Drovers new Rig - "Big Mal"

Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
The original Dometic B3000 that was in Big Mal would shake the windows out when it did a cycle change, worse when on heat, was like living next to a railway freight line .... thought we were in heaven when the hail took it out and the Ibis was fitted, now it seems like a rattler ..................

Next project is the new panel when it gets here .... was thinking when the old 200w one eventually croaks I may leave it up there as extra shade, like a bit of a tropical roof effect ................................
 
Hitting the road

Hitting the road

Well-Known Member
Jan 14, 2022
337
440
63
Brisbane
Posting at 2.08am?
Kings are opening a store in Hervey Bay soon, the construction phase is just about finished...could even be open by Christmas....8-)

The Truma air conditioner fitted to my van is loud...very loud. But it works ok when really needed...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Drover
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
A Hervey bay store, now thats good news as the postage unless you strike it lucky is pretty heavy ...................... I scored a good 24hr deal earlier in year, rwally good price but couldn't figure out how to collect it, freight was enormous then I remembered they had opened a Superstore in Toowoomba and it was on the way home .................. lucky I didn't have any room left in Ranger or I would have spent heaps.....

Next to a coffee stand I hope, we still haven't had our coffee meet, well we did but picked the one of the few Bunnings without a coffee shop ................... :D
PS: Check this out.......................

Home Page - Adventure Kings

www.4wdsupacentre.com.au www.4wdsupacentre.com.au

Opening 13th November .


Old people wake up at stupid times it seems, drives me nuts ..........................
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Hitting the road
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
New panel arrived today Friday, ordered Tuesday and left Sydney on Wednesday, unheard of delivery for around here, this time it came by Allied Express ......... Never expected it till next week so was going to make the brackets over the weekend ......... On a roll this week .... fingers crossed for next week.........
 
  • Like
Reactions: Boots in Action and DRW
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
Well so much for the run of good luck this week, the panel was DoA, bummer, before stuffing around with everything I put it on the meter, didn't look right so connected it all up via the portable anderson connection on van, so with a VoC of 21.85 its showing 24v and when connected to the controller its also showing 24v, it shouldn't be so me thinks its stuffed, no charging current either as I think the controller has locked it out ...
Tested on the Utes set up and the same so its stuffed ....

Now we go on the send me another one trial, main reason I hate mail order and much prefer to buy direct from shop but in this case the shop is a couple of hundred kms away ............ (insert appropriate adjectives, lots of them )
 
  • Like
  • Wow
  • Sad
Reactions: Boots in Action, jazzeddie1234 and Hitting the road
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
A couple of emails yesterday ,Kings gave me 3 options return by Post they'll send a return voucher, have a Courier pick up from me or do a swap from a Superstore, the first 2 would take a week or so to be resolved with a new one and then taking your chance someone doesn't drop the thing again, so a 260km return run to nearest store on sunny coast is the best option ... Barcode all printed out ready for pick up later today .............. Fuel in Gympville at $2.69 and I don't care, Ranger needs a nice run to clear the soot....
So much for the savings on freight but proved my thoughts on getting panels in the mail. Kings was very quick and easy to deal with, no stress....here's the pic I sent them of the damaged corner.....

IMG_20261009_151252.jpg
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: Boots in Action, Hitting the road, chartrock and 1 other person
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
New brackets made up and the new panel is on the roof, used TRex adhesive this time around, test piece I did I nearly lifted my bench off the ground and it still stuck, I gave up first ................... So brackets glued to panel and put a big head rivet in once the goop had set, panel is glued to van roof and will either add a screw or rivet tomorrow when all set, my earlier panels haven't moved so process works .......... I'm just not fully trusting of an adhesive nor rivets or screws in a tin roof either on their pat malone, so chemical and mechanical shoudl cover the bases .......... even have a couple of holes in the roof part so adhesive will come thru bit like a stud ... and Big Mals roof after the hail repair years back is in dimpled alloy sheet possibly better adhesion than smooth stuff...

Unlike the shop brackets mine are 2 piece jobs, so one bit on the panel and the other for the roof and they are rivetted together, that way if you have to remove the panel you can without damaging the roof or putting extra holes in it .... The professional fit out panel they screwed the bracket to bottom of panel frame then it fastened to the roof glue/screw, so unable to remove panel unless you remove bracket from roof, dumb idea so my other panels the brackets can be split in half, just drill out some rivetts on the bracket leaving the roof mounted section okay.. ...
When the old panel dies fully I will just cut off the bracket leaving enough to attach another bracket leaving an anchor point on the roof not a patched hole, new panel doesn't fit I have points to fix a frame mount to if I go that way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Boots in Action, Hitting the road and jazzeddie1234
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
The mongrel 4 Seasons hatch had a seal leaking on one of the flaps, no real information around on how to remove the flap, plenty on old style and some where they say bend and pop the hinge point, then would go on to show how to repair the broken tab ... PASS .... So last week I did 101 on how to dismantle the thing, unscrew the lid and lift it off, then the flaps just lift off as the lid is actually part of the hinge , easy peasy, so removed all of them, cleaned them up and fitted some new seal foam stuff from Mitre 10, all put back together and this mornings storm dumped 40mm in 40 minutes on us, no rocks :applause:, a few drops from blowing in the always open part of the vent so all good thankfully ....................... have noticed big winds will tend to blow water in so might make a small cigar of sketta mesh and slip it into these open slots, still vent but should stop water blown in and still let CO vent ...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hitting the road and DRW
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
The Starlink Mini fitment in the roof hatch completed, did a test run last trip with it dury rigged and worked good so now its a goer, not fully trusting of the suction cups so a Velcro strap for just in case, the dark blogs are stains from the quick grip that I used to hold an insulation panel in place, may make an insert to of the insulation panel to fit around the mini, for looks as the stains are annoying. .... Don't know if I'll leave it there when on the road though .

