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cr0y posted:2014 MB C300 4matic. Not really, no. Cost might be a small factor.
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May 8, 2018 20:39
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Tim Raines IRL posted:
Pretty much, yeah. You'll need something like this with a hitch ball that fits the trailer you're going to get. I'm not sure how the trailer wiring situation is for that particular car. Some cars you can just tap off of the rear lights no problem, but some cars require a kind of computer. Nothing too hard to find anyway.
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May 8, 2018 20:51
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 Both the green one and the gigantic aluminum thing say 30 amp. What's the big one for? Some special thing I have to get if that fuse blows?
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May 8, 2018 20:54
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Javid posted:I will definitely compare the cost of a propane or gas oven of some kind vs. the upgrade cost to a monster inverter, but I dunno how safe the former would be inside this thing. You might consider a cast iron dutch oven over an electric or gas oven. Its a remarkably versatile tool if you're camping close to where you're parking (they weigh a lot, so not good for backpacking or if you're camping a significant distance from where you park.) Within reason you can pretty much prepare anything in one that could be done in a regular oven, in addition they work well for soups, stews or anything you'd prepare in a pot and if you're feeling particularly gutsy you can even deep fry in them. Geoj fucked around with this message at 21:19 on May 8, 2018 |
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May 8, 2018 21:13
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Javid posted:
It looks like a circuit breaker rather than a fuse. We had one in an old work truck, that was a substitute for actually tracking down a trailer wiring problem........ The reason that one is there may be different than that. wesleywillis fucked around with this message at 21:38 on May 8, 2018 |
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May 8, 2018 21:18
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Tim Raines IRL posted:
Read this first of all: https://www.curtmfg.com/understanding-towing/introduction Keep in mind, that you can tow anything with any vehicle if the vehicle has enough power to pull it. That doesn't make it safe. You say it can tow 1000 without trailer brakes, and 1500 with? What about 1100? 1200? Does that (probably) mean up to 1500 with brakes? 400 pounds is a pretty small ATV, but I won't debate that here. Realistically, if you're towing 1000 pounds worth of trailer and ATV/Mower/whatever, without trailer brakes that'll probably be kinda sketchy in a forester. Like not death defying, but on th upper limit. Therefore, you should definitely make sure that both your suspension and brakes are in good shape. Thats probably the reason guys on Subaru forums are putting the STI stuff on their base model Legacies. The extra weight *could* easily overwhelm the stock brakes on your Forester, especially on a long downhill. I assume that means the STI has bigger brakes so, a bigger heat sink in the discs before they fade. Do they mention anything about stiffer springs in the back as well? You want to make sure your tires are in good shape too. You didn't mention if you're towing 1000 pounds of trailer/ATV plus two other people and a bunch of camping gear for the weekend as well, but that'll contribute to sketchiness severely. All that weight adds up really quick. The length of the trailer is something to consider too. Sure your ATV can fit in there, but is the weight now too far forward? Too far back? Too little/ too much tongue weight on a small trailer/load like that might not make much difference on a 1 ton pick up, that can carry three times that much weight in the bed, but it will in a car thats maxed out or nearly maxed out in towing capacity. Also, don't even think about using a ball thats too small for the trailer tongue. Even if its just for a short distance.
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May 8, 2018 21:38
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cr0y posted:Id do some homework first and consider ways to avoid having to power a toaster oven. Comedy option: build the toaster around the heater core to reduce the electrical heating load 
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May 8, 2018 21:43
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Geoj posted:You might consider a cast iron dutch oven over an electric or gas oven. I expect to be "camping" in it in cities a lot of the time so fires aren't gonna be an option. I really want it to be as self contained as possible.
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May 8, 2018 22:00
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Javid posted:I expect to be "camping" in it in cities a lot of the time so fires aren't gonna be an option. I really want it to be as self contained as possible. Cut a hole in the hood so you can nestle it down on the exhaust header.
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May 8, 2018 22:02
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There are reasons that RV fridges and ovens are propane (or dual), not electrical.
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May 8, 2018 23:25
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There's going to be an inverter and equipment batteries regardless, and I already own the mini fridge and toaster oven. My educated guess was that buying a bigger inverter and doing the exact same work of wiring it all up to run my existing appliances would be simpler and cheaper than running propane and buying all new appliances on top of that. I'm seeing 2000 watt inverters from $90-300 on Amazon, which even at the upper end is what I was expecting to drop on this. Suggestions for alternatives that don't fucktuple the budget of this thing or kill me with carbon monoxide are entirely welcome.
