MAiden voyage for batteries and 'fridge

[BradKW]

Took the E450 on a trip to Miami and Pompano to pick up some stuff. I have never driven a truck that size any distance, at highway speeds, and through the maze of the Miami corridor's 6 lane mess. Add in lots of crazy drivers, fair amount uninsured, and torrential downpours...it was a learning experience.

But after the drive up and a full day of following google maps to hidden warehouse locations, I was much more comfortable by the drive back home. Even though a dually box doesn't really add much extra width, when combined with poor visibility it made for some tense stretches.

Got my (4) Trojan L16 435 amp hrs each, and (2) T105's:

[img=400x400]http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...ads/IMG_20160826_114856_zpsq6hlumtc.jpg[/img]

And my Vitrifrigo DP2600 fridge. In pic, everything is kinda sitting in what may be final arrangement...

 

[BobBski]

Looking good

 

[highdesertranger]

yahoo, your a happy camper. you will get to the extra width once you get some miles under your belt. highdesertranger

 

[Trebor English]

Next to the puny little T105s those L16s look really deep. Are they a foot and a half deep? That's a real deep cycle battery.

 

[bcbullet]

Nice! Kind of makes me wish I could do mine over again. I miss the "hobby" of the build. Now I am stuck adding little goodies here and there, flood lights on the roof, indoor outdoor thermometers etc. That fridge/freezer looks great and the specs look good too.

 

[jimindenver]

Wow, that fridge and those batteries are huge!

I remember driving a box truck for the first time, they said I nearly ran over a few cars. That was nothing to pulling the trailer through downtown Denver at rush hour, finding a parking spot for 40 ft and then getting it home a hour later still in rush hour.

 

[ahh_me2]

Looking good!

Didn't take me very long to acclimatize to driving my dually cube van, but it was somewhat nerve wracking til I got used to it.
I found the addition of a back up camera mounted higher up but pointing down at a rough 45 degrees did wonders for my driving tho.
It also helped to tell me if I was centered on the lane as well.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

You'll get to the point where you prefer driving the box truck to other vehicles. I actually think they are easier to drive...higher up, better visibility, bigger mirrors, heavier duty vehicle. Drove a 16' and/or 24' box truck from Boston to NYC once a week for years while working at the cabinet shop. Soon regular cars will feel like go carts when you get in one!

That fridge is great! You are going to be living in luxury in this thing! Love seeing the progress

 

[rvpopeye]

Geeeeze , color me green!
(spinach green that is....)

 

[SternWake]

Were you a ble to pick the fridge up direct from vf warehouse?

What is the value of resistor on thermostat circuit? Interested in what rpm they chose to run the bd35f at.

 

[Matlock]

Nice to see see you out and about.
I know it took me a dozen trips in heavy 4 lane traffic before I got accustom to no peripheral vision beyond what the side mirrors gave me. Now I have to keep a sharp eye so I don't get complacent. You'll find many folks are giving you more room than you need because they can't see you,
Lookin good.

 

[BradKW]

Were you a ble to pick the fridge up direct from vf warehouse?

What is the value of resistor on thermostat circuit?   Interested in what rpm they chose to run the bd35f at.

Yes, Carl at Westyventures placed the order for me at a considerable savings, and I picked it up at the Pompano warehouse to save shipping...smooth transaction. Powered it up off of 110v today and it is super quiet...and I had very cold Gatorades!

I couldn't guess as to second part of you question...where is that information?

Here's a pic of compressor...looking like I wish it exhausted in opposite direction actually...

 

[SternWake]

You have the danfoss secop bd50. Not the bd35f.

Am not familiar with that or the differences. But see that green printed circuit board on bottom of controller. That is where my 270 ohm resistor on thermostat circuit located. I removed it to slow compressor speed to minimum 2000.


No laptop access currently. But id google.danfoss bd50 pdf for.specs.and wiring recommendations. It likely can handle 24v.

You gonna try/bother to improve efficiency via more insulation and ventilation through condenser?

 

[SternWake]

I moved my and upgraded my fan. Other side of condenser pushing air. Quieter and more effective.

You can reverse flow. Compressor and controller need airflow too.

Noctua nf f12. The controller could switch 10 of these fans on and off with compressor. They only draw 0.05 amps each. My vf provided fan consumed 0.12.

Cool carl at westy worked with you.

Ventilation mods easy to handle. Might require super long phillips screwdriver to reach fan screws. Be super careful of their depth when screwing fan on other side of condenser. They could puncture the copper tubes.

Fan on other side makes cleaning dust much easier in future.

Mine sucks filtered air as dust accumulation was severe. Consider this need when designing cabinet

 

[poprouge]

Wow!! Now that is a battery bank!!!

 

[BradKW]

I don't think that ohm resistors are on this year's to-do list, but adding insulation and ventilation will definitely be part of the installation. Good thought on the filter...I use them in my PC case and it always surprises me how fast they clog up, even inside with AC running year-round. The compressor is rated for 12v/24v 110/240 and Carl says it can swap back and forth without any concerns.

I haven't inspected the controller...is there an extra 4-pin pwm slot, or are you coming off a Y ? I'm guessing there isn't any actual modulation going on, just a base on/off setting...did you use Noctua's rpm restrictor for limiting noise?

 

[SternWake]

Can only hear unthrottled noctua if i put my ear to cabinet.. mine controller uses quick connect spade terminals. I spliced. In noctua.
Mount it to push air through condenser, not pull. Noise and airflow are compromised pulling.

These mods well within your capabilities, just lift it off the floor so you can sit eye level with the bottom

 

[BradKW]

I seem to have it in my head that you went with two fans in push/pull, which is what I was planning to do...even with the rpm restrictor, should get greatly increased performance with no additional sound. Not sure if I can power two fans off that controller though. And fair to say that with the fridge running, everything has to be completely quiet and I need to focus to even tell it's on.

If you can find it easily, please link your old mod thread...

 

[SternWake]

I did not make a thread about my fridge mods though i did add pics and descriptions to many other 12v compressor fridge threads here on crvl

I use one fan. It has a shroud so that it can only pull cool air from below. And a cooling unit tunnel to force all air across compressor and controller and either out the van body via a louver covered sliding conversion van window or into adjacent cabinet. This adjacent (electrical )cabinet has an 80 mm fan exhausting are behind drivers seat. If i have vent behind fridge closed, This 80 mm fan running 24/7 does pull most of its flow through filter and condenser with cabinet door closed.

I do use a noctua low noise adapter/resistor on this fan and remove it when super hot For higher flow. It is a junk fan. From a failed wfco converter. Used d to use an 80 mm noctua there but put it on my meanwell rsp -500-15 instead.



The compressor controller can handle 10 noctua nf f12 fans. If you want to run more than 0.5 amps of fans. You have to use a relay.

You find the danfoss bd50 pdf yet?

 

[BradKW]

Here's the .pdf - http://www.novakool.com/support/bd50f compressor.pdf

How does limiting the compressor rpm to 2000 make it more efficient? Seems like it would just run longer to provide same amount of cooling...