The Doc’s new hybrid offroad caravan is nearly ready – just a shelf to be made and installed. Photos were supplied today of the van.
Electrics controlled by a REDARC TVMS with the REDARC Rogue added on for more circuits. 645W of solar panels, 400Ah of Lithium batteries and a 3000W REDARC Black Alpha inverter. It has the air suspension option as well. Tyres match the Grenadier, BF Goodridge KO2’s. Plus red go fast stickers. External kitchen with a small internal kitchen. Fridge can be used internally and externally (it is on draw).
The model name XLE signifies external fridge, verse XLI for internal fridge.
The Doc will install his JOOCLA Shower into the van.
TRAVEL BUDDY OVEN Tasks today: 1. Wired the 50-amp Anderson plug to the Travel Buddy Oven. Fitted the KAON insulated door to the oven. 2. Fitted the KAON Travel Buddy mounting brackets to the rear roof shelf. The backing plates had been wrapped in black fabric tape to stop any rattles and let the backing plates blend into the shelf. 3. Fitted the Travel Buddy oven to the KAON brackets. 4. Plugged in and tested the oven – all working! The oven can be plugged into the rear power outlet shown below. 5. Placed spit tubing over the power cable to protect it, then tidied up the run of the power cable to the power outlet. When not in use, the Anderson plug is velcroed to the roof shelf. 6. After fitting the Travel Buddy, the driver loses some rear vision, but it is limited to part of the small rear door on the passenger’s side (RHD).
POWER TO THE CAR TRACKER 7. Used my rear power outlet to recharge the car tracker battery, which normally lasts around 6 months. Worked out how to lay permanent power to the tracker, if needed.
REAR JACK 8. Removed the jack and stowed it in the rear drawer. The jack keeps working loose.
The build is coming together nicely now.
TRAVEL BUDDY NOT PART OF THE ORIGINAL BUILD The Travel Buddy was never part of the build, until The Doc fitted the rear roof shelf and thought of this upgrade. It offers some great options when driving around for better meals. When driving long stints The Doc tends to eat take away, now he can cook my own food.
TO DO Building the fridge slide is the next to do. After that a visit to Expedition HQ for the final work and then off the remote Channel Country in South West Queensland and the dinosaurs in June.
MAYBES Rocks sliders/steps and maybe a small front LED lightbar on the Roo bar. Still thinking about a Redarc EGT and Boost gauge as well. EDIT: rock sliders and a 20 inch Viper lightbar were installed, see separate posts.
UPDATE The Doc just did a short trip with an empty oven on. The Doc will place some insulation over the top of the oven, between the oven and the roof shelf. He wants to minimize heat transfer to the shelf. He is glad he did this test before using the oven in anger for 2-3 hours, there was more heat and heat transfer than he was expecting.
The Doc thinks over time the heat transfer to the shelf needs to be monitored. Reminded once again why The Doc does a shake down test after an install. A few tweaks and she will be good to go.
Double runners on drawers, as insurance against damage by corrugations (The Doc knows it works as my Patrol had the same for 12 years and it survived many, many corrugations);
Removable bed extension, so anyone can access the battery box. Brackets on the cargo barrier for the bed extension, do not impede opening the battery box lid;
Double drawers rather than a drawer/fridge slide combination, as The Doc mounts his fridge on the front passenger seat – not an option for most people;
After seeing globalgregors Grenadier build, The Doc went for the deeper drawers, but the main reason was to give him more storage under the bed extension, an added benefit was more drawer space. Very happy with the results;
The Doc may yet cut out part of the cargo barrier to allow him access to the rear between the two front seats;
Drawer dividers not shown in the images, but they are important to have if the drawers are not full, to avoid things sliding all over the place. They just fit in where you place them;
The vertical space to the battery box lid, is less than the vertical space to the seats in a 5-seater model;
The stainless-steel water tank sits above and just behind the battery box. The tank sits in its own tray, that tray has drainage hoses to either side of the battery box, so any water leak does not spill onto the electrics in the battery box;
The Doc did a lot of electrical work before the fitout, as the trim is now hard to remove in the rear (Dashcam, Anti Rust system wiring, Anderson plugs x 4 (including two solar plugs), Redarc TowPro, etc.);
The water nozzle is gravity feed and accessible from the passenger door (RHD), but you can have a 12 volt version to some other location; and
The Doc is pleased with the position of the twin air compressor. It was going to be wired to the spare stud on the 7-stud busbar, but the cable did not reach (the wiring cable length on the portable air compressor was already preset by ARB). We went to plan B, the spare stud on the 5-stud busbar as it was closer to the compressor. The Doc pointed out both options to ORS before we started (thank you INEOS for giving us this option). The twin compressor has two 40-amp circuits, so the wire ends in the battery box was not an option. Although they are fine for a single ARB compressor. The Doc bought an 80 amp ZCase MEGA fuse to use on the spare stud. The spare stud on the 7-stud busbar has a bolt, the spare on the 5-stud busbar does not (The Doc also sourced a bolt for the 5-stud busbar).