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May 8, 2018 23:51
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Godholio posted:There are reasons that RV fridges and ovens are propane (or dual), not electrical. Listen to this person. Then look at the multitude of propane options that are available.
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May 8, 2018 23:57
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Apart from the toaster you should be fine with a 2000w inverter. Fridges apparently take a lot less power than I was imagining. Your toaster/toaster oven will be pushing the limits of the system if you go that route and it seems crazy inefficient. You could probably get a less beefy inverter to run your fridge and electronics, get a propane toaster oven and still have enough left over for a 10 year sealed CO detector.
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May 9, 2018 00:04
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Butane is also an option.
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May 9, 2018 00:06
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Javid posted:There's going to be an inverter and equipment batteries regardless, and I already own the mini fridge and toaster oven. My educated guess was that buying a bigger inverter and doing the exact same work of wiring it all up to run my existing appliances would be simpler and cheaper than running propane and buying all new appliances on top of that. I'm seeing 2000 watt inverters from $90-300 on Amazon, which even at the upper end is what I was expecting to drop on this. Suggestions for alternatives that don't fucktuple the budget of this thing or kill me with carbon monoxide are entirely welcome. This is a bad idea, those 2000 watt inverters probably require multiple batteries/alternators and really thick cabling. The losses in efficiency are nothing to sneeze at either. They make 12v refrigerated coolers. Dometic is one of the big brands, along with some smaller knock offs. You can run those a lot longer without wrecking your battery. And the last thing you want is straight electric resistance heating/cooking. There is a reason RVs use propane.
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May 9, 2018 01:39
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I did electric cooling (450W air conditioning) on a 12V, 2200W pure sine wave inverter. Not worth it, man. Not worth it. Everything got hot and even 2x welding cables in parallel got toasty. The inverter choked on the compressor start spike sometimes, too. 5X optima yellow tops gave me 2 hours of running, not enough to catch up with the sunlight hitting the body. Car ACs are like 24,000 BTUs on up. I know you're doing refrigeration but still. Get propane, be happy. Maybe a 12V peltier cool box, but remember that peltiers are like 20% efficient with real world losses (ie: to get 60W of cooling, an idling laptop, you draw half a loving kilowatt) For heating, propane or induction, no resistive. Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 02:04 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 9, 2018 02:02
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The issue with the dometic 12v fridges is that they're seven hundred loving dollars. Propane fridges are in the same ballpark. That would nigh-double my budget for the electrical/refrigeration work. (Currently eyeballed at ~400 for inverter/charger and ~300 on the battery or battery bank, plus wiring and outlets and poo poo) I went through a few of those lovely peltier coolers while trucking, gently caress that. I have a small one that will do for short trips but I need an actual fridge. There are affordable gas mini ovens, at least, so scratch the toaster oven. I do have a propane burner set for stovetop stuff. Just want to also be able to bake with reasonable temperature control.
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May 9, 2018 02:38
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Has anyone come across issues with later model Honda J35 and J37 V6 motors ticking, RPM dependent? My dealer says "hey, that's how they are" a few weeks ago after my '12 TL 3.7 started doing it (135,000km/84,000 miles) but I came alongside a 2-gen old Accord V6 today (2011 or so) and it was ticking too. It's loud as gently caress and embarrassing but I'm told there's nothing I can do about it.
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May 9, 2018 02:57
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A regular 120V feed fridge is nowhere near 4500W, I don't see why it can't be run off an inverter. Typical draw for a 3.5cu ft fridge is somewhere in the ballpark of 1.5A @120V which is like 180W. You could easily rig up a way to run it at intervals like 10 minutes on 5 minutes off and save a bunch of power that way too.
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May 9, 2018 03:18
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looking at cadillac large cars. Is the 2nd gen cts-V essentially the same size as the STS-v from the 2006+ timeframe?
