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Old 11-21-2013, 07:37 PM   #71
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Re: Full-time planning

Based on my experience with the F250 CCLB and my EB SMB, both of which are 22' end to end exactly, if the wheelbase increases with the 3500, it will be more difficult to park in parking lot spaces.

I almost never parallel park the van, but even so I've never wished for an RB from parking or any other reason.

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Old 11-21-2013, 10:40 PM   #72
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Re: Full-time planning

Jage, I hope I didn't cause confusion by using the word "extended" as used by Mercedes instead of as used by SMB. In my post above I was using it as Mercedes does to describe a 170-inch wheelbase van with the 16-inch body extension behind the rear wheels. Picture attached. SMB calls that model their "long" body. As I understand it, SMB's "extended" Sprinter, or EB, is the long wheelbase (170-inch) standard body. I find SMB designation a little confusing because it is not consistent with Mercedes.




Anyway, when 100sqft was discussing the 2500 EB versus 3500 LB I interpreted that to mean that both vans being considered have 170-inch wheelbase. The LB option in 3500 model is just longer at the rear. As far as I can tell from MB Sprinter specs both lengths are available in 2500 or 3500.

RB = 144" WB = 19'-4" OAL

EB = 170" WB = 22'-9" OAL

LB = 170" WB = 24'-1" OAL
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Old 11-22-2013, 10:47 AM   #73
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Re: Full-time planning

Chance: Here's the most complete set of specs I've found:
http://www.mbsprinterusa.com/files/data ... #/3/zoomed
(the interface is kind of a pain, if you ask me.)
These show that the 6-cylinder engine reduces the cargo capacity by about 75 lbs from 4-cylinder.
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Old 11-23-2013, 11:20 AM   #74
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Re: Full-time planning

I've always been curious about the size and shape of the spaces available underneath the Sprinter for tanks, batteries, etc. Photos I've found that are taken from below are scarce and always taken from a cramped angle. Then it occurred to me that the frame for the cab-chassis model is probably pretty much the same and in easy view. A few quick searches later, I found the two images below.



Even though these are for the 3500, I expect the 2500 is fairly similar. I do have one question: What is the black tank in front of the passenger-side rear wheel. Is this the large DEF tank that is typically deleted from RVs?
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2010Sprinter_3500CabChassis_170_2_medium1.jpg   Sprinter Cab and Chassis.jpg  
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Old 11-24-2013, 07:58 AM   #75
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Re: Full-time planning

That is indeed the DEF tank.
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Old 11-24-2013, 08:27 AM   #76
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Re: Full-time planning

Why would you say the DEF tanks are deleted from RV's?

Even large OTR trucks use DEF to meet anti-pollution laws.

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Old 11-24-2013, 11:47 PM   #77
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Re: Full-time planning

I don't recall your saying how big your house battery bank will be; but, depending in its size, I think there's an issue w your using the alternator to recharge it.

Having a more-than-OE amps alternator is a good idea. However, once the alternator satisfies recharging the starter battery and supplies juice for the running of the van, its internal regulator is going to cut its output back to about 13.2A.

So, your driving the van WILL recharge your house bank, but only after dividing by about 13. Therefore, as you pull out of camp, if your battery monitor says you need 55 Amp hours to replenish your bank, the trip will need 4:15 hours at speed. If you plan to do lots of boondocking, your desire for a larger battery bank (as in, more stored Amp hours) will increase. The larger your carry-around electricity source becomes, the longer it'll take for your alternator to ever get you full.

[Apologies in advance to the electrical gurus out there if I'm wrong about this.]

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Old 11-25-2013, 08:44 AM   #78
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Re: Full-time planning

Quote:
Originally Posted by JCTex
...cut.....

Having a more-than-OE amps alternator is a good idea. However, once the alternator satisfies recharging the starter battery and supplies juice for the running of the van, its internal regulator is going to cut its output back to about 13.2A.

.....cut.....
JC, you may be thinking 13.2 Volts and not Amps. Sprinters are available with alternators that run in the 200 AMP range. For 2014 I think there may be one even larger. As far as I know the regulator won't reduce capacity until all batteries that are connected (essentially in parallel) are recharged.

