2010 3500 RV build

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
My understanding is that temperature is controlled by both: the D2 CPU and the Digimax with their individual sensors. The heating cycling is optimally set by the factory as a tradeoff between constant space temperature, low fuel consumption and maximum components life. The space temperature could vary by 2-3 degree centigrade.

Tighter control of space temperature will decrease maintenance interval requirements and reduce components life.

Problem of using DigiMax to fire the D2 could be related to setting minimum voltage, perhaps decreasing it to 11.4V (vs 12v or 12.2V) could help - http://butlertechnik.com/download/5x/Eberspacher_Digi-Max_D1000_Operating_Instructions.pdf

Good luck,

George.
 

napo

2019 170 4x4 Hightop
Wow, dam good job, I love the attention to detail! How do you feel your insulation turned out and what would you do different? I did spray insulation in my 1st rig and getting ready to do another one but felt that was expensive and looking into different alternatives for this next build. If you don't mind, how much did it cost for the insulation, I like what you did but still looks expensive but maybe easier than that spray as it was kind of a pain.

Thank you,
Aaron
 

hein

Van Guru
How do you feel your insulation turned out and what would you do different?
I am very happy with it so far but since I'm still building, we haven't traveled in the van that much. It's very quiet driving. We had a carpet cleaner working at the house the other day and we went into the van to escape the noise. I had my wife record a short clip on her phone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMbspXP0wlA

Thermal insulation is also very good. We had a cold snap a while back and I was able to keep the van almost 20 degrees higher than outside temp with a 1000 watt electric heater. I use an outside cover for the windshield and cab windows and made some Reflectix panels for the aftermarket (CR Lawrence) side windows. No glass in the rear doors.

If you don't mind, how much did it cost for the insulation?
I'm not sure of my total cost. I used ~3/4 roll of EZcool, ~1 roll of Reflectix and ~60 linear feet of Thinsulate at 60" wide. The layup in most places is van exterior-EZcool-Thinsulate-Reflectix-interior panels. The roof is van exterior-Thinsulate-Reflectix-interior panels. I used 3M 90 Spray to stick insulation to the metal.

When I did the rear doors (no windows) I found that Thinsulate can act as a decent mass loading as well. So may be less need for Dynamat or equivalent. I did use Dyamat (9 pack of 18"x32" pieces) on most panels throughout the van but ran out before doing the rear doors. That's when I noticed Thinsulate would do the same thing.

I also have Thinsulate above the headliner and behind the door panels, A-pillar and B-pillar covers. This really makes a huge difference in road noise. Covering the rear fender liners helped a lot too. My floor is isolated from the body with 1/4" closed cell foam (Minicell).

The expanded PVC (Celtec) materials that I am using for my cabinets and interior walls are low resonance and also have some thermal insulating properties.

I have Thinsulate for sale: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30422
 
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hein

Van Guru
I installed two outlet vents for my Espar D2 so I needed to split the flow after it comes out of the heater. Espar makes all sorts of vent fittings including Tees and Ys but they are expensive and hard to find in stock. I did find and ordered the larger 70mm diameter outlet hood and some 70mm hose thinking I could find a suitable Y or T at the hardware store. After all that effort I came up with a more elegant (imho) and simple solution.

First a little 3D CAD work to develop a transition and generate a flat pattern.


http://www.impact3d.com/Espar_D2_heatout_transition_to_2x60mmD.pdf

Finished install. Should flow better than a 70 mm dia. tube going to a T or Y.


To build it:
  1. Print out the drawing and stick the paper flat pattern to some aluminum flashing with 3M 77 spray.
  2. Cut out the shape with a pair of scissors.
  3. Rework the Espar outlet hood. Remove the center and tapered (cone shaped) portion by drilling holes at the corners and cutting between them with a jig saw. Use a file and/or sandpaper to clean up the edges. Cut along the inside of the tape line shown below. There will be plenty of meat left for the rivets.
  4. Connect the transition to itself (at the tab) and install it over the cut out hood with pop rivets.
  5. Form a D shape into the end of the two 60mm diameter vent tubes and bond the flats back to back with CA glue.
  6. Insert the two vents into the oval end of the transition and pop rivet in place using backing washers.

