I took the bus along with a group of people away for the Long Weekend..
We headed from Melbourne to the mountains of NSW to try to catch a trout or 2..
- As some of you know My Bus has a 24v/240v Lithium Powered system..
At the time of leaving the Batteries were at a SOC[State of Charge] of 100%..
- running a Domestic 240v House Fridge - Extremely efficient when compared to most other fridge's.. [60-70w] -- No need to run heavy Cables.. fridge draw's 5A @24v when it first kicks in..
- 240v fluro was the main Lighting as the 24v Lighting is not complete at this stage..
- Entertainment was a LED TV[240v] hooked up to a Laptop playing Game of Throne Episodes..
No Heating at this stage..
For the weekend the Largest draw on the Batteries was about 1500w for the Aldi coffee machine.. have to recommend this machine as I know from experience it auto shuts down after about 3-5min and once you find your favorite coffee style, you have an extremely cheap coffee for about 50c[including milk/sugar]
The Lowest that the Batteries reach SOC was 70% and did not want to charge from the Solar, but then that was an issue that I created.. it took me about 15min to final work out why it was not charging properly but then once it was fixed I had the Batteries back up to 100% SOC in about 2hr's of sun.. had to put in 50Ah worth of charge..
Oh yeah, There is NO BMS in the system at all..
Juergen
Dougwe said
01:50 PM Jun 10, 2014
Sounds like a good weekend for sure Juergen, good choice of TV show as well. Did you catch any trout, you didn't mention.
oldbobsbus said
03:53 PM Jun 10, 2014
When are we going to get some photos of this mighty machine of yours Jurgen..
Glad to hear your are happy with its performance as far as the electrics go..
And I hope you caught yourself a fed of fish..
SnowT said
01:54 PM Jun 11, 2014
Yes it was a good weekend..
- I sat down and worked out the mileage for the bus..
Work's out to be about 7- 10k's Per Litre so I'm think'n I'm getting good mileage..
The issue on the Trout was Me None, but then I did not drop a Line in.. I used the trip for the purpose of see how the bus handled..
- Solar for winter is OK.. I need to hook up the last set of 400w's..
- The Bus handled ok, up via the mountain Roads, but I think I upset a few People With My SLOW speeds..
The Guy's got a few bites at Thredbo River.. No fish landed here..
- We packed up camp at the Thredbo diggings camp site and moved on to Eucumbene River. Found a nice Spot just passed the Town of Adaminaby, went over the Gang Gang creek and down a side road, the Dam is Low and the area near the river was nice and Flat.. We Parked right near the river.. I did a bit of tinkering on the Bus and they went out and tried their Luck..
They got a few nice Bite But failed to land the Fish..
The Monday Morning they made plans to go back up the river and try again..
Well they went out early and got to their spot..
They found a Bloody good spot, it was such that the guy's that usually fished the spot got put out..
They Landed a few fish.. Steve Got a nice Large Brown Trout Over 50cm and Full of Egg's..
Rob fished a Smaller Brown 46cm, Less than 50cm[Which is the size Limit] 1 per person per day..
The Bus Works a treat..
I'll post a few Photo's once I've downloaded them..
Looks good mate with all of that solar you could become a mobile power station for campers...
Cloak said
06:34 AM Jun 15, 2014
Yes it can be a mother ship from which other campers can recharge.. in exchange for a meal or two... hehehe what an asset.
Plendo said
08:11 AM Jun 15, 2014
Sounds great Juergen, it is clear the batteries are performing as you expected, and that your approach of lowering your maximum charge voltage has certainly worked.
Have you checked your cell balance since you got back?
What voltage did you land up charging to?
SnowT said
06:58 PM Jun 15, 2014
The Bus preformed well.. - I'm still to hook up the last 2 Solar Panels to the system.. That would take me to a grand total of 1600w of Solar.. -- allowing for Loss's etc... [ Angle of attack, seasonal loss's ] as an estimate we only get about 25-30% from the sun... That is why I opted for such a large system.. Plus the simple fact it gives me a Tropical Roof over the Bus.. Which if I do plan to go to QLD for nationals I will need..
