What did you do to your van today?

[trevskoda]

I went out and changes 3 salt moisture bags i keep on the dash, I have other down the back under the beds, they will be rotated tomorrow as i dry out used ones, good bit of kit they are.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

There's the possibility of overnight frost coming shortly and so I nipped out to storage and drained down.

I can't remember turning off the 12v power and so I'll have to nip back and check. I'm a clown.

 

[trevskoda]

There's the possibility of overnight frost coming shortly and so I nipped out to storage and drained down.

I can't remember turning off the 12v power and so I'll have to nip back and check. I'm a clown.

If its a smart charger leave it, or do you mean all 12v supply power master switch.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Yes Trev, it's the main 12v panel master switch. I know the solar panel will keep the leisure battery topped up, but I'm neurotic about turning off everything when we are not away in it. I had forgotten to turn it off, but as the van is only a mile away it's not a big issue to leave it tidy.

 

[Winks]

Brought the van home to give it a clean up with snow foam.

Bought some Simonize stuff from Toolstation and it worked well for a cheap solution. The van was bloody mess with leaves and green muck all over it. Green as Kermit's arris. Anyway, three hours graft and it looks a load better. Really was horrible, probably due to the wet and mild weather in the past few weeks.

Cheers

H

 

[trevskoda]

Well i took mine to Portrush today which keep the brakes from sticking, plus the oil detergents give the engine a good internal scrub.

 

[Scotia]

Drained the fresh water tank, opened the taps then drained the heating system. It's to drop below zero tonight and we may have the first flurry of snow by Tuesday, bring it on it will save on me having to lift all the freekin leaves.

 

[marchie]

We have a Black Friday order of Tower Steel with Ceramic Lining Pans with removable handles arriving today. They will be split between the M/Home and the Flat for the respective Induction Hobs. Thursday onwards, the new Remoska [Black Friday buy] arrives direct from Remoska UK factory shop in Cheshire [Original Lifetime Guarantee changed to 3 Years, and new model is 2 Years ...] since the current model is showing signs of dotage! New model has a removable handle [old version has power built into it, so needs lots of space], so will fit into M/Home cupboard.

That should be it for the forseeable future; Fresh water tank sterilised, hot water tank descaled, fridge gas vent soot removed, new leisure chairs, Dining Table removed and replaced by 2 portable tables [one for external cooking] , and the new inverter and sockets fitted. Somebody else can take over the effort to boost economic growth whilst I go into recession ...

Steve

 

[Exwindsurfer]

Sounds like the same set we bought earlier this years Steve we added 2 frying pans and now have 3handle to go round + they are great for storing in van .
Jeff

 

[marchie]

Sounds like the same set we bought earlier this years Steve we added 2 frying pans and now have 3handle to go round + they are great for storing in van .
Jeff

Thanks, Jeff, that's reassuring! Buying online is always a 'Let's hope these do the job' exercise, and the amount of stuff we have needed to replace or upgrade after Year 1 suggests that we have not always [i.e. rarely ...] got it right first time Tbf, we had no experience to guide us, and we have used the Van for over 200 nights in 18 months. so we have given the kit a lot of use!

Steve

 

[Exwindsurfer]

Well seeing the sun decided to show its face i thought id tilt my panels started of flat at 70watts now tilted getting 220 watts

 

[Winks]

I’m sure the buggers watch you. This morning after three hours graft yesterday. .



Cheers

H

 

[RSD7a]

Drained the fresh water tank, opened the taps then drained the heating system. It's to drop below zero tonight and we may have the first flurry of snow by Tuesday, bring it on it will save on me having to lift all the freekin leaves.

During the balmy days of early November I refilled the drained van and then last night, aaargh, missed the frost warning. Woke to scrape ice off the car windscreen this morning and was dreading going into the van. Well, the boiler frost protector had done its job and dumped the boiler water and all the water taps seem to have survived without busting open. A lucky escape as far as I can tell . Just now finished my second winter drain down.

 

[Northumborman]

Seems really obvious in retrospect but, a few years ago we put the glass top down on the cooker and left a ring on very low. A few hours later, there was a very impressive explosion and a shower of glass pieces. Luckily, neither of us were injured but it was a hell of a fright! We put off replacing the top until recently and, blow me down, didn't we manage to do the same thing again! Fortunately, we noticed in time and turned the gas off. The problem was, you can't see or hear the gas when it's on minimum, and you don't really notice that all the knobs aren't lined up. So, painted white markers with Typex and now it's obvious if one is out of line!