Also working on a larger mystery part that will be made of 1/8 thick ABS.


Any guesses?
 
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hein

Van Guru
Last detail for the fresh water tank was to add a fill neck. It's won't be very convenient to crawl under the van to fill. Something I may find myself improving later.

(updated fill here: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showpost.php?p=293373&postcount=445)

Tank with fill hole cut out, Nalgene HDPE bottle neck/cap and Harbor Freight hot air plastic welder. The elbows are two of the four vents - one at each corner of the tank.


Welded. I used pliers to bend out a 1/8-3/16" flange on the bottle to get some contact area. After welding the neck on, I used thin strips cut from the rest of the bottle as weld rod/filler to cover the joint with another layer of plastic. Feels very strong and I only had a couple of pin holes to fix after checking with soapy water and some (lung) pressure. I had to be careful not to melt through the bottle (neck) because its wall thickness is much less than the tank.


Someone on this forum recommended painting the tank to block sunlight that could encourage bacteria growth. Rustoleum bed liner spray sticks very well.


P.S. Forgot about the tank level sensor - oops! Scraped some paint off the tank, cut the sensor to length, stuck it on the tank and resprayed. That's one of the other sensors on the bench. They can be cut down or stacked to match tank depth and are programmed for the tank they are on by cutting through the appropriately labeled trace on the sensor. It's a SeeLevel brand tank monitor.

 
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JohnY

Member
Found out I can do this. Glad I dropped the 12V furnace signal lead from my thermostat down to the Espar.

I was told my RV thermostat will hold the temperature at a more constant level than the Digimax. (appears it's on/off points are 15F apart?) I'll still need to retain the Digimax for diagnostics and use the altitude sensor to compensate for lower air pressure.
The 15F temperature dwell you mention may be important to having the internals reach a high enough temperature to minimize combustion product (eg, soot) build up on various internal surfaces. Cycling on/off more frequently and for less duration probably reduces temperatures and you may see accelerated build-up (bad). If your unit has premature build-up, perhaps your modification was a contributing factor.
 

hein

Van Guru
Thanks for the heads up. I haven't been running the Espar until I check out a possible wiring mistake. I only ran it a couple of times by jumpering the yellow wire to the red to make sure I had good fuel delivery.
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
The 15F temperature dwell you mention may be important to having the internals reach a high enough temperature to minimize combustion product (eg, soot) build up on various internal surfaces. Cycling on/off more frequently and for less duration probably reduces temperatures and you may see accelerated build-up (bad). If your unit has premature build-up, perhaps your modification was a contributing factor.
My DigiController holds the temperature within 0-3C. The colder the ambient, the lower the difference. One needs to use/wire in the thermister in the controller, otherwise the units internal thermister is used that can give larger holds ranges. The old style rheostat sucks for accuracy and pinpoint setpoints.
 

hein

Van Guru
Snow Sprinter.



16" of snow and counting so I've been busy programming (CNC) all the parts for the galley module. It's somewhat tedious work. Not nearly as fun as creating geometry (designing). It goes like this: Nest a part, create a new CNC operation, select a tool, set some parameters, pick 3D geometry to be cut, set some more parameters, run(animate) to verify path, repeat.
 
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OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
16" of snow and counting so I've been busy programming (CNC) all the parts for the galley module. It's somewhat tedious work. Not nearly as fun as creating geometry (designing). It goes like this: Nest a part, create a new CNC operation, select a tool, set some parameters, pick 3D geometry to be cut, set some more parameters, run(animate) to verify path, repeat.
A youtube of this 'mysterious' process would be cool... :hmmm:
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
Snow Sprinter.



