Alan and Jayne

G'day Reece, Jaap & Russ Great input guys, & thanks. Jaap, that's exactly what I experienced when I was on the test drive. Seems a strange way for the box to operate. Russ, what you have said is the option used by many who tow a heavy van. However I like to be in control of the gear selection when the car's working hard. Highway cruising is easy, let the car work it out. As we have our boat & 2 bikes on the roof, outboard on the A-frame, this leaves only room for one Touareg spare on the back of the van via removing the 2nd Kedron spare. I carry two spares for the Touareg. I wouldn't dare do what we do with our setup with only one spare. We're looking at a GMC right now. I was inches away from ordering the Landcruiser. But there seems to be too many weight & transmission issues for me. We might end up with the Landy yet, with the GVM upgrade, but Toyota Australia Head Office told me today this upgrade voids your (running gear?) warranty, even though it's dealer fitted before the 1st registration. Thanks again guys. Cheers Alan

G'day Reece Thanks for that. What happens if you have it in S6? Does it stay locked when you encounter a hill? Cheers Alan

G'day all We're updating our tow vehicle. Mostly due to the fact that the new VW Touareg only comes with a collapsible spare which is rated to 80kms/hour which can't be used on dirt roads or when towing, we're considering a 200 Series Landcruiser Sahara. I've already studied all the suspension requirements needed for our 21' TopEnder, so that's covered. What I am concerned about is the transmissions behaviour when towing. During the test drive I've just undertaken, obviouly without the TopEnder on, I noticed that even if you have the transmission selected in a specific gear, it still will change down when you accelerate. Am I missing something here? Is there a way on the Landcruiser where you can lock it into a specific gear & it won't change down? Please don't give me statements like "you should let it change down as it wants" I know when to change down etc, & I want to be in control of this, not the car. The VW Touareg allows you to select a gear & providing the revs remain above the 1500, it does not change down, no matter how hard you accelerate. The Landcruiser didn't seem to be able to do this. I would like to hear from Landcruiser 200 series owners who have 1st hand experience with this as to what I can expect. It's a shame to move away from the Touareg, it's been a great tow vehicle for our heavy TopEnder. Thanks. Cheers Alan

G'day Geoff We have a Qld registered TopEnder & NSW registered tow vehicle. I spoke with the Qld Transport Operations (equiv to NSW RTA) & they said the CTP falls onto the tow vehicle. Our CTP is with Allianz & I spoke to them, & they said it does NOT matter where the caravan is registered (as long as it is registered) it's covered by the NSW CTP from Tow Vehicle. They did say if the van is in NSW most of the time it should be registered here, but as our van is mostly "on-the-road" out of NSW it doesn't seem to matter where it's registered, even though it's garaged in NSW. The grey area is where the van is garaged, but as it's not actually on the road in NSW the most, it's a fine line & an arguable point. I hope this helps. Cheers Alan

G'day all We've just arrived back in Broome off the Cape Leveque Road to find we have broken another latch on our knives & fork drawer. Everytime we hit corrugations this particular knob breaks. We've done about 5 or 6 so far. It's only ever this drawer. Does anyone have a solution for these latches? Maybe a replacement that actually doesn't break? Or is that asking too much? Cheers Alan

G'day Russ & Rick Thanks for your response. That's just as I expected, but it's always good to get actual feedback from long term users. We use "Wunda" silicon spray on our seals. Easier than smearing it with olive oil. But actually olive oil should work just fine. We are very close to "Wunda Automotive Products", so I guess I'm biased to using our products. Now if that's not a plug, I don't know what is! Cheers Alan

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G'day all We've been using Napisan for several weeks now, & whilst it isn't perfect, it's the best we've used. We've tried the "Odour-b-made" tablets & they were totally useless for us. We've used the Tetford blue (holding) & pink (flush) which was useless as the pink actually makes algea. The best success we had with chemicals is with Tetford blue in both tanks! But my money's on Napsan (or Woolies equiv), but I am wondering about long term effect of Napisan on the flushing & holding tanks. We use it in both. Thus my reason for restartying this thread, has anyone who has been using Napisan or equiv for a long term (12 months or more) had any detrimential effect on their tanks or seals? I actually can't see that it will, but I would love to hear from you long term Napisan flushers out there. Cheers Alan

G'day Greg & Sue In discussion with Tom, it was decided that we would try the white silicone on the Araldite as this really seems like the strongest solution. We just need to fix the appearance of thissolution. Certainly replacing the unit isn't optimum, but it is possible. However it'll be the same thin section & I reckon the chances of it cracking again are high. Cheers Alan