RE: the MotherShip idea.. I'm going to try floating the idea that the club I'm involved with Look at a Solar/Lithium System especially as we are looking a possible $15-30k cost a of hooking up to mains cable..
David you Know that I will not tell you my final max voltage reading here.. -- > Have not checked out the cell status but they are doing ok..
Hey Over All What would you think of a Paint Job that Look's like...
As I have the long wheelbase model with the 4.2 lt 6 cyl and only get about 5ks/l and 4ks/l towing my trailer.
Also who made the roofrack.
Cheers Barry.
aussie_paul said
11:06 PM Jun 22, 2014
Oh yeah, There is NO BMS in the system at all..
What is BMS? Might need a slang dictionary for GNs...
Aussie Paul.
SnowT said
12:00 AM Jun 23, 2014
aussie_paul wrote:
Oh yeah, There is NO BMS in the system at all..
What is BMS? Might need a slang dictionary for GNs...
Aussie Paul.
Paul if you have to make your remark's you know exactly what it is..
For the Lay people..
-- BMS --- Battery Management System..
Most retailer's of Lithium Battery RECOMMEND THEIR version of a BMS..
I'm using a system[stage 1] that has been proven after 10,000's of hour of testing.. I have to THANK the BRAIN trust for all their hard work, They know who they are..
-- 1 system that I'm modelling my systemafter has been in constant operation for over 28,000hr's with no major hiccup's..
Stage 2 is in the near future where I push to the limit's of my system. I think I'm running my batteries at about 90-93% of full charge, still has plenty of Power for what I use..
Juergen
oldbobsbus said
07:13 AM Jun 30, 2014
Here ya go Juergen, you could add a few more panels and become a mobile power station...
One little issue that I see thou.. the side Panels need to be at the same lvl of the top panels so that you don't get any shading..
-- I was think'n of modifying a 7x5 trailer I have to mount 4 @ 200w Panels on the main section and have 2 wings fold out to give a 1600w total wattage.. Make it so it can be set to face/tilt towards the sun and have 3 position's.. so you can get morning/noon/mid-afternoon..
A set of Lithium's Plus the added Gear and you have a fairly powerful charging system..
Juergen
beiffe said
08:52 AM Jul 1, 2014
Gee Juegen don't tell them all the secrets.
My new traailer will have 240w of solar on slides from under the dinghy to extend past the sides of the trailer (sun shades LOL) and feed 100Ah at 24v to supply power to a 1000w inverter in the bus for tools and chargers for the electric bike etc and then the rest for power in the bus if needed.
All batteries connected when needed. Who needs to use a tent mentality when you can now live a Glamping life on the road.
Regards
Brian
SnowT said
12:53 AM Aug 26, 2014
The bus is doing good..
The Power system is humming away.. yes there is a slight hum... when the fridge Kick's in..
-- Even over winter I'm finding that if I get 2 days of straight sun, I have to do something with the extra Energy...
I'm running the system at a far higher setting than what I had over the initial weekend away and I find it is doing great..
-- In July I offered the Bus system to run out club rooms for the weekend, as we are investigating the possibility of having a smaller system in the club room's.. [we have a guesstimated install cost of over 20k for power into the room's..]
the bus handled the expected load well.. will most probably do the same over November event and will put a higher load on the system..
-- The system held up well over the Adelaide trip even thou we had 2days of cloudy sky's.. would I recommend a similar system to others, yes.. especially if they are starting from scratch.. The initial cost is Higher but if you expect to run the same van/bus/rv for an extended time frame.. then yes you will get the benefit from not having to replace the Batteries..
Ok that is it for my system..
A Further update when I have more of the high end goods in place..
