Time for a Globecar (1 Viewer)

[Blue Knight]

That's if Mr Ruffle Shuffle answers you phone calls or emails Andrew.

I have a cunning plan Paul.

Mel has a hotline to him so I'll give her a bell and she'll sort it out. I don't mind waiting a while if I save £116

 

[Blue Knight]

If you do your own mods you know they are done to the standard you want, and if you have to do any adjustments you know how to do it
Have fun
You could start with Minxy's list

That makes a whole load of sense. The first things will be:

1. Semi-air suspension.
2. 2nd hab battery
3. TV aerial
4. Underseal and brakeline protection.
5. Cavity injection to the underside seat vents to stop the drafts from coming up through the seats and seatbelt hanger appertures.
6. 2nd 240v socket.
7. 2nd solar unit.
8. Cadbury chocolate bar dispenser in kitchen (only joking, I made that one up ).

 

[Garfields]

Be very careful re 5 would be easy to gum up the seat belt mechanism
I think the draft issue is more an issue with chaise cabs rather than pvc

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[1ten]

We have a 2018 model and don’t have a problem with drafts form any of those points, you may be pleasantly supprised.

 

[jezport]

We don't have any drafts in ours

 

[Blue Knight]

This is all good news to the ears. The coachbuilt vans on a Fiat base do have a tendency to suffer from drafts by the air inflow route which lies 1-foot behind the seats, under the chassis.

If the PVC set-up is different to the coachbuilt vans then that will save me a 15-minute job.

Cheers All

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[Minxy]

That makes a whole load of sense. The first things will be:

Comments ref your 'jobs':

1. Semi-air suspension.
I've just bought a kit off Ebay for £279* so will be fitting that when we get back from Spain (*actually less 10% due to the special Ebay discount offer the other day!).

2. 2nd hab battery
Are you getting a matched AGM?

3. TV aerial
What type?

4. Underseal and brakeline protection.
Interesting, is this really a necessity?

5. Cavity injection to the underside seat vents to stop the drafts from coming up through the seats and seatbelt hanger appertures.
As others have said, you shouldn't need to do this.

6. 2nd 240v socket.
There are either 2 or 3 in the rear of ours, it's the 12v ones that are missing totally from the rear!

7. 2nd solar unit.
Flexi or rigid?

8. Cadbury chocolate bar dispenser in kitchen (only joking, I made that one up ).
You MUST install one of these ... you could start a trend to go alongside the coffee maker that some funsters have!

 

[Blue Knight]

Off to a meeting now but Globecar stuff comes first so here goes:

1. I will take it off my current van - easy job.

2. At £350 for a 2nd hab from the dealer then I'll do my own thing. I don't want a situation like before where I have an LR1218 on wets etc. All still TBC.

3. The one advised by John.

4. I slap it on everything especially the sub chassis and brake lines which are vulnerable points.

5. Sounds good

6. We only get 1 x 240v and 2 x 12v and 2 x USB in the Summit. Nicky and I will do a test outing first to see if I do need to tinker.

7. I've got a 120w rigid going on as part of the package so all advice welcome for the 2nd.

8. This may turn out be my main priority.

Cheers Mel, need to go, soz

 

[Langtoftlad]

#8 Who knew such a thing actually exists .

https://www.retrotogo.com/2010/02/cadburys-dairy-milk-miniatures-dispenser-machine.html

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or as an alternative - a mini choc fountain ...

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[Minxy]

#8 Who knew such a thing actually exists .

https://www.retrotogo.com/2010/02/cadburys-dairy-milk-miniatures-dispenser-machine.html

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or as an alternative - a mini choc fountain ...

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Yes I remember them, never had one though, but it would a great addition to a MH!

Wouldn't bother with the chocolate fountain though ... could get quite messy, also I hear they are a pig to clean and not 'proper chocolate' either.

 

[Anthea M]

#8 Who knew such a thing actually exists .

https://www.retrotogo.com/2010/02/cadburys-dairy-milk-miniatures-dispenser-machine.html

Link Removed

or as an alternative - a mini choc fountain ...

Link Removed

We had one every Christmas!!’

 

[Minxy]

We had one every Christmas!!’

Show off!

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[Anthea M]

Show off!

I know the chocolate was the most creamy!
My brother saved his and ate one little bar a day. Me and my sis scoffed ours ASAP!

 

[Langtoftlad]

...and not 'proper chocolate' either.

Some might argue that 'Cadbury Dairy Milk' isn't proper chocolate either... I couldn't possibly comment .

 

[jezport]

We went for full air suspension on ours, it was an expensive option but in my opinion the rear leaf spring suspension on the Fiat is poor when new, the leaf springs are virtually flattened at 3500kg . The handling isn't up to modern standards. Adding a couple of rear air assist bags may bring the rear up but I do have my doubts that it does much more. The full air transforms handling, both driving and braking, reduces rattles and road noise and can be lowered and raised for loading, off road clearance etc.

