From fire truck to MTV

[MatthewWBailey]

Problem with series is shade, have lots of deciduous trees around here so if a single panel is shaded, it would kill half my output. (From my very limited research) I plan to look at some technical reports, forums seem to be ripe with opinions instead of facts from the RV community.

On a larger scale yes, but you're talking about the difference between 3 panels and 2 panels in a very small area. Any shade is likely to shade most of your array anyway. But, if your being tactical, you can have 3 sets of 2, each on their own MPPT so if the back of the truck catches shade at least the front is clear. Either way you're still losing some production. It'll be six/half dozen.

we plot shading on a "shading plan" which shows the arc that a tree (or object) makes over the roof array, then we move panels out of that path.

More or less Series panels doesn't really solve shading on a small array. Only getting out of the shade does that. You'll have a 'shaded' output, and a 'non-shaded' output that you'll have to manage around.

 

[aw113sgte]

Got the batteries, a bit over 15 kWh.
300lbs so was considering where to place them to keep passenger/driver level but habitat corners were within a few mm to the ground so doesn't look like it matters much.

 

[MatthewWBailey]

Got the batteries, a bit over 15 kWh.
300lbs so was considering where to place them to keep passenger/driver side but habitat corners were within a few mm to the ground so doesn't look like it matters much.

View attachment 921094

$6500 of batteries sitting there. Your truck will soon be worth 100k

 

[aw113sgte]

$6500 of batteries sitting there. Your truck will soon be worth 100k

I'm not adding up the costs as I go, that would ruin some of the fun!

 

[ckouba]

I'm not adding up the costs as I go, that would ruin some of the fun!

I see we both use the same accountant!

 

[aw113sgte]

Been working hard on the truck trying to get it done soon so we can go on adventures, haven't been taking many pictures though. Mcmaster and Amazon love me right now.

The storage boxes came in, still need to mount them. I maxed out the size so need to be careful with clearances. All 24"tall, 24" deep. 1x 36"w, 1x 48"w, 2x 56" w.

Finally cut a hole for cable passthough into the box. Core sample shows (from the bottom) 1.75" spray foam, 1.25" shipping container plywood, .5" dry core insulation, .5" particle board.

Solar is hooked up and working, still a ton of wiring to do. Hopefully tomorrow I will complete the wiring for the inverter, then I can plug it into the house power, or run the generator (and it will auto switch power between them).

 

[MatthewWBailey]

I'm not adding up the costs as I go, that would ruin some of the fun!

It's cool. You like the good stuff.

 

[aw113sgte]

Fun milestone today, charging the electric truck from the....military hybrid diesel-electric truck? Try to guess our political leanings
Lots of learning to do as there are tons of options with the Victron equipment. Generator and shore power inputs are up and running.

 

[aw113sgte]

Took the truck to a kids birthday and gave him a ride home (he loves army stuff).
Boys testing the electrical system.
Learning how Node-Red works to set discharge limits on the batteries. Using this I can interface and control everything in pretty much any way I want.
Finally got around to getting the heat pump running, have never installed AC before and it really wasn't too bad. Cutting and flaring the lines, vacuuming the system then charging with freon. The system runs super quiet, can barely tell it's on. The rubber mounting of the outer unit seems to have done the trick. The autotransformer does hum a bit so I'll see if I can quiet that down a little - it converts the 120v to 240v.
Using a DIN rail for all electrical mounting, lots of GFCI breakers. The black thing is a solid state relay - this enables me to turn off the AC+autotransformer separately with an arduino. I also have the water heater coil on one of these.

 

[Adrok]

I really like the sturdy / clean distribution center set up.
Do you get goo air flow ( cooling ) around the batteries?

Very cool set up sir.

 

[aw113sgte]

I really like the sturdy / clean distribution center set up.
Do you get goo air flow ( cooling ) around the batteries?

Very cool set up sir.

Batteries have an air gap of several inches, they all have individual temp monitors inside as well. For forced airflow, I have speed and direction control of the heater matrix so if I need to cool, I can suck cool air over them, or turn on heater and reverse air flow if heating needed.

 

[aw113sgte]

Lots of cutting and grinding to fit the sink into a harbor freight tool chest.

 

[aw113sgte]

Victron system gives some really nice data. Dropped to 40°F in the evening the other day, from the time solar went away to it coming back the next morning, truck had lost 10% battery from running the heat. Batteries were back up to 100% by 10am. Seems the high efficiency of the heat pump and the loads of insulation works really well. When completely overcast, still pulling in several hundred watts. Seen peaks of 1700w with full sun.