16" of snow and counting so I've been busy programming (CNC) all the parts for the galley module. It's somewhat tedious work. Not nearly as fun as creating geometry (designing). It goes like this: Nest a part, create a new CNC operation, select a tool, set some parameters, pick 3D geometry to be cut, set some more parameters, run(animate) to verify path, repeat.
I have a lot of snow on my Sprinter too. What is in front of the Sprinter? covered car?

Talking about tedious work, I just finished 80/20 order including cutting, tapping and fasteners.

George.
 

hein

Van Guru
The pile is snow we have cleared from the driveway. Thankfully our daughter is home to help. We shoveled 3 times a day for the last three days. Yesterday we rented cross country skis, constructed a circuit around the field and made hot laps. Heart rates up! Also tried a little gliding down the hill resulting in some amusing pileups.



This morning we had another 5" so after clearing the driveway we decided it was time to clear off the top of the van. I've kept the temp at around 50F inside so quite a bit of ice run off was forming. The van is parked slightly down hill so some thick glaciers had formed down the sides of the windshield along the sides of the hood and down the headlights.



The 16" snow cap had been slowly sliding towards the front and the pressure has bent the antenna forward to an unnatural angle. I pushed it back but might have to replace the wand.

Shore power has been plugged in the whole time. I bought a trickle charger for the chassis battery and the Magnum BMK has been reporting SOC 100% on the house batteries. I went out to the van, had a beer and watched a little bit of the Olympics on the TV last night. Cozy.

 
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hein

Van Guru
Have you been using the Espar for heat?
No, I have a 1500 watt electric space heater set on low (750 watt). It runs almost continuously.

There is a issue/problem with keeping the heat on when there is snow on the roof in freezing temps. As snow melts on the roof the runoff refreezes and builds up when it moves away from the heat.

Sprinter roof run off goes to the corners. In the front it runs down along the side of the windshield into a large trough that spans the bottom. The trough is set up to sort of drain to the sides but water can run down along the sides of the engine compartment where it can then flow inward towards the frame rails. I have a lot of ice build up in those areas and the lower fascia is filled with a large clump of ice.

I made some water drainage improvements a few months ago when it was raining but looks like more is needed.

Edit - added some pictures

Below. Water drain mod (black urethane sealant). When it rains this directs water outward instead of letting it run into the engine compartment. Probably wouldn't hurt to extend the weather seal to the fender. This whole area was packed with ice until it got just warm enough yesterday to clear it.



When it was all iced up, water flowed inward and ice formed in some undesirable areas:

Under the ABS module:


Under Cabin air intake box:
 
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PaulDavis

Member
Hein - I just noticed a little detail in this picture. Where did you get the "trim" that fits around your OEM/CRL window frame? I've seen others struggle over what to do with this space/area, and this photo makes it look rather nice.
 

hein

Van Guru
It's painted. Initially, I masked it off and sprayed it with Rustoleum Aged Iron Texture spray. I gave it another touch up coat when I removed and re-set the window to cure a leak. I've used over 30 cans of that paint so far. Most things I am able to spray over a down draft table which really cuts down on over spray dust and paint fumes.

One thing I like about the textured surfaces. They don't feel as cold (or hot) to the touch as the OEM painted metal surfaces.
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
It's painted. Initially, I masked it off and sprayed it with Rustoleum Aged Iron Texture spray. I gave it another touch up coat when I removed and re-set the window to cure a leak. I've used over 30 cans of that paint so far. Most things I am able to spray over a down draft table which really cuts down on over spray dust and paint fumes.

One thing I like about the textured surfaces. They don't feel as cold (or hot) to the touch as the OEM painted metal surfaces.
I've added thermal breaks between the trim and the window extrusion... after I burned me forearm in the desert.
 

hein

Van Guru
The weather improved yesterday so I was able to test fit the previously posted mystery part. I wasn't satisfied with it; so got back on the CAD; split it in two and machined a new set of mystery parts.



Sun is out today and the install is going better with these.
 
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hein

Van Guru
One more picture of the R-side pieces ready to install with tools and small stainless self drilling screws. Not the easiest task but I was able to get it done with the loooooong phillips bits.



Passenger's side installed: but barely visible.

 
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