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May 9, 2018 03:19
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Breakfast Feud posted:A regular 120V feed fridge is nowhere near 4500W, I don't see why it can't be run off an inverter. Typical draw for a 3.5cu ft fridge is somewhere in the ballpark of 1.5A @120V which is like 180W. You could easily rig up a way to run it at intervals like 10 minutes on 5 minutes off and save a bunch of power that way too. Oh hey actual numbers, cool. 3.5 cu ft sounds about right for this thing. The general idea wrt the fridge was to leave it on while driving, then shut it off while parked, only running it long enough to get back down to temp every few hours or something. (A friend who lives ~off grid~ runs a big chest freezer like that, couple hours a day just to keep it cold, only opening it while running) I'm planning to have like 200 Ah of battery or whatever the max I can cram into the auxiliary battery box, which seems like it'd run that load for quite a while, right?
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May 9, 2018 04:13
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Javid posted:Oh hey actual numbers, cool. 3.5 cu ft sounds about right for this thing. FWIW, I have a fridge that's about the same size (along with a smaller one that I found by a dumpster, then repaired, intending to sell it, and... it became a bedside table/beer fridge). You really do need to let it run 24/7, they aren't insulated as well as a big fridge. Plus they lack a fan, so they're kinda lovely at keeping the temps even inside. My bigger one is rated 1.15A @ 115V, and it has an interior light (which I think is 15W - that's likely factored into the 1.15A rating). Also, don't count on using the freezer compartment as a "freezer". A chest freezer is a lot better at maintaining temps long term, as the lid is on top - so even when he's opening it, he's not losing much cold air. Whereas every time you open a minifridge, it dumps all the cold air out. The more packed it is, the better it will be at maintaining temps (this goes for a typical kitchen fridge too). Keeping a couple of gallon jugs of water in there will go a long way in helping it maintain temps if you do shut it off, assuming it's not packed. Mine seems to run 2-3x an hour for a few minutes at a time, so long as I don't open it. If I do open it, it'll run for a good 15 minutes to get back down to temp again. The more Also FWIW, my toaster oven is rated 1500W, and it's a fairly basic Black & Decker (it's a convection model, but I can't see the fan taking much power, and the controls are purely mechanical). You don't want to run that on an inverter. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 05:23 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 9, 2018 05:21
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STR posted:FWIW, I have a fridge that's about the same size (along with a smaller one that I found by a dumpster, then repaired, intending to sell it, and... it became a bedside table/beer fridge). The issue with fridges isn't continuous amps, it's that they briefly spike to maybe 10x their rated draw every time they start the compressor up.
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May 9, 2018 05:31
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This is true for a lot of appliances. The inrush I measured on mine was around 200W (via Kill-A-Watt), but minifridges have the cutest little tiny compressors. Now the inrush on a full size fridge is pretty substantial; same Kill-A-Watt showed 1800W briefly on an early 00s side by side, about 150W running. Newer stuff will be more efficient.
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May 9, 2018 05:38
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That inrush destroys inverters over time. It's a literal physical magnetic force on the transformers and all accessory circuitry on the AC side, and the fact that they usually need to take a second to sense the load and ramp up to supply it strains both the inverter and the compressor. An inverter is like having a really light flywheel on a small engine, whereas wall power is like having a heavy flywheel on a big diesel. When you apply a sharp, heavy load, poo poo breaks on the former.
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May 9, 2018 06:13
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So what does that 1.15A@115v translate to in total run time when pulling off an inverter? I'm going to make a guesstimate here which wiser minds may freely correct: According to this thing which I may or may not be using correctly, 1.15A @ 115v translates to 11 amps at 12 volts.. so the 110Ah battery I'm looking at should run it for just shy of 10 hours continuously. Napkin math time: Let's say 10 minutes per hour, plus an hour total returning to temp after opening each day, makes 5 hours a day, so the battery should run it for a weekend without recharging, ish. I don't imagine ever going that long without driving or access to shore power unless I'm actually CAMPING camping, in which case a cooler is entirely acceptable to me. Most of the time I expect to either be driving all day and stopping for the night, OR being somewhere I can plug in and recharge, OR staying with relatives who own a fridge I can use and not be running mine. I'm familiar with filling the thing with thermal mass to minimize what blows out the door when it's opened, which dovetails nicely with how I like to keep as many cold drinks as possible on hand.
