Leisure battery / main battery

27/11/22

Decided to fit the main battery isolator into lower side panel of driver's seat.

That way I'll see it when I get in and it will be easy to switch off/ on etc. 

24/01/23

Was worried about the smart alternator start up current being to much for the Victron unit when driving if both batteries where still " inline" 

Yesterday I moved the van around to our driveway to load the new unit in, and forgot to disconnect the main battery! 

Realised about an hour later so checked via the Victron app! All OK ! 

I have set parameters on the app to not charge over 14v so as the alternator puts out 15+ volts on start up then settles back to 12v once startup power is replaced it would appear to be fine to drive whilst both batteries are linked!

Just checked again 

Batteries showing 12.82 v

Solar panel 100w charging at 16.7 volts! Day is overcast 

Looks like the problem is solved 

We have LED lighting.

12v Propex Heater takes 10 mins to heat the van on a morning during an autumn trip to Durham which is the only " power hungry" 12v item we have on board. 

We have just replaced standard 60 ltr fridge with a chest fridge, more efficient will run in 12v or 240 mains. 

Battle of the batteries 13/12/22

As the vehicle battery cables are still in cab, I thought I'd see if the solar panel will charge it direct without to much hassle! 

The small 5 amp dashboard solar panel cannot keep up with the modern demands of Euro 6 engines with all the ancillary electronics working in background when vehicle is not in use.

Now that I'm retired the van sits for periods and I need a way to use the solar panel on the roof (100amp) which currently is monitored via Victron MPPT unit charging the liesure battery and does its job keeping it topped up! But I also need to keep the vehicle battery topped up!

The battery cables that run from vehicle battery to liesure battery and in turn the 12 v system in van, fridge, Propex, lights etc. Are still in place albeit tucked away! 

So I reconnected the fuses to the live cable from main battery checked voltage via meter 12.19 ! Not good! Then temporarily connected the live vehicle battery lead to the busbar. 

And opened the Victron app! 

Went haywire 🤣 

Settled down but realised that it was trying to equalise the 2 batteries. So disconnected the leisure battery live. And it settled down! 

Monitored it for 15 mins, not a lot of sun but the solar panel was putting out 15 volts enough to show it was charging the main battery. 

20 mins later vehicle battery had gone from 12.19v to 12. 35! 

So it worked!

I'll leave the leisure battery  disconnected till the vehicle battery is topped up!

It would appear that the MPPT charger will charge 2 batteries wired in parallel. But no info re smart alternators etc. So best leave it as smart alternator can charge at over 15v at start up! Don't want to knacker the Victron unit as they cost a lot of money! 😂

So I'll just wire in a battery isolater switch I already have and reconnect leisure battery! With a note on dash board 😂

major U Turn

The bed thing is nothing but hassle and as Birch ply prices have gone thru roof 2 x sheets £300 delivered, plus hinges, runners catches etc etc.

It's cheaper to buy ready made Birch/ lightweight ply units from suppliers! Even including delivery! 

So we revert to standard layout set up!

2 units purchased, should turn up by mid January 

19/11/22 Rear Bed

Bed build started today

Turns out the main section will be 4' 6" square to enable full use of RIB bed seats below it as beds as well.

A pull or fold out section of main bed will be slightly over the RIB beds but will allow sleeping to be either head or feet under main bed. With poptop bed giving sleeping for 6 possible!

24/11/22

Basic 4'6" sq frame made for bed. 

Measurements taken for legs to give correct height.

Weathers rubbish again so waiting on dry day I cut the legs. 

Also removed the interior LPG pipework. When weather is dry I'll be able to remove the tank and pipework under the van. 

Decision made to use portable hobs that use Campingaz CP250 Gas Cartridges we have one unit so will buy another to give us 2 hobs. 

Not sure about the oven at the moment but we will need a small 5/6ltr refillable Gaz bottle for the Propex Heater so that would double for the oven use. 

Quick release connections will make it easy to swap. Propex is only used late in the year camping.

31/10/22 12v board

Mains looks a bit by wonky!! Must of knocked it !

Wiring needs tidying but it's cold and damp today! I've got some flexible conduit to thread the wiring thru, it's split along the length so easy job once I'm happy that all works. 

But it's all working no fuses blown!

Blue box is Victron Energy MPPT 75/15 running the 100amp solar panel. Small black module next to it is the Bluetooth connector newer ones have built in Bluetooth! This charges the 100 amp standard liesure battery via solar panel. 

LED lighting

Propex Heater 

Along with the new Coolbox when plugged into 12v . 

A week away last month with no mains hook up it all worked fine. Weather was sunny mostly!

So the odd couple of nights away this will cope fine, any longer we'd use hookup anyway, and have a charger. Wife's not keen on free camping! 