 

[aw113sgte]

Made up the covers for the electrical area, all quick to pull the off for full access. Mounted the control panels as well, the Victron unit, the Arduino screen and keypad, then the general use panel (phone charging, e-stop, cigarette plug, amp connectors). The largest black section is the heat exchanger for the hydronic heater

Led lighting finally arrived and mounted it to strut on the ceiling. More than bright enough. Will have pwm brightness control through Arduino.

 

[aw113sgte]

We really want to use this thing soon so mcmaster has been getting a ton of orders and I've been working non stop. Heat pump system still working awesome (never more than 10% battery use overnight but weather has been pretty mild. PWM light control is working great and using an insignificant amount of power. Dual zone fridge arrived and installed, storage locker installed for all the wife's stuff. Did some not welding off the inverter(fiction quattro 2x120) and it didn't flinch running my Lincoln sp135t flux core welder. Installed 2 of the storage boxes (24x24x60 inch) and they are huge(I'm 6'4 ish, 200ish, wife is 5'3 and 110) - tested clearance with tires and they seem to have plenty and from the suspension travel(jacking axles to max), the math agrees.
I hate the lights on the rear but am working on getting factory ones. These are led and they work but someone made them at some point before my ownership.
My wife started loading up the cabinets with food and toiletries.

 

[aw113sgte]

The whole reason for this project, the memories had a dinner pizza party with the family! After 3 hours of TV, AC, getting Spotted Cow from the fridge, battery was 99.3%. really curious how it will do in winter but summer is no problem for the electrical and solar.

 

[aw113sgte]

Been working basically whenever I had any free time so haven't been posting progress.
Got all the storage boxes mounted, all are 24"x24" cross section and lengths of 3' (behind battery box), 4' (behind gas tank) and 2x 5ft both sides - rear. Ended up mounting them to the box versus the frame since the box has all those nice c-channels underneath to mount to - did use unistrut as an intermediary and this allows me to slide the boxes for/aft to get the spacing just right. I maximized the box sizes for the space so there are only a few inches to the tires and wanted the ability to adjust if I got any rubbing.


3D printed and installed a weather cap for the heat pump lines. Made from ASA and screwed+sikaflex 221.


Son's teacher asked me to bring in the truck for a show and tell thing at the school. Kids loved tilting the cab, raising the spare, going through the pass through.


Did a lot of work on the interior. Cut and oiled the butcher block. It has a router groove on the bottom that interfaces with the tool cabinet lip - that way is sits lower and no fasteners needed. Also the fridge is wired up to the 24V system now, this is a 95L dual zone unit. Still have to fasten it down somehow.


Cabinet is all loaded up with food. This is working out well, plenty of food storage and has a drawer on the bottom for all the canned goods.


Gray water tank installed. Sink drain on the top left, shower on the side and blue hose coming out is the drain. 35 gallons if I remember correctly.


Found some heavy duty curtain track and installed the privacy curtain. I like this route a lot more than building a hard walled shower/bathroom as you can get the space back when it's not in use. Shower curtain is hung with zip ties and they work quite well. maybe I'll change those out for something "nicer" at some point.


Hole for the shower drain, you can see the front of the right-middle axle tire. Shower pan is actually a stainless sink. Wanted something with deep walls to contain the water. Shower curtain widens as it goes up so plenty of room.


More wiring and cleanup to do but it's functional enough for use. Water heater is all plumbed and using electricity to warm for now.

 

[aw113sgte]

Inaugural trip! A small trip down the road to test out all the systems, not some epic overland adventure...yet.
Overall it went very well. The boys found a random girl and played with her for hours so that was all they needed to be happy. Beds are a little firm so putting some memory foam toppers on them for next time. Shower worked awesome, all 4 showered and total gray water volume used was 12-13 gallons (all uses for the day). Really glad I went with the 1/4" ID supply lines as the shower heats up within a few seconds - very little water waste.
Used the cartridge toilet for just pee this time, so not a full test with that thing but was about 1/3 full (it's 4 or 5 gallon capacity) - there may have been some beer drinking so that helped fill it faster.
Fresh water tank we used about 1/2 (about 24 gallon capacity). I think quite a bit was used rinsing all the dishes - probably some room for improvement there. Currently filling it using Scepter cans with a siphon hose - works great. https://jagmte.com/collections/scepter-mwc-accessories/products/water-dispensing-siphon-kit
Temps were mild - average of 70 so not a ton of power went to heating/cooling. TV had a fair amount of use, along with microwave. Wife used a heating blanket for a while. No solar to speak of with overcast/overnight dark/rain. Battery went from 100% to 70.8% going from 3pm to 10am. by far biggest drain was the water heater for the 4 showers.

