No Options Apply My endless list of jobs (or feels like)
- Thread starter jazzeddie1234
- Start date
I'm back from NZ so the list of jobs has started being attacked once more. Next big trip is only a couple of months away so have to get on with finishing stuff.
This is a rough view of it on google maps. Fair amount of unsealed as usual - oodnadatta track and great central road amongst them
I bought a renogy dc dc 20a charger at a really good price but boy is it big!
Compared to my 25amp projecta it's a monster. Has 2 fans. Trust me not to check the dimensions first.
Other jobs on the go (pics to follow): replace seat squab foam ($220 for the pair) , make the drawer under the new fridge much deeper now the gas pipe has gone, replace the lead acid marine batteries in the ute tub with lithium...
This is a rough view of it on google maps. Fair amount of unsealed as usual - oodnadatta track and great central road amongst themI bought a renogy dc dc 20a charger at a really good price but boy is it big!
Compared to my 25amp projecta it's a monster. Has 2 fans. Trust me not to check the dimensions first.Other jobs on the go (pics to follow): replace seat squab foam ($220 for the pair) , make the drawer under the new fridge much deeper now the gas pipe has gone, replace the lead acid marine batteries in the ute tub with lithium...
Like your trip plan. As a result of the flooding damage in the NW of WA we are replanning our proposed 2023 trip and thinking similar but leaving fro Brisbane heading south west towards Perth before heading north and then returning via the Alice and across into Qld
Seat foam is done. $220 for new foam and fitting.
The old ones were ok to get out but the guy was happy to put the new ones in the covers for me. No more sitting on the hard seat base!
The old ones were ok to get out but the guy was happy to put the new ones in the covers for me. No more sitting on the hard seat base!
The jobs have started in earnest as the departure date looms...
First a fun project
Did you ever have a tool that, once purchased, you can't imagine life before? Well that is my 3d printer. No more buying brackets or boxes that are not quite the right size/shape. Here I'm printing up a holder for my very untidy socket set.
And the finished result. Absolutely brilliant
I have to check the wheel bearings but somehow my brain is not keen on that job so it's lots of random things to justify not doing them today
Why not use up a couple of spare usb charging sockets by putting them where they will get the most use? Tapped into the feed for the bedside light.
And a bigger job - replacing/rewiring my ute tray batteries
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These just arrived! $330 each delivered. No idea of reliability (they appear to be cylindrical cells) and the bms is fairly small at 50A max but one of the old marine dual purpose batteries died last trip, and the other has replaced the cranking battery that died while on holiday.
Now must get on with that wheel bearing service...
First a fun project
Did you ever have a tool that, once purchased, you can't imagine life before? Well that is my 3d printer. No more buying brackets or boxes that are not quite the right size/shape. Here I'm printing up a holder for my very untidy socket set.And the finished result. Absolutely brilliantI have to check the wheel bearings but somehow my brain is not keen on that job so it's lots of random things to justify not doing them today
Why not use up a couple of spare usb charging sockets by putting them where they will get the most use? Tapped into the feed for the bedside light.And a bigger job - replacing/rewiring my ute tray batteries
.
These just arrived! $330 each delivered. No idea of reliability (they appear to be cylindrical cells) and the bms is fairly small at 50A max but one of the old marine dual purpose batteries died last trip, and the other has replaced the cranking battery that died while on holiday. Now must get on with that wheel bearing service...
MIne sometimes reside in a small milk crate, one tray and 2 sets together doesn't quite work ...................... its on the To Do List...........
I can certainly relate to that but then lifting a wheel and shaking it isn't that bad unless it rattles..... then that leads to brakes......
............. I have found if it doesn't rattle then its all good but I do give them a good pack when I have to pull the hub off.I'm watching and waiting for your report in months to come................. I wouldn't worry about the 50 amp unless you are going to flog them down every day.
Exactly. My ute wiring is all 50a cable and breakers.
Interesting instruction manual for resetting an under volt bms - wait 20 mins, use a non smart battery charger (to ignore zero battery volts), or....connect another lithium battery to kick start it! I would have expected that was a really bad idea given the massive flow of current...so I don't think I will try that one.
The funny thing is running big arse breakers the question is will whats on either end survive, battery possibly but other gear will melt, cable protection is fine but many fail to see the whole picture. I know you can see the big picture but most dont......
Who made the cheeky comment about complexity...
