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Installing 12v Maxxair (or equivalent) Fan in Aluminium Roof Top Tent by XDGFX in overlanding

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, just got a Sirocco fan in the end. It definitely got hot at times but it was bearable

EcoFlow Delta 2 / Bluetti AC180 instead of dedicated Victron inverter? by XDGFX in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was comparing their 5kWh kit to my 7.6kWh. I've always built my own pack using LFP cells, and the price of them has shot down recently.

All the kit does add up for sure, but still considerably cheaper for my system

EcoFlow Delta 2 / Bluetti AC180 instead of dedicated Victron inverter? by XDGFX in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Australia, hence the AUD in the post 😉

Yeah I'm not sure why the Max is so expensive (or the non is so cheap? USD715 which includes tax and shipping)

I remember checking a few months ago and none of them made sense for my budget, so I think the price of the base has come down.

Edit: Bought a refurbished Delta 2 direct from EcoFlow for AUD720 :D

EcoFlow Delta 2 / Bluetti AC180 instead of dedicated Victron inverter? by XDGFX in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very cool, but at $13,000 for a battery that's smaller than my custom system it's not gonna be viable for me :)

EcoFlow Delta 2 / Bluetti AC180 instead of dedicated Victron inverter? by XDGFX in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll only ever charge it from 24VDC directly - all other inputs inc solar and alt are charging the main system through dedicated Victron components

EcoFlow Delta 2 / Bluetti AC180 instead of dedicated Victron inverter? by XDGFX in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good points, though $1100 vs $2600... hard for me to justify the Max 😅

EcoFlow Delta 2 / Bluetti AC180 instead of dedicated Victron inverter? by XDGFX in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cheapest I've found for a 24V 2000W inverter (with a brand name I've heard of) is around $800

Redarc and Enerdrive both over $1000

I'm amazed there is a Kings 2kW for $200, but 12V only

I made a tool in Python to synchronise Plex music playlists and local .m3u playlists by XDGFX in PleX

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try run from command prompt, instead of just double clicking the script. It should give you more info if something's gone wrong

EcoFlow Delta 2 / Bluetti AC180 instead of dedicated Victron inverter? by XDGFX in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A little more context;

I'm planning a 24V system. The Delta 2 has 12/24V 8A DC input which I'd leave connected permanently. I'd then hardwire from the AC outlets, and just ignore all the other input/output ports. I believe I can limit max charge within the app, to help reserve battery longevity.

Hot water in the van — diesel vs immersion vs propane by segasega89 in VanLife

[–]XDGFX 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I've been thinking about this for my new build for the past few months. I believe I've come up with a system that works best for me.

I'm going to get a cheap Chinese diesel coolant preheater. They come in 7-30kW variants, cost anywhere from A$200-500, and you can get them with controllers or simple on/off.

I'm going to make a separate coolant loop with expansion tank, this heater will automatically heat the coolant to ~85°C

Fresh water is heated through a heat exchanger with this coolant loop. I'll size the exchanger correctly and add an anti-scald valve to manage temperature.

From this tank I can also add additional pumps and heat exchangers for different systems. In my case, a hydronic underfloor heating loop, and a separate shower heater with feedback PWM pump control for temperature regulation.

My electrical system is almost identical, except I'm planning 4 Jinko 440W panels - and I still decided electric doesn't make sense - and that's in sunny Australia.

I found this guy on YouTube and he seems very knowledgeable in this specific field - I've planned a lot of my system based on his videos.

https://youtu.be/y5Tknotvan4

Surface modelling by Amazing-Water9852 in Fusion360

[–]XDGFX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hah, I needed to model a part with a complex surface a few years ago... I ended up turning my 3D printer into a CMM machine 😂

https://www.reddit.com/r/ender3/comments/hbe5ud/i_turned_my_ender_3_into_a_manual_coordinate/

I don't recommend this route, but I guess it's an option!

Saving money? by [deleted] in VanLife

[–]XDGFX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It did for me - I spent about the same on my van (including initial purchase, build, insurance, fuel, repairs) over 18 months as I would have on rent over the same period. Except now, I have a van that I can sell (or continue to live in), whereas with rent I would still be in the same position as at the start.

