The Gray's - 16'49'1 Outback Expanda

[expanda]

OK, here how we went over the weekend in our one of a kind Van that has no 240V battery Charger

So we camped in Wye River, Weather was mostly cloudy on Saturday and Sunday.

According to my battery monitor from the time the solar panel stopped supplying any goodness to the next morning at around 08am - we have used a total of around 25amps... thats on lights, extractor fan above stove top, TV, Heater on all night (Gas E2400) and water pump...

Key message out of all of this is that our little 130Watt solar panel had Batteries back to 100% SOC by no later than 11AM. perhaps earlier but thats when I checked...

All this on bad weather weekend so I am now officially sold on the idea that once you have at least 130w Panel and in my case 240AH (2 x 120AH) of battery - Then you can comfortably rip out and sell your 240V charger

I have 40Amp redarc regulator (BCDB1240) so just to be safe I am going to break the bank with $240 and add a 200W panel to the mix.

Once thats done, I am planning on getting a 2000w inverter so that we can use microwave and electric frying pan when not on powered sites.

Welcome back !

And congrats on getting rid of the 240V charger it seems like you have a good setup!

 

[zerosecta]

Setup in Merimbula - Second time actually - We only the the first site we were on from Boxing day booked till the second so had to move to other side of park because we decided to stay longer - pretty good actually as its amazing how different one side of a place can be to the other

 

[zerosecta]

Been a while since i posted and i have a couple more little mods done - nothing major but definitely good ones.

First up - Moved gas bottles forward on the drawbar and got a really awesome cover for them and the regulator that now sits right between them.

Second - Cant go past the cheap ass but very functional storage something or other made it out of wire mesh, Simply put a tarp into it, fill it up and then fold the remainder of the tarp over the top... It houses two banana chair two fold up gaarden chairs, and briefcase style 4 seater table and chair thingy, Webber Q 200 and a fold up kitchen table that the webber gos onto. very happy with it and might hold off on getter an expensive tool box that probably wouldnt take all that..

 

[zerosecta]

cant forgot - place to store jockey wheel while driving...

 

[zerosecta]

Dinner tonight, Sausages, Mash and Gravy and Mushroom for the veggie ...

 

[Wanda]

Dinner tonight, Sausages, Mash and Gravy and Mushroom for the veggie ...

View attachment 19158

Just looking at your post @zerosecta and the last pic is dinner on the Webber. The funny bit is I have had the slow cooker bubbling away for the last few hours, diced beef, a few tasty snags chopped up, onion, garlic, variety of diced vegies, stock and some other bits and pieces. So I'm sitting here in the kitchen having a look at the forum while it finishes cooking. It smells delicious. Hence, your Webber dinner appears to smell delicious too!!! :hungry: Enjoy.
Mrs W.

 

[zerosecta]

Another mod recently done...

Got rid of the switch over valve that was under the van to select what tank to draw water from - and along with it I replaced all the clear flimsy pipe with heavier duty black pipe. Now have slightly less pipe for the water to travel through and way less kinks.

In place of the switch over valve under the van I have run a pipe from each tank into the van under the sink where the pump is, given each one its own one way valve (can just see them in the pic, they are the white join just as the pipes enter the floor) and its own shut off valve (green) before t'ing into the pump...

Have noticed an improvement in water flow and also no loss in pressure at all - so no short pump bursts during the night etc. even between stops when pump has been off and then put back on, pressure still there for it not to have to pull water uup. Hope that make sense

 

[zerosecta]

And because a picture tells a thousand words...

Here are a couple of pics of the from storage box packed - Wrapped and unwrapped.

And Jockey Wheel in Transit Position

 

[zerosecta]

Two things I'd like -

1 - Van to sit higher (undersling on the cards but if only it wasnt so much higher)
2. - Rims ans tyres to match tug

So today i played a little and put the spare from the tug on the Van to see what the result would be and I must say I am quite happy...
VVan has the standard 15" setup - Tug setup is 17" with 0 offset and 275\75 tyre.
Plenty of clearance all round and gain of around 1.5"


another good point of this setup is i had the tyre down to 28psi and it was still not bulging - unlike the original wheel\tyre tthat looks as though its flat when at max 40psi

 

[White knuckles]

Love your work I'm looking at matching our panda to my standard 150 gxl wheels is your after market wheels the same off set as the standard wheels?. And your front storage thingy what do you use a s a base?.

 

[zerosecta]

Hi - My aftermarket wheels are not the same as standard - I think Standard Rim offset is +25 - My Rims are 0.
As for base on the storage box, its just the same mesh. Nothing to special and super lighweight when compared to alluminium box's etc.

 

[seanparky]

Great mods has kept you busy and awesome work. Quick question about drilling into the roof for solar box. How did you get the wires from your battery into the side panels and into the roof.? cheers