2004 T1N Mountain Bike Van Build

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
The heater coil is 100% efficient. Its output will be the same no matter what, as your inverters output voltage is always the same.

Heating the tank will be linear. So if it takes 1 minutes to heat 1 degree, it will take 5 minutes to heat 5 degrees.

The calculations are pretty straight forward.

Specific heat of water x temp change x weight of water = energy needed Energy needed divided by input power = heating time
 
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alexk243

KulAdventure
The heater coil is 100% efficient. Its output will be the same no matter what, as your inverters output voltage is always the same.

Heating the tank will be linear. So if it takes 1 minutes to heat 1 degree, it will take 5 minutes to heat 5 degrees.

The calculations are pretty straight forward.

Specific heat of water x temp change x weight of water = energy needed Energy needed divided by input power = heating time
My only thoughts were that the voltage is 12.4v when hooked up to AC charger and 13.8v with alternator, not sure if that would make a difference. My other though was air temperate in the van when driving is going to be higher (in winter) than parked and vice-versa in the summer.
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Ah, my mistake, I thought you had a 120V coil.

Yes, battery voltage will change the coils heat ouput. Efficiency will stay the same, but it will take a bit longer at lower voltages.



V=I*R V/R=I

12/R=25 R=0.48ohm

13.8V/0.48ohm=29A

12.4V/0.48ohm=26A

29/26=1.12 So a 12% increase in heat output at 13.8V.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Copper Harbor, MI 2018

Ah, my mistake, I thought you had a 120V coil.

Yes, battery voltage will change the coils heat ouput. Efficiency will stay the same, but it will take a bit longer at lower voltages.

V=I*R V/R=I

12/R=25 R=0.48ohm

13.8V/0.48ohm=29A

12.4V/0.48ohm=26A

29/26=1.12 So a 12% increase in heat output at 13.8V.
After getting that water heater working I got to go on a test run with it to Copper Harbor, MI. Luckily for us it was super cold lol, gave me a chance to test out the water heater and it worked great! Midwestdrifter you were right about the numbers, I noticed that it seemed to heat up in a much shorter time with the van engine running at 13.8v compared to sitting on the dewalt charger I bought, putting the voltage at 12.8v or less. The Dewalt charger didn't output at 30amps right away, seemed to let the battery drain down a bit before it upped the amperage. Which is what I would expect from a automatic float style charger. Either way it worked out great, the water heater would run with the van plugged in or with the engine on. I tried to avoid running it without a charge on the battery for an extended period.

Here are some pictures from the trip. You can see the outdoor shower tent that I used, which worked perfect and prevented us from doing the swimsuit showers we did last year.



Another place we set up the shower (worked better on pavement than dirt/mud):



The ladder worked as a shower rack also:



In case you were wondering, yes that is a jetski trailer... I had to figure out a way to get 5 bicycles, 5 people, two dogs, and gear 9 hours north and what I came up with was taking my jetskis off my trailer and attached the bikes to that trailer in a makeshift manor and using the trailer cargo box to help out with gear. Turns out it worked out great and we just left the trailer at camp when we didn't need the bikes.

Worked great getting to the trails too:
 
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skibumnelson

New member
I just wanted to say thank you for the amazing write up. I have been watching and combing this forum about full builds and all kinds of different combinations. But I have honestly lame a ton from your build. Thank you for the small details, pictures, links, and opinions about purchases. Hopefully I can join the club this next year with a T1N! Happy travels and thank you again.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
I just wanted to say thank you for the amazing write up. I have been watching and combing this forum about full builds and all kinds of different combinations. But I have honestly lame a ton from your build. Thank you for the small details, pictures, links, and opinions about purchases. Hopefully I can join the club this next year with a T1N! Happy travels and thank you again.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Thank you! I learned so much from this forum and other people's post I had to do a write up too. This is probably the best forum I've been on also. Tons of really helpful people on here. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Got around to borrowing a scanner (SnapOn Solus Ultra) and scanned every module on my van. I was trying to diagnose my Auxiliary Fan always being on and I may have figured it out (refrigerant pressure switch), but I wont know for sure till the problem is fixed.



I did find though that there are a ton of codes stored (full list of codes my van had stored), but due to my van being older and high mileage I had no idea how long those codes were still on there, so I cleared them all up and re-scanned after driving and only got two back which was pretty good considering on my Volvo I have at least 4-5 lingering codes that it always shows.

The A/C Compressor Control is to be expected as my compressor clutched is controlled outside the ATC currently by a toggle switch (temporarily... thread about that here).