Mini roof.jpg
 
DRW

DRW

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2013
2,742
4,421
113
71
Beautiful Burrum Heads QLD
Drover said:
The Starlink Mini fitment in the roof hatch completed, did a test run last trip with it dury rigged and worked good so now its a goer, not fully trusting of the suction cups so a Velcro strap for just in case, the dark blogs are stains from the quick grip that I used to hold an insulation panel in place, may make an insert to of the insulation panel to fit around the mini, for looks as the stains are annoying. .... Don't know if I'll leave it there when on the road though .

View attachment 70238
Click to expand...
How do you go finding optimum position? Or is this just for traveling
 
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
DRW said:
How do you go finding optimum position? Or is this just for traveling
Click to expand...
The Mini doesn't need to be set up like a Standard unit that you have on a house, laying flat its quite happy, no obstructions showing and speed didn't seem to have been effected really, still runs at 200 mbps or in that area anyhow ............. For just overnight stops I would lay it flat in back of Ute under the hard lid and it was no different than if on a pole pointing south, so started thinking why not put it in roof hatch, out of weather and no settiing up, testing worked ....................... The Gen 3 on house would have a big hissy fit if I set it up the same way as it seems they are built different ..

My Mini is Inactive at present but will still update, view satellites and provide an Obstruction map just no internet, I only activate it when we go away, not paying $15/mth for stand by, (activation takes a few minutes and its good to go) ........... I let it run for a day when I put it in the roof hatch to see how it went, still good WiFi coverage outside the van ............. I once did think about using it on a residential plan on house then switch to Roam when travelling but need something at home for security cams, since the Gen 3 was rent free I went with it for the house., does a great job and still cheaper than most providers of NBN ......
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Hitting the road
DRW

DRW

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2013
2,742
4,421
113
71
Beautiful Burrum Heads QLD
Drover said:
The Mini doesn't need to be set up like a Standard unit that you have on a house, laying flat its quite happy, no obstructions showing and speed didn't seem to have been effected really, still runs at 200 mbps or in that area anyhow ............. For just overnight stops I would lay it flat in back of Ute under the hard lid and it was no different than if on a pole pointing south, so started thinking why not put it in roof hatch, out of weather and no settiing up, testing worked ....................... The Gen 3 on house would have a big hissy fit if I set it up the same way as it seems they are built different ..

My Mini is Inactive at present but will still update, view satellites and provide an Obstruction map just no internet, I only activate it when we go away, not paying $15/mth for stand by, (activation takes a few minutes and its good to go) ........... I let it run for a day when I put it in the roof hatch to see how it went, still good WiFi coverage outside the van ............. I once did think about using it on a residential plan on house then switch to Roam when travelling but need something at home for security cams, since the Gen 3 was rent free I went with it for the house., does a great job and still cheaper than most providers of NBN ......
Click to expand...
Interesting, I sit mine on the roof of the van and use the app to position it. I’m currently on $15 per month standby as I was unsure how difficult it was to restart, I use the unlimited when traveling but that might change very soon to!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Drover
Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
13,316
20,127
113
QLD
Yep Dave, when I sat it on the back of the ute once I never noticed the stand had folded up so it was flat and had moved so sort of pointing east, I think I tripped over the cable, anyway it was working well so I started to investigate things, it also seems that instead of looking for a clear view sou sou east its more overhead......
With a 3 or 4 month gap between trips I wasn't going to fork out $15 a month for it to do nothing so shut it down, just activate it after 1000 on the day we leave home and alls good, just go to the Mini subscription in the app , move the slider to activate and its done but only use the 100gb plan, $85 is more than enough wallet pain, overnight stops it will stream our TV but longer stays I still put up the Sat dish for Foxtel otherwise I would burn that 100gb up in a week or so, if I do run out usually only a few days to end of month so switch to the big plan, only a coulpe of bucks ,just need to remember to switch back to the 100gb plan doesn't cost as much then ....................... If we do have a good phone signal will even burn some phone data up to stream, Tangerine banks unused data and we have heaps on our phones ....

This attachment is full of handy info and shows how much you have to pay if you activate or change plans during a billing month... got it off "Starlink and Leo users Australia" on faceache ... hijacked a friends account for it as Im not on it at all ..
 

Attachments

  • Starlink Tips and Tricks.pdf
    708.2 KB · Views: 4
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom