Layout plan.

hein

Van Guru
Spacious shelving to be sure! Would be cool to have an automated storage/retrieval system. Or at least a way to load bins into the top shelves with a lift/shuttle. 8020 project perhaps?
 
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VanRoger

New member
I'm late to this thread, but thanks so much for sharing. This gives me so many ideas for the Passenger van conversion I'm thinking of!
 
thanks so much George,

apologies for the silicone typo, I didn't mean silicon, of course. ;)
I got some nice black elastomeric house paint, which should be durable. this is also to paint my polyethylene water tank, I guess this type of paint allows for minor stretching/shrinking that the plastic may go through.

thanks again,

a
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
I am looking for some direct experience with Isotherm Smart Controller. My search for a review wasn’t successful. The IndelWebasto claims up to considerable energy saving, I have some doubts. The fridge is my major energy hungry appliance and 35-50% energy consumption is worth $140. I think that variable pump speed and use of excess energy if available to lower the fridge temperature are key drivers for this energy demand reduction.

It seems as installation is about an hour job including removal of the fridge. http://www.indelwebastomarine.com/int/products/cooling-technology/isotherm-smart-energy-control/

George.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQyI22ugBik
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
Do you ever have a problem with low SOC? Not much value if not.
I depends what is the definition of a problem. I currently have 3 cold days limit without solar charge. So the third day is an iffy. Would like to increase to more, if smart controller truly works there is value for me.
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
I depends what is the definition of a problem. I currently have 3 cold days limit without solar charge. So the third day is an iffy. Would like to increase to more, if smart controller truly works there is value for me.
The way I read the specs, the smart controllers primary benefit is the ability to use excess power to pre-cool/over-cool the fridge. In the situation you describe I don't see a large benefit from the smart controller as you won't have charging available.

You could likely get similar benefit from turning your fridge down a few notches during peak charging time prior to putting the vehicle in the shade?

A random note about Danfoss/Secop compressor speeds. There is a connector on the control unit that can have a resistor added/removed to change compressor speed. In low ambient temp usage some users reported lower power consumption by reducing compressor speed by adding a resistor.

Conversly in high ambient conditions the fridge can struggle to maintain a low temp. The compressor RPM can be increased on some models. In fact adding a SPDT switch to change compressor speed seems entirely possible. If you are leaving the fridge for 3 days (with no opening) adding such a switch for low/high speed might be useful? Just brainstorming here, but setting the fridge on a lower RPM setting may reduce overall A/H consumption?

http://www.danfoss.com/NR/rdonlyres/174259FF-A5C6-4AAD-B935-1494FE1AF3C9/0/DCcompGBtest3.pdf
 
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GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
The way I read the specs, the smart controllers primary benefit is the ability to use excess power to pre-cool/over-cool the fridge. In the situation you describe I don't see a large benefit from the smart controller as you won't have charging available.

You could likely get similar benefit from turning your fridge down a few notches during peak charging time prior to putting the vehicle in the shade?

A random note about Danfoss/Secop compressor speeds. There is a connector on the control unit that can have a resistor added/removed to change compressor speed. In low ambient temp usage some users reported lower power consumption by reducing compressor speed by adding a resistor.

Conversly in high ambient conditions the fridge can struggle to maintain a low temp. The compressor RPM can be increased on some models. In fact adding a SPDT switch to change compressor speed seems entirely possible. If you are leaving the fridge for 3 days (with no opening) adding such a switch for low/high speed might be useful? Just brainstorming here, but setting the fridge on a lower RPM setting may reduce overall A/H consumption?

http://www.danfoss.com/NR/rdonlyres/174259FF-A5C6-4AAD-B935-1494FE1AF3C9/0/DCcompGBtest3.pdf
Thank you for reply. I agree that for an extended stay without charging available, the benefit of precooling with excess energy is limited to just the first few hours. The active compressor speed control will be operating throughout the time but I don't have numbers of how big these savings are going to be.

My fridge is the key appliance which needs to be powered versus other loads which I can control to some degree; less LED lights, lower temperature set point for D2, D5 off, TV off, or PC off. I found the write-up about the significant energy savings with variable speed pumps. See page #4 http://www.indubel.com.ar/pdf/biblioteca/danfoss/catalogos/maneurop/vtz/vtz-cc071-gb0903.pdf
There is another product also for Danfoss speed control - http://www.go2marine.com/product/38...troller-for-danfoss-bd35-50f-compressors.html

The current temperature control is just an on/off bang-bang, perhaps there is a slow start but am not sure. The compressor is very quiet so it is difficult to say. The loudest is the fan which I plan to replace with the one you recommended. I will do more homework and most likely add this intelligent control to my list of finishing tasks.

