Lenny's Modding the new Gin Palace

[WhiteCheyenneMan]

@Lenny HB I've fitted an Honeywell CO detector today and the instructions say for a caravan or motorhome do not fit in the kitchen living area but where you sleep.
It shows the alarm sitting on a shelf at the side of the bed, so I double sided taped mine to the overhead wall units.

John.

I spent a while, armed with tape measure trying to find a location for my CO Detector that was the required height, distance from roof, away from dead air space, windows etc., etc.. Having concluded that the only compliant location was in the garage, I fitted mine with velcro tape on the end of a bedroom locker at sleeping head height.

 

[Lenny HB]

Ended up with it in bedroom under a locker. The combi is a balanced fan flue and Hymer seal their fridge installations well so risk of CO is minimal.

 

[Lenny HB]

Having concluded that the only compliant location was in the garage.

Sorted then, mattress in the garage & bikes in the van.

 

[funflair]

Think your self lucky that you are not a neighbour of mine !! We struggle in UK and Germany to find anyone to even look at our N & B Clou, and those we have found all have shortcomings !! Well done, let me know when you wish to take ours on commercially Please.

I am sure you will know that Travlworld are the only N+B dealer in the UK but there shouldn't be much/any stuff on you Clou that isn't on other vans so i can not think you would have much problem getting work done.

Getting it done to Lenny's standard might be the problem and is why I do most of the work on our Flair.

Martin

 

[Robert Clark]

Lenny
Does your fridge have an AES connection, which can make the fridge run on 12V if there is spare solar capacity?

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[sallylillian]

Robert, th

Lenny
Does your fridge have an AES connection, which can make the fridge run on 12V if there is spare solar capacity?

Robert, I have just run a wire from the AES connection on my new regulator to the S+ on the fridge (8555) and it works a treat in fact, and I have been having discussions with @funflair who helped me with an instruction manual in English for the regulator, but interestingly when on EHU and an appropriate excess of solar 12 volt the fridge switches from 230 to 12 as well. If you are having solar on the Arto, N+B fit the CBE unit to feed into the main panel (unless they have changed), but its pretty basic so I got them to fit an MPPT unit which had a temp sensor and an AES out connection.

 

[Robert Clark]

Robert, th

Robert, I have just run a wire from the AES connection on my new regulator to the S+ on the fridge (8555) and it works a treat in fact, and I have been having discussions with @funflair who helped me with an instruction manual in English for the regulator, but interestingly when on EHU and an appropriate excess of solar 12 volt the fridge switches from 230 to 12 as well. If you are having solar on the Arto, N+B fit the CBE unit to feed into the main panel (unless they have changed), but its pretty basic so I got them to fit an MPPT unit which had a temp sensor and an AES out connection.

Hi Michael

Is this wire from the solar regulator to the S+ connector just a signal wire, or does it power the fridge from the solar.

I'm not having pre installed solar - it will be fitted afterwards

 

[funflair]

Hi Robert

The wire is just a signal wire 200ma from memory and it goes to the S+, your fridge then thinks the engine is running and will stay on 12volts for a minimum of 30 minutes or longer depending on the amount of spare solar available.

I believe you fridge will be running from the hab batteries in the Arto as I am sure it will in Michael's Flair @sallylillian ours is.

Martin

 

[sallylillian]

Robert it is a single wire not carrying and significant amps, indeed its milliamps I believe. Frankly others on here will be able to advise, this is my first foray into solar and AES. If you are having a Victron inverter charger make sure the solar regulator is temp sensed too.

 

[Robert Clark]

Thanks guys appreciate that

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[sallylillian]

Indeed as Martin says the wire is a signal only saying switch to DC now, and the fridge runs from the hab batteries.

 

[Lenny HB]

Lenny
Does your fridge have an AES connection, which can make the fridge run on 12V if there is spare solar capacity?

Yes, I think all AES fridges for the last 10 or so have had it.

Robert, th

Robert, I have just run a wire from the AES connection on my new regulator to the S+ on the fridge (8555) and it works a treat in fact, and I have been having discussions with @funflair who helped me with an instruction manual in English for the regulator, but interestingly when on EHU and an appropriate excess of solar 12 volt the fridge switches from 230 to 12 as well. If you are having solar on the Arto, N+B fit the CBE unit to feed into the main panel (unless they have changed), but its pretty basic so I got them to fit an MPPT unit which had a temp sensor and an AES out connection.

Interesting, so I could run a wire from my CBE Solar split charge relay so that it switches over when battery volts above 13.6v. Probably not a good idea in my case as I have gel batteries and they would probably never get fully charged, could build a comparitor that switched at 14.2v but Gel's still need 14.2 for 8 hours for a full charge and running the fridge would pull the volts down. I don't think I'll bother as I have 2 x 14kg gas Alugas bottles.
The fridge will run off the hab battery if switched 12v when on manual anyway.
Can't se the point of it swiching to 12v if you are on EHU.

