worldofceri Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 Giving me the jells this thread, even though I’ve got my own T25 on the drive that I’ve barely driven since September. I think getting off my arse and fitting a diesel heater would help my enthusiasm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted February 19, 2022 Author Share Posted February 19, 2022 Diesel heaters are just ace. Luckily* this 2.1 is so inefficient, the heater warms up within a couple of miles and is mega warm and toasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 4 hours ago, cobblers said: Diesel heaters are just ace. Can I just ask you an Afterburner question - to operate it using my phone when I'm out and about, I think I have to put the wifi into station mode, connect it to a mobile hotspot with a second phone, then access it over the internet that way. I've done this sort of thing with a home router and port forwarding, so guessing it should be similarly straightforward, but I wondered whether I had to use MQTT (which I know nothing about!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted February 19, 2022 Author Share Posted February 19, 2022 29 minutes ago, mat_the_cat said: Can I just ask you an Afterburner question - to operate it using my phone when I'm out and about, I think I have to put the wifi into station mode, connect it to a mobile hotspot with a second phone, then access it over the internet that way. I've done this sort of thing with a home router and port forwarding, so guessing it should be similarly straightforward, but I wondered whether I had to use MQTT (which I know nothing about!) MQTT is 9000 times easier than port forwarding, but like anything else on the afterburner, the documentation makes it seem harder than it is. I seem to recall I followed a youtube video telling you how to get it to work, and it was all sorted in minutes. Roughly you go to the http://afterburner.mrjones.id.au/mqtt.html webpage and put in the ID of your afterburner and "broker.hivemq.com" then bookmark the page and now you have a webpage which controls your heater from any device on the internet, so long as the heater has some way of accessing the net (even if it's via port blocked mobile routers etc) heres mine, I'm at home and my camper is 30 miles away at work with the afterburner connected to either the 4g router or the wifi at work depending on how close I parked to my unit. If it gets to 2.5c the heater will turn on in frost mode and warm the whole van up to 15c (I used to have it stop at 6c but then it would do three cycles a night, it's better off just getting it nice and warm and not coming on for the day) mat_the_cat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 9 minutes ago, cobblers said: like anything else on the afterburner, the documentation makes it seem harder than it is. That's what's been putting me off! Cheers for that, must admit there've been a few times when it'd be great to come back to a nice warm van. Probably most of them outside any kind of mobile signal, but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabergé Greggs Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Quite curious about these diesel heaters.. are they a bit "all or nothing" ie do you get you van hot with them and then rely on insulation rather than keeping them ticking over all night? How much electricity do they consume? I guess the glow plug draws a fair bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 As standard, they will tick over on minimum output all night, but with any remotely well-insulated van, the temperature will keep on rising. The Afterburner controller mentioned above will turn off the heater if this happens, and back on again if the temperature drops. Glow plug draws something like 10 amps for maybe 30 seconds, under 1 amp continuous on low. Fabergé Greggs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted February 20, 2022 Author Share Posted February 20, 2022 What he said /\ They are roughly 700-1000w on their lowest setting, which can be too much for small vans overnight unless it's absolutely freezing. You can crack the windows open a little which is a bit of a waste of fuel, but helps dry the van out etc. I like to sleep with the van pretty cold (13c) so In my big moderately insulated peugeot boxer I only really run the heater overnight when it's freezing or very close to, and I leave the roof vent open just a touch. When I'm up and plodding around in the van, I set it to 22c and it has no problem keeping that maintained accurately. The coldest I've camped is -7c for 3 days and the heater spent most of the time on about 50-75% power. The warmest I'll run the heater permanently on is about 10c outside. The main power draw and noise is starting and stopping them, so you're better off wasting heat out of the window in order to keep it ticking over on low. Barry Cade and Fabergé Greggs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted February 26, 2022 Author Share Posted February 26, 2022 Rotated the tens 90 degrees so it opened onto the bed at the back. Much better this way round, it makes putting it up and taking it down quicker, and I can tie the guylines into the load anchors on the back of the van, so it's all secure. Takes 7 minutes to put up, 9 minutes to take down which is quite reasonable. I'm pretty pleased with it. They do an annex that zips on underneath, but it's 2.1m high, I'd only need the top half of it but it would make a nice enclosed area to put my boots in, a couple of camp chairs and do the cooking. Might give it a try tonight if I can find my thick sleeping bag! Scruffy Bodger, twosmoke300, Jenson Velcro and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted April 2, 2022 Author Share Posted April 2, 2022 After driving for about ten miles with the handbrake on, my back brakes were totally shafted. Finally had a bit of time today to get em sorted. Quite a war getting the drums off, there is nothing to get hold of to pull them so I sent a tap in and wound them off. Worked well! Drums were mint and have zero lip, but the shoes were very cooked. Did the fronts while I was at it. Can't believe how much better the pedal is, it's like a different van. I've even put a new bulb in the handbrake warning light so I don't do it again. I've had an intermittent high idle, so I went round looking for air leaks. Look at this fucking mess! Those vacuum pipes have been on there for two months! Supposedly din fuel hose! What a bag of shit, I'm going to give the seller a right gobfull. At last I've come away camping in it. Dropped on really well with the camp spot - I'm on a farm and the guy usually has one small field for campers, but since he's got no cows on at the moment he said I could go wherever the hell I wanted. So I went through the ford. It's only about 18 inch deep if that. And here we are : Views not bad either I've got my long johns for tonight, it'll be minus two apparently. Low Horatio gearbox, MJK 24, junkyarddog and 30 others 33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500tops Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Wel