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May 9, 2018 06:17
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You, uh, can't actually drain the full 110AH from the battery. There are losses, reduced capacity due to heat, and also the ratings don't translate directly to reality. With an 11A draw, it's probably more like four hours safely. Also, are they deep cycle batteries? Even really nice deep cycle batteries, like Optima YellowTops, don't like being pulled too far down below 11V for that long, and regular draining still kills them. A full drain on a flooded battery will kill it right the gently caress dead, especially with 11A of draw causing heat causing fast sulfation. http://all-about-lead-acid-batteries.capnfatz.com/all-about-lead-acid-batteries/lead-acid-battery-fundamentals/what-is-reserve-capacity/ For deep cycle batteries, they tend to have 20 hours as the standard draw time. So, if it says "200Ah" on a marine deep cycle, you divide that by the 20 hours to get 10 amps for 20 hours. But that's on a deep cycle. You also have to factor in Perkurt's law, which says, basically, that the more draw you put on a battery the less capacity you get. quote:. If Peukert's constant {\displaystyle k} k, the exponent, were equal to unity, the delivered capacity would be independent of the current. For a real battery the exponent is greater than unity, and capacity decreases as discharge rate increases. For a lead–acid battery {\displaystyle k} k is typically between 1.1 and 1.3. For different lead-acid rechargeable battery technologies it generally ranges from 1.05 to 1.15 for VRSLAB AGM batteries, from 1.1 to 1.25 for gel, and from 1.2 to 1.6 for flooded batteries.[1] The Peukert constant varies with the age of the battery, generally increasing (getting worse) with age. Application at low discharge rates must take into account the battery self-discharge current. At very high currents, practical batteries will give less capacity than predicted with a fixed exponent. The equation does not take into account the effect of temperature on battery capacity.  where: Cp is the capacity at a one-ampere discharge rate, which must be expressed in ampere hours, I is the actual discharge current (i.e. current drawn from a load) in amperes, t is the actual time to discharge the battery, which must be expressed in hours. k is the Peukert constant (dimensionless), With your 120Ah battery, if it's a deep cycle, and if it's a gel, the actual hour rating is 8, 7 if it's a flooded battery, with some quick back-of-the-napkin math. That doesn't account for losses and heat effect on lead batteries. Non deep-cycle are worse. To get a long life out of even a deep-cycle, take the rated capacity and multiply it for 0.75 in temperate environments, and .5 in hot or extremely cold environments. For a non-deep-cycle in temperate climates, to make the battery last multiply the capacity in amp hours by .5 if you don't like replacing them every year or so. That's where I got the four hour figure up top. Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 06:43 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 9, 2018 06:35
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Don't forget about the efficiency of the inverter. A good one will probably be 85%, so you're losing 15% of that (partly to heat). Count on closer to 50% if you go cheap.
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May 9, 2018 06:50
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VU31TFQ/ Yeah, deep cycle. If it can run for 4 hours without murdering the battery, that still gives me a good chunk of a day, which is enough. Is that all inverter losses or would a 12v fridge flog the battery just as badly?
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May 9, 2018 06:50
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The 12v compressor fridges I see claim to only draw an average of .87 amps per hour, or 20Ah / day when unopened. That seems like a better option, and is a much simpler system. Most of them also have a built-in transformer so you can get them cold off of shore power for the initial cooldown and then let the battery maintain it. http://4xoverland.com/12v-fridge-freezer-buyer-guide/ and amazon listings.
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May 9, 2018 07:00
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The cheapest one of those is still like $650. I'm sure it's objectively better but if I dump that much money on it my van will contain literally nothing else. I've heard tell of people retrofitting mini fridges with 12v compressors but that's a whole other pain in the rear end.
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May 9, 2018 07:33
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There are cheaper compressor minifridges for less than $300, but they're all 40 liter or smaller. Look, it doesn't sound like we're going to convince you otherwise, and your budget is your own. I can't change that, and I very much understand the money limitation. In the end, though, an inverter is a bad option for a fridge. There's so much loss in every part of the system. The lower you can keep your battery draw, the longer it will proportionally last, even at the same "calculated" total power output.
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May 9, 2018 07:45
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A smaller fridge is fine. I actually doubt mine is even the 3.5 cubic feet we were using for rough numbers. There are 1 cubic foot ones on amazon that look roughly the right size, maybe a *little* smaller. $200 is the break-even point between a 1000/2000 watt inverter/charger (the smallest one Renology makes) and a 2000/3000 watt to run the fridge. I'm using them as my baseline because they're well reviewed by the van people blogs and I don't know enough to second guess them, but I'm open to decent inverter/charger setups that can come in under the $400 the 1k watt one is. I mean harbor freight sells an $85 1k watt inverter but I don't wanna dick around with quality on these components if I can avoid it. E: I see 12/110 fridges like https://www.amazon.com/Avanti-Superconductor-Refrigerator-Model-SHP1712SDC/dp/B0028MOZI6/ but I dunno how chinesium they are at that price tier.