The spare live cable ( bottom left) runs from main battery from previous split charge set up. Left it there just in case I'll need to add split charger for smart alternator etc. 

17/10/22 LPG board

Fitted the LPG board and fittings to rear NS of van this morning. Only had to undo one fitment! Hopefully won't have to lower it when fitting bed etc. Difficult to judge but room to adjust anyway!

REFURB starts 16/10/23

Rear of van emptied, swept clean.

Making a ply panel to mount LPG taps filters pipework etc. Will be mounted on NS at the back near hatchback. It should sit just below the bedline! 

Giving it a coat or 2 of white emulsion before setting it up!

03/10/22 refit starts

Having had a week in Durham / Edinburgh it has been agreed that we need a proper bed!

So strip down starts!

Already bought replacement for fridge, a 40ltr cool Box mains and 12v 

OS units and old fridge out! 

Kitchen dismantled and removed.

Trip to tip next week to get rid of the units. 

Then a good scrub down and buy timber!

Trip to Durham

17/09/22

Off to Durham next week, first proper trip for a couple of years! Visiting family, Edinburgh, Durham City and Beamish! 

All electrics are working well! 🤞

 😅 

Durham trip went well, revisiting some places as my wife comes from there. Van mpg avg 35 mpg so much motorway unfortunately! 

2 miles from home on M27 oil light came on! Slowed down it went out. 

Next day went to check to find engine oil all over driveway 😱 

£975 later known fault by VW is they've used as plastic cover between the oil casing and oil cooler! Do they acknowledge this? Only enough to want to charge £1500+ to sort,😡

Local garage £925.00 guess who got the deal 😂 they told me that VW aware and always have 4 kits in store!!!! Thanks VW really good of you 😡

Down side is underside of van a mess, garage cleaned off belly pan but advised it be steam cleaned. Can't find anywhere that is willing to do! 

When hosepipe ban over will have to remove the belly pan and power wash it with Gunk or such! 

Once upon a time a covering of oil under a vehicle was classed as rust protection!

So once I've sorted the belly pan I'll have a look see what it's like! And decide what to do!

Batteries/Solar

So been monitoring both Batteries ( leisure and main) using the Victron app and the Bluetooth gizmo on main battery.

Everything doing what it should do at last! 

Next up Do I refit Sterling Power B2B Unit? Just to take care of leisure battery charging whilst traveling? HT wiring is all there still, just won't use its solar charger part. Decisions Decisions 

Solar Saga

02/08/22

Yea the new panel has done its job, I've got a full read out on the victron app everything doing what it should! 

That battery

02/08/22

Spent half a day making the battery compartment deep enough for the new leisure battery as it's shorter but 1" taller!🙄 

Fortunately just a case cutting into the floor where it should sit,  it's a pain in the behind, but have a Bosch hand held multi blade cutter took a couple of hours cutting away section at a time as there the leisure battery + - cables run just under it until I found them (had a reasonable idea where they were run)

So another job done other than just re fitting the safety strap. 

New Solar Panel

Fitted the solar panel to roof today.

The old flexible one packed up, so I brought a solid monocrystaline 100 amp unit. 

Along with 6 mounts. 

Mounts fitted first

Then lined up over old one which is stuck to roof, not worth removing it as can damaged fibreglass.

New one just fits some of the new " feet" are sitting on old panel.

Set up position

Then masking tape along edges.

Slid the panel away from OS mounts piled the sikaflex 522 within the masking tape.

Repositioned panel. Middle bracket sat a bit proud ( fibreglass poptop) 

So piped in some more sikaflex. 

Pressed brackets down a bit to settle it and help adhesion. 

Had to reposition van as my drive is only just wide enough, so I could do the other side. 

All in place then time to remove masking tape and clean up! 

Sikaflex is white but couldn't get black anywhere! 

Needs about 24 hrs to cure fully so will leave it till tomorrow to run cabling into van.

Hoping that I can tape new wires to old ones and pull thru! 

Original fitted one, the wires are 4" apart going into the roof then join together inside. This might be a problem, as it looks like they bend inwards to the centre then come into the poptop. 

The new panel already has the male n female plugs fitted.

I removed one to have a look but without remove the male n female plug parts might not be flexible enough to thread thru to the  inside. 

The original wires were just spliced onto a slightly thinner cable then threaded into van.

I suppose it is an option if first attempt fails!

Pm

Time to wire the solar panel

Wasn't able to join old to new wiring to pull thru hole. 

Had to drill out the hole in the poptop by a millimetre! To get new wires thru! 

Once done I spliced the internal wiring to the panel wiring. 

Hooked up battery and the Victron MPPT unit lowered the poptop to get as much sun as poss 16:15 hrs. 

