JohnDragonMan's Dispatch Camper Conversion

JohnDragonMan · 2022-06-21 14:11:42

Ahh I've got my 24v system working now.
It's currently powering a freezer.. so I think it will just about pull off a linked black hole gateway. If I aim it through a sun its gravity should "tune" it to a set time frame, give or take a few 100 hours .. given I get my calculations right.

Anyway. I'll update in a bit with some photos of my battery setup.. if I remember to take them..

JohnDragonMan · 2024-06-29 11:40:28

so i never took them photos and totally changed my 24v system. now i have a 12v system as i needed the 24v system for.. "other projects".

still gone with having 2x gel or AGM style batteries as lithium is just insane in cost. not yet bought them.. the system runs off the main starting battery for now.. i know risky.
and to add to the risk, the alternator decided to release all its magic smoke. now i cant put that back in as it belongs to the sky now, but i could replace the blown diodes. i could also swap out the original 90 amp alternator.... for a 180 amp alternator... hmm 180 amps.. take away say 30 amps for the ECU and running of the engine and a bit more for lights and other stuff say another 30 amps.. that give me like 120 amps.. to play with! thats a lot of amps! i like amps.

so to compensate with having no alternator for the past 3 weeks i just ziptied 2x 150w solar panels to the roof rack and thats been keeping the battery at 14.3v all the time the sun it out. nice.
its been working great!

i have also finally installed my full 8 camera 24hr cctv system to the van.. mounted to plates on the roof rack. it has a rather large hard drive and a sim card which constantly uploads to the NAS at home via the internet. (well only the last 4 hours of footage, the whole drive then gets backed up though wifi when parked up back home)
i have a nice monitor in line with where the rear view mirror would go but above the windscreen (as i dont have the top plastic shelf which would get in the way) which is great as one of the cameras is a look down camera when backing up.. something that i never really struggled with but i tell you, im all for being more lazy!
the camera system is that good, you could have the windscreen totally covered and easily drive using just the monitor.. if it was a little bigger..
i will also have a monitor in the back too so at night i will be able to see any "undesirables" around my van. oh and as for night time visibility, i have also added some 940nm IR lighting to the van.. totally invisible you cant even see a red glow like on some IR lighting. it lights around the van nicely on the cameras.

i have also bought a retractable awning too which i will fit to the right hand side of the van i think.. i never use the left hand side sliding door.. 2.5m long and pulls out 2.3m its self supporting too! no legs or needing to tie it to something.

the aim is to still keep it looking stealth.. the solar panels may be a give away however but the awning is being built into one of those pipe tube carrier things that plumbers love to have on roofs of vans. it will just be cut along its length and hinged so it opens up all the way along.

i have also finally got my roof lining in the back. using 3 or 4mm ply board cut to size. i then vinyl wrapped it with this cool green matrix effect reflective iridescent wrap. looks good.

i need to add a fan and pollen filter to the space i made above the roof lining. yes its needed. i require my pollen free air.

i replaced my dead diesel heater.. i used it that much the fan brushes wore out. now have a new one.. they have changed the controller and now it heats up like within 3 to 5 mins! its amazing. the old one was like a good quarter of an hour till it was blowing warm air. also made the decision to never use red diesel again in it. (yes i know you should not anyway but i own a woodland so i get an exemption wink ) the red diesel would gell up and block the pipes so i would have to flush it through with petrol to clear the lines. quite annoying. from now on its home heating oil/diesel number 1 or just cheap road diesel.

ok thats about it i guess. still not got the cruise control working.. ive not even looked at it yet to change the wiring around.. everything else is pretty good.

dont ask how i blew the alternator... hmm.. lets just say that you can create a chrona on an antenna if you have enough power.

Pathfinder100 · 2024-06-29 17:13:34

Cheap Lithium with a warranty.

https://sterling-power.com/collections/ … r-warranty

If you are hands on and have the knowledge, you can pick up Grade B cells from fogstar.co.uk and a BMS and build it yourself. You could have a 300Ah LiFePO4 for about £450 if you go down that route. Once I get my next van that will be my route. I want to build a 600Ah 12V with a 200A BMS, charged by 600-800W solar, 30A DC DC or EHU. Something I can go off grid in and stay off grid indefinitely.

I wouldn't worry about running from vehicle battery, I still run my lights in the back from the VB, but I moved my MPPT output to the Vehicle side and if the voltage gets high enough, the VSR opens and it charges the LB as well. It's working ok so far.

kenbw2 · 2024-06-29 22:10:51

I'm eyeing up the cheap 100Ah Lithium one here - £219 is a bargain and would be a drop in replacement for my now-ageing lithium

https://www.fogstar.co.uk/collections/l … -ascending

I'm just wondering why the 105Ah one is priced 50% higher. Are the cells that much better?

Pathfinder100 · 2024-06-29 23:23:40

Don't know right now, my brain exited the building about three beers back. big_smile

A friend told me you might only get 3000 cycles before capacity drops on grade B, but 3000 full cycles (discharge to 20% and recharge to 80-90%) is still a few years. If you run a big battery bank, then the 3000 cycles is no longer relevant because your DoD is unlikely to be 80% each time. If your DoD is 50% I think you get 4500 cycles and 20% 6000+ cycles, but that could be something else. I will try and answer tomorrow when I am able to see the screen. wink

Last edited by Pathfinder100 (2024-06-30 23:47:15)

Pathfinder100 · 2024-06-30 23:54:38

It is basically the above. Less total cycles and quicker loss of capacity with B Grade cells, but even if that equals say 7-8 years at 80% DoD, then you lost 20% capacity (and no I don't know exact numbers), you still have 64Ah of power per cycle. You would probably drop a new one in on a separate parallel circuit, maybe with a diode to make the old one, one way. Or use it for something else. it isn't like run for 7-8 years then die completely, the capacity tends to slowly wane over the next 5-10 years.

If you want something prebuilt, that's a pretty good deal. the only way you get better bang for less is if you build it yourelf, in which case 300Ah for around £400 isn't bad, or maybe £750ish for a 600Ah battery in a 2P4S configuration with a 200A BMS. 300Ah is a lot, but with 600Ah you could run pretty much anything you wanted.

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#76 2022-06-21 14:11:42

Re: JohnDragonMan's Dispatch Camper Conversion

#77 2024-06-29 11:40:28

Re: JohnDragonMan's Dispatch Camper Conversion

#78 2024-06-29 17:13:34

Re: JohnDragonMan's Dispatch Camper Conversion

#79 2024-06-29 22:10:51

Re: JohnDragonMan's Dispatch Camper Conversion

#80 2024-06-29 23:23:40

Re: JohnDragonMan's Dispatch Camper Conversion

#81 2024-06-30 23:54:38

Re: JohnDragonMan's Dispatch Camper Conversion

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