Hi @Billrw136 I had a purple BA, had it for 8 years and traded it on the Jeep when it had 300,000+ K's on it and was on its 3rd set of tires
Discovery 2013 Discovery 17.55-5SH OB - BigSkiddy
- Thread starter BigSkiddy
- Start date
Hi @Billrw136 I had a purple BA, had it for 8 years and traded it on the Jeep when it had 300,000+ K's on it and was on its 3rd set of tires
Well it's that time of year again and I thought it wasn't going to happen, but it's snowing
Heading down tomorrow for the week and staying at Adventist Alpine Village. http://www.alpinevillage.com.au/.
At $30 per night for a powered site it is fairly cheap. Only catch is no alcohol. No smoking either but that's okay. It is just out of Jindabyne, so not as close as Sawpit Creek where I previously stayed. But I found that driving that extra 15 mins allows the Jeep's heated seats to do their thing and dry the ski gear.
The only disconcerting thing was on the booking email they told me to bring something to strap my van down with. :eek-53:
Going to use a snatch strap, heck I haven't had to use it for the Jeep yet.
Heading down tomorrow for the week and staying at Adventist Alpine Village. http://www.alpinevillage.com.au/.
At $30 per night for a powered site it is fairly cheap. Only catch is no alcohol. No smoking either but that's okay. It is just out of Jindabyne, so not as close as Sawpit Creek where I previously stayed. But I found that driving that extra 15 mins allows the Jeep's heated seats to do their thing and dry the ski gear.
The only disconcerting thing was on the booking email they told me to bring something to strap my van down with. :eek-53:
Going to use a snatch strap, heck I haven't had to use it for the Jeep yet.
no alcohol? do they do a van search?Well it's that time of year again and I thought it wasn't going to happen, but it's snowing
Heading down tomorrow for the week and staying at Adventist Alpine Village. http://www.alpinevillage.com.au/.
At $30 per night for a powered site it is fairly cheap. Only catch is no alcohol. No smoking either but that's okay. It is just out of Jindabyne, so not as close as Sawpit Creek where I previously stayed. But I found that driving that extra 15 mins allows the Jeep's heated seats to do their thing and dry the ski gear.
The only disconcerting thing was on the booking email they told me to bring something to strap my van down with. :eek-53:
Going to use a snatch strap, heck I haven't had to use it for the Jeep yet.
Adventist Alpine Village was really good. Facilities were clean and had plenty of room around me.
Management are fairly relaxed, they said park wherever, just as long I point my van the same direction as everyone else.
Funny thing was when putting my rubbish in the bin it was half filled with empty wine and beer bottles.
Main campground with a dusting of snow.
I was situated on my own in the lower camp area.
Will happily stay here again.
Management are fairly relaxed, they said park wherever, just as long I point my van the same direction as everyone else.
Funny thing was when putting my rubbish in the bin it was half filled with empty wine and beer bottles.
Main campground with a dusting of snow.
I was situated on my own in the lower camp area.
Will happily stay here again.
Last edited:
Diesel Heater Install.
Here's some pics of my diesel heater install into my van. Hope it helps other Discovery/Journey owners. Was quite simple and I think the positioning within the 17.55-5 works okay. My only concern was adding the extra weight to the front corner where the battery and gas bottles are already.
Parts I used.
The heater unit. Worked out to be $562 AU, after conversion. It came with piping and the digital controller (which I did not ask for)
I purchased this diesel tank from Supercheap Auto. Drilled a hole on top and fitted pipestand supplied with heater. Fits nicely in the front boot and I gave some extra length on the fuel line to remove for filling.
Heater unit placed under the front lounge behind battery. Hole sawed two holes for the exhaust, external air intake and fuel line.
Position of the heating vent allows to direct heat up middle of van or with the directional vent towards people on the lounge.
Digital controller mounted against cupboard beside lounge. I found that the ambient temperature of this controller is not accurate. Doesn't matter as I run it in manual mode with the heater constant at a % power seating. If you have it on auto it cuts in and out which drains your battery quicker.
If you have a Drifter Control Panel connect the negative (black) wire as shown (one I'm holding), so you can see the power the unit is drawing. It draws about 8amps on startup for about 2mins. Once going on full power it draws around 1.3amps, giving about 70hrs running time. When on 50% it was about 0.5amps giving around 150hrs. In comparison it is using the same amount of power as the two LED ceiling mounted lights in your van. So I think that is pretty good. Also note when you reduce the power of the unit it is still blowing the same temperature air, only the fan slows down.
This unit has a wire marked 'night light' which I disconnected, as it illuminated the controller constantly and was too bright when sleeping.
In order for the unit to draw air internally, rather then putting an extra vent in, I just drilled some holes in the top of the fire extinguisher recess. Seems to work fine.
For the muffler, I used 2 of these, pinched some insulation from the ceiling, and pipe from a disused trampoline safety net. You can buy one for $40 on ebay, but I was bored.
In mounting the fuel pump I used a piece of discarded sullage pipe. This stops the 'tick' being heard inside the van.
So underneath it looks like this. Power to the fuel pump comes by drilling a small hole from under the lounge into the front boot and feeding it under the van via the water drain holes. The fuel line feeds through that same hole as well.
The external air intake I fed into a piece of PVC pipe with some insulation in the end to silence the noise. Noise wise externally I would say slightly louder as a A/C unit.
Lastly I sealed where I had drilled through the floor with some high temperature silicone to prevent any issues with dampness. The wiring for these units are 'plug and play' so you don't need a to have soldering skills. I did cut some of the wiring and resoldered to minimise lengths though.
I have used it in -2 degree temperature with no issues. It was particularly useful when pulling over for lunch whilst on the road, brought the van temp from 5deg up to 15deg in about 10mins. Best of all my wife was sceptical of me putting it in, but now she loves it.
Here's some pics of my diesel heater install into my van. Hope it helps other Discovery/Journey owners. Was quite simple and I think the positioning within the 17.55-5 works okay. My only concern was adding the extra weight to the front corner where the battery and gas bottles are already.
Parts I used.
The heater unit. Worked out to be $562 AU, after conversion. It came with piping and the digital controller (which I did not ask for)
I purchased this diesel tank from Supercheap Auto. Drilled a hole on top and fitted pipestand supplied with heater. Fits nicely in the front boot and I gave some extra length on the fuel line to remove for filling.
Heater unit placed under the front lounge behind battery. Hole sawed two holes for the exhaust, external air intake and fuel line.
Position of the heating vent allows to direct heat up middle of van or with the directional vent towards people on the lounge.
Digital controller mounted against cupboard beside lounge. I found that the ambient temperature of this controller is not accurate. Doesn't matter as I run it in manual mode with the heater constant at a % power seating. If you have it on auto it cuts in and out which drains your battery quicker.
If you have a Drifter Control Panel connect the negative (black) wire as shown (one I'm holding), so you can see the power the unit is drawing. It draws about 8amps on startup for about 2mins. Once going on full power it draws around 1.3amps, giving about 70hrs running time. When on 50% it was about 0.5amps giving around 150hrs. In comparison it is using the same amount of power as the two LED ceiling mounted lights in your van. So I think that is pretty good. Also note when you reduce the power of the unit it is still blowing the same temperature air, only the fan slows down.
This unit has a wire marked 'night light' which I disconnected, as it illuminated the controller constantly and was too bright when sleeping.
In order for the unit to draw air internally, rather then putting an extra vent in, I just drilled some holes in the top of the fire extinguisher recess. Seems to work fine.
For the muffler, I used 2 of these, pinched some insulation from the ceiling, and pipe from a disused trampoline safety net. You can buy one for $40 on ebay, but I was bored.
In mounting the fuel pump I used a piece of discarded sullage pipe. This stops the 'tick' being heard inside the van.
So underneath it looks like this. Power to the fuel pump comes by drilling a small hole from under the lounge into the front boot and feeding it under the van via the water drain holes. The fuel line feeds through that same hole as well.
The external air intake I fed into a piece of PVC pipe with some insulation in the end to silence the noise. Noise wise externally I would say slightly louder as a A/C unit.
Lastly I sealed where I had drilled through the floor with some high temperature silicone to prevent any issues with dampness. The wiring for these units are 'plug and play' so you don't need a to have soldering skills. I did cut some of the wiring and resoldered to minimise lengths though.
I have used it in -2 degree temperature with no issues. It was particularly useful when pulling over for lunch whilst on the road, brought the van temp from 5deg up to 15deg in about 10mins. Best of all my wife was sceptical of me putting it in, but now she loves it.
since @Crusty181 got his heater they have really taken off I tell my wife but we don't have a diesel heater just cuddle me more she says ah I want one too LOL
Great job @BigSkiddy - you are very innovative! Well done.....thanks for sharing....
Bill
Bill
Have been a bit slack and not updated my thread lately.
Headed out to Wee Jasper on the October Long Weekend. Had perfect weather and was fairly crowded compared to when I normally head here in January.
We went with friends who had never free camped before, so luckily we helped them out with supplies after they ran out of food.
Lol! They thought there might be a shop nearby, (there was 60km away at Yass!)
Headed out to Wee Jasper on the October Long Weekend. Had perfect weather and was fairly crowded compared to when I normally head here in January.
We went with friends who had never free camped before, so luckily we helped them out with supplies after they ran out of food.
Lol! They thought there might be a shop nearby, (there was 60km away at Yass!)
Just got back from a 4 day trip to Newnes Campground and Dunns Swamp. Rained off and on for most of the trip, but still had a great time. Will have to return when the weather is better. Awesome scenery. Here's some pics, but they don't do it justice.
Newnes Campground
The water in the Wolgan River is not too deep, but crystal clear.
Yep, we've got water views now.
Shuffled our position onto some higher ground.
Bower bird kept flying off with the bottle tops. Spotted this bloke at the ruins.
That's one big pizza oven!
Dunns Swamp
Not many spots for an 18ft caravan, probably only 5. It's mainly cordoned off for tent camping. My daughter had a ball climbing over the sandstone boulders. There is about 8km of unsealed road into the campground. A little narrow and with a full height van you'd have to be mindful of overhanging branches.
A 15min walk from the main campground and you get to climb on these and get a great view of the swamp.
Newnes Campground
The water in the Wolgan River is not too deep, but crystal clear.
Yep, we've got water views now.
Shuffled our position onto some higher ground.
Bower bird kept flying off with the bottle tops. Spotted this bloke at the ruins.
That's one big pizza oven!
Dunns Swamp
Not many spots for an 18ft caravan, probably only 5. It's mainly cordoned off for tent camping. My daughter had a ball climbing over the sandstone boulders. There is about 8km of unsealed road into the campground. A little narrow and with a full height van you'd have to be mindful of overhanging branches.
A 15min walk from the main campground and you get to climb on these and get a great view of the swamp.