Things on the list to work on:
1. Paint the Eco hubs
2. Plumb and wire the Webasto hydronic heater
3. Add external water supply?
4. Secure solar cables on roof
5. Add solar panel guards from branches
6. Awning for rear door?
7. Add a fan to pass through door to be able to cool/warm cab to avoid having to install Red-Dot A/C system, also just to provide path of fresh air in habitat
8. Install 370hp ECM
9. Replace fuel supply, return, vent lines
10. Install more shelving for storage
11. Get a microwave/toaster/oven combo
12. Replace boots on torque rods, alignment rods.
13. Change transmission fluid to ATF
14. Change out 2014 date code tires to newer.
15. Install correct taillight assemblies (not sure why it came with these strange custom ones).
16. Add a bike rack to the front for at least 3 bikes.
17. Design 2" hitch that keeps the pintle for the rear. This is A1R and I want to use hitch with it being extended.
18. Add blackout curtain to sliding door.
19. Add towel racks
20. Add holder for sink sponge/soap etc.
21. Add duckbill drains to storage boxes
22. Install A1 kick panel for diagnostic port (fianlly found one!)
23. Lubricate door locking assemblies, get keys made.
24. Install CTIS assembly on spare tire
25. Install seat with headrest for wife.
26. Cut hole above fresh water tank to make filling easier. (so jerry cans can sit on the wood and drain into the tank).
27.Weatherproof and add siding to sliding door.
Any other suggestions?

 

[MatthewWBailey]

Inaugural trip! A small trip down the road to test out all the systems, not some epic overland adventure...yet.
Overall it went very well. The boys found a random girl and played with her for hours so that was all they needed to be happy. Beds are a little firm so putting some memory foam toppers on them for next time. Shower worked awesome, all 4 showered and total gray water volume used was 12-13 gallons (all uses for the day). Really glad I went with the 1/4" ID supply lines as the shower heats up within a few seconds - very little water waste.
Used the cartridge toilet for just pee this time, so not a full test with that thing but was about 1/3 full (it's 4 or 5 gallon capacity) - there may have been some beer drinking so that helped fill it faster.
Fresh water tank we used about 1/2 (about 24 gallon capacity). I think quite a bit was used rinsing all the dishes - probably some room for improvement there. Currently filling it using Scepter cans with a siphon hose - works great. https://jagmte.com/collections/scepter-mwc-accessories/products/water-dispensing-siphon-kit
Temps were mild - average of 70 so not a ton of power went to heating/cooling. TV had a fair amount of use, along with microwave. Wife used a heating blanket for a while. No solar to speak of with overcast/overnight dark/rain. Battery went from 100% to 70.8% going from 3pm to 10am. by far biggest drain was the water heater for the 4 showers.

Things on the list to work on:
1. Paint the Eco hubs
2. Plumb and wire the Webasto hydronic heater
3. Add external water supply?
4. Secure solar cables on roof
5. Add solar panel guards from branches
6. Awning for rear door?
7. Add a fan to pass through door to be able to cool/warm cab to avoid having to install Red-Dot A/C system, also just to provide path of fresh air in habitat
8. Install 370hp ECM
9. Replace fuel supply, return, vent lines
10. Install more shelving for storage
11. Get a microwave/toaster/oven combo
12. Replace boots on torque rods, alignment rods.
13. Change transmission fluid to ATF
14. Change out 2014 date code tires to newer.
15. Install correct taillight assemblies (not sure why it came with these strange custom ones).
16. Add a bike rack to the front for at least 3 bikes.
17. Design 2" hitch that keeps the pintle for the rear. This is A1R and I want to use hitch with it being extended.
18. Add blackout curtain to sliding door.
19. Add towel racks
20. Add holder for sink sponge/soap etc.
21. Add duckbill drains to storage boxes
22. Install A1 kick panel for diagnostic port (fianlly found one!)
23. Lubricate door locking assemblies, get keys made.
24. Install CTIS assembly on spare tire
25. Install seat with headrest for wife.
26. Cut hole above fresh water tank to make filling easier. (so jerry cans can sit on the wood and drain into the tank).
27.Weatherproof and add siding to sliding door.
Any other suggestions?

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View attachment 924906View attachment 924909View attachment 924910
View attachment 924911

Any other suggestions?

Yes, switch the truck back to left hand drive. This isn't England!

 

[aw113sgte]

Yes, switch the truck back to left hand drive. This isn't England!

I did! Look at the first picture (after all the harassment I got last time I remembered to do that) but then messed up attaching the European version