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[Blue Knight]

We had one every Christmas!!’

Lucky thing

We just got big gobstoppers which as it turned out were pieces of coal wrapped up in brown paper. They lasted for months though.

We were the luckiest kids in the village - the others didn't get treats like that.

 

[Blue Knight]

We went for full air suspension on ours, it was an expensive option but in my opinion the rear leaf spring suspension on the Fiat is poor when new, the leaf springs are virtually flattened at 3500kg . The handling isn't up to modern standards. Adding a couple of rear air assist bags may bring the rear up but I do have my doubts that it does much more. The full air transforms handling, both driving and braking, reduces rattles and road noise and can be lowered and raised for loading, off road clearance etc.

If I have £100 in my piggy then how much will I need to add to it to allow me to buy full air for a Globecar maxi chassis.

 

[Blue Knight]

Morning All,

Can someone tell me please the Electoblock type which is supplied with a Globecar. Is it the EBL30 or some other.

Also, for those of you who had a solar reg and batteries supplied by a dealer then which make and type did they supply.

Do all Globecars come with AGMs.

TIA,

Andrew

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[Minxy]

I have a cunning plan Paul.

Mel has a hotline to him so I'll give her a bell and she'll sort it out. I don't mind waiting a while if I save £116

... You don't know what my commission will be though do you!

 

[gerry mcg]

Morning All,

Can someone tell me please the Electoblock type which is supplied with a Globecar. Is it the EBL30 or some other.

Also, for those of you who had a solar reg and batteries supplied by a dealer then which make and type did they supply.

Do all Globecars come with AGMs.

TIA,

Andrew

our 2017 600L came with a EBL119 - and the 2 Globecar supplied habitation batteries were Varta 95Ah AGM, I got a 150W solar panel with Victron 75/15 MPPT charger and battery master fitted by @eddievanbitz

 

[Minxy]

Can someone tell me please the Electoblock type which is supplied with a Globecar. Is it the EBL30 or some other.

We have an EBL119 so I assume your's will be the same.

Also, for those of you who had a solar reg and batteries supplied by a dealer then which make and type did they supply.

Do all Globecars come with AGMs.

Chances are they'll put on a Schaudt LR1218 but ideally you want the LRM1218 version which is the better MPP version, as this reg is a plug-and-play version meant to go with the Schaudt EBL119 its the easiest option but costs more than the equivalent Victron or Votronic MPP ones (I used the latter for my install).

AFAIK yes, AGM cab and hab - if they are putting a matched pair in make sure they match the original and not a matched pair of another make/type, this is what our dealer did and installed 2 lead acid ones for the hab which we had to get changed as the charger doesn't do lead ones, we got 2 gel ones instead and they footed the bill for it all.

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[Blue Knight]

our 2017 600L came with a EBL119 - and the 2 Globecar supplied habitation batteries were Varta 95Ah AGM, I got a 150W solar panel with Victron 75/15 MPPT charger and battery master fitted by @eddievanbitz

That looks to be a great combo - many thanks for the info. I have asked my sales guy today and he will revert back tomorrow with an update.

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[Blue Knight]

... You don't know what my commission will be though do you!

I may have a spare chocolate fountain Mel

 

[Blue Knight]

We have an EBL119 so I assume your's will be the same.

Chances are they'll put on a Schaudt LR1218 but ideally you want the LRM1218 version which is the better MPP version, as this reg is a plug-and-play version meant to go with the Schaudt EBL119 its the easiest option but costs more than the equivalent Victron or Votronic MPP ones (I used the latter for my install).

AFAIK yes, AGM cab and hab - if they are putting a matched pair in make sure they match the original and not a matched pair of another make/type, this is what our dealer did and installed 2 lead acid ones for the hab which we had to get changed as the charger doesn't do lead ones, we got 2 gel ones instead and they footed the bill for it all.

Cheers Mel, I'll have a reply from the dealer tomorrow but I don't want a repeat of my last battery-solar setup; i.e. 2 x wets being supported by an LR1218. I knew that I would change the van hence the reason why I didn't change the reg to an LRM1218 or an MPPT.

I fitted a solar isolator to my current van to save the cells but I want a more acceptable configuration this time.

Thanks for the post-up. Very useful

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[Minxy]

I fitted a solar isolator to my current van to save the cells but I want a more acceptable configuration this time.

When I fitted 2 x 100 watt flexi solar panels I lead the cables down to the controller separately and each has it's own fuse, that way I can isolate one or both if needs be by simply removing the fuse.