jel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Long Johns are short for Longathan Johnathan. cobblers, Crackers, GrumpiusMaximus and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted April 2, 2022 Author Share Posted April 2, 2022 mine are short cos I didn't eat my veg as a child GrumpiusMaximus, Jim Bell and Crackers 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicle Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 I reckon most things will be a bit short if its minus 2 tonight. GrumpiusMaximus, Jim Bell and Carl1981 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 It always surprises me how small the brakes on the T25 and LT are compared to the Mercedes T1. Great to see the van being used properly though. Really hope we get out with ours this year. I do need to get to the bottom of why she's down on power though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownnova Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Just been catching up on a years worth of this thread. That is one awesome vehicle right there, and to see it fully roof tented up and camped in is excellent too! Low Horatio gearbox and cobblers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 Yes, it was quite a cold one! My "definitely safe" chinese gas heater made my eyes sting and the condensation made everything wet, so I sacked that off. I won't be using it again. Had the best nights sleep I've had in about a decade. Have you ever smelled a video? Well you'll be able to smell this one. Fantastic! Popsicle, GrumpiusMaximus, Sigmund Fraud and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl1981 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 16 hours ago, cobblers said: Much better design than my early air cooled T25, the brake disc doubles as part of the hub and has the wheel bearing in it! Makes changing the discs much more involved! 🙄 looks like you’re taking good care of this one, nice work. cobblers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 All the 2wd T25s are like that as far as I'm aware, this has a different front hub setup because of the driveshaft etc. I was worried brake parts would be tricky to get for a syncro, but they were all on the shelf at brickwerks. I can't really knock that place, they are priced reasonably and have good stuff in stock. Apparently there's a load of brake upgrades available that bolt on (both front and rear) so while I was tempted, it stops fine really and many of these upgrades would need bigger wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl1981 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 29 minutes ago, cobblers said: All the 2wd T25s are like that as far as I'm aware, this has a different front hub setup because of the driveshaft etc. I was worried brake parts would be tricky to get for a syncro, but they were all on the shelf at brickwerks. I can't really knock that place, they are priced reasonably and have good stuff in stock. Apparently there's a load of brake upgrades available that bolt on (both front and rear) so while I was tempted, it stops fine really and many of these upgrades would need bigger wheels. I use brickwerks too, also use campervanculture.com they do loads of OE quality westfalia parts, but specialise in syncros and off grid camping stuff, really good service too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Another vote for Brickwerks too, who are happily doing more and more LT parts. You can actually email them and get a prompt reply too, which is always welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 1 minute ago, mat_the_cat said: Another vote for Brickwerks too, who are happily doing more and more LT parts. You can actually email them and get a prompt reply too, which is always welcome. A lot of people are very upset that you can't ring them, but I 100% support them on this emails only thing. I'm trying my best to steer my business this way. The constant phone call interruptions cost me at least a few hours of productive work every day, whereas if it was all emails I could just schedule a couple of email sessions and get them all done in half an hour. Low Horatio gearbox, scruff, mk2_craig and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Makes total sense to me too. The time lost by switching focus to the call, or other interruption, and then getting your mind back to where it was before is far greater than most people seem to think. I've tried to encourage people to phone only if it's urgent, and then reply to my emails at the end of every working day when I could allocate time efficiently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twosmoke300 Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 I wish I could do that with my customers . Especially the ones that ring every hour asking if their car is done yet . I have to tell a few that while I have a phone in my hand I don’t have a spanner in it . Low Horatio gearbox, GrumpiusMaximus, Barry Cade and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New POD Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 On 20/02/2022 at 15:51, Fabergé Greggs said: Quite curious about these diesel heaters.. are they a bit "all or nothing" ie do you get you van hot with them and then rely on insulation rather than keeping them ticking over all night? How much electricity do they consume? I guess the glow plug draws a fair bit? Glow plugs surely only needed on start up, and within a few seconds the generator will surely have recharged the battery ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 The heater has its own glow plug to ignite the diesel, so it's more efficient electrically to leave the low consumption blower fan running continuously, than it is to regularly keep turning it on and using the glow plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbaldy Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Nice thread which I will keep looking in on now, are panels easily available? This was First spot in the flesh and it wasn't exactly as clean as described. LT84, cobblers and Jim Bell 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted April 26, 2022 Author Share Posted April 26, 2022 15 minutes ago, garbaldy said: Nice thread which I will keep looking in on now, are panels easily available? This was First spot in the flesh and it wasn't exactly as clean as described. nowt better than a well used old van. Most panels are available, but a lot are klokkerholm garbage that seem to have been designed using google earth! garbaldy, mat_the_cat and twosmoke300 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbaldy Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 7 minutes ago, cobblers said: , but a lot are klokkerholm garbage that seem to have been designed using google earth! That's a good one 😀 This one's swiss and a petrol, I would say very well used, Jim Bell, cobblers and LT84 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted April 26, 2022 Author Share Posted April 26, 2022 ooh just look at that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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