What did you do to your SMB today?

[jage]

I figured out my Scangauge II with the X-Gauge will actually reset the check engine light. I'd been trying to on the road with no luck. It went something like:

Van start- get code registered
Turn off
Key on (not running)- clear codes
Clear codes again, says no codes
Force Clear, verify
Start van- no code!

Just the regular clear code seems to clear it from the Scangauge, but clearing it and then forcing a clear with the engine off does the trick. I'm going to see if the code comes back under normal driving (I'm hoping it was an artifact of towing this last trip).

[4MacFam]

My wife etched 4 beer mugs for the guys that built our SMB and an acrylic tumbler for Nancy. Some Wisconsin beer, soda, and cheese curds and we'll be all set to pick up our van Monday.


Steve in Madison WI
2013 E350 EB, V10 6.8ltr
Toyo 285/70 17

[Tapatio]

Some Wisconsin beer

Love Sprecher and fried smelt. 2 things I've never seen outside of Wisconsin.

[danamrak]

Those mugs are very cool......can picture the ice cold beer in them. Great gift for a great crew.

[rob_gendreau]

Nice!

I enjoyed fried smelt (deep fried) in an Acadian restaurant in Nova Scotia.

[MadScience]

A couple weeks ago I finally mounted two solar panels that were left over from another project. Pulling cables was a bit of a pain, but I managed to get all the proper gauges into place without too much trouble. A very simple charge controller is in a temporary location until I decide whether to upgrade.

Given that I had the panels available, I should have done this right when I got the van. It runs the (arb) cooler all day and night, led lights for as long as I want and the stereo for at least four hours. This is with a single, small house battery. It starts charging the batteries before I even get up. Even in rainy weather (what's up with that, this time of year, in CA??).

Interested in input from anyone that's upgraded their solar charge controller, and/or upgraded from a single house battery to two or more.

So far I'm curious if the controller I have is potentially overcharging.

Also, my separater won't join when there's a charge current only on the house side. Since the house battery is subject to more cycling, that seems correct. However it might be nice to join then once the house battery is merely trickle charging.

The stereo head unit is currently wired to the starting battery while the amps (small, class d) are running off the house battery. I'll probably try moving the head unit to the house battery as well while leaving the switched power on the starting battery/ignition switch. I suppose I'll need to make sure this doesn't end up bypassing the separator in some way.

[jwintersteller]

Solar panels are up there on the top of the list of best improvements I did to our SMB. So much less to worry about.
I have the Blue Sky solar boost 2000E controller and I'm very happy with it. It's a solid unit and is known to last a very long time. There are many newer, more sophisticated units out there today but mine seem to be getting the job done.

Yesterday I bought and installed a new Lifeline (house battery).
This is a very expensive battery, $574 after tax. But I got 6 1/2 trouble free years from the original one so I think it is well worth the money.
It is a 130 lb battery so removal and installation was a bit challenging.

Cheers,
John

[Viejo]

This week I...

1. Had the Road Armor front bumper removed, disassembled, sandblasted and sprayed with Line-X. The original powder coat was cracked, rusting and flaking.

2. Had additional tail/stop/turn lights installed on the rear bumper to make up for the spare tire covering the stock lights on the left.

All I did personally was sign the checks.
Remove, disassemble and remount bumper - $135
Sand blasting - $280
Line-X - $300

Lights - $50
Install Lights - $90

[tomesd]

I added a rotapax and modified a Yakima kayak loader for use as a hanger for helmets, camelbacks, etc, to the back or our rig. I also added some netting for flat item storage to the underside of our PH bed.







We added some bungee netting to some inside cabinet drawers as well...

[rob_gendreau]

Brilliant! Especially the mesh under the penthouse bed. I have some spots where that would work well.

Where'd you get the webbing?