The Expedition HQ package replaces the 13 pin Euro plug with a 7/12 pin flat pin plug and 2 Anderson plugs (one for the caravan/trailer and one for the solar blanket). This is what the rear now looks like:
The XHQ package is not spliced into the INEOS electrics, but uses its own control box, shown here:
The fuse labelled Anderson, bottom centre, is for the two Anderson plugs for the fridge running off the AUX battery (see more below). The small circuit breaker top right (just below the AUX Battery label) is for the REDARC TowPro and the large 50 amp circuit breaker, to the left, is for the XHQ Control Unit.
The REDARC TowPro head unit is up under the dash near the steering wheel.
In a 5 seater Grenadier the XHQ Control Unit fits next to the CTEK 120S. The CTEK 250SE then fits on top of the XHQ Control Unit. There is not enough vertical room in the 2 seater for the CTEK 250SE to be mounted on top, so an alternate place was found, near the aux battery. The metal lid in the 2 seater leaves less room above the XHQ Control Box for the CTEK 25OSE than the seats in the 5 seater model.
In The Doc’s 2 seater the CTEK 250SE was mounted on a Black Sheep charger bracket he already had (the two solar Anderson plugs are attached the CTEK 250SE’s solar inputs. (The solar input LED is not on as no solar panel was attached when the photo was taken):
In addition, Anderson plugs were installed into the side of the battery box and into the area near the jack. Here is the passenger side of the battery box, just below the lid hinge:
The Anderson plug near the jack will have this plugged into it, which will be mounted next to the drawers:
Out of picture is the Anderson plug that will fit into the jack area Anderson plug.
Now a detailed breakdown of the Expedition HQ work.
When the REDARC TowPro was installed yesterday, at Expedition HQ, The Doc had the REDARC controller installed on a Lightforce Switch Fascia. You can see the steering column in the second image.
I will be installing a USB charging port in the LF Fascia powered by the driver’s side power socket.
The Doc may also install a REDARC Boost and EGT Gauge and its dimmer switch can be installed in the LF Fascia as well. A picture of the gauge, not the boring dimmer switch.
The LF Fascia can be used for other purposes, like a UHF pass through, compressor switch, etc. The Doc thought it best to have a fascia for future needs and not mess up the INEOS any more and The Doc has a neat and tidy solution for nay more switches.
The Doc had Expedition HQ, on the Gold Coast, fit the Redarc TowPro Kit, the 13 pin Euro plug was replaced by a 12/7 pin flat pin on its own wiring loom, various Anderson plugs were fitted (5 in total). Two for solar input, 2 for fridges and the last for towing, A CTEK 250SE was mated to the 120S and lastly the Clevershade 270 Awning was fitted. A long day and most of the changes are hidden.
A link to The Doc’s guide on Anderson plugs, commonly used in 12 volt setups in cars for caravan, car fridges, etc. Guide is here with links to the right tools, suppliers and techniques to make great crimps.
All three BLE battery monitors have now been working for 12 months, monitoring two AGM batteries and now one Lithium battery. All are still working. The original review stands after 12 months.
Parasitic drain
The BLE battery monitor does have a parasitic drain on the battery which cannot be picked up by the Battery Management System on The Doc’s Invicta 125 Ah lithium battery. So the battery can be slowly drained over time with the BMS still showing a 100% charge. It seems the draw of the BLE and the BMS itself are too small for the BMS to monitor.
BLE App being updated
The BLE App has been updated probably three times over the year. Minimal features upgraded, but good it is to see regular maintenance updates.
Lithium battery issues
The BLE is not designed to be used on Lithium batteries, so it does not properly monitor the charge, as a Lithium battery has a different voltage profile to an AGM. The BMS has a Bluetooth module that communicates to the Invicta’s App, giving The Doc all the details about the battery. The BLE allows The Doc to see what happens over 30 days and graphs that data. UPDATE: BLE has released a Lithium version of the battery monitor.
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