 

[wildebus]

Seems really obvious in retrospect but, a few years ago we put the glass top down on the cooker and left a ring on very low. A few hours later, there was a very impressive explosion and a shower of glass pieces. Luckily, neither of us were injured but it was a hell of a fright! We put off replacing the top until recently and, blow me down, didn't we manage to do the same thing again! Fortunately, we noticed in time and turned the gas off. The problem was, you can't see or hear the gas when it's on minimum, and you don't really notice that all the knobs aren't lined up. So, painted white markers with Typex and now it's obvious if one is out of line!

Good plan I have not done that with the gas hobs, but I found the electric hot plate (I have 3 x Gas + 1 x Electric) knob turns on VERY easily if just rubbed against and this would not be good for the same reason you gave with the gas. So I leave the switch that provides AC power to the Cooker off all the time now and would just turn it on IF I ever wanted to use the hotplate (I would use the Induction Hob instead anyway so never use the Hotplate in the last 2 years).

 

[Winks]

Sadly returned it to the yard. No prospect of escape for the foreseeable future.




All opened up and drained down.



Cheers

H

 

[Cooperman]

I thought I would post on the club site the works that I have recently had carried out on my new to me (July 22) motorhome a 2015 Hymer MLI 580. The plan was to increase the solar PV capacity and install an inverter and new leisure battery to improve the ability of having Power in the van, when not on electric hook up.

After discussions around my design brief with club members, Wildebus and Admin it was decided to remove the Oyster self-seeking satellite dish and the old existing 100 watt solar panel and replace these with three new solar panels. Total of 750 W. The existing 2× Bosch 100 ah lead acid leisure batteries were to be replaced with one Fogstar drift, 280 ah lithium battery (my choice). This would be supplied by the new solar panels via two Victron MPPT controllers.

A Victron, 12v/1600 VA compact, Multiplus unit was installed to provide the battery charging and inverter function other bits of kit that were specified for the install included a battery shunt from Victron which sends my mobile phone state of charge information and the Victron Cyrix battery combiner managing the charge to the starter and leisure battery with the addition of a new fused distribution block and appropriate fuses. The equipment was all hooked up and after a final chat and guidance from Admin (Phil) various functions on the EBL electro block were disabled. i.e. the B2B battery charger and the solar power controller.

After commissioning and a brief introduction to the Victron connect app. Everything in the van seems to be working as expected, bearing in mind the limited UK sun available at this time of year.

The installation was carried out by Bruce Lauderdale with me acting as his enthusiastic (interfering) apprentice.

Bruce’s work is of an extremely high standard with an exceptional attention to detail. He was very patient over the four days of the installation as we were constantly being interrupted by sporadic rain showers. We filled this time with preparation work in my garage, together with copious cups of tea, and interesting chats about various aspects of van life and my pre-retirement career as an electrical engineer in the distribution side of the Electrical Supply Industry.

I am very pleased with the outcome and can’t wait for warmer weather to get on the road and start my first foray into vanlife.

I really can't thank enough those of you who have facilitated these works and look forward to chatting at future meetups in person.



Ray ( Cooperman)

 

[wildebus]

Looks good
out of interest (and this is not leading to a "you should have ..." type comment), what made you go for the Multiplus 12/1600/70 Compact (the metal-cased MP) rather than the Plastic cased Multiplus 12/1600/70? Just curious.

I fitted the plastic one last week, and one consideration for that choice for me was access to the switch and lights (That version suited the installation location better in my case. In your location, the position of the switch & lights is better on the metal 'compact' version).

On the EBL, did you pull the 240V plug or remove the fuses for the solar and split-charge features?

 

[Cooperman]

Looks good
out of interest (and this is not leading to a "you should have ..." type comment), what made you go for the Multiplus 12/1600/70 Compact (the metal-cased MP) rather than the Plastic cased Multiplus 12/1600/70? Just curious.

I fitted the plastic one last week, and one consideration for that choice for me was access to the switch and lights (That version suited the installation location better in my case. In your location, the position of the switch & lights is better on the metal 'compact' version).

On the EBL, did you pull the 240V plug or remove the fuses for the solar and split-charge features?

The decision on the Multiplus was based on space available to fit it in the outside Locker.....the 1600va compact was smaller than the 1200va standard unit.
On the EBL the 240v Plug was removed.
We have fitted the small internal control panel connected via a data lead so the multiplus is switched from inside the Motorhome.

 

[Ditcha]

Looks good
out of interest (and this is not leading to a "you should have ..." type comment), what made you go for the Multiplus 12/1600/70 Compact (the metal-cased MP) rather than the Plastic cased Multiplus 12/1600/70? Just curious.

I fitted the plastic one last week, and one consideration for that choice for me was access to the switch and lights (That version suited the installation location better in my case. In your location, the position of the switch & lights is better on the metal 'compact' version).

On the EBL, did you pull the 240V plug or remove the fuses for the solar and split-charge features?

The MultiPlus compact comes with 1m off battery cable and the trickle charge is 4amp to your starter battery.