Juergen
SnowT said
06:47 PM Sep 8, 2014
Well the bus has gone in to the Mechanics to get a few issue fixed and start the process of getting it registered in my name..
- the Solar system is Working a treat.. Meeting All Demands for Power and spending a Lot of time in standby Mode..[Not accepting any charge from the solar at all.]
-- I'll drop a report on the expected Cost.. I'm thinking in the area of 2K for the Lot...
As the heading say's..
I took the bus along with a group of people away for the Long Weekend..
We headed from Melbourne to the mountains of NSW to try to catch a trout or 2..
- As some of you know My Bus has a 24v/240v Lithium Powered system..
At the time of leaving the Batteries were at a SOC[State of Charge] of 100%..
- running a Domestic 240v House Fridge - Extremely efficient when compared to most other fridge's.. [60-70w] -- No need to run heavy Cables.. fridge draw's 5A @24v when it first kicks in..
- 240v fluro was the main Lighting as the 24v Lighting is not complete at this stage..
- Entertainment was a LED TV[240v] hooked up to a Laptop playing Game of Throne Episodes..
No Heating at this stage..
For the weekend the Largest draw on the Batteries was about 1500w for the Aldi coffee machine.. have to recommend this machine as I know from experience it auto shuts down after about 3-5min and once you find your favorite coffee style, you have an extremely cheap coffee for about 50c[including milk/sugar]
The Lowest that the Batteries reach SOC was 70% and did not want to charge from the Solar, but then that was an issue that I created.. it took me about 15min to final work out why it was not charging properly but then once it was fixed I had the Batteries back up to 100% SOC in about 2hr's of sun.. had to put in 50Ah worth of charge..
Oh yeah, There is NO BMS in the system at all..
Juergen
When are we going to get some photos of this mighty machine of yours Jurgen..
Glad to hear your are happy with its performance as far as the electrics go..
And I hope you caught yourself a fed of fish..
- I sat down and worked out the mileage for the bus..
Work's out to be about 7- 10k's Per Litre so I'm think'n I'm getting good mileage..
The issue on the Trout was Me None, but then I did not drop a Line in.. I used the trip for the purpose of see how the bus handled..
- Solar for winter is OK.. I need to hook up the last set of 400w's..
- The Bus handled ok, up via the mountain Roads, but I think I upset a few People With My SLOW speeds..
The Guy's got a few bites at Thredbo River.. No fish landed here..
- We packed up camp at the Thredbo diggings camp site and moved on to Eucumbene River. Found a nice Spot just passed the Town of Adaminaby, went over the Gang Gang creek and down a side road, the Dam is Low and the area near the river was nice and Flat.. We Parked right near the river.. I did a bit of tinkering on the Bus and they went out and tried their Luck..
They got a few nice Bite But failed to land the Fish..
The Monday Morning they made plans to go back up the river and try again..
Well they went out early and got to their spot..
They found a Bloody good spot, it was such that the guy's that usually fished the spot got put out..
They Landed a few fish.. Steve Got a nice Large Brown Trout Over 50cm and Full of Egg's..
Rob fished a Smaller Brown 46cm, Less than 50cm[Which is the size Limit] 1 per person per day..
The Bus Works a treat..
I'll post a few Photo's once I've downloaded them..
Juergen
Ok here are a few external pic's..
Sounds great Juergen, it is clear the batteries are performing as you expected, and that your approach of lowering your maximum charge voltage has certainly worked.
Have you checked your cell balance since you got back?
What voltage did you land up charging to?
The Bus preformed well..
- I'm still to hook up the last 2 Solar Panels to the system.. That would take me to a grand total of 1600w of Solar..
-- allowing for Loss's etc... [ Angle of attack, seasonal loss's ]
as an estimate we only get about 25-30% from the sun...
That is why I opted for such a large system..
Plus the simple fact it gives me a Tropical Roof over the Bus..