Paired the app

Success all systems working as should, previously the app wasnt giving full info, which I now know was the fault of the failing old solar panel!

Just need some old fashioned cloth insulation tape to wrap the internal wires.

Gave the solar panel a tug and a shove no movement other than the van rocking! 

Pulled up pushed down seems pretty solid! 

Thinking about putting a " spoiler" across front of solar panel I've got some 6" wide thick rubber that might do the job!

Solar Panel

15:00 hrs 18/07/22

Not the best day to sod around in the van but need to see how easy it would be to retro fit the new solar panel!

Wiring goes through poptop into van at back there's a wooden box section across the back which hold van wiring and camper wiring. Which is where the old solar panel wires enter vehicle. Easy enough to get at. 

The original wiring from panel is downsized in the van. Probably to make it easier to thread thru, however, I will see if I can keep the original wiring from new panel! 

At this point I've cut off the old wire leaving a few inches protruding onto roof, hoping to join the new wires to old then pull thru hole. Need to clean area and the entrance hole first. 

Couldn't get sikaflex locally so had to order online.( Sikaflex 522 new version old 512) 

But I can drill and attach mounts to solar panel in the meantime. 

I bought the mounting kit that has 6 mounts 1 each corner 1 eitherside middle of panel. Poptop is a little flexible and as the panel sits around 25 mm of roof middle mounts add more stability. 

Job 1

Thread the solar connector cables thru to the van via box section down offside to connect to the victron mppt . Won't have to remove connectors doing it backwards so to speak!

Sorted easy than expected!

Hopefully threading from down through the poptop should be similar!

Done 19/07/22

Job 2

Mount the solar panel over old stuck on one! Near impossible to remove these without damage. Advice is leave it where it is! 

Attach panel mounts to solar using small bolts.

Position panel and mark with masking tape

Add sikaflex to roof.

Position mounts into place leave to set! Over night at least most seem to give it 24 hrs!

Leisure Battery test

Took out the battery reading was 12.12!

Put on charge via smart charger for 35 hrs.at 13:50hrs 17/07/22 13.65v via multimeter.

Will take a reading same time Monday 18th

15:00 hrs 18/07/22 13.32 v warm day battery removed from vehicle 

11:15 20/07

13.18 v cool day today after heatwave yesterday.

22:00 30/07/22

Now the solar panel is up and running hopefully the leisure battery will be fine! Will be monitoring it for a few days!

Victron/ leisure Battery

Battery dropped .1 to 12.22

Not ideal situation as solar panel is in van but gets sun thru window. 

Van is parked in public layby next to our house so can't put panel outside of van unsecured. 

Add in its to bloody hot to work outside currently! 

If van on drive only gets sun pm onwards but I think I will park van on drive and just put panel on the roof and monitor it's workings! 

Other issue is the battery lost a lot of charge when things went wrong and could be damaged! 

Or easier to just remove battery hook it up to my smart charger and monitor for a week! 

Decisions Decisions 

Solar

Running out of hair to pull out here!

Sterling unit 

Shows solar but liesure battery dropping voltage! Nothing is on, but when I open the van it shows solar light and power? Ignition off etc. Also then remote gauge fires up and shows low voltage who F'ing knows!??

So I've disconnected main battery from unit. 

Then re wired the victron MPPT with solar panel and leisure battery wires. 

Which on writing this makes me wonder as the leisure battery is powering the 12v accessories via busbar. So not using the load terminal on the victron unit!

I'll leave as is till I've read up again and check battery voltage in a couple of hours. 

If no improvement ( it's hot and sunny) maybe the 12v need to be separated!

Nope for once I'm right! 

The load terminal is only for say led lighting! Which I have but I'd rather the whole lot go thru a fusebox! 

The victron app is showing live info this time but still not actual solar output on main screen. 

I'll check back after an hour to two as it's obviously building info at present.

12:45pm

03/07/22 Tap

Cold water tap

New Tap securing thread is 1cm smaller than old tap! Therefore the hole for tap on the smev sink hob unit is to big! So in 5 yrs manufacturers have changed specs! 

Gotta love today!

Going to have to make 2 washers for top and bottom 

04/07/22

Sorted tap!

Using hole cutters!

Cut a disc out of 5 mm ply then a  corresponding hole in centre to fit threaded part of tap.

In a moment of genius 😂 decided to cut a small piece out of the ply disc to allow me to thread the wires thru without having to dismantle and disconnect the wiring.

So undid the retaing nut lifted the tap slid the wooden washer into place dropped it back in the hole and threaded the locking nut back on! 

More blood sweat and tears avoided! 

Now what! 