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May 9, 2018 08:06
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Hello car knowers. I need help, because I'm a dumb. I own and abuse an Opel Vectra 2.0 '06, VIN W0L0ZCF3561058584. After trying to lift the car from the front with my new fancy jack, it gave me a fast lesson in what happens when a part that the jack is resting on breaks. What is this part and is it something an idiot like me can replace without special car-tools? It used to sit maybe a foot from the wheel house and is one of a pair, the other one is intact. Also I've been driving around for a week with it broken, is that a very bad idea to keep doing? https://imgur.com/a/dOyqrZ4 Nothing has been leaking and the car drives and sounds fine, so it seems I got lucky and only broke this thing.
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May 9, 2018 09:03
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You took good pictures; however, a shot of the location on your car (and the other intact one still in place) might help with ID. Is that square part rubber? Or metal encased in rubber? It looks like some sort of stabilizer bar. I'm hoping its not one arm of a lower control arm...then again, I doubt you'd be driving it around without noticing a substantial decrease in steering control, or a very interesting response when you hit the brakes.
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May 9, 2018 12:32
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Thread maintenance, these two posts got overlooked in van-fridge chat:VERTiG0 posted:Has anyone come across issues with later model Honda J35 and J37 V6 motors ticking, RPM dependent? My dealer says "hey, that's how they are" a few weeks ago after my '12 TL 3.7 started doing it (135,000km/84,000 miles) but I came alongside a 2-gen old Accord V6 today (2011 or so) and it was ticking too. stgdz posted:looking at cadillac large cars. I can't answer either question, but somebody here can.
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May 9, 2018 14:24
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So quick question, my muffler exploded today on my Turismo and I was wondering what would cause that, I suspect it was plugged from catalytic converter debris but I'm not sure. Right before it exploded the car started stalling at lights and after it exploded it both has more power and doesn't stall. Since the explosion it pops a lot on engine braking, especially downhill which I assume is normal and normally masked by the muffler? I believe the mix is fine as before this happened it was running so smoothly it sounded like a sewing machine, but correct me if I'm wrong Would a standard muffler work or would that just get blown off too? Considering the car has the following: -Carburetor -Factory aggressive camshaft and decked block (Carol Shelby designed it so it's prob pretty aggressive) -Manual 5 speed transmission It sounds great but I don't think the local cops would appreciate me running around with a burst muffler.
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May 9, 2018 22:31
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It's not surprising that the car was stalling before the muffler burst. If you think it's debris from the cat I'd suggest you replace that too. On carbureted cars it's not uncommon to get backfiring and blowing up your muffler, the popping should go away once your muffler is fixed. I don't think you need anything special muffler wise either. RE: honda ticking change the oil, see what happens
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May 9, 2018 22:44
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Breakfast Feud posted:It's not surprising that the car was stalling before the muffler burst. If you think it's debris from the cat I'd suggest you replace that too. On carbureted cars it's not uncommon to get backfiring and blowing up your muffler, the popping should go away once your muffler is fixed. I don't think you need anything special muffler wise either. Ok cool, thanks. The cat is handled since when we looked in it it was empty and we suspect the contents were in the exhaust pipe. One end of the cat was dangling when I bought the car and we just had it welded back together. Any way to prevent it exploding again? Also something to check on the Honda, my 89 Golf ticks when hot due to lowish oil pressure, thickening up the oil a tad helped though since that was more pressure for the lifters. See what the factory range is for your car and just go up a notch and see if that helps, the oil thickness chart should be in your manual. (don't go outside the factory range unless you know what you are doing) Autoexec.bat fucked around with this message at 23:08 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 9, 2018 23:05
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I can only speak from my own experience, but my truck had two mufflers blow up before I got it. It was running like poo poo with bad grounds, old oil and a very leaky exhaust system. After those issues were dealt with the new muffler has been on problem free over a year. It's really likely your muffler got plugged with cat stuff and that caused enough issues to make it eventually explode. Replace your plugs and wires if you're super paranoid about backfiring, and make sure it's idling nice. I wouldn't worry about it too much if it's not acting strange, though.
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May 10, 2018 00:05
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