Being able to isolate them came in handy yesterday when I installed a third connection for a 'pseudo' portable solar panel by putting a ciggy lighter socket in place under the passenger seat (behind the front flap so it's out of the way when not needed) and connected the leads from it to the input along with the other solar panel cables; I fitted the positive lead with its own fuse (5 amp) too. Now if I want to use the portable panel I can just put it wherever I want to get the best input and plug the lead from it, which has a ciggy plug on the end, directly into the socket under the seat. Being able to isolate the 2 fixed panels meant I could confirm that the portable panel was definitely inputting to the controller, which it was.

The 'pseudo' portable panel is actually a semi-flexible one which is lightweight and easier to store than the 'proper' portable panels ... and a LOT cheaper ... if I want I can fit it permanently to the roof in the future too. Below is the one I bought which came with a 12v plug connector and croc clips, however I tested the output of the panel (sat in our kitchen on a dull day) and it was putting out over 10 amps via the MC4 leads but the ciggy plug connector was restricted to 2.77 (3 amp fuse) so I decided to fit my own ciggy plug (higher power capability) to the MC4 leads. What it will produce in good light I don't know ... I'll have to get it out of the camper and put my mult-meter on it to see!

In the corner of the panel you can see 4 fixing holes which I've pushed some suckers through so that I can 'stick' it to the windscreen etc if I want. I've kept the box it came in as it is strong enough to protect it and is easy to slot in the camper (the cables are in a soft bag so they can't scratch the front).

 

[Blue Knight]

When I fitted 2 x 100 watt flexi solar panels I lead the cables down to the controller separately and each has it's own fuse, that way I can isolate one or both if needs be by simply removing the fuse.

Being able to isolate them came in handy yesterday when I installed a third connection for a 'pseudo' portable solar panel by putting a ciggy lighter socket in place under the passenger seat (behind the front flap so it's out of the way when not needed) and connected the leads from it to the input along with the other solar panel cables; I fitted the positive lead with its own fuse (5 amp) too. Now if I want to use the portable panel I can just put it wherever I want to get the best input and plug the lead from it, which has a ciggy plug on the end, directly into the socket under the seat. Being able to isolate the 2 fixed panels meant I could confirm that the portable panel was definitely inputting to the controller, which it was.

The 'pseudo' portable panel is actually a semi-flexible one which is lightweight and easier to store than the 'proper' portable panels ... and a LOT cheaper ... if I want I can fit it permanently to the roof in the future too. Below is the one I bought which came with a 12v plug connector and croc clips, however I tested the output of the panel (sat in our kitchen on a dull day) and it was putting out over 10 amps via the MC4 leads but the ciggy plug connector was restricted to 2.77 (3 amp fuse) so I decided to fit my own ciggy plug (higher power capability) to the MC4 leads. What it will produce in good light I don't know ... I'll have to get it out of the camper and put my mult-meter on it to see!

In the corner of the panel you can see 4 fixing holes which I've pushed some suckers through so that I can 'stick' it to the windscreen etc if I want. I've kept the box it came in as it is strong enough to protect it and is easy to slot in the camper (the cables are in a soft bag so they can't scratch the front).

That's an incredibly useful idea Mel so thanks for recommending it. If I retain the 120W hard panel and then add your set-up then that should do us quite nicely for off gridding.

I've never considered the idea of having a separate/independent booster panel but it sounds like a really innovative idea.

Great idea ........

 

[Blue Knight]

Here's one more topic for you guys :

My only slight reservation about the Globecar purchase is that of the compressor fridge as we are unfamiliar with this type of unit and how it works in realtime camping.

I've read a few good articles on FUN including a good thread started by Paul @CazPaul on the 8th May-17 entitled "compressor fridges any benefits".

I'll be starting out with one hab battery (circa 100ah) and 1 x 120w solar but that will increase soon after we collect the van.

That said, it looks as if from reading the contents of Paul's thread, by fellow Globecar owners, that I'll need about 200ah and 200W solar to live off grid successfully.

I've read comments about having to chill your freezer packs during the day and then using them in the main fridge area at night when the power is reduced, but is this kind of thing really necessary?

If we want to stay 100% off grid in Northern Scotland over Xmas then I think we could have a problem with the power delivery to the fridge/TV/lights etc.

Cheers All,

Andrew

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[Garfields]

If you are in Northern Scotland over Xmas you are not going to have much use for the fridge
Just leave everything outside

 

[Blue Knight]

If you are in Northern Scotland over Xmas you are not going to have much use for the fridge
Just leave everything outside

Leaving food outside will surely attract the animals...........................and I want to try and avoid the local folk if I can

I've seen Braveheart

 

[1ten]

We have a compressor fridge with 120 watt of solar and twin batteries. Our van has been on the drive for the last two weeks without moving with the fridge left on and the batteries are still at 75%.
Not quite the same as living in the van but not a bad test.

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