Re: Today I mostly .....
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:55 pm
I've put the HT lead cover back on for now, mainly to get it out of the way in the garage.
It's a bit of a faff to fit but does tidy things up nicely.
In hindsight I should have done this *before* going out to run the day's errands so the engine wasn't roasting hot leading to many burned fingers.
Really is a good looking car...
Despite all of the issues I've had lately - and the blowing exhaust, creaky rear end, squeaky heater fan, it really is a lovely thing to waft around in...I'm really liking the car again...despite having all but decided to sell it this time last week.
I've tracked down where most of that coolant on the radiator is coming from - the hose clip on the top hose has a kink in it. I'll take some measurements tomorrow and get a set of proper Mikalor hose clamps ordered in for it. Should put paid to issues with stripped, kinked or seized hose clips.
This afternoon I got slightly sidetracked by the van. Having temporarily removed the leisure battery while I await arrival of the replacement I figured it would be prudent to remove the fuse from the split charging system. I've isolated the leads anyway, but better safe than sorry.
The main vehicle battery box is something I've barely touched since I got the van. I've simply had no real reason to.
The white in line fuse holder is the one for the split charging circuit. When reaching for it I couldn't help but notice the random blade fuse taped to a pair of spade terminals next to it was hot. Like REALLY hot. "I'm surprised it's not actively smoking" levels of hot.
A little bit of investigation revealed this to be the DC feed to the fridge, which apparently I'd accidently switched onto DC mode at some point. Being designed purely for use when in transit to/from places that's set up so it will only be powered then the vehicle charging system is active.
While the fuse hadn't blown, this clearly isn't up to the job!
It was about this point that I discovered that the battery wasn't bolted down either. That was fixed first. Would have liked to have realised that about 10,000 miles ago...
While rummaging around down there I found this bit of plastic.
It looked familiar but took a good couple of tens of seconds to figure out what it actually was. It's edging fitted to the front seat frames, like this.
The outer one on the passenger side has been missing since I got the van...now I know where it ended up, and have refitted it.
I ended up replacing the weedy bit of wire with a maxi fuse holder I had in stock. It's overkill for the application, but is still fused at 20A...and I'd rather have low voltage DC wiring over-engineered than the alternative.
It's hard to see in the photos but all of the other lines going into the split charge relay are beefier than this one was.
I wound up doing a bit of general tidying up and housekeeping...not least actually bolting down the relay rather than leaving it flapping in the breeze as I assume it has been for the last 31 years and labelling the fused lines and battery isolator.
Not as though you'll ever see any of this as it's hidden under the passenger seat!
Nevertheless, after running it for half an hour I confirmed that the terminals of the new connection were just barely warmer than ambient...a large improvement from the starting point! So I'm happy it's been sorted even if nobody will ever know.
New hardware is on the way in the form of a new 110Ah deep cycle battery (identical to the old one), a CTek intelligent charger and a 40A DC power supply. With a little rummaging in the box of relays I should be able to get this set up with an automatic switchover and give us a properly looked after battery going forward irrespective of how long I leave the van plugged in for.
I've never had any starting issues even at -10C up in Scotland, so don't think I see any reason to make provision for charging of the vehicle battery from the mains too. If I get that desperate on the road, that's what jump leads were made for...once the engine is running all this requires is enough power to hold the stop solenoid in on the fuel pump.
I will replace that white in line fuse holder when I set about wiring the new kit up, probably with a similar Maxi fuse holder as I used for the fridge line, simply because they're good for way more power than we'll ever see here and I've found them to be nicely robust. Bit harder to find fuses for, but nothing carrying a spare or two isn't enough insurance against (carrying a decent stock of spares in something the size of a small house is less of a headache than in a car!). More and more cars seem to be using Maxi Fuses these days anyway so most factors seem to stock them - albeit not always down to values like 15 or 20A. Probably because they're total overkill for those ratings.
This will be nice to have done as I can just leave it plugged in through the cold and damp weather without worrying about cooking the battery. The heater is set up to kick in if the cabin temperature drops below 5C or the humidity gets above 70%. Found last year that it pretty much completely eliminated issues with mould and mildew. I have the ability to control it over our home WiFi too, so it's really nice on a cold day being able to pull the modern EV trick of turning the heater on before I go out, then open the door to a nicely toasty warm van. It's hardly essential but is nice to have - especially as I do tend to use it as both a workshop and a bit of an escape space if I want somewhere quiet to retreat to for a while. I know I've sung the praises of the Afterburner controller before, but it's a cracking bit of kit.
