cvtripper

Ian, the other questions to ask are: 1. How many Kedron owners have extra solar panels they plug in to supplement the roof top solar? 2. How many Kedron owners really know/understand how much they are using and manage their usage correctly to optimise their battery life? 3. How many Kedron owners would like to get a lot more out of their systems so they can run the electric kettle, toaster etc? Many will not be aware that laying the panels flat on the roof is not the optimal position. The panels are best positioned angled facing directly at the sun. Add to that the shading caused by close positioning of the panels to the AC, that prodices shading and shading from other obstacles left raised thru the day eg NextG aerial, TV aerial, satellite dish etc. Just a line from a thin aerial can cut a whole panel out. I added extra panels to handle this losses - what I call tolerance.

Hello Michael and welcome to the forum. I think you will find Pete was trying to be helpful by directing to past posts - I hope you didn't expect him to retype everything? You will get along much better and get more out of people by being nice. Remember, the advice offered on here is free and people do it in their time - so they expect some appreciation otherwise why would they bother? And Pete is a great bloke - I'm sure you'll see that if you ever meet him. Cheers and safe travels.

I removed he winegard and installed the sat dish in that location. We had 4 x 130W panels factory installed and 480AH of AGM. We couldn't keep up with that. I installed another 3 x 80W panels as that is what fitted best with the remaining real estate - 2 on the sloping part front each side of the Heki hatch and the 3rd between the 2 factory panels in front of the AC. This sorted the issue out and we travelled for 6 months without having to plug in, unless we were under trees. John, If you are struggling now with 3 batteries, I suggest you not only need to increase your solar capacity but also your battery capacity. The solar will help make sure it is charged every day (and earlier) but if you are fully charged early then extra solar will not fix the issue. Best way to increase battery capacity is going with LiFePO4. Much lighter and you can draw more out of the batteries. With AGM, you should not take your batteries below 50% SOC, Li you can go down to 10%, and right down to this level you will still have 12.9/13v, so your inverter will also be happier. Anyone that notices their inverter doesn't work well boiling the kettle in the morning but is ok when the batteries are full, should consider this. Our new van has 700AH of Li and 1200W of solar - Jane cooked a lasagne in the electric convention microwave oven last night - 30 minutes at 80C - it used 30AH. Boiled the kettle, used the coffee maker this morning, no trouble, so this is quite do-able. And she did a few loads of washing yesterday (hot). We haven't plugged in since leaving home 3 weeks ago, and don't intend to. This system is supporting 2 fridges and a freezer, and I charge the 200AH in the truck from the van batteries every 5-7 days. Our SOC this morning is 71% and battery is at 13.1v The 700AH of batteries has a usable capacity of 80% = 660AH. 480AH of AGM has a usable capacity of 240AH. 400AH of Li has a usable capacity of 320AH - I would suggest going with 400AH of Li for most. Weight of 4 x 120AH of AGM = 4 x 32kg = 128kg. Weight of 400AH of Li = 54kg. Cost is the biggest issue but for usable AH capacity, there isn't much difference. Battery prices only: Cost of 400AH of Li (320AH usable) = $2200 Cost of 640AH of AGM (320AH usable) = 5.3 x 120AH = 5 x 330 = $1760 - and not practical = weight is 190kg! NB: These are not what Kedron charges. If you are having a new build, this really is a no brainer - Li is the only way to go. Kedron will have problems getting 1200W of solar on the roof, but you can get 760W if it is laid out well. I would suggest 400AH of Li and I believe Kedron can accommodate this.

+3 for the HD Blackvue WiFi DR500GW. If you are handy, it's easy to install yourself - you just need to get power up to the device. You could leave the lead hanging out and plug into lighter socket but that would be untidy. />http://www.camzilla.com.au/products-info/dashcam-vehicle-recorders/blackvue-hd-wifi-gps-vehicle-drive-recorder-with-16gb-card I also installed one of these: />http://www.camzilla.com.au/products-info/dashcam-vehicle-recorders/blackvue-power-magic-pro It allows the device to continue recording after you switch off - acting as a security camera. It includes a battery saver. It is all hardwired in - I cut off the cig lighter plugs and sockets and looks neat.

Steve, it's not just the safety in the bigger vehicle. The added benefit of things that Toyotas don't have like heated and cooled seats as standard...

Thanks Pete. Best wishes to you and Margaret. Are you travelling at the moment?

