery if needed................ my whole system is full of redundancies, if one system drops off I don't loose the whole shebang................
My 2 x 110w panels that I just fitted on top added 18kg, just to show the increase......my roof doesn't move thankfully......
Just remember if you hook the portable to the van controller you must bypass the controller on the portable panel, easy enough to do, I may have details on this thread somewhere.... My portable has an anderson plug on it so I can now plug my portable reg into it or an extension lead to go to van.... If you want a pic just ask.
My 2 x 110w panels that I just fitted on top added 18kg, just to show the increase......my roof doesn't move thankfully......
Just remember if you hook the portable to the van controller you must bypass the controller on the portable panel, easy enough to do, I may have details on this thread somewhere.... My portable has an anderson plug on it so I can now plug my portable reg into it or an extension lead to go to van.... If you want a pic just ask.
If you do end up getting a sticker/decal I have found the easiet way to get a great DIY job (from years of replacing stickers on go karts) - spray the surface with a detergent mix in a little spray bottle (same concentrate if you were doing the dishes). Apply the sticker from the center and use something flat (credit card or similar) the work out towards the edges, removing bubbles as you go. Super easy to get a bubble free finish
Yep, I have used a soft window squegee or a firm foam roller on big ones, put a few on trucks, horrible job small bug always gets caught...if I do get some you can do it for me, corrugated walls would be a pain....but I think Big Mal might just be a plain wrapper in the future....stealth is all the rage.
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