It's a bit of a faff to fit but does tidy things up nicely.
In hindsight I should have done this *before* going out to run the day's errands so the engine wasn't roasting hot leading to many burned fingers.
Really is a good looking car...
Despite all of the issues I've had lately - and the blowing exhaust, creaky rear end, squeaky heater fan, it really is a lovely thing to waft around in...I'm really liking the car again...despite having all but decided to sell it this time last week.
I've tracked down where most of that coolant on the radiator is coming from - the hose clip on the top hose has a kink in it. I'll take some measurements tomorrow and get a set of proper Mikalor hose clamps ordered in for it. Should put paid to issues with stripped, kinked or seized hose clips.
This afternoon I got slightly sidetracked by the van. Having temporarily removed the leisure battery while I await arrival of the replacement I figured it would be prudent to remove the fuse from the split charging system. I've isolated the leads anyway, but better safe than sorry.
The main vehicle battery box is something I've barely touched since I got the van. I've simply had no real reason to.
The white in line fuse holder is the one for the split charging circuit. When reaching for it I couldn't help but notice the random blade fuse taped to a pair of spade terminals next to it was hot. Like REALLY hot. "I'm surprised it's not actively smoking" levels of hot.
A little bit of investigation revealed this to be the DC feed to the fridge, which apparently I'd accidently switched onto DC mode at some point. Being designed purely for use when in transit to/from places that's set up so it will only be powered then the vehicle charging system is active.
While the fuse hadn't blown, this clearly isn't up to the job!
It was about this point that I discovered that the battery wasn't bolted down either. That was fixed first. Would have liked to have realised that about 10,000 miles ago...
While rummaging around down there I found this bit of plastic.
It looked familiar but took a good couple of tens of seconds to figure out what it actually was. It's edging fitted to the front seat frames, like this.
The outer one on the passenger side has been missing since I got the van...now I know where it ended up, and have refitted it.
I ended up replacing the weedy bit of wire with a maxi fuse holder I had in stock. It's overkill for the application, but is still fused at 20A...and I'd rather have low voltage DC wiring over-engineered than the alternative.
It's hard to see in the photos but all of the other lines going into the split charge relay are beefier than this one was.
I wound up doing a bit of general tidying up and housekeeping...not least actually bolting down the relay rather than leaving it flapping in the breeze as I assume it has been for the last 31 years and labelling the fused lines and battery isolator.
Not as though you'll ever see any of this as it's hidden under the passenger seat!
Nevertheless, after running it for half an hour I confirmed that the terminals of the new connection were just barely warmer than ambient...a large improvement from the starting point! So I'm happy it's been sorted even if nobody will ever know.
New hardware is on the way in the form of a new 110Ah deep cycle battery (identical to the old one), a CTek intelligent charger and a 40A DC power supply. With a little rummaging in the box of relays I should be able to get this set up with an automatic switchover and give us a properly looked after battery going forward irrespective of how long I leave the van plugged in for.
I've never had any starting issues even at -10C up in Scotland, so don't think I see any reason to make provision for charging of the vehicle battery from the mains too. If I get that desperate on the road, that's what jump leads were made for...once the engine is running all this requires is enough power to hold the stop solenoid in on the fuel pump.
I will replace that white in line fuse holder when I set about wiring the new kit up, probably with a similar Maxi fuse holder as I used for the fridge line, simply because they're good for way more power than we'll ever see here and I've found them to be nicely robust. Bit harder to find fuses for, but nothing carrying a spare or two isn't enough insurance against (carrying a decent stock of spares in something the size of a small house is less of a headache than in a car!). More and more cars seem to be using Maxi Fuses these days anyway so most factors seem to stock them - albeit not always down to values like 15 or 20A. Probably because they're total overkill for those ratings.
This will be nice to have done as I can just leave it plugged in through the cold and damp weather without worrying about cooking the battery. The heater is set up to kick in if the cabin temperature drops below 5C or the humidity gets above 70%. Found last year that it pretty much completely eliminated issues with mould and mildew. I have the ability to control it over our home WiFi too, so it's really nice on a cold day being able to pull the modern EV trick of turning the heater on before I go out, then open the door to a nicely toasty warm van. It's hardly essential but is nice to have - especially as I do tend to use it as both a workshop and a bit of an escape space if I want somewhere quiet to retreat to for a while. I know I've sung the praises of the Afterburner controller before, but it's a cracking bit of kit.