RussnSue

Hi Rod Not much to report at this stage. Still haven't been on the road (but will be in two week's time.) So far the batteries have pretty much been on Float charge as we haven't even been running the 'fridge. I'll let you know how they are going after a couple of weeks on the road. In the meantime, I have changed all of the globes (fluoro and halogen) inside the van to LEDs and will be getting LED replacements for the outside lights when we get to Perth. Cheers Russ.

Hi I fitted 4 x 90 AH Lithium (LiFePO4) batteries about three months ago. I got them from EV Works in Perth. They were about $535.00 ea ex GST. I have a Plasmatronics PL-60 Solar regulator which I reprogrammed to charge Lithium batteries properly, so no additional charger was necessary. I have disconnected my 240 Volt charger and will replace it with one that is compatible, at a later time. My main reason for getting the Litium batteries was the weight saving, but the extra available power certainly doesn't hurt. When you consider that one 90 AH Lithium battery has 72 Ah of available capacity for $570.00 ($7.91 per Amp Hour) and an AGM 120 AH battery has just 48 AH of available capacity for around $400.00 ($8.33 per Amp Hour), then dollars per Amp Hour, there isn't much in it. But....when it come to weight, 15Kg for the Lithium as opposed to 33 Kg for AGM - there is no contest. Life expectancy of well maintained batteries of either type should be about the same. The figures (above) were obtained using the accepted Depth of Discharge figures for each type of battery: 80% DOD for Lithium and 40% DOD for AGM. You can, of course, discharge lower but it is at the expense of battery life (for both types of battery.) Cheers Russ

And here's me thinking it stood for No Income, Kids Evicted. Cheers Russ

G'day Colin It's a pity you aren't doing it the other way around, as we would be able to join you. Nevermind, we have done it before and it is an excellent trip. We did it solo, with a long break at the Alice. Looks like you won't have to worry about going solo, though, as you already seem to have a few takers. Just a couple of things..... As mentioned before, Tobermorey was closed when we came through, so plan an alternative. Also, don't forget to take out permits to cross the Aboriginal lands between The Rock and Laverton. You can get these on-line and they are free. Camping places along the Great Central Road are few and far between, so don't be tempted to drive past one if the Sun is starting to get low on the horizon. Fuel stops along the Great Central Road are also a bit tricky. There are enough of them, it's just that they operate when they are good and ready, not when you want them to be open. We found that the last couple of hundred K's of the gravel section of the Plenty Highway were a bit chopped up and actually bounced one of our kitchen drawers onto the floor of the van after its catch broke. The GCR is in pretty good nick, with a corrugated section between the Olgas and the border being the worst section. The road-base that they used on the first couple of hundred K's of the WA side, has a lot of sharp stones in it, so air-down and slow down and you'll be fine. A satellite phone or HF radio would be a good idea if you end up travelling alone. We hired a sat-phone at Alice Springs to do the Alice to Laverton section, then posted it back to the hirer. Last suggestion: If it has been a long time between rains, don't leave any sort of water container outside the van. Camels will smell it from 50 K's away and will tear things apart to get to the water! Cheers Russ

G'day, I know nothing about 200 Series Tojos, but I had a similar instance recently with my new Disco 4. Turns out that the box would not allow manual selection of gears at all - if cruise control is engaged. By turning cruise off, then using the manual selector, all worked as intended. Once I had manually selected a gear, cruise could then be re-engaged. I would caution against second guessing your transmission. When I got my first automatic tug I spent a long time researching, asking Land Rover dealers and mechanics and anyone else who would listen "What gear should I select for towing?" The best answer came from Land Rover in England who said in an email, "The engine and transmission control systems are designed to deliver optimum transfer of power and torque to your wheels. These systems are adaptive and interact with each other. Taken into account are: fuel consumption, engine load, transmission load, TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE, engine temperature and other factors. Land Rover strongly advise against the use of manual selection of gears when towing. Damage caused to the transmission by misuse would not be covered under your warranty." I think that pretty much said it all and I have left the tranny in "D" for drive ever since, four years of which I have been pulling an overweight Topender. Just a question: If you are happy with a Toureg, why wouldn't you have the stupid spare that they supply and a full-size spare for off-road situatons - which you could probably mount on the van somewhere? Cheers Russ

Perhaps you could figure out a way of fitting Land Rover Discovery 3 or 4 airbags to it. We found out, after four years of towing, that our ball-weight was 650Kg and those airbags are still going strong! Note: Tongue was firmly planted in cheek as I was typing this....so, please, no vitriolic replies. It was just a bit of "Ford Vs Holden" style fun. Cheers Russ.

