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Old 10-30-2016, 10:03 PM   #21
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House Battery Replacement

The Tardis originally came with two Group 27 Walmart trolling motor batteries mounted on the passenger side frame rail. They did not seem to be holding a charge so they got replaced with a pair of Trojan 27TM 105 ah at 20 hours, 80 ah at 5 hours, 170 minutes at 25 amps, 825 mca , 660 CCA batteries.

New batteries.


While the batteries were being replaced I took the opportunity to rewire them. Now they are truly in parallel with all the positive connections on one post that all the grounds on one post. That way the draw is across the entire bank instead of one battery. Also cut down some ratchet straps to tie them down with.

Battery wiring.

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Old 10-31-2016, 10:00 AM   #22
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Looks really nice Larrie! You're doing a lot of things to improve Tardis. It reminds me of how much I've learned since I did a lot of things like that battery box, a lot of it on this site. Those poor cheap Walmart batteries were just that. Poor and cheap. I bought them because I couldn't find a better warranty and Walmarts are everywhere. I've since changed my thinking to just buy better quality batteries as you have to avoid the risk.

Nice work!

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Old 10-31-2016, 08:00 PM   #23
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Water damage

The Tardis came with laminate (fake) wood flooring that started to curl at the edges of the planks. To resolve this the planks were removed and surprise, surprise; we found some serious water damage and mold issue in front of the sink location.

Mold in front of sink


The odd thing was is that there was little to no mold on the plywood under the sink.


We think that the cause of the mold was from water spilling onto the floor in that area. We were careful and tried to mop up any water that we spilled as soon as we spilled it. Cannot say about the POs.

The other place there was some minor water damage was right next to the rear AC/heating unit. Not sure how water got into that area.


Now instead of just installing new flooring the existing plywood needs to be replaced. We could just remove the damaged sections but will pull the entire floor to check the conditions below the foam insulation. The removed plywood will be used as templates for the new plywood and flooring.

Lessons learned.
1. Do not use laminate flooring because it allows water to seep through to the subfloor.
2. The finish flooring should extend under the cabinets. This prevents any spilled water from coming in contact with the plywood under the cabinets.
3. To help control water migrating to the wood subfloor at the edges of the finish flooring add a bead of caulk at the edges and at the cabinet floor interface.
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Old 10-31-2016, 10:36 PM   #24
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Here is another tip or potentially useful consideration.
Don't put the wood back in.
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Old 10-31-2016, 10:43 PM   #25
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We never had a spill or leak that I know of. I can't speak for the owner after me. I know the van mostly sat when he owned it. Either way that's bad. I'm sorry to hear it.


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Old 11-01-2016, 06:23 PM   #26
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I did not think it was your issue. The good thing about this is that the damage gives me a reason to unscrew the floor to get access to the seat mounting nuts. I have some ideas for their creative use.
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Old 11-06-2016, 05:49 PM   #27
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I think some of the water on the floor came from a roof leak. Found a puddle on the floor today. One more thing to check out.
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Old 11-06-2016, 05:56 PM   #28
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Seat mounting holes

After the floor was removed from the van the seat bolt holes became visible. These look like they can be used to bolt the cabinet bases to. Took measurements and transposed them to a can drawing. The dimensions are accurate to 1/8 inch. YMMV.


The starting point for the measurements is the van center line and the rear door threshold.


The bolt holes are setup for 7/16" bolts with a 20 thread per inch cut. Will need to run a thread cutter down them to remove the factory paint.

If anyone wants a clearer image just send me a PM.
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Old 11-06-2016, 06:19 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by larrie View Post

Battery wiring.
If those are your final connections, you might want to consider adding fuses or circuit breakers to the small wires connected directly to the battery posts. With out something to limit the current flowing due to a short, those wires could melt and cause a fire. A direct short will actually melt the copper. Another option would be to run one big (fused) wire to a fuse panel where each smaller, individual branch circuit is individually protected. Something like these: https://www.bluesea.com/products/cat.../Fuse%20Blocks

Good info here too:
https://www.bluesea.com/support/arti...uit_Protection
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Old 11-06-2016, 07:11 PM   #30
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What is shown is not the final setup. The only fuse that needs to be added is for the solar comnection. The smallest red wire in the photo is to the Victron energy monitor and is fused. The power in red wire on the right has a fuse in the vehicle as does the power out that goes to the fuse panel in the converter. Am trying to mount all the fuses inside so they are out of the weather and easily accessible.

Am planning on a full 12volt system that will run the lights, heater, and fridge. No need for 120 volt.
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