G'day Russ Thanks for your answer, as always very helpfull & understandable. I'm interested in how the wiring & thus charge from the Tow Vehicle is handled. In your wiring diagram it shows the wire from the Tow Vehilce going to the Solar Regulator, but them jumping to the 1st battery. Does this mean the charge bypasses the SR & thus LinkLITE & not used in its calculation of the SOC? Further, when I get my sparkie to wire in the DC to DC Charger into the Kedron does he have to put this just prior to the battery or should he pick up the cable before the Solar Regulator? The fuse from the Tow Vehicle is just beofre th battery & therefore I suspect its bypassing the Solar Regulator, but I'm not sure. Thanks & cheers Alan

G'day Sue & Greg Thanks for your replies. I have emailed Kedron with pictures, let's see what they do. I'll kept you posted. I have covered our cracks with a liberal amount of Araldite which I kept in place via electrical tape during setting. This has definately given these areas more strength & to date has stopped the cracks from spreading. If Kedron can't do anything to help here, I'll cover the Araldite with white silicone to improve the appearance. Cheers Alan

G'day Russ Again a really great response which is much appreciated. I am pleased to know when to exactly reset the LinkLITE, that's good. Currently here at Cape Keraudren the batteries are going into Float at around 1.00pm, our vans facing ENE & this seems to be almost ideal as it keeps the Float stage going for most of the afternoon as all 3 panels are in full sun (no shade from the aircon on the roof). When we were at Cape Range we were more south facing & even though it was going into Float around noon, a panel was wiped out due to (aircon) shade in the afternoon. Once the Xantrex C35 goes into Float mode, the manual says it stays in Float for an hour, so if we drop sun during this hour, it stays in Float mode & restricts power. Is this a good thing? Thanks again Russ. Cheers Alan

G'day all We have a 22' TopEnder which has a front facing toilet & combined shower installed. The plastic moulded vanity unit has cracks in it in the corners above the soap holder & more recently above the basin (which we hardly ever use). The plastic thickness in these corners where the cracks are seems to be very thin, thus I guess why it's cracked. Has anyone else had this experience & what did you do about it? Seems to be a manufacturing fault, but as our van is 2009 model I'm not sure what to do about it. Cheers Alan

G'day Russ Earlier in this topic you posted a SOC percentage table. Also it’s mentioned not to let your SOC fall below 75%. Is your chart for AGM batteries or do they have a different chart? Our TopEnder has 3 x 120 A/Hr AGM batteries. We’ve been free camped for 5 days at Cape Range NP and then 5 days at Ningaloo Station, and I’ve been watching our SOC every day. This has me a little confused and I hope you are again able to clarify some points for me. Early in our stay I was getting readings where the SOC was at 75.1% when the voltage = 12.7V, this reading was always noted early morning before sunrise. At night I was getting SOC = 91.6% when it was displaying 13.0V, again this reading was taken without daylight. However 10 days later our SOC before sunrise was 65% with 12.5V. According to your chart 12.5V = 90%. It seems to lose a little of the SOC every day, but it was worse after we moved from Cape Range to Ningaloo. The Xantrex solar regulator later that day was going into Float mode (solid light) with 13.6V but the SOC = 83.9%. Before going into Float mode the voltage gets up to 14.1V but mostly around 13.9V. According to the Xantrex manual this is expected. I therefore reset the LinkLITE when it was at the Float stage. Was this the right thing to do? When we’re on 240V for a few days the charge rests at 14.1V. Our Xantrex LinkLITE battery monitor inside the van has the Chargers float voltage set at 13.6V, I don’t know what our solar regulator float level is set at, I’ve never opened the Xantrex C35 to check. Do you see any concerns about the above? I would appreciate your input and clarification. Cheers Alan

G'day Rick That was very interesting & I appreciate your input. It really shows we could have a bigger issue. Thanks. Alan

G'day John Thanks again for your answer, just fantastic, & your offer of assistance in installing it left me speachless. Thanks. We're no longer in Perth, & are already heading north to warmer weather. As yet the DCDC Charger hasn't caught up with us, hopefully in the next day or two Aussie Post will find us. The wiring in the Touareg will handle it, I also think the Kedron wiring will be Ok as well. Once I get it all, I'll let you know the results. Thanks again. Cheers Alan