Which if I do plan to go to QLD for nationals I will need..
RE: the MotherShip idea.. I'm going to try floating the idea that the club I'm involved with Look at a Solar/Lithium System especially as we are looking a possible $15-30k cost a of hooking up to mains cable..
David you Know that I will not tell you my final max voltage reading here..
-- > Have not checked out the cell status but they are doing ok..
Hey Over All What would you think of a Paint Job that Look's like...
Looks great mate; with all that solar power supply call it the "Galaxyca" .
Well the standing out, that is already happening Especially if you look up and see a Roof of Solar Panel's..
So a nice bit of art work is not going to detract from the bus..
I actually find the Well Painted vehicles to be distinctive..
But then that is me...
Definitely NO Wicked Style paint job's..
Juergen
Just looking at the photo.
That's a short wheelbase model.
What size motor is in it.
As I have the long wheelbase model with the 4.2 lt 6 cyl and only get about 5ks/l and 4ks/l towing my trailer.
Also who made the roofrack.
Cheers Barry.
Oh yeah, There is NO BMS in the system at all..
What is BMS? Might need a slang dictionary for GNs...
Aussie Paul.
Paul if you have to make your remark's you know exactly what it is..
For the Lay people..
-- BMS --- Battery Management System..
Most retailer's of Lithium Battery RECOMMEND THEIR version of a BMS..
I'm using a system[stage 1] that has been proven after 10,000's of hour of testing.. I have to THANK the BRAIN trust for all their hard work, They know who they are..
-- 1 system that I'm modelling my systemafter has been in constant operation for over 28,000hr's with no major hiccup's..
Stage 2 is in the near future where I push to the limit's of my system. I think I'm running my batteries at about 90-93% of full charge, still has plenty of Power for what I use..
Juergen
Here ya go Juergen, you could add a few more panels and become a mobile power station...
One little issue that I see thou.. the side Panels need to be at the same lvl of the top panels so that you don't get any shading..
-- I was think'n of modifying a 7x5 trailer I have to mount 4 @ 200w Panels on the main section and have 2 wings fold out to give a 1600w total wattage.. Make it so it can be set to face/tilt towards the sun and have 3 position's.. so you can get morning/noon/mid-afternoon..
A set of Lithium's Plus the added Gear and you have a fairly powerful charging system..
Juergen
My new traailer will have 240w of solar on slides from under the dinghy to extend past the sides of the trailer (sun shades LOL) and feed 100Ah at 24v to supply power to a 1000w inverter in the bus for tools and chargers for the electric bike etc and then the rest for power in the bus if needed.
All batteries connected when needed. Who needs to use a tent mentality when you can now live a Glamping life on the road.
Regards
Brian
The Power system is humming away.. yes there is a slight hum... when the fridge Kick's in..
-- Even over winter I'm finding that if I get 2 days of straight sun, I have to do something with the extra Energy...
I'm running the system at a far higher setting than what I had over the initial weekend away and I find it is doing great..
-- In July I offered the Bus system to run out club rooms for the weekend, as we are investigating the possibility of having a smaller system in the club room's.. [we have a guesstimated install cost of over 20k for power into the room's..]
the bus handled the expected load well.. will most probably do the same over November event and will put a higher load on the system..
-- The system held up well over the Adelaide trip even thou we had 2days of cloudy sky's.. would I recommend a similar system to others, yes.. especially if they are starting from scratch.. The initial cost is Higher but if you expect to run the same van/bus/rv for an extended time frame.. then yes you will get the benefit from not having to replace the Batteries..
Ok that is it for my system..
A Further update when I have more of the high end goods in place..
Juergen
- the Solar system is Working a treat.. Meeting All Demands for Power and spending a Lot of time in standby Mode..[Not accepting any charge from the solar at all.]
-- I'll drop a report on the expected Cost.. I'm thinking in the area of 2K for the Lot...
Juergen