Hello John and Jean We have sent you an email about this. Cheers Russ n Sue

Yep, you're right Sue. Woollies at Wickham put their Christmas Puddings on sale this past week. I did a double-take when I saw them. I couldn't believe that they'd put them out so early. Cheers Russ

G'day Den and Col Did Bruno's find anything wrong with your charging system? Did they offer any explanation as to why the batteries died so young? Were the old batteries a reputable brand? In the past, was there ever a day, or a series of days, where the batteries were discharged very low due to lack of sunlight or similar? Something doesn't add up with this and I'd be worried about the same thing happening again. One thing you could check is when you are absolutely convinced that no 12 Volt appliances are running in your van, does the monitor agree and tell you that you have 0 Amps of discharge? If not, something is still drawing current in the van and could be an issue. I found that the fluoro light in the front boot of our van was "on" all the time after I must have bumped the switch at some stage. Also, our stereo draws current in the standby mode. Ordinarily it wouldn't be enough to trouble me, but when you are relying on solar for power, every bit of usage is important. Inverters draw significant current, even in their idle state. Cheers Russ

Hi, I have to ask the question..... Why, when you are on a 240 Volt supply, do you turn your battery charger off? Cheers Russ

Hi folks you can always fill your tanks for free at Cossack. It is the same water as at Karratha (pretty bad....lol). The tap is located on the fence line of the Courthouse/Museum building. Cheers Russ

We don't travel with our dog. When we go away the Caretaker that does our job, looks after the pooch for us. The dog has no trouble adjusting to this arrangement. When we leave Cossack we will either find a good home for her or see whether our replacements would like her. This place is all she has ever known. All of which has little to do with the original post.... I do have a question, having never traveled with a pet.....If you go out for a while, as suggested in the OP, what happens when nature calls? Does doggy "hold it in" so-to-speak, or do you have some cleaning to do when you get back? Sorry for the indelicate nature of the question, but it is one of the reasons why we have never traveled with a pet. Cheers Russ

@ Ash Burton: I have the Victron 12/60 charger, which, while not the Multi jobby, uses the same technology for the DC regulation. One issue I do have with it is that when the PV regulator cranks up during the day, the Victron tends to lose the plot in terms of operating in float mode. By this I mean that the batteries are fully charged anyway, so when the PV reg kicks in (I don't bother turning the Victron off) the Victron doesn't even try to deliver current. Now, that's fair enough and not an issue in itself - because the PV reg assumes the role of maintaining a float charge and increasing its output if any 12 Volt appliances are switched on - it's just that after the Sun gets low and the PV reg can't deliver current, the Victron doesn't always step up to the plate. Sometimes I manually have to turn it off, and then back on to get it to work. I thought it was some kind of hysteresis curve issue, where the Victron had to sense that he voltage was lower than some internally predetermined value before it would start, but not so. It doesn't matter how low the battery volts go, it still wont start without a reboot. As I said, not a big issue, especially now that I'm aware of it, but one to look out for. Also, just as a matter of interest, I'm going to replace my AGM batteries with the battery shown in the image. It uses Lithium Ferrous Polymer chemicals to provide the energy. It is a set of four 3.4 Volt cells packaged together to make a single 12 Volt battery. The advantages are: Lighter (1/3 the weight of Lead batteries of the same capacity) (This is the main reason why I'm getting them. My van is overweight.) Can be discharged deeper without damaging the battery. They can be discharged by 80% with no appreciable loss of life expectancy. Can be charged by any charger or PV reg that does not exceed 14.6 Volts during the charge cycle. Are similar in physical dimensions (actually slightly smaller than similar capacity Lead batteries.) Can be mounted any way you like, even upside down! Don't spill. I presently have four 130 AH AGM batteries that should give 520 AH capacity, but as we know, the deeper they are discharged, the shorter their life expectancy. For this reason I have ever only discharged my batteries by 30%, which gives me an effective usable capacity of 156 AH. Three 90 AH LiFePO4 batteries give me a theoretical max discharge of 270 AH but they can be discharged by 80% without damage, giving me a practical available current of 216 AH. So, three LifePO4 batteries at 39 Kg total Vs four AGM at 144 Kg and giving me 25% more available current. No contest! The downside? Price. $535 ea, ex GST. Still, to rid my van of 108 Kg, it will be worth it. They will be mounted under the café lounge seat, behind the axles, which will effectively remove 183 Kg of weight from the towball. (Another major issue with my van.) Cheers Russ