Pete, Pete, Pete, It has obviously been too long between drinks! I have owned LCs for a long time and am a convert! I have ventured to the dark side, and would never touch a Ford before. I went the whole way and went the F450 - 6350kg GVM. I can take anything I want! The LC200 I had was way over the limit - i wasn't even game to weigh the Kedron! It did handle it OK, but put a heavy van on the back of the F450 and, well, you wouldn't go back! We have sold the Kedron and purchased a Southern Cross 5th wheeler with an ATM of 4500kgs - so much space and the F truck does not even flinch when a truck passes, or a dip in the road, whatever. Jane can even fit all her shoes and jackets in! Skip the Silverado and go straight to the F truck!

door fly wire is easy - just pull out the rubber strip. Get a $2 roller from bunnings to help reinstall.

And it's easier than the instructions look. Rick, have you replaced the Heki Hatch screen also? If not, it is replaced similarly to the windows except the rollers are fixed a little differently but easy to work out when you see it. We did all windows and heki hatch.

And looks much better than the OEM white screen...

Plumbers glue should be ok. I hope you also used the primer - makes a big difference!

Sikaflex is the answer. The glue fixing the fixings from the factory is useless. We have needed to sika it in 2 caravans,including our Kedron.

Brian, We swapped ours out for a double filter with 0.2 micron final filter. Water filtered better, flows faster and cheaper to replace cartridges and more easily obtainable. I installed the filter in the pump cupboard and gained cupboards space back under the sink. A little re-plumbing required but worth it.

Why is the negative connected via a fuse?

Hi Laurie, You could easily replace that switch with a relay with the coil powered from the tail lights, assuming you use your lights while towing (I do). Nice simple solution to having to remember to flick that switch. David

Exactly what we did, and will do the same next time.

Once you're past Middle Lagoon turn off the main road turns to a really good wide bitumen road. Heavily corrugated to that point. So technically not an issue. Middle Lagoon is the best camp area IMHO. No caravan camping at Kooljaman - not sure why as they allow camper trailers. We camped at Middle Lagoon in 2009 and drove around the rest of the area and found a lot more camping areas on both western and northern sides. You should ring ahead and make sure they are ok and there is room. Check the Hema maps.

Thanks for sharing, Brian. Exactly why an isolator on the input and the output of the solar controller is useful - no need to muck around disconnecting battery wires. Good to see it is all working for you again - bonus is you learnt a little along the way. Safe travels!

Thanks Doug. If you are going with 270AH (90 x 3) of LiFePO4 ($500 x 3 = $1500), my advice is to go with either a single 260AH 12V battery if you can find one or 4 x 260AH 3V cells $350 x 4 = $1400 Not due to the small cost saving but you'll likely have problems balancing the parallel 12V batteries (which are really just 4 x 3V cells made into a pack) Are you sure 270AH is enough? And, yes, add the under and over voltage protection - another few hundred dollars extra to do properly. Yes, I agree, weight saving is worth it.

Doug, What options have Kedron come up with Lithium? Size, configuration?

Hi Mark, You shouldn't be paying any more than $270-300 each for the Ritar 120AH AGM batteries - plenty of sources including Kedron and Springers. Ring Tom @ Kedron and I'm sure he will sort you out. Redarc have communicated their DC-DC charger is not compatible with LiFePO4, so if you change to these you will need to find a new DC DC charger. I don't actually use one between the tug and van - solar will keep things topped up a lot better than the car can while travelling - no different to if you were camping for the day... Do you need the DC DC while camping? If you can change the parameters of your charger and solar regulator, you can optimise for LiFePO4. Over voltage and under voltage protection is mandatory to make sure you don't push the LiFePO4 over it's limits and kill them. I would also recommend a battery monitor (AH meter) to keep an eye on things. If you are happy with your 180AH usable capacity, 260AH LiFePO4 would give about 210AH usable capacity and cost would be about $1500. Weight just 36kg instead of the current 96kg - 60kgs lighter - just slightly heavier than one Ritar AGM at 32kgs. LiFePO4 size is 262 x 220 x 283H 120AH AGM is 328 x 170 x 210H x 3 So you will need a different battery holder - but only one, so you would get some boot space back. Lifetime is expected well in excess of 10 years provided you do not over charge or over draw. If you have the cash, and know how, go for it, but do the research. David

I installed a 40mm PVC pipe across the back of the van and hooked the shower and sink into the side and the washing machine into one end. The other end I added an adapter and pushed on 50mm flex pipe. All components source cheaply from Bunnings. The drain ran a lot faster and no more backflow issue. You may find just increasing the size of your external diversion hose fixes the issue. I suggest trying it without the hose attached and see if the issue is still there. (Might be difficult if you are in a caravan park) Enjoy the ride!