Oh yeah thought it best to check 12 v inputs etc whilst I'd been fiddling and flippin earth wire came loose from solar panel! Easy fix for once!

cold water feed 01/07/22

B2B and solar sorted, now the cold water feed. As said I'd removed the cold water tank from under the van due to the pump hassles. Bought a 10 ltr fresh water tank that fits bottom of kitchen unit ( hoorah!) 

No the witchcraft of 12v wiring. 

Could I get it to run, could I get it to stop? Could I heck as much!

Blew a few fuses couldn't find the issue.

Either the cold ran and not turn off or nothing!

Taps got a microswitch mmmmmm ! 

I've a removable panel just below the worktop above the oven. I could just get at the tap securing nut. 

Can I replace the microswitch? can I get at it?

Nope seems sealed! Great !

Ordered a new tap.

Removed the tap today. Was about to be throw it in the bin but decided to have a look at the internals. 

Turns out the microswitch wires were entangled and basically shorted out! Also the lever within the tap that actuated the microswitch wasn't even touching it! 

Bonus is I can now see how to pull apart the tap to get at future microswitches!

Remove spout pulls off

Lever can be removed via the small plastic plug on the top and undo screw ( the plastic plug is thin and will split).

Remove the small attachment that holds spout by gently pulling and twisting.

You can then  prise the body of the tap off the inner workings to expose the microswitch! Gentley does it tho! I did by using a small screwdriver working around the cover to loosen, then pull a bit. 

You can then prise/ pull the cover off the internals. 

I've also watched a video where the guy said get a couple of microswitches for your tool box! Must be common!

now the cold water pump saga!

Needed a new water pump, arrived has 3 wires, tap 2! 🙄

Copious YouTubing and no configuration seems to do anything but blow the 10 amp fuse!

Contacted Whale they said thier 12v submersible pumps don't have 3! Stitched!

So ordered direct from supplier a 2 wire submersible pump! 

Only problem will be if I've knackered the tap micro switch, my luck so far it will be! 

Yes I have the correct wiring configuration. 

So I can only hope 😂

day 12670

Well the SP unit seems to be doing its job solar panel wise. Leisure battery OK decent voltage coming from 100 amp monocrystalline solar panel which is inside the van on worktop by window! Currently putting out 17.4 amps at 11:00 am sun not overhead yet.

24/06/22 SP Remote unit

The remote unit plug got stuck in the guage and getting it out knackerd it!

Que £23 for special tool to prepare and strip wires, then crimp the darn plug into place! 

Can't purchase a new wire on its own just complete unit £85!

As the remote gauge wire was about 10mtrs it was a good time to shorten it! 

I used the removed cable to have a play but had ordered 2 plugs in case! 

Following instructions was actually fairly simple hoorah! 

Couple of attempts at getting the micro cable the right length for the crimper made sure I had wires correct order and carefully pushed them into place ( plug clear plastic) 

Put plug into the correct gap for size, squeeze job done!

Fitted to sterling unit fired up ignition success!

Phew!

sterling unit / solar panel

21/06/22

Not getting solar output thru sterling unit. Turns out my solar panel is knackered (6 yrs old) flexible one attached to roof when pop top fitted 6 yrs ago! 

I'd bought a solid 100amp solid panel in the sales a couple of years ago but never around to fit it! Lent panel against van in sun, 20 volts going in straight off ! 🙄 And with just 6" strip of the panel in the actual sun resting on top of the kitchen unit got 17.5 amps that'll do thank you. 

At this point I don't think I'll mount it on the roof leads are long enough to rest it against van where the sun is! I've also got extension plugs so wouldn't have to faff on rewiring it to sterling unit etc.

Next up .... Water pump sort and test heating system 

Sterling Power unit

So as the Victron unit not doing what I thought it might. 

I've refitted my Sterling Power solar B2B unit. 

Removed liesure battery to charge it up, and when connected to battery it showed less than 15% ! 

That just proves things aren't working correctly! Hopefully no harm done as part of the chargers routine is recovery, it took about 6 hrs to get it up and running!

19/06/22

Finished fitting the Sterling Unit.

Ignition live

Battery heat sensor

Hooked up vehicle battery live 

Reconnected vehicle battery live to SP unit.

Fired van up and gave it 5 mins to sort itself and checked outputs. Liesure battery getting the full 14.5 Initial charge as is the main battery. 

Sterling unit has defaulted to AGM 2 But from memory I need to go for a drive for it to settle in. But should be fine. 

Only thing to check is solar side of it, the light wasn't on this morning but multimeter showed power but battery was fully charged etc. 

keep an eye of liesure battery 

Checked 12v stuff all okay but cold water supply pump didn't! 🙄 Hopefully just needs a clean either way it's a faff as it's under the van. 

But I need to test LPG, tanks under van anorl!