Hi Ash Feel free to pop over any time. We are always here. If I'm not in the residence, I'll be either wandering around the grounds or a short distance away in the ute. I'm not hard to find. Cheers Russ

Thanks John. I am such a dummy at times. I have the new table, but I haven't even opened the box that it came in. Obviously the instructions to mount the new table will be inside that box. Doh! Looking at the link you posted, it is not going to be an easy job. Everything is stuck or siliconed into place, which is going to make getting the old table off a difficult job! Cheers Russ

Hi, The drop-down table mounted on the side of our van has fallen apart and requires replacing. I cannot get parts and so have purchased a new replacement table. The thing is, I don't know how the old one was mounted and don't want to start breaking things if there is an easy way. Anyone done this yet? All help gratefully received. Cheers Russ

Hi Rick, sorry, I can't answer your question (being a Land Rover owner) but I would like to bring something to your attention that you may not know about. Not all iPad models have the built-in GPS. Those that don't can still navigate using the NextG wireless network. You have to very careful to determine how the iPad you are using is navigating because (as we found out the hard way with an iPhone), using the Telstra towers as navigation beacons is a VERY expensive business. Even if you have an in-built GPS you will have to be sure that it is being used as the primary navigation device, as it is easy enough to overlook that the Telstra network is doing the job. One quick way of determining what is going on within your iPad is to turn off the wifi capabilities and check to see if you can still navigate. Cheers Russ

Just added the bit in red to Jacky Jacky's post. This is a bigger issue than it would first appear. Our ball-weight is 300Kg with no load in, or on, the van at all. Because nearly all stowage areas in our Kedron are forward of the axles, the extended drawbar exacerbates the towball weight issue. I weighed our van after our last trip away and found that our towball weight was 650 Kg! (Thank God the Disco 3 has self-adjusting air suspension.) We were only carrying what the van is designed to carry - A couple of bicycles on the drawbar (that's why we got the extended drawbar), a jerry can of fuel, generator in the side hatch. Other than just the usual personal stuff and the annex. I am going to have to move my batteries from the front boot and locate them under the café lounge to fix this issue. I may possibly have to relocate one of the water tanks from forward of the axles to behind, as well. Cheers Russ

This part is interesting. When on tank water, does your pump run for a second or two every so often? If so, that would indicate a leak somewhere beyond the pump. If not, that would indicate a leak in the pipework between the tanks and the pump and a separate leak in the scheme water supply inlet. The system should have a one-way valve that stops the pump from pumping your tank water back out of the scheme water inlet. All pipework from the "van side" of this one-way valve is common to both the tank water and the scheme water. If you are experiencing the leak even when on tank water, (and your pump does run occasionally, even when no taps are turned on), then the leak has to be on "van side" of the one-way valve. It may even be the one-way valve itself. So, odds are, that it isn't the inlet connector at all. Otherwise, the only explanation is that you have two separate leaks. Cheers Russ

G'day John I confess to knowing almost nothing about the ATV Kedrons so this may seem like a dumb question.....Do the ATV models have load-sharing suspension? Your comment about using just one ramp would suggest that they don't. Cheers Russ

G'day Rob. You need to put a ramp under each wheel of the side you need to raise, otherwise the van will not alter its tilt. Also, you will need ramps that will fit between the wheels as the longer ones don't. If you can't get the ramp in the gap between the wheels, you can't level the van. I got a couple of shortish ones, about 400mm - 450mm long I think, made by Fiamma. They work a treat and can handle the weight of one side of the Keddy. Basically I decide whether I am going to drive forward or reverse up the ramps and position them appropriately. I then drive until the van is slightly past the level point, because it always rolls down the ramp a poofteenth when the van is unhitched (van brake and chocks don't prevent this slight movement.) I've gotten quite good at judging how level the van is just by looking in the car mirrors. I'm usually pretty close. I'm a bit anal and actually carry a 250mm spirit level around so that I can set the van up perfectly. Unlike Colin, I always wind the corner legs down coz Sue gets seasick if I don't. Cheers Russ