I would recommend getting an older van scanned so you can clear and address any codes and then when an issue arises you can see which codes are new.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Its been a while since I have posted, but its starting to warm up which means I can again work on the van without freezing.

First thing I tackled this spring is an EGR valve cleaning. I had no symptoms or codes, but as this is something that could leave me stranded I wanted to verify it was in working order.

Full write up with pictures of the EGR cleaning here

Used an E10 external torx, hammer, and PB Blaster to get it out.

Removal was kind of a pain. Took my time with a lot of PB Blaster and slowly hammering it out. I avoided prying as I wanted to use the valve again, as long as it appear functional.



Once out it appear sooty, but functioned fine. The valve moved freely and returned to 100% closed position quickly.




Cleaned it using brake cleaner, wire brushed, and steel wool.




Did notice some pitting though:




Reinstalled it with a new gasket and started the van up. Seemed to run the same as before. Just peace of mind to me that the valve is not seized up. I plan to do a lot more basic maintenance like this to prevent on-the-road break downs. Ill post them as I go though it.

I also made a list of all my posts related to van maintenance that are here to make them easier to find.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
I'm not sure how much of a threat Legionnaires' disease really is, but it's worth looking in to for any water stored above room temperature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionella#Legionella_control
You might be able to chemically treat the water with chlorine, especially if you're not using it for drinking.
Definitely something to keep in mind if I am keeping my water at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I do not plan to use the same system for drinking water so I think adding chlorine to the holding tanks will prevent a lot of issues.

Another thought is adding a filter the the water system. Although I cannot find what level of filtration would be needed to safely remove legionella bacteria, if it is not to restrictive this may be another safety measure to take. Ill have to look into that.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Got the P0336 code and a hard start, so figured before I go on my next trip I may want to just replace the crankshaft position sensor. I had it already as it was part of my spare parts kit (write up on spare parts kit here).



Install was pretty easy, very straightforward, just requires a bit of a struggle to get the sensor out and the new one back in. I did a write up on it here if anyone is debating doing it. Part was pretty cheap from europarts-sd (FAE) or Amazon (Bosch).



Some people reported issues with the harness removal, but a small flat head screwdriver under the tab did the trick for me. Maybe this picture will help others out as you cant see the tab from under the vehicle.

 

Cheyenne

UK 2004 T1N 313CDi
Some people reported issues with the harness removal, but a small flat head screwdriver under the tab did the trick for me. Maybe this picture will help others out as you cant see the tab from under the vehicle.
You should not need to use a screwdriver to remove the connector. The release tab 'pivots' about a centre position and if you squeeze the ribbed area nearest the wiring then the other end should move out and release the connector. You may need to push the connector onto the sensor slightly to allow the locking section to release.

Keith.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
You should not need to use a screwdriver to remove the connector. The release tab 'pivots' about a centre position and if you squeeze the ribbed area nearest the wiring then the other end should move out and release the connector. You may need to push the connector onto the sensor slightly to allow the locking section to release.



Keith.
Yeah that would probably work a lot better than everything I tried haha
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Seems normal, obviously you need to time your cranking period closely, and a weak battery can give lower results. You have no outliers, which is the important thing.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Finally got around to adding my water inlet to the van. I think just the idea of cutting into the van had deterred me for a while, but the complication of having to fill through an open back door made the job worth it.

Used a 3-1/4" holedozer bit to cut a hole from the inside out (wanted to make sure I wasn't cutting into structural parts below the window). The bit was slightly larger than the 80mm wide water inlet that I was going with. Liked this one because it was very low key and not like the typical door style ones.



Used butyl tape to seal around the hole in addition to the seal the inlet came with.



Connected the vent hose and 1.5" fill hose





Complete write up here.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
I was just looking through my first posts on this build thread and realized that a lot of my pictures are gone... I am assuming it was due to using Photobucket as a hosting site. Really makes the build thread hard to follow when pictures are missing and I am eluding to there being pictures posted below.

Its a big undertaking, but is it worth redoing the build thread and re-posting the pictures? The purpose of this thread was to help other as I got a lot of info from people on here, but I also found the pictures to be the most useful part.

What do you guys think?
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Your going to need moderator help, as your posts older than 24 hours will be locked from editing. It is a big time consumer to do, so its a hard call.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Your going to need moderator help, as your posts older than 24 hours will be locked from editing. It is a big time consumer to do, so its a hard call.
I was thinking just start over with a new thread and copy and past the info plus add the pictures...

It is time consuming, but I know its much more useful with pictures.

I didn't even think about having moderators let me edit the original thread... that could work too.
 

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