20/06/22

11:40

All SP unit wiring ok power where it should be leisure battery 13.5 v 

SP unit solar light not on so need to check although there is plenty of power from solar bright sunny day !

Next up piggy back fuse for ignition live

Sterling unit needs ignition live. 

On the T6 it can be found under the gear lever on passenger side.

Easiest way I found was to find a blank fuse space stick the piggy back in check to see if it is live or needs the ignition on simples. 

I've spent ages online and it seems there is a myriad of combinations of how and where the fuses are placed.

But it's the mini ones which is what you want. 

I've got a rough idea where mine was. 

If you've large hands you'll probably need to remove the cowling, good luck 🙄 

I can just get at mine. 

If there a ignition live free use that, if not your second fuse will need to be lower than the one your piggybacking onto.

Reason it's best to use a blank fuse socket if it's available! 

Using volt meter check the socket to see if  its a switched one via ignition and use it! 

There's plenty of videos online re this!

19/06/22

Mission accomplished, found a vacant ignition live " mini fuse" socket so just plugged the piggy back into that, saves faffing about setting up conventional fuse. 

good grief!

With battery not getting a decent charge especially as it's been flipping hot last couple of days, I was at a loss! Couple of days pondering over tinternet tbh the victron is really solely for household unless you add a bank of very expensive other victron products it won't perform well IMO. 

A day of surfing on net I've come to the conclusion of it'll be cheaper and easier to just refit my Sterling Power dual charger with built in solar! 

I've isolated the MPPT to only send its power to the battery direct and isolated 12v accessories. 

A small amount of charge is going into the battery but not really impressed! Seeing as tho it's been high 20's last couple of days!

So the Sterling unit is basically a split charger designed for smart alternators/ regen braking/ stop start.

Fortunately I left the main battery live feed in place, unfortunately I totally removed earth cable! 

But least I know where the 1" hole in ns bulk head is to run it into van! 😎

It's a faff sure enough.

Remove main battery front clamp 

Slide battery forward to grill

Right side of bulk head low there's the 1" hole.

You'll need to remove 

passenger glovebox

Loosen door seal at side of dash 

Carefully remove child lock panel and unplug. ( You need all the access you can get)

Remove lower panel in foot well, it fills the gap between glovebox and bulk head. Pulls off. 

I then ran some stiffish cable down into the hole ( about a foot long,) red is easy to spot lol. 

Back under dash you might be lucky and spot the cable if not thread a bit more in.

It's tight and I dont have big hands but if you can see it pull it down, less obstructions if you keep to the wheelarch.

Gentle pull thru to bottom.

Back in the engine bay tape earth cable to red wire. 

Push carefully few inches at a time then go and check if you can see HT lead gently pull in red cable. Swapping back and front till you can see it or get hold of the lead. 

Pull it thru enough to remove guide lead. 

You've won! 

Undo the two cables go have a beer! 😂

Pull HT cable thru until you've enough to attach it to negative battery terminal left in the engine bay.

I only needed to have enough to reach behind the rear seat but allow enough to reach wherever you need obviously! 

Mine runs under the rubber mat just up against the plastic footwell there's enough space for it to sit under the plastic lip. 

I've also enough space under my flooring which runs from back of front seats. I used some black 1" wide rubber seal which fits snugly in the gap. Right to where it exits into battery box.

Of course this is oh so much easy if done pre build 🤪

From this point it's easy 🤞

Run earth from battery to sterling unit

Run live to sterling unit.

In my case already in situ.

On a lighter note!

Was going to build a frame and door around the LPG pipework, but having fitted the table post next to pipework I decided to see if my table would fit, it did!

Pipework covered less weight! 

Victron MPPT 75/15

Been a couple of sunny days, leisure Battery charge improved to 12.58 (12.2 pre) already so it's doing its job! 

Just waiting on call back re app not showing solar readings etc. Although in the app my battery shows as 12.38! So it's out of date. Along with solar readings that are shown are way down than actual readings taken on multimeter (13.6)

Given up Victron suggested I contact supplier of Bluetooth module I have still waiting for reply! 6 days and counting. 

If I don't get reply I'll be back to victron! 

Meanwhile

Did a reset as per victron help site no joy! 

Still only shows some info on app " trend" of charge from solar. But it's easier just to use my multimeter all working fine!

So removed the dongle as it not doing its job!

More hassles 09/06/22

Over last couple of days battery not getting it's charge! Cannot find reason! 

So disconnected everything! One at a time first from fuse box, the propex seems a bit dodgy so disconnected via fuse box

Oven, fridge, water all ok 

Checked battery leads. 

Refitted Bluetooth dongle and a restart on mppt. 

Readings all ok PV, liesure battery and feed, but not showing any improvement! 

Reinstall of the victron app 

Solar was basically flat lining! Liesure battery down to 12.13! 