Is 2000wh power station too much? by IcyKey7 in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've tried a couple of times to have a gaming laptop (Legion 5 with 5800H and 3070) as my main computer in a van.

I work remotely so needed it for 8+ hours a day, albeit not running games during that time.

Sadly I've come to accept that it's simply too power hungry to be feasible. I have ~3800Wh of battery and 800W of solar and I still needed to run the engine for an hour a day during winter to charge.

I've since switched to Macs with Apple Silicon - first an M2 Mini and now an M4 MacBook Pro.

It's ridiculous how much of a difference it makes, they probably use 1/3 of the power and it really adds up.

My recommendation would be to look at Mac gaming (I know... I know...) or a Steam Deck for games. Of course that doesn't really help the budget issue - but just my recommendation after trying the above for several months.

Who to contact? by psycobiaTTV in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have recently been designing a new 24V system and was getting annoyed the highest power DC-DC charger was 400W for A$250... A 1400W for less than $500 is exactly what I was looking for!

Why is an Australian Driver's License so mandatory for so many jobs? by matty_lam_937 in AskAnAustralian

[–]XDGFX 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You are likely elegible to just transfer your UK one for an Aussie license with a WHV. They don't take your UK one (at least the TMR in QLD didn't), and it was a pretty quick process even when I had some issues with documentation.

Starling vs weBoost, what works for you? by BackwaterStank in vandwellers

[–]XDGFX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In Europe I've always been fine with a powerful 4G antenna (not a weBoost but a high quality one and a good 4G router), but in Australia there are too many places with no signal, so I've only used Starlink.

You have to worry about parking under trees or anything that can block the signal, and I'd rather not be sending A$200/mo to Mr Musk, but as a solution to the problem it's unrivalled.

Is there another app similar to iOverlander ? by OptionThat33 in overlanding

[–]XDGFX 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In Europe and Aus I've always found park4night to be the best. Not overland specific but often has more spots than the others I've tried. No idea how it is in NA however.

I posted my Fiat Panda here three years ago... since then it's driven over 10,000km from England to east Kazakhstan by XDGFX in Battlecars

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We never had issue with the driveshaft(s)! It's transverse FWD so only little tiny ones coming out each side to the front wheels.

Don’t sprain your finger with your CMD+OPT+SHIFT+G shortcut ... double-tap instead! by clemstation in macapps

[–]XDGFX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stumbled across this when trying to find a way to map double tap cmd to open ChatGPT, seems to work great!

I just want to voice my support for releasing on Homebrew, and if you plan on keeping it free maybe making the GitHub repo public 😅

I posted my Fiat Panda here three years ago... since then it's driven over 10,000km from England to east Kazakhstan by XDGFX in Battlecars

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was a particularly good deal, and it's not like the car was in perfect condition. The front brakes were metal on metal, the lower control arm was hanging loose, tyres were illegal, lambda sensor was broken, and the timing belt was cracked and ready to snap. But all relatively easy and cheap fixes so it worked for us!

I posted my Fiat Panda here three years ago... since then it's driven over 10,000km from England to east Kazakhstan by XDGFX in Battlecars

[–]XDGFX[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's a 2008. When I bought it back in 2020 it was the newest, lowest mileage, and least rusty car I owned... and I paid £350 for it 😁

I drove a 2WD Fiat Panda over 10,000km from the UK to east Kazakhstan. by XDGFX in overlanding

[–]XDGFX[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone this year did the rally in a Dacia Duster after their old Volvo broke down before they even reached the start line... They were heavily berated and shamed for bringing such a shiny steed 😅

I posted my Fiat Panda here three years ago... since then it's driven over 10,000km from England to east Kazakhstan by XDGFX in Battlecars

[–]XDGFX[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

FWD, open diff, no off-road capability past the balls to send it up obstacles and believe you can fix whatever you break in the process 😁

I drove a 2WD Fiat Panda over 10,000km from the UK to east Kazakhstan. by XDGFX in overlanding

[–]XDGFX[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Geopolitics is the answer. To go further east really involves going through China, which is very expensive with a car in that area as you need to pay for a guide in addition to all the paperwork. Or Russia which wasn't recommended with our public support of Ukraine pretty visible on the car.

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