This is my test setup before it goes in the ute tray. The box holds two batteries (now lithium), various tools, and two water jerries. I decided to add a few 'improvements' aka complexities before putting it back. A juntek shunt and coulomb counter , a tidier (ok it will be) junction box for minor 12v things (ute tray lights etc), and my favorite ltc3780 dc dc module which will trickle charge the cranking battery when the lithiums are full. Out of shot is the anderson cable which is plugged into the caravan so I can test the effect of running all batteries in parallel when required
And I'm still messing around with my camping shower, currently a 5l spray bottle painted black. Printed a holder for the shower head off a submersible pump to see how that works
I may not need it at all now my gas consumption is (hopefully) much reduced with the new fridge
This is my test setup before it goes in the ute tray. The box holds two batteries (now lithium), various tools, and two water jerries. I decided to add a few 'improvements' aka complexities before putting it back. A juntek shunt and coulomb counter , a tidier (ok it will be) junction box for minor 12v things (ute tray lights etc), and my favorite ltc3780 dc dc module which will trickle charge the cranking battery when the lithiums are full. Out of shot is the anderson cable which is plugged into the caravan so I can test the effect of running all batteries in parallel when requiredAnd I'm still messing around with my camping shower, currently a 5l spray bottle painted black. Printed a holder for the shower head off a submersible pump to see how that works
I may not need it at all now my gas consumption is (hopefully) much reduced with the new fridge
4 weeks time! ish
Battery box is in, juntek battery monitor running properly after a couple of hiccups, cranking battery trickle charger working... and the fridge is back in to test that before I start fitting all the other storage boxes.
In my trawl through all the wiring I discovered my projecta dc dc is faulty and the mppt part is not working as it should. It works fine when the altenator is feeding it and it's too expensive to replace so I've used a cheap pwm solar controller instead. Now I need to tidy and secure the cables.
@jazzeddie1234 , since when have you been worried about the expense of replacing a DC to DC charger???? And down-grading your solar charging system to a PWM type controller with all your electrical gear ?? Shame on you as a technical man!!!! You will miss the benefit of having a MPPT controller and its capacity to provide more charging ability, (especially in difficult conditions) even though you now have lithium batteries, by the end of your next journey.
Yeah, I know... It appears I ran most of the last trip with a faulty mppt in the tug. I compared it's output to the cheap pwm and will see a big improvement. The CV is all mppt and a replacement projecta is a bit down the list (and a different/ cheaper dc dc will create more headaches with all the compact cabling...)
Will run the ute fridge for a few weeks and then decide
@jazzeddie1234 , it just goes to show that even with all the latest hi-tech gear, constant surveillance of all outputs and readouts is vital. More importantly still, is a complete understanding of normal expectations of equipment. Unless operating at full and proper potential, you are going to end up behind the 8-ball to some extent. Fortunately for you, you have the technical knowhow and ability to get around most predicaments that would be beyond the scope of most people. What a pain in the bum having to replace/re-route all that tidy cabling for a different DC to DC charger. Wires everywhere!!! Good luck and be careful. You do not want to release the fire and smoke demons! Just as well you have a complete wiring diagram for all the mods in your van.
After drama years ago with a projecta bit of gear and other multi function type units I like stand alone, far easier ....
Wheel bearings and brake check done! Had to fight my lack of motivation and a 37' degree day but everything looks fine.
This is a really handy idea for a couple of old 12 pins. The andersons are wired to different pins so I can test without reversing the ute up to the caravan. The photo has the brakes connected up via a extension cable so I can easily test them. Works great!
I checked the 2 sets of TPMS to discover a faulty sender on 1 wheel but I have a couple of spares and youtube showed me how to pair it properly
Thanks to @Drover I spent an unproductive evening looking for mppt controllers that might fit
This is a really handy idea for a couple of old 12 pins. The andersons are wired to different pins so I can test without reversing the ute up to the caravan. The photo has the brakes connected up via a extension cable so I can easily test them. Works great!I checked the 2 sets of TPMS to discover a faulty sender on 1 wheel but I have a couple of spares and youtube showed me how to pair it properly
Thanks to @Drover I spent an unproductive evening looking for mppt controllers that might fit
Have always been going to do a system check unit like that, its on the list though... but its not a biggy to back the jeep close enough to plug in, for brakes I just pull the breakaway pin when I have a wheel off the ground and spin the wheel gives both a test.......