Checked connected battery leads.

Had 2 earth cables one from main battery one to chassis. Disconnected main battery earth. Checked readings nothing on mppt! Chassis earth cable is still connected to main battery so removed secondary earth from chassis. Reconnected main battery earth

Bingo! Earth point was clean so no idea why it should effect mppt operation. 

However the mppt yellow light is flashing away happily ( charging) and within a couple of minutes liesure battery voltage up by 2 ! 

Checking in an hour or so as it's cloudy and probably rain! 

Fingers crossed. 

Victron Bluesolar MPPT 75/15

20/05/22

Arrived a couple of days ago.

Wired it up easy enough. 

Not built in Bluetooth, so ordered Bluetooth dongle. Took a while to connect but got there in the end ! Opened app all I can see is the current state of leisure battery, wasn't showing any solar input 🤔😭

Nor anything else! 

Checked connections etc all ok. 

Refitted old mppt yep ok 😵‍💫

Refitted solar wires and sat to have a think! 

Emailed Victron and Company I bought it from. 

Then remembered I'd found my multi meter, worth a try! Solar panel chucking 14 odd volts out!!!! Checked leisure battery voltage 12.6 up from 12.3 yesterday! Great at least it's working! All other readings correct! 

So why does the app not show this? 

Hopefully victron / supplier can explain

Picture was taken half hour ago so will check again tomorrow to see, either way it's doing its job. 

Hopefully I've missed some configuration!

New Battery

Fitted new leisure battery yesterday 19/05/22

Bloody thing is 1" shorter and 1 1/4" higher! Why are they not standardised? Same power etc. 

So going to have to re jig cover!!!!! 

Battery saga continues!

15/05/22

Seems the liesure battery is on its way out! Dropped several volts overnight yesterday even to solar panel all ok and it was sunny! 

More copious reading of tinternet beginning to look like knackered leisure battery after all! 

Seems the battery only good for around 4/5 yrs, this ones 6! 

We had a VW T2.5 for 8 yrs leisure battery was fine when it was sold! 

So never crossed my.mind that it would fail this soon! 

On hindsight, we've not used this van much over the last couple of years due to covid and ill health on my part. So didn't occur to me that the battery wasn't getting maintained. 

Now that for the time being anyway, I've just wired it to the solar panel via mppt unit. So that will keep it topped up in future.

We've mains hookup for when we're parked up for a week. So no worries regarding charge etc. 

When I refitted the battery it was fully charged at 12.8 today no load and disconnected 12.2! 

propex heating

Heater control flashing red X3

10 mins on YouTube

Easy fix, cause low voltage surprise surprise! 

Turn heater control to right to heat 1 second intervals and back on 3rd time turn to heat and stop within few seconds it will clear and heater will fire up

Link below highlight and hit open!

https://youtu.be/qBEjaWIYxPo

solar/ liesure battery

06/05/2022

Something is not right still! 

Liesure battery loosing power again. 

All connections checked.

Time to Google 😂

After around an hour of reading checking this and that came across a campervan electrics blog, several ways of working were shown one had the same mppt controller as I have, but 2 ways of wiring it! 

The controller came without instructions 3 sets of 2 connections, solar panel ( tiny picture of what is a solar panel ) battery again small black embossed picture of a battery last one just a light bulb above connection. 

When I got the van it was pre wired to solar panel with the " bulb" connection wired to the interior led lights. Made sense to me lol. 

BUT the digram I found called that connection "load" which means all 12v accessories ! I knew that 😂 

So stating the bleeding obvious, it makes sense that ALL 12v accessories needed to go thru that terminal !

Could this be why I've been having liesure battery issues ? Sounds likely enough. But only since swapping to solar only! So I guess SP unit took care of it all mostly as once or twice liesure battery was lower voltage than it should be but not drained and when we're parked up we use mains electricity. 

So put the liesure battery on charge.

And moved all 12v accessories over to the  "lightbulb terminal" easy enough by using the busbar. 

Tidied up the HT leads going into solar charger and re run 2 new HT leads + & - to the "lightbulb" connection. 

With fingers crossed fired up the propex tick! Fridge..... Bugger! Nowt, slightly loose connection to fuse box sorted tick, oven tick ,

Cold water supply tick! 

Great sunny day so solar panel doing its job. 

Just remembered there was an issue with the liesure battery cut off switch! Faulty So removed when sorting ! 

Damn 12 v voodoo !

So will monitor daily to see how things progress!

11/05/22

Quick check of in & out terminals, I heard the propex " clicking" turns out a slightly dodgy earth cable. 

"Q" re route and tighten of spade connection seems to have done the job.

Leisure batter V reading 12.4 

Will still monitor for a while just incase it's also the leisure battery starting to fail (6yrs old) 

Independent Solar Power

I've fully removed the Sterling Power unit and now just use a 5 amp solar dash panel to keep the main battery topped up as I'm not using the van much so can sit for a couple of weeks etc. This seems to work ok now I've unlinked the liesure battery from the main. 

The liesure battery is now topped up by my 160 amp solar panel on the roof. Using a basic MPPT charge controller. On a sunny day it'll pump 13 + volts to the liesure battery as needed. 

Already in last 24 hrs the main battery has gone up to 13.5 v from 13.1.using just the 5amp solar panel. Bearing in mind I've smart alternator regen breaks and switch off the stop start and battery is only 2 months old!  I just don't think the SP unit is coping as it should for some reason. 

Wired as per SP's diagram. 

There's also a lot going on in modern car electronics, as instructions for the dash top solar panel state best connection is to use the DIN socket ( mines just under dash easy to access) yet over a 24 hrs period the battery lost nearly .50 volts causing the monitor to send me warnings! 

I moved the charge cable to direct connection to main battery. And top up is as expected! Warnings have stopped and over the next day battery should be topped up as per needed!

Minor hassle I will need to disconnect the dash solar under the bonnet before using van 2 min job! There's plenty of cable so I've drapped it over steering wheel so not to forget! 🥴

01/05/22

Back from a week away ( not in van) to come back to a depleted liesure battery again!!!

Solar control ok 

Liesure battery 7.8 volts!!!

Tested all supplies

Tested all negatives

Whilst checking the cut off switch couldn't make my mind up all seems ok but controller saying no charge in battery! At fuse end shows 7.8v .

It's a long shot but I've removed the cut off switch wired battery input live direct to busbar, solar controller live re tightened to busbar. 

By the time I'd tightened nuts and tidied away liesure battery etc it reads 7.9 v !

So it's raining and a 160 amp solar panel will take forever to re charge from 7+ volts I've set a timer for an hour to see what if any charge the liesure battery has! Even it's it's just .1 or .2 more then the problem is the cut off switch! 🤞🤞

Them there doors!

Google have finally excepted that there's nothing " wrong" with Tambour doors 😂🥳🙄

Here is the offending picture! 

The kitchen unit in my VW T6 😂

I'd said previously these doors are the white plastic roller doors used in many a camper conversion they are light weight and easy to fit or be fitted. These are 6 yrs old as this is a rebuild. Phew 😂 

There's a small one below the oven for pots n pans but basically it's about weight saving! 

All that's left is finding my screw caps to cover the 2 screws on the vented panel above oven! 

The unit is an IKEA basic unit cut down as required  ( wheel arch / wiring / fresh water inlet- outlet/ gas piping) . 

Those doors !

This is the 3rd time I've tried to post this! If I don't mention the white plastic sliding doors that begin with T a brand name I wonder if that this will stay posted? 

I'll wait and see before I continue post! 🙄

Rethink kitchen unit

The kitchen unit has 2 cupboard doors below the drawer, and in the scheme of things they weigh a lot! So had a rumage and remembered I'd got some tambour doors that might be long enough. I did, they do! 

I've two that are long enough infact a little to long but you can remove slats easily. 

So, removed the cupboard doors and hinges (amazed how weighty they are!) 

To allow space for the opening spirals and then access to top shelf, I need to drop the shelf to midway, but the fresh water supply and LPG filler hose as usual are in the way so will need to cut corresponding holes in the shelf on left side. No big deal just cut a little and check etc to keep holes as small as possible! Marked the shelf from underneath but will cut about half away to start as there is some flex in the LPG pipe.

Once that's in, need to fit a central pillar to fix the runners onto, with width allowance for the spiral at the top below the drawer. 

Nowt happening today as it's raining and no where else to use the jigsaw in the dry! 

On a weight saving issue, I was amazed just how heavy the doors actually are compared to the lack of weight of the Tambour ones! Despite the obvious that is 😂

Note to self!

In the shenanigans of fitting the panels under the RIB seats must of turned on the power to the sub-amp under my seat! It's wired to the liesure battery ! Flat as the preverbial pancake! Hoping my "smart" 12v battery charger can sort it! 

27/03/22

Overnight charge & desulphate if it needed it! All back in place and sub amp SWITCHED OFF! 🙄😂

Could've been worse could've been the main battery! Which is why I choose to take power from liesure battery! 

Although, as the liesure battery is only charged via solar panel best have the 12v system live! It's not used on campsites etc so won't be a problem.  But wouldn't be a problem if I'd switched it off! Need a on/off with a light methinks!

So far so good

Been monitoring the main battery.

I connected the 5amp solar dash panel to the DIN socket as per AA advice. .03 discharge over a few days which were dull/ raining/cloudy so that was less than what was happening when Sterling Power unit connected!

