Not a Self-build, but a Tweaker

[wildebus]

Final Step ... Want to be able to use the locker for storage still of course, but need to protect the wiring from being knocked and snagged, so added a perspex screen, with a gap at the top to allow ventilation.

Used "modesty blocks" to create a sandwich for the sheet to push into.

And for fun, thought I would label the devices as I had the printer handy

And the last shot... When Darkness falls, can still work on the system if need be

 

[SquirrellCook]

I do hope you have a ups for the locker lamp?

At least you don't have coloured flashing led's around the perimeter

 

[wildebus]

I do hope you have a ups for the locker lamp?

At least you don't have coloured flashing led's around the perimeter

Actually ..... When I was looking for lighting, all I could find initially in stock (i.e. in MY stock - not bought anything extra for this install apart from the DIN Rail mounting kit) was multi-colour strips which I didn't really want . But then found some LED strips that were left over from Clarence's garage lighting and used them.

And ... Talking UPS .... One end is wired up to the battery power via the door switch, but ... the other end still has the pretty well industry standard jackplug socket fitted and I can plug an standard AC transformer into it (or a stand-alone battery pack) to give me lighting even if the entire van power is disconnected


(PS. Just for you, I will do a video of the lighting tonight and the funky modes (The on-off switch I fitted in-line does all that if you want. I don't, but it is still available))

 

[SquirrellCook]

Seriously though David, I think you might set a new trend. It does look very good. People are going to start ogling other people electrical lockers.

 

[wildebus]

Seriously though David, I think you might set a new trend. It does look very good. People are going to start ogling other people electrical lockers.

well, your posting spurred me into action as the original was becoming fiddly to adapt as new ideas came to mind.

(and guess what .... already about to make a change this morning! But with the new setup, it will be a simple and logical adaption and will take a matter of a few minutes. I am totally convinced a complete "central control and command centre" is the way to go with a self-build nowadays as the electrics side becomes more and more a key element.)

 

[wildebus]

When wiring up AC circuits I have moved to using connectors on flying leads rather than going directly from supply to socket/device. It makes it simplier to fit and maintain compared to trying to push wires into small screwdown terminals in very confined spaces.

Because of this, it made it much easier to add in an extra component box in line to control the External & Locker AC Sockets.
I am planning to use the AC Socket in the Locker to plug in the eBikes battery charger. I built a little SSR box, similar to the ones I am using for the Water Boiler and the Compressor Fridge, but this one will be controlled by the Cerbos 'Relay 2'.

The connectors on the Yellow Arctic cable are Tyco Mate-N-Lok 4-way connectors (I only use 3 of the 4) and to install it was just a matter of seperating the connectors from EasyPlus MCB 1 to Locker Socket and plugging each end into the connectors on this box and that's it. Then one wire from the Cerbo Relay to the DC input to switch the SSR on and off.

This will let me turn the charger on and off remotely via the console if I maybe decide the Battery Bank is too to use to charge the eBike Battery for example without having to trek all the way outside () to flick a switch. As a quick visual check, I also sent the Relay output signal to the Digital IO Controller Box so I can quickly check if the sockets are enabled or not.

 

[wildebus]

Final piece of the Electrics Locker installation is now done

The locker is quite a small area and when the Multiplus is running at a fairly high level for either Charging or Inverting, it generates a fair amount of heat. The Multiplus can run pretty hot without an issue, but the output is derated as the temp increases so the lower the temperature the better for that reason as well as better for the Device components itself.

Here is a chart of the temperature in the locker as the Multiplus (EasyPlus Compact in this case) is charging the battery at an average rate of 42.5A for two hours ...

In that two hour period, the locker temp went from 22C upto 37C. Still well within the operating temperature, but a fair old increase, and I wanted to address that.

So I took the locker door and changed its appearance a little ....

Added an extraction fan to the door for some forced cooling. This is controlled by a temperature controller that turns on and off depending on the temperature.

Once this was wired up, I put the charger on again (and actually upped the max charge rate from 45A to 52A now I have better cooling potential). And logged what happened...

Here the stating temp was 20C (before - 22C) and went up to 31C (before - 37C) so quite a difference there despite the Multiplus running harder and for 50% longer (3 Hrs rather than 2 Hrs)

You may notice the initial increase in temperature is similar to before? that is because the fan had not kicked in at that stage - you can probably predict the time the fan came out by the extended time between changes .
And as soon as the fan started operation, it made a key impact.

I have not quite worked out the right point to have the fan kick on yet The next shot shows the Temperature against the fan running or stopped.

It cuts out earlier then I would expect and later on in the period I set the "ON" to be 25C instead of 27.5C - after which the fan stayed on for longer - and very effectively - until the temp dropped and we started to repeat the pattern to a degree.

So the vent & fan in the door is working well, but needs a bit of fine tuning so it is not just blowing for no reason (e.g. on a hot day when the Multiplus is not doing anything anyway).

 

[wildebus]

So what should be the last but one* tweak to the Motorhome, just got in within 1 year of ownership and a week before my longest trip to date (~3 weeks) due to start ....

Dropped in another Lithium Battery to the Hybrid Bank

So this will give me 200Ah of LiFePO4 Lithium using a pair of Poweroad Infinity Subzeros. alongside 300Ah of Lead Carbon AGM Lead Acid Batteries for a total of 500Ah of Hybrid goodness
Repurposed the original shelf I made to fit the various charters and controllers to before I relocated them to the outside Locker so I now have a very clear demarcation and separation between the battery bank and rest of the under-sofa storage area, which is good

Shelf doesn't look that pretty from the battery side, but that doesn't matter too much as I also have a cover for this section

Sheet of Acrylic covering over this section. This is slid into place and basically kept in place by tension. The modesty blocks on the right have a couple of screws just dropped into holes drilled into the sheet and acting as pegs in order to stop it moving.
The main purpose of this sheet is to catch anything dropped when the sofa is pulled out to make a bed up, but it does serve to hide the spaghetti of wires underneath it as well

* The last tweak I am hoping to pick up from Ablemail next week and is a special (and unique) programmable relay I have specified for the Hybrid Battery Bank to manage the Lithium side more precisely (and will also allow the use of pretty well ANY Lead Acid to work in a Hybrid setup I reckon)

 

[wildebus]

With regards to a previous post about setting the right fan-on point

I have not quite worked out the right point to have the fan kick on yet ....

I think got this sussed now

Did a 50A level charge on the EasyPlus. Temperature clicks up a degree every 5 minutes or so until it hits 28C. The Fan starts up and the temperature increase slows down to 1 degree in 40 minutes.

The Lithium batteries are fully charged in a little under 2 hours, at which point the EasyPlus 'relaxs' a bit as it carries on to top up the Lead Carbons, albeit at a much lower rate (typical Lead Acid charge behaviour, of course) and the temperature starts to fall naturally as well as from the fan extraction. And at 24C the fan shuts off (I set the temp controller to have a 4 degree hysteresis, so it will go off 4 degrees lower than it turns on).
So we don't have the regular on-off like initially seen, and the on-temp is at a good compromise level - high enough so it will not (or very rarely anyway) be kicked off by ambient temperatures, and stays on long enough to have a good effect. Going to call this a result!

 

[trevskoda]

Final piece of the Electrics Locker installation is now done

The locker is quite a small area and when the Multiplus is running at a fairly high level for either Charging or Inverting, it generates a fair amount of heat. The Multiplus can run pretty hot without an issue, but the output is derated as the temp increases so the lower the temperature the better for that reason as well as better for the Device components itself.

Here is a chart of the temperature in the locker as the Multiplus (EasyPlus Compact in this case) is charging the battery at an average rate of 42.5A for two hours ...
View attachment 4642
In that two hour period, the locker temp went from 22C upto 37C. Still well within the operating temperature, but a fair old increase, and I wanted to address that.

So I took the locker door and changed its appearance a little ....
View attachment 4643View attachment 4644View attachment 4645View attachment 4646

Added an extraction fan to the door for some forced cooling. This is controlled by a temperature controller that turns on and off depending on the temperature.
View attachment 4648View attachment 4647


Once this was wired up, I put the charger on again (and actually upped the max charge rate from 45A to 52A now I have better cooling potential). And logged what happened...
View attachment 4649
Here the stating temp was 20C (before - 22C) and went up to 31C (before - 37C) so quite a difference there despite the Multiplus running harder and for 50% longer (3 Hrs rather than 2 Hrs)

You may notice the initial increase in temperature is similar to before? that is because the fan had not kicked in at that stage - you can probably predict the time the fan came out by the extended time between changes .
And as soon as the fan started operation, it made a key impact.

I have not quite worked out the right point to have the fan kick on yet The next shot shows the Temperature against the fan running or stopped.
View attachment 4650

It cuts out earlier then I would expect and later on in the period I set the "ON" to be 25C instead of 27.5C - after which the fan stayed on for longer - and very effectively - until the temp dropped and we started to repeat the pattern to a degree.

So the vent & fan in the door is working well, but needs a bit of fine tuning so it is not just blowing for no reason (e.g. on a hot day when the Multiplus is not doing anything anyway).

Small intake vent at bottom of locker door may help, chrome louver vent would look good.

 

[SquirrellCook]

This is the reason why my fridge fans are not controlled by temperature, but I imagine that tucked in your little cupboard it will lag the change in external temperature.