My concern with having too large a battery bank is that the alternator could overheat if producing maximum power for too long. And that depends on its duty cycle which I'm not sure what that is.

Sprinters have an option for an additional compressor mount off the engine. Perhaps that could also be used for an additional alternator that would run the house batteries separately. That would be my choice if available at a reasonable cost. Roadtrek and a couple of others now have a stand-alone electrical system on Sprinter options which has a separate heavy-duty high-capacity charging alternator for house batteries that can run a large inverter. I'm guessing it may be mounted off engine in that "blank" position. I've looked for information about option details but haven't found much.
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Old 11-25-2013, 08:58 AM   #79
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Re: Full-time planning

Quote:
Originally Posted by 100sqft
I've always been curious about the size and shape of the spaces available underneath the Sprinter for tanks, batteries, etc. Photos I've found that are taken from below are scarce and always taken from a cramped angle. Then it occurred to me that the frame for the cab-chassis model is probably pretty much the same and in easy view. A few quick searches later, I found the two images below.



Even though these are for the 3500, I expect the 2500 is fairly similar. I do have one question: What is the black tank in front of the passenger-side rear wheel. Is this the large DEF tank that is typically deleted from RVs?
100sqft, what these photos illustrate to me is one of the reasons I have some concerns about dual rear wheels on a narrow van. Particularly vans that are tall with high center of gravity.

When a van has dual rear wheels within a total width of about 80 inches, the rear leaf springs seem to be fairly close to each other. To me that suggests that unless they are extremely stiff that they won't resist body roll as well as if they were spaced further apart. Some would say that a sway bar will cure that but it also makes the suspension stiffer in many cases.

I've only seen a couple of pictures of Sprinter chassis with single rear wheels and although it's hard to tell for certain they appear to have straight chassis rails and the springs mounted outside of that. If so it should provide more inherent resistance to body roll for the same amount of stiffness.

I hope some of you with Sprinters can confirm whether SRW and DRW indeed have different spring spacing.
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Old 11-25-2013, 03:27 PM   #80
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Re: Full-time planning

Ford_6L_E350: I didn’t mean to imply that DEF is completely eliminated. I *think* I read somewhere on the SMB site that they typically remove the large DEF tank and replace it with a smaller one located in the engine compartment. Can anyone confirm this?

JC_Tex and Chance: I’m an electrical engineer but that’s irrelevant when it comes to equipment like this. (People are always disappointed when I say I wouldn’t have the first idea how to rewire their house.) But in any case, here’s my take on it: The alternator that comes standard with Sprinters (from SMB, anyway) is rated at 200 amps. My intent is actually to have 400 A-h of house batteries on my rig. That tells me that with no other load the alternator ought to charge my batteries from empty in 2 hours. I’m getting the engine hi-idle option so I can do this while standing still when necessary. I do remember reading somewhere that the alternator will never charge the house batteries completely full - you need solar or to plug in for that. I assume this is a voltage problem, though I don’t understand why the alternator could completely charge the chassis battery but not the house batteries. On the subject of overheating the alternator, SMB suggests you can extend the running time of the roof AC off the batteries if you have the engine running at the same time. This is an extreme load for the alternator, and if this doesn’t overheat it, I expect it’s good for charging the batteries.

While I’m on the subject, here’s a couple other electrical calculations I’ve done. I’m going to have the 7cuft refrigerator. SMB says it draws 3.2A, averaging over its on-off cycles. In 24 hours, that’s 76.8 A-h. If I’m boondocking and not using power for anything but to keep the food cold, I should be able to go about 5 days without running the engine to recharge the batteries.

I decided to postpone getting solar panels based on the following calculation (though I will get the pre-wiring): 200W of solar panels will put out 200W/12V = 16.7A under ideal conditions. Since conditions are rarely ideal, let’s limit ourselves to an 8 hr day: 16.7A * 8 hr = 133A-h. That is, a full day of solar will charge the batteries as much as running the engine for about 40 minutes. I expect there will be few days when I don’t take at least a 40 minute excursion in the van, so for me solar is redundant.
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