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Ash Burton

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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.

 

 

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Hi Ash

Can only advise re the exterior lights. I converted the offside one to LED a while back and proposed to replace the yellowed lens as well. There should be a sticker in the light which will tell you the maker/supplier (I think they are in Oz). However, the cost deterred me just for the lens and after the LED conversion,  I decided it was something that could wait as the light output was significantly better.

Regards

Bas 

 

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Hi Ash

 

I believe the LED change over wasn't cheap, the last time I asked Kedron they were quoting $90.00+ per light globe so I gave up on the idea.  As far as the plastic yellowing I have been looking at simply replacing the entire light with a change over to the newer 250mm exterior strip light and rubber plugging the four holes if the power lead hole is not too large, it will all depend on the size of that hole...

 

Cheers

 

Merv

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Hi again

I found the receipt for the LED for the exterior light - $39. It is a pretty simple DIY.

Let me know if you want the name of the place in Brissy where I purchased it.

Bas  

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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

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Ash

you can get new lens [light covers] from Carac they are at 21 Frankston- Dandenong Rd. Dandenong in Victoria, Phone 97947977, when we got them they were $15.95 each.

Part Number carac  L-DAV004 Light Diffuser  T/S  DELTA. Hope this helps.

Neville.

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Ash,

I have a two year old XC3 and I had to have the battery charger replaced a year ago under warranty. The old charger was also noisy at night and I resorted to turning it off when we went to bed.

 

The new one is an Enerdrive 40A charger that has quiet button. When the button is pushed it puts the charger into a low charge mode that prevents the fan from running - so you don't hear it at all. After 12 hours it automatically resets to its normal state.

As a bonus, it can also be programmed for lithium batteries, which I will get when my AGM's conk out.

 

i am quite happy with the charger and can't hear it at all at night. Even during the day the fan is not noisy and mostly we don't notice it.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Bob

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