 

[wildebus]

Small intake vent at bottom of locker door may help, chrome louver vent would look good.

There is intake from inside via the kitchen so getting plenty of airflow - a change in the rise of 1C from 5 mins to 40 mins tells me it is moving air effectively

 

[wildebus]

This is the reason why my fridge fans are not controlled by temperature, but I imagine that tucked in your little cupboard it will lag the change in external temperature.

I like the automated aspect of temp control . "fit and forget"

 

[ScoTTyBEEE]

I like the automated aspect of temp control . "fit and forget"

Me too, but I've found those temperature sensors aren't very reliable and completely break so carry a spare.

 

[wildebus]

Me too, but I've found those temperature sensors aren't very reliable and completely break so carry a spare.

Interesting. I have not used it very much, but they are only cheap things so expectations set accordingly.
I do have a spare so will pop it in my on-board spares box

As an aside, I have it connected to the same point as the Victron temp probe (the one that is reporting the temp in the graphs) and also checked against an IR probe and I've found the actual displayed temp slightly more accurate than the Victron one and matching the IR probe, so in that respect it is putting on a good show

 

[wildebus]

The journey to to a weight uprate started last November and it has taken a while to get the paperwork sorted out ...

Eventually fitted the air assist in the spring and got a new plate but with a low towing limit of 1250KG (I think?), so while the GVW was raised, the GTW (total GVW + Trailer) weight dropped. After some investigations agreed to up it so the GTW stayed at 6000KG when the GVW went to 3850 and got another VIN plate with the revised numbers.

Then sent the forms to DVLA who sent them back as no cheque for 6 months of Road Tax (who pays for Road Tax by cheque any more?) so had to resubmit them incuding a cheque and postdate the change to October - in case I cancelled the DD Tax from Sept, but they rejected the form and so I could be driving with no tax in areas full of ANPR cameras. Back home in Oct I could avoid using the van and there are no cameras around here anyway.
Still waiting for the new V5C nearly a month later but checking on line I see the "revenue weight" is now 3850, I am taxed until March (used to say Dec) and a new logbook has been issued apparently so all has been processed and I officially have the extra 350Kg payload (some of which I used when away on the basis that the request had been made and I had the new plate stuck on so should be ok if stopped)

 

[wildebus]

A handy "side-effect" of having the Victron monitoring setup ... You can keep an eye on what is happening to your vehicle even if it is miles away

I dropped the Motorhome off Monday afternoon at the garage to have the timing belt replaced. Now this was going to be a bit more complicated then a normal change due to how the belt was replaced last time and various bolts overtighted and seized up. garage backed out of work last time to avoid snapping bolt heads and special Fiat tool required apparently to deal with situation.

But anyway .... I could log onto Victron's VRM system and from the Starter Battery voltage see when the engine was started and stopped (e.g. Moved into the workshop maybe) and also from the Solar Harvesting see if the vehicle is parked inside or outside.
It's been waiting for some parts (Engine Mounts I think) and I saw hadn't moved for a couple of days, then I saw from the Starter Battery and lack of solar afterwards it was transferred to workshop yesterday. Then a short time ago I saw the voltage go up and then solar harvesting appear - so timing belt on and driven out to compound I would guess after completion?
Then a few minutes ago got a call to say all done

Inspector Wildebus signing out

 

[Markd]

Talk about big brother!

 

[wildebus]

The journey to to a weight uprate started last November and it has taken a while to get the paperwork sorted out ...

Eventually fitted the air assist in the spring and got a new plate but with a low towing limit of 1250KG (I think?), so while the GVW was raised, the GTW (total GVW + Trailer) weight dropped. After some investigations agreed to up it so the GTW stayed at 6000KG when the GVW went to 3850 and got another VIN plate with the revised numbers.

Then sent the forms to DVLA who sent them back as no cheque for 6 months of Road Tax (who pays for Road Tax by cheque any more?) so had to resubmit them incuding a cheque and postdate the change to October - in case I cancelled the DD Tax from Sept, but they rejected the form and so I could be driving with no tax in areas full of ANPR cameras. Back home in Oct I could avoid using the van and there are no cameras around here anyway.
Still waiting for the new V5C nearly a month later but checking on line I see the "revenue weight" is now 3850, I am taxed until March (used to say Dec) and a new logbook has been issued apparently so all has been processed and I officially have the extra 350Kg payload (some of which I used when away on the basis that the request had been made and I had the new plate stuck on so should be ok if stopped)

New V5C arrived today with the right details in (3850kg Revenue Weight and Private HGV)

 

[Markd]

I have to send mine back to DVLA as whil6 they had changed revenue weight they hadn't altered the MAM.