G'day Russ Thanks for a brilliant answer. You cleared up the wiring arrangement for me, Tom was right, it was just my understanding of what he said was wrong. You clarified this for me explaining that the panels are in parallel & then commoned together on the roof with one with a single +ve & -ve lead runiing down from the roof. Now that this has been cleared, Tom definately indicated that with our wiring if two of the three panels were in shade, we would only get the charge off the weakest, whereas you're saying different? When we were getting 3A with only 1 panel in sun, I got up on the roof & cleaned the panels, so no bird poop or dust, they were squeaky clean. They weren't really dirty anyhow. Tom asked the same. The only other explaination is that the aircon on the roof was throwing a bit of shade onto the panel in the sun for a lot of the time, due to the position of the sun. I guess 90% of the panel was in full sun all the time. It sounds like I will have to get an Auto Elect to have a look at it. The batteries & panels work great when all 3 are in full sun. Yesterday we topped up to 14.2V & 99.9% SOC in full sun all day & after watching a movie last night etc, they are still at 12.8V & SOC 81% this morning. One question, is the Xantrex C-series Multifunctional DC Controller the Solar Regulator, or is this something else? Thanks again for your help. Cheers Alan

G'day Russ Your wiring diagram is really good. Thanks for that. We have a 2009 TopEnder which gives us some issues with Solar Charging. Not all camp sites are ideal for solar charging with fixed panels on the roof. I noticed when we were camped in Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park, where we had total shade on 2 of our 3 solar panels with the 3rd in full sunlight all day & we were only getting 2 - 3 amps with nothing running, not even the fridge. Therefore we run our batteries down & had to charge from the car. I spoke to Tom at Kedron & he informed me that the sloar panels in Kedron vans which were built longer than 12 months ago, the panels are wired in parallel & therefore will only propuce the power of the weakest panel. I may have this the wrong way around, he may have said in series but the result is the same. He told me that vans built within the last 12 months the solar panels are wired in the other way around ie individually, & therefore if only one is in sun it will produce 7.5 amps or thereabouts. He told me rewiring of this isn't possible in our van. A guy at the 12V Shop asked why they would be wired that way, as it doesn't make sense. I couldn't answer his question. Does the above make sense to you & which way around is it? Does series or parallel gives the charge of the weakest panel? Do you know a solution to this issue if it's actually right? Cheers Alan

G'day John I'm trying to achieve the charging of the Kedron as per our DCDC thread. The additional advantage of the 1500w inverter solution is that we can run our Cappuccino Machine off it! A DCDC won't run it! Yes I know, decadence isn't it? Cheers Alan

G'day John What. A brilliant reply. Thanks! You made a lot of sense & I really appreciate your input. Where do you have your DCDC charger mounted? I think it would be in the car as you charge the fridge in your back end & I guess somewhere between your battery & the standard Anderson plug on your car? We don't normally have a power issue, even when towing & always arrive with charged batteries. But when we are at a standing camp in a National Park that doesn't allow generators & there's no sun, we obviously need a solution. This is a fairly unusual set of conditions, so I didn't want to throw too much at a solution. 99% of the time we're ok. As we are underway on our 8 month tour of this fine land, I won't be at a place to have any fancy wiring done on our Touareg, & I can't get normal Auto Elects to play with the wiring on it. In Sydney I have a great AE that works on the Touareg (ex-VW) & he'll hard wire it in when we're home. So in the meantime I was planning to use the DCDC charger when we are in such a National Park, direct from the battery to an Anderson plug, so rather than running the car for hours to get any sort of charge into the Kedron batteries at the 13A if I connect the DCDC charger direct to the car battery & then to the Anderson plug on the van, I hopefully will be able to reduce the cars idleing time significantly. That's the plan, anyhow. What do you think? Would this work? Cheers Alan

G'day Has anyone tried to charge their Kedron's via their Xantrex Battery Charger using an inverter? I think you would need at least a 1500watt sine wave inverter to do this. They are expensive, to say the least. But it should work?? Any results would be appreciated. Cheers Alan

G'day We have our Topender insured with GIO as they were by far the cheapest we found & we looked at all the obvious ones listed here. They cover for off-road use as well & processed our one claim very efficiently. Maybe not for you, but definitely worth a look. Hope this helps. Cheers Alan

G'day Rod Thanks for your input. From what I've read here a re-wire will cost around $1200 whereas a 30amp DC to DC charger is currently $250. So before I dive in for a re-wire I was hoping to hear from someone who has actually tried a DC to DC charger on a Kedron. Cheers Alan