Hi Michael

Is this wire from the solar regulator to the S+ connector just a signal wire, or does it power the fridge from the solar.

I'm not having pre installed solar - it will be fitted afterwards

Just been looking it up after reading Micheal's post, yes just a signal wire that tells the fridge to switch to 12v.

 

[Robert Clark]

How much power does the fridge draw on 12v?

 

[funflair]

How much power does the fridge draw on 12v?

Depends on model but about 16amps sticks in my mind.

Martin

 

[Lenny HB]

How much power does the fridge draw on 12v?

Too much, the 8505 is rated at 120w, so 10 amps, or 200 watts of solar in bright sunshine in at midday June.

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[funflair]

Dometic RMD 8505 actually shows as 170w/14amps, consumption in 24 hr period 3.2kwh or 380 g of gas.

Martin

 

[Lenny HB]

Dometic RMD 8505 actually shows as 170w/14amps, consumption in 24 hr period 3.2kwh or 380 g of gas.

Martin

Just noticed they very depending on exact model, 120/130/170w.

 

[Lenny HB]

Right, let's get this thread back on track.
Only a little job today, a R/A Hella socket in the garage just tapped into the lighting circuit. Only for occasional emergency use for pumping water over. Hopefully won't have to do it too often in this van it has a 150 Lt tank the Exsis only had a 100 Lt tank and I always carried 40 lt in the garage.
Stuck now waiting for bits.

 

[Dorset Diver]

@Lenny HB I'm really impressed with the mods you are making; I wish I had your skill and knowledge. I am also intrigued as to from where you are getting the internet feed for your router. Is it from a satellite system?

 

[Lenny HB]

@Lenny HB I'm really impressed with the mods you are making; I wish I had your skill and knowledge. I am also intrigued as to from where you are getting the internet feed for your router. Is it from a satellite system?

No satellite, I did say I either put an aerial on the roof, or I plug in a dongle with a Three data sim.

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[Dorset Diver]

No satellite, I did say I either put an aerial on the roof, or I plug in a dongle with a Three data sim.

@Lenny HB Apologies, my failure to read and understand. I use a Three 4G Huawei E5573 "pebble". This seems to work well simultaneously on a number of devices without the need for an additional aerial; so, what benefit does the additional aerial and router provide?

 

[Lenny HB]

@Lenny HB Apologies, my failure to read and understand. I use a Three 4G Huawei E5573 "pebble". This seems to work well simultaneously on a number of devices without the need for an additional aerial; so, what benefit does the additional aerial and router provide?

Main use is for wifi I can connect my aerial and pick up wifi signal very useful for Fon, also I can plug a dongle into it then it works like a mifi.

 

[Lenny HB]

Fans & controller for the fridge arrived this afternoon.

I even used heat sink compound when mounting the sensor.

How lucky a perfect fit by the consumer unit.

 

[Robert Clark]

Fans & controller for the fridge arrived this afternoon.

I even used heat sink compound when mounting the sensor.View attachment 158424

View attachment 158429


How lucky a perfect fit by the consumer unit.
View attachment 158427

Did you fit a switch to control the power to the stat ?

 

[Lenny HB]

Did you fit a switch to control the power to the stat ?

Was going to but you can power it off from one of the buttons, you can hear a latching relay drop out when you power it off also it's fed from the 2A fused fridge circuit.

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[Hellski]

Fans & controller for the fridge arrived this afternoon.

I even used heat sink compound when mounting the sensor.View attachment 158424

View attachment 158429


How lucky a perfect fit by the consumer unit.
View attachment 158427

Sorry to ask yet again but would be very grateful if you could please point me in the direction of where you purchased the fans & controller from

 

[Lenny HB]

Sorry to ask yet again but would be very grateful if you could please point me in the direction of where you purchased the fans & controller from

This is the controller, you can buy a lot cheaper if you don't mind waiting for them to come from China. , I tried various fans over the years, only fired these up briefly yesterday they look really good, shift a lot of air, very quiet & cheap.

 

[sallylillian]

This is the controller, you can buy a lot cheaper if you don't mind waiting for them to come from China. , I tried various fans over the years, only fired these up briefly yesterday they look really good, shift a lot of air, very quiet & cheap.

What temperature do you set the controller to switch on the fans Lenny?

 

[Hellski]

This is the controller, you can buy a lot cheaper if you don't mind waiting for them to come from China. , I tried various fans over the years, only fired these up briefly yesterday they look really good, shift a lot of air, very quiet & cheap.

Excellent, Thank you @Lenny HB very much appreciated

 

[Hellski]

Sorry @Lenny HB for all the questions Parts ordered, so again thank you for the links.

I see you've used cat5 which I presume is to feed power to the controller from the fused supply to the fridge and then back from the controller to power the fans as and when the relay clicks in, is this correct?

Regarding sensor location, where have you fixed yours?

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