Cuppa's Camper

[nowoolies]

Hi Ross,
Monitor
Camera

The tap came with the truck, but needs replacing 'cos it drips too.

I did rip out a number of Telstra wires when running the cable for the camera. Behind the glove box was an antenna (small nextg type), & several similar cables that had been cut. These ran down the passenger side pillar behind the plastic trim, down to the floor & out through a large grommet to the canopy.

Does yours have these switches on the canopy doors (See pic below)? Any idea where the wires from them go to?

I note on the power distribution box in the canopy the andersen plug is rated at 35amps continuous. Have you looked at the wiring behind yours? If not I'd suggest you do before plugging too much into it. I reckon the main supply cable from the 2nd battery in the engine compartment, is way too light for the job. I intend to upgrade it.

regards
Cuppa

g`day cuppa
if yours is extelstra the cabling will be fine behind the board
iv`e had mine apart for additions and the cabling is 6mm i believe
all to govt standards

[nowoolies]

On mine, the door alarm wires end up on the dash on the right hand side of the steering wheel, where there's a big yellow light and a loud buzzer. I can have the doors closed but not locked and the alarm goes off, or the doors can be open and the alarm goes off. Don't know where they start, but if you work backwards, it'll probably help.

Ross

g`day Ross there is a reid switch behind the cover plate on the door handle inside the back compartment on all locks ,if you want to silence them pull the light out on the dash you will see the wiring to the alarm remove 1 wire and no more noise ,
i have just had to replace the all the door handles on the rear compartment and the switches would`nt match the new door locks so they got replaced as well
cost for 4 door locks $688.00 .....ouch hay

[DX grunt]

g`day Ross there is a reid switch behind the cover plate on the door handle inside the back compartment on all locks ,if you want to silence them pull the light out on the dash you will see the wiring to the alarm remove 1 wire and no more noise ,
i have just had to replace the all the door handles on the rear compartment and the switches would`nt match the new door locks so they got replaced as well
cost for 4 door locks $688.00 .....ouch hay

Yes. ouch! I'm happy to leave the alarm on.

[Woof]

Looking great Cuppa, well done mate

[Bigrig]

What?? A trip to the UK versus finishing the trol?? Nahh .. cancel mate!! LOL

Safe travels and look forward to seeing the progression when you return!!

[Cuppa]

Well time for an update on my camper fit out.
Little has actually changed since I last posted, but I have been doing some collecting & soon will have to start fitting the stuff I've collected.
Firstly thanks to The Dogman & Dx Grunt I now have a pair of front recovery points to fit. I was amazed at how difficult it was to obtain them, but the guys knew someone over in the west, & they arrived in the mail today. See DX Grunt's pics of the same recovery points. I also got one of those recovery points that slide into a HR tow hitch receiver.

Ok so what goodies have I acquired: Firstly I bought two ARB fridges, a 60litre & a 35litre model, each with a slide, transit cover & tie down kit.
To run these two fridges (using the 35l one as a freezer & the 60l as a fridge) independently of mains power, I've bought 3 x 120Ah Ritar AGM batteries, 1 x 130w solar panel (mount on cab roof) & 2 x folding 120w solar panels. In addition I got a Redarc BCDC1240 DC to DC multi stage charger & solar regulator. When travelling the Redarc unit should keep the batteries charged, but when stopping for more than 2 or 3 nights we'll get the folding panels out. My experience is that even on bad solar days you still get some input & bearing this in mind have sized the batteries to give us a 'buffer' of 3 to 5 days of crap weather. I'll keep the existing dual battery setup (winch) as is except for adding a cable with a switch in it beween the winch battery & the fridge batteries for emergency use.

I have also got together with 5 other folks from another forum for a group buy of some Nasa Marine battery monitors from the UK. This has saved us around $65 per unit compared to buying off the Aussie distributor. Monitor comes with wiring kit & 100amp shunt, to allow measuring of power going in & out of the batteries. My one gripe about the BCDC1240 is that it has no readout other than a few flashing LED's. I like to know what my batteries are doing. Note: In the wiring diagram below, it is only an 'outline', there will need to be a more detailed one with all all cabling, fuses, relays & wires sizes etc at some point.