When I replaced my exceedlingly good PWM controller with a MPPT Epever unit I had to remodel my whole power station set up as it was a bigger bugga.... find the Epever 4210N-XDS2 which I have to be a good unit, I don't have to do a damn thing and I have a screen to look at so just what I want. Can't help you with the DC/DC stuff as my rig is totally Solar reliant with only a 240 mains back up which is never used, should have saved my money .
When I replaced my exceedlingly good PWM controller with a MPPT Epever unit I had to remodel my whole power station set up as it was a bigger bugga.... find the Epever 4210N-XDS2 which I have to be a good unit, I don't have to do a damn thing and I have a screen to look at so just what I want. Can't help you with the DC/DC stuff as my rig is totally Solar reliant with only a 240 mains back up which is never used, should have saved my money .
Well I've picked up a couple of problems during the pre departure testing. A bad earth on my mppt in the caravan made it do weird things and I picked it up by noticing the terminal was hot...
A few observations about those lithium batteries. They come half charged and I noticed they stopped accepting charge quite early (around 13.4 volts or so) so I suspect they are struggling to top balance. Anyway I left them sit for a day, then on charge, then sit, etc. They are very slowly coming up and now accepting charge up to around 14.4V
At dinner with friends my wife corners me with 'you never made that cloths line you promised'... so priority call to bunnings the very next day
While at bunnings I look for those sullage hose joiners - out of stock - so a spare minute and another 3d printer job produced these!
70c instead of $5 works for me. All my hoses are 2.2m long to simplify storage in a chassis cross-member and I've been using old vacuum hose to link them together. Now I have a nice water tight joiner.
The new fridge compartment is a very different shape to the old fridge so I have to sort out some new shelf trays
A few observations about those lithium batteries. They come half charged and I noticed they stopped accepting charge quite early (around 13.4 volts or so) so I suspect they are struggling to top balance. Anyway I left them sit for a day, then on charge, then sit, etc. They are very slowly coming up and now accepting charge up to around 14.4V
At dinner with friends my wife corners me with 'you never made that cloths line you promised'... so priority call to bunnings the very next day
While at bunnings I look for those sullage hose joiners - out of stock - so a spare minute and another 3d printer job produced these!
70c instead of $5 works for me. All my hoses are 2.2m long to simplify storage in a chassis cross-member and I've been using old vacuum hose to link them together. Now I have a nice water tight joiner. The new fridge compartment is a very different shape to the old fridge so I have to sort out some new shelf trays
I say Eddie @jazzeddie1234 , you do have a few problems to say the least. Speaking about an earth wire on your MPPT controller had me thinking. My MPPT controller does NOT have any earth wire per se. It only has 2 terminals for solar input, 2 terminals for connection to battery (pos and neg), and 2 terminals for the loads. So, my "earth" must be the Negative to van battery as the controller is fixed to a wooden wall space, so no electrical metal connection between body of controller with screws. Me thinks you may have a loose wire connection or a high resistance leak of current across terminals. I would look further at that sort of problem, even opening up the back of controller to see what has started to get hot. I have had readings of over 23 amps (IN) through mine and up to 15 amps out on a few occasions without any signs of heat, and I have made extra space behind by using fibre spacers for more cooling. Remember, lithium batteries will accept all the power any input provides, and could cause an overload on input/output circuits.. Good luck!!!
Gaffa tape joins my grey hose, a "aroundtoit" job though................
While my MPPT controller (Epever) has an earth from body, its only light cable, just a simple chassis earth for any static build up I assumed...
You said the batteries were only half charged, with all batteries you should charge them up singly to full charge then connect them together to your charging system, your MPPT controller will only see one battery per se and if they aren't equally charged, even with their own BMS the system you could have trouble as it could get conflicting readings, charge them both up fully single and then see how they go........ assuming these lithiums are capable of being connected together as some won't I have seen.
While my MPPT controller (Epever) has an earth from body, its only light cable, just a simple chassis earth for any static build up I assumed...
You said the batteries were only half charged, with all batteries you should charge them up singly to full charge then connect them together to your charging system, your MPPT controller will only see one battery per se and if they aren't equally charged, even with their own BMS the system you could have trouble as it could get conflicting readings, charge them both up fully single and then see how they go........ assuming these lithiums are capable of being connected together as some won't I have seen.