A few days later and under sunny skies increase in volts from 12.3 - 12.54! So far so good 

Battery is a Exide 80 amp Stop/ Start so it's looking like this basic setup is working well. 

When the new SP unit was fitted it was wired up exactly as the diagram. I sent the unit back and SP were very helpful updated the program etc. But although a little better, wasn't good enough for my use. My van isn't a daily driver, it's a holiday vehicle or trips the tip occasionally lol, 21k miles 2016 T6

06/03/22

Removing the sterling power unit. 

Isolated the live feed from main battery. Disconnected liesure battery.

Removed main battery feed and ignition feed

Refitted the MPPT unit to leisure battery and solar panel.

All working fine! 

So disconnected battery temperature from SP unit. And removed the SP unit. 

So I will be able to check how the two batteries respond to this.

The leisure battery feed via the MPPT unit is working fine on a sunny day today feeding 13.2 amps with an output of 12.6 v checked lights, fridge and propex heater all live and all off when I turn off supply from solar panel.

I can know monitor the main battery properly to see if the sterling unit was draining it, doesn't make sense at this point, but I can't isolate leisure battery with this new SP unit, as it causes all sorts of problems if the leisure battery is isolated. Alarm going of on SP unit telling me it's not connected to leisure battery! 

The campervan won't be used as a daily drive so often now I'm retired, so the only way to stop the two batteries from "equalising" is to isolate, and if I forget to reconnect the SP unit sounds alarm that won't turn off straight away and last time I needed to do a reset! So a few weeks of monitoring will show up any issues but hopefully none!

Wires everywhere but if this works I'll buy a better MPPT unit ( current one is basic but does the job) the newer albeit 3 X the price at least has more controls and possible adjustments to suit. 

We'll never freecamp as it frightens the wife, we have mains hookup when on official sites so probably won't need a fancy unit! 

Next couple of jobs

Fit leisure battery isolater. Tick!

Purchase and fit IKEA wall unit on top of OS units

Top Panel OS units

Couldn't get a decent match in "oak" for the top of the fridge /cupboard units so opted for white as per the units. ( There will be a wall unit fitted on top of these base units so it'll all match anyway!). 

Trip to B&Q sorted a panel in white. Size needed was 1450 x 450 length of the panel is 2.5m so that leaves enough to make housing for Porta Potti! 

So once cut to size I needed to make a cutout at rear to allow heat to disperse from fridge! 

The base units have steel braces X 2 on the top of side panels. And the screws supplied sit proud of the brace. Which means to get the unit top to fit means recessing the braces into the side panels or making corresponding shallow hole for the screw head! Nowt bloody simple ever! 

Or by just screwing the top to the bases there is a small gap between unit and the top of about 2 mm max. White sealant ! 

21/02/2022

Removed metal struts from units and fitted top via the same screws that held struts! Sorted .

If only I could find my countersink bit I could flush in the screws ! Another hunt required 🙄

I'd already decided to re use a small tambour door below the fridge but as the push button catch fell apart on the cupboard next to fridge, I'd had enough so took some measurements and a break at last! I've a couple of tambour doors that I can re use! A lot lighter than the door as well! Main one was only a few inches short of being usable for the whole cupboard, annoying but not a problem as I need to put a shelf in above the wheel arch anyhoo! So I'll just take it to the front edge of the cupboard and fit the other below the shelf! Or use a piece of the old door at the bottom as a stop, come to think of it, bonus of nothing sliding forward and hitting the tambour door! 

Result 22/02/22

Tambour door fitted with a little sanding of the edge 2mm to enable it slide easy into the spiral, just need to cut and fit a "pelmet" at the top to cover the door spiral. Saves a fair bit of weight as well than the traditional door.

Just a shelf to fit, then can move on to the cupboard at the top! 

Door catch trails

It always amazes me how quality over the years gets worse! Annoyingly couldn't get chrome push button door catches for offside cabinet only brushed! 

So went about fitting the spring loaded push button one on cupboard next to fridge. 

First off the whole thing flung apart when I opened the catch! So had to work out how to put it back together etc. It would appear that once the main catch is installed the back is held in place by it! So finally got it installed , now for the catch all lined up so fitted it to wall of cupboard, except the small screws do not resess onto the plate, and that 1 mm was was crucial to the latching of the catch! 

So I had to recess the strike plate by said mm!

Note to self :

Next time allow an extra mm when fitting the push button assembly! 🙄.

sterling power unit

Had a reply from said company re solar panel charger side of the B2B .

It would appear if voltage is right it would turn the charger on, basically it " thinks" ignition has been turned on! Seems a bit of a fault tbh but insignificant in real terms!