George.
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
hmmm, well after doing some reading, the price seems reasonable if it can cut daily usage by the 30% claimed. 20AH a day is nothing to scoff at. Due to the brushless design of the DC compressors they are perfectly suited for variable speed operation. It seems a shame to waste it. :thumbup:

You may have convinced me to try one... :smilewink:

I also noticed these spring loaded fridge bars. No more shifted produce?

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|2276204|2276226|2276232&id=1241722


Edit:

Here is the install/configuration manual.

http://www.indelwebastomarine.com/f...ne/Manuals/smart-energy-control-manual-en.pdf
 
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Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
George:

Would there be any value running the refrigerator on AC from the Morningstar 300 watt inverter stead of the house battery while driving? (Assuming you have a AC/DC refrigerator)

There are three major things I have done to reduce the refrigerator run time:

1. Added 1 1/2" rigid polyiso on two sides and the top and bottom of the refrigerator.
2. The 4" x 4" hole in the floor to provide cooler air flow past the coil.
3. Let van get cold at night so it runs less.


Hope you try the variable speed drive and document if it has value. Hard to understand how it will help in a dry camp application without running the engine. Suspect it only has value if the refrigerator is more efficient at a lower speed in certain conditions. Same amount of heat loss with/without the controller.

Move to a location where the sun shines more often for more solar power?
 
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GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
hmmm, well after doing some reading, the price seems reasonable if it can cut daily usage by the 30% claimed. 20AH a day is nothing to scoff at. Due to the brushless design of the DC compressors they are perfectly suited for variable speed operation. It seems a shame to waste it. :thumbup:

You may have convinced me to try one... :smilewink:

I also noticed these spring loaded fridge bars. No more shifted produce?

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|2276204|2276226|2276232&id=1241722


Edit:

Here is the install/configuration manual.

http://www.indelwebastomarine.com/f...ne/Manuals/smart-energy-control-manual-en.pdf
Thank you for the manual and the keeper bars pointer.

George.
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
George:

Would there be any value running the refrigerator on AC from the Morningstar 300 watt inverter stead of the house battery while driving? (Assuming you have a AC/DC refrigerator)

There are three major things I have done to reduce the refrigerator run time:

1. Added 1 1/2" rigid polyiso on two sides and the top and bottom of the refrigerator.
2. The 4" x 4" hole in the floor to provide cooler air flow past the coil.
3. Let van get cold at night so it runs less.


Hope you try the variable speed drive and document if it has value. Hard to understand how it will help in a dry camp application without running the engine. Suspect it only has value if the refrigerator is more efficient at a lower speed in certain conditions. Same amount of heat loss with/without the controller.

Move to a location where the sun shines more often for more solar power?
I don’t think the AC power would not help, on the road the fridge is DC powered.

I added insulation based on your earlier recommendation, thank you.

The 4" x 4" hole in the floor is still not on the task list. I definitely see its value but in Oregon likely not so much as in California.

We keep the van 64 F, it is our set point.

George.
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
I could not find the Isotherm Cruise 85 fan specs except part number from someone’s picture - D12A04LWS ZCD by Costech and it seems as someone did get specs for it 71.74 CFM,
34.4 dB, 0.242 A.

Based on this info I searched for a 120 mm fan with the same air flow but lower draw and quieter and selected this German made, magnetic bearing 26.5 dB, 71.34 CFM, 0.171 A. My fridge is just a couple of feet away from my ears so 8 dB should make a difference and with the new Isotherm Smart Controller the annoying relay clicking noise should go away. I don't know if this one is similar to the one recommended by Midwestdrifter with a larger fridge. Time to tune my conversion.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6323460
http://www.blacknoise.com/datas/downloads/datasheets/TData_eloop120_122012_de.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/120x120x25mm-...4614681&sr=1-5&keywords=Noiseblocker+NB-eLoop

George.
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
The most enjoyable part of making a prototype (IMHO) is testing it in the field, and then tweaking it for optimal performance. Give how small the changes you are making are, it seems you did a very thorough job on your initial design. :cheers:
 
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780fafa

New member
Great build George. I have been looking through your project as well as those of Hein, and Geek. Certainly, amazing work. I am getting started on my build, although it is not as sophisticated as yours. I am still struggling with my water tanks and was wondering who made your SS water tanks. Were they local?

ThX
F
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
The tanks were build in Portland OR. I compared custom polyethylene tanks with powder coated metal cradles and SS tanks and the costs were comparable. If you would locate tanks on the van's floor I would go with PE. This is the company - http://www.jdcross.com/ and I recommend them strongly; excellent work at reasonable cost and they love CAD drawings but most of times they work with sketches.

Good luck,

George.
 

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