Ash Burton

Thanks everyone for the feed back. The exterior lights already has been converted to LED from the W fluoro's. It's the lens / diffuser that is the issue, they are badly aged from sun exposure to yellow with brown streaks. On a personnel note I'm not a fan of LED's except for their miserly power consumption. I find the light harsh and as blinding as weld flash. They are not pleasant lights and I have a particular dislike of them in brake and indicator lights as they are bright point sources of light not a body or panel of light / colour as they are not designed to be used with diffusers / lenses thus disappear in demanding conditions like strong low afternoon sunlight. I have resisted changing out the main interior fluoro's in the van for that very reason and where possible I have reversed the halogen spot replacement LED's so that they fire upwards like a sconce using the reflective light of the walls thus avoiding being temporarily blinded every time I accidentally look directly at the globes. Ash

The van has reached another phase of its aging process. Its time to replace or repair that which was replaced or repaired 5 years ago. The Dometic HDC220 has received another set of shelves, a fan, a light and an inspection (It was never wired correctly from my buying it third hand). The rear tail lights have been changed out with new. I should've bought the LED upgraded Narva P/N 94840 like for like as it was the same price as the original Narva P/N 86050 + bulbs! The centre brake only light has been replaced with a second hand Narva unit as the new like for like in LED is no longer available. The interior Spun metal fluoro lights electronic starters died again and have been replaced with second hand as new ones are very, very hard to find. The running lights are now a combination of old Narva non UV stabilised P/N 86310 (the plastic rots within a year) and Narva LED Model 16 which are a far superior replacement just annoyingly smaller thus do not cover over the 86310's mount holes. the TV Wineguard aerial external cable has been replaced as it corroded away. The radio died and a new one has been installed with the annoying multi coloured multi featured mood enhancement that comes with the modern gadgets which will not stay programed as the new units require constant 12V supply to retain their memory. the Elixer bathroom exhaust fans switch & fan blade has been replaced with new as they had corroded and as it turns out the unit was always installed to run backwards - now rectified after 8 years of ownership! The wires into the Steca MPPT shorted out as the insulation rubbed through and was reduced to a melted lump of plastic - very lucky it didn't catch on fire and take the van with it. Replaced it with another Steca unit. Now the next repairs I need advice for; Exterior square lights are very yellowed and brittle and appear to be no longer available. Can anyone recommend a source of the original or a replacement? The Baintech Power supply 240V to 12V 25A still works fine but the cooling fan has always been noisey enough to disturb my wife's sleep and now it is ridiculously noisey to the level it is noticeable during the day & is manually turned off. Does anyone know of a replacement unit that is quite? How do the Solar panels go as they get older? I cannot find any original performance data and suspect I require a third panel to allow for the loss of performance and the power demands of a modern device dependent life. ( My sons computer draws down more power than the panels can produce on a clear summers day, and for him being online is far more important than preserving the food in the fridge!) Would love to hear of others who are repairing and modifying as the average Kedron stock ages and second hand prices are low enough to allow the tinkerers access to them.

Russ n Sue, Just realised where you are. If you haven't sussed it and still want to see how it's done, I'm back in Wickham Tuesday 28th and can easily shoot over to the backpackers to clue you in. Tidy arrangement on your draw bar by the way, I intend to emulate a few of your home spun storage ideas. Ash

Ian & Sue, I thought it was you (Pathfinder). Thanks for the caches. Still a few to go, but in Wickham at the mo, so a good chance at getting them. FabFlyFive Thread starters Russ and Sue, Why? Because! The real reason we do it is because it gives the kids something extra to focus on when we get out and about, after all who doesn't like being part of a secret society that has treasure stashed all over the world? Practically though the really well thought out caches will take you to a place on or off the beaten track and show you things and views that you would have missed plus give you a valid reason to slow down and take it in. In my locale there is one on a walk trail on a bend on the river in suburbia that is just gorgeous to go to, sit at and watch the river slip by. On the minus side it can be frustrating when you fail to find a cache and some of the caches are stupid. For example one in my locale is next to the general stinky waste skip at the back of a decreipt shopping centre. Ash

Thanks John, Exactly the feedback I was after. Ash

Thanks KOGGERS, After reading this thread we decided on the GENQUIP 2kVA Invertor Generator @ $1129.00 delivered. We intend to couple it to a Victron Multiplus load sharing invertor and battery charger. The idea is to allow a smaller generator (pushed for room and weight) to run the AC, we also wanted an invertor for the battery bank and required a charger that was compatilble with AGM batteries. We also have a two panel PV array charging the battery bank as well and may go for a third panel. Time will tell if this was the right decision. Or if indeed the perceived need for available power anywhere was over valued.

Hi Joy and Geoff, We are on our third set of batteries. Even at 2006 that's a really good run. Our last set, Trojan Deep Cycle 120Ah x 3, split the battery casings as they got to that stage of their life where they go into the death spiral of never charging fully and consequently always being charged. I did know they were nearing the end of their life as they were around 6 and half years old, were very thirsty and the fault for not acting sooner and truth be known dishing out a little abuse through neglect is entirely mine. Unfortunately we discovered that the battery boxes function is not to be a fluid proof spill enclosure but a way of securing the batteries to the floor pan. We had battery acid run from the boot via the rotted away tech screw holes through to the end of the bed. We were extremely lucky in that no permanent damage was done except to the galvanised surfaces which have all been cold gal'ed now. Very, very lucky as our annex was in the boot as well and somehow managed not to get wetted by the acid. That's $3k I really didn't want to spend again. We purchased the AGM type of battery and now can only use the solar PV to charge as the battery charger does only lead acid, wereas the solar regulator is switchable between types. We easily noticed how the old model GSL charger alarmingly heated up the AGM batteries whilst charging. Why Absorbent Glass Mat Batteries? Over compensation for the Lead acid batteries splitting. They are far more robust and spill resistant. Now we need a new charger and coincidentally an inverter. You know where this is leading don't you.... : ) To conclude is the Victron you have installed an inverter / battery charger/ shore power connection? If so can you report on its performance as I am seriously considering the Multiplus models purchase and at around two and a quarter thou supply only I want to make sure it’s the business.