The Shippshape rooftop tent is now mounted on top of the canopy, but I had a little mishap with it recently. It was bought secondhand, & the elastic straps that secure it's outer cover had perished. On a particularly windy day the elastics let go. Other drivers waved & pointed at me so I stopped to see what the problem was. The whole tent was open & billowing in the wind. Luckily a good samaritan stopped to help me get it under control & tied down. I need to get a new outer cover made up anyway, because it folds out to be a wall, & at the moment doesn't reach the ground because the Patrol's canopy is quite high. We got full annexe walls with the tent, that make up a small room, but not one that is mossie & fly proof, something we think is important , especially when cooking. The annexe walls are also a bit of a pain to zip on (probably why they look unused). So we've decided we won't bother with the annexe walls, & instead will get an Oztent (RV-3) for use as a windproof living room & haven from flies & bities when needed. It will fit into one side (the long side) of the under tray compartment if we store it in a slightly wider bag than the one it is supplied with.

Hot water is an essential item to keep MrsTea happy. In the bus we have a Sigmar Marine 20 litre heat exchanger HWS (calorifier) with added insulation. 15 minutes driving gives scalding hot water, which remains hot enough to shower under for up to 3 days. A tempering valve enables safe tap temperatures to be dialled in. It also has a 240v element for when 'shore power' is availlable. Longer stops saw us use the kettle on the stove or the billy on the fire for hot water. It suits us so I decided we'd do much the same thing in the Patrol. However I sourced a 22 litre calorifier (pic below) direct from the UK manufacturer & around half the price of any similar units (Sigmar Marine & Isotemp) available in Oz, & these come standard with a tempering valve, one way valve & pressure relief valve, all fitted. On the others these are expensive 'extras' you have to fit yourself. I'll box it in & add extra insulation. The make is Surecal, & I found them good to deal with. Because in the bus I always get a slight drip from the PRV once the water is hot & the tank pressurised, for the Patrol system I also got an expansion tank to prevent this.

Haven't got the stove yet, but planning to get a Lido Junior low pressure stove with a griller.

I have a rough layout in mind, but I'll need to play around with some cardboard to see what feels best in use. I did a similar mock up for the bus, & would've made a couple of silly (but difficult to reverse) mistakes if I hadn't.

Still not sure about how much water we'll be able to carry. I'm hoping we can manage 120 litres in addition to the existing 30 litre tank, but will have to watch the weight.

Geez I've rambled on a bit, hope it's of interest to someone!

Regards
Cuppa

[AdrianY60]

That's one cool camper!

[macca]

Maaaate they are awesome mods; so much power, cold storage, days of hot water and one of the better roof toppers.
She is a beauty.
Interesting to follow yours and Rossco's work up of your pods.
Mine is quite primative compared to you two.
Cheers
Macca

[DX grunt]

Maaaate they are awesome mods; so much power, cold storage, days of hot water and one of the better roof toppers.
She is a beauty.
Interesting to follow yours and Rossco's work up of your pods.
Mine is quite primative compared to you two.
Cheers
Macca

Awesome, Cuppa. I love pics. Looking forward to seeing pics of the inside set up when it's all opened out.

Macca, Macca, Macca. Realistically, mine really doesn't have any frills. When we pull up, up goes the annex/awning, everything gets pulled out and the only thing left in the pod is the mattress.

I like to keep it simple. At the moment, the only thing I'm settling on is the solar (tomorrow) and getting measured up for a shelf or two so that I can put all my sheet on, and an roof mounted DVD.

Love the rooftop tent. Was going that way, but the missus said "no." I've fallen from my pod and landed on all fours - twice now! So It was a good move. Plus, we're not spring chickens any more. Happy to climb into bed using a 3 step ladder. lol.

Bring on the pics!

Well done, and take care out there.

Rossco

[Dark 1]

Another top ute setup, keep the pics coming.