landroversforever Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Shower drains are something you’d not think of! Glad to hear it’s still a great success. Is the Wi-fi thing something you could rework/isolate from the chip? Ended up being a good test for the insulation properties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Self levelling shower? Would have been simpler to level the van 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Or just put the drain in the middle! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 2 hours ago, miketomcat said: Or just put the drain in the middle! Mike As you might imagine, I did consider that! However, for expediency I used an off the shelf (fairly nasty) plastic shower tray, which has flat spots in two corners for the plug hole. I originally intended to make the wholecubicle out of 0.5mm 304 Stainless sheet with a folded & welded shower tray, sink etc. I was worried though that it might look a bit 'institutional' - so I went with white plastic! I still have it in the back of my mind to re-fit the whole thing in stainless! I considered Fibreglass too - but my previous experience with it, a sort of rat-bonnet, said stick to what you know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger110 Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Theres nowt a sponge can't solve in those situations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Badger110 said: Theres nowt a sponge can't solve in those situations Now you're talking! A multi DoF, motion controlled Hydraulic Sponge robot. I like the sound of that! Si 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 I'd imagine a stainless shower tray could be quite cold even with the heating on, and as you say rather institutional. If only you knew someone who did fibreglass... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger110 Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 3 hours ago, simonr said: Now you're talking! A multi DoF, motion controlled Hydraulic Sponge robot. I like the sound of that! Si Having seen what is available in Japan, I can see something like this already existing ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 10 hours ago, simonr said: I considered Fibreglass too - but my previous experience with it, a sort of rat-bonnet, said stick to what you know! I mean if only you knew someone who could do fibreglass. To be fair I don't blame you for using off the shelf it's often far cheaper and less hassle. Mike 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 15 hours ago, simonr said: Now you're talking! A multi DoF, motion controlled Hydraulic Sponge robot. I like the sound of that! Si Are you secretly the guy from the Stuff Made Here channel on YouTube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 I did consider calling 'someone I know' - but it was in the middle of the first Lockdown. Everything was closed & we couldn't go anywhere. I thought best to limit myself to what I could buy mail order or make myself! I'll call said person for the next one though 😉 Si 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 That 'someone I know' does a good mail order service as I found out in one of the previous lockdowns . He built some test samples for an R&D project I was working on at the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobias Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Any possibility of being able to buy the Webasto controller ? Thanks Tobias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 On 3/16/2021 at 9:50 AM, Tobias said: Any possibility of being able to buy the Webasto controller ? Thanks Tobias If you PM me your address, I'll mail you one of the PCB's for free. The minimum order was 5, so I have 4 sitting in my Drawer. I need to write up the whole thing anyways - so it might as well be for you. The current version of the software has been working really nicely for 6 months. Originally, I used a Huzzah32 controller, but discovered the analog ports were unreliable so swapped to an ADAFRUIT Feather M0 Basic which has almost the same pinouts, but the Analog, for sensing temperatures, works nicely. If the Mods are agreeable, I could write it up here - it is potentially useful if you want to use a Webasto for more than just engine heating. Si 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 19 hours ago, simonr said: If the Mods are agreeable, I could write it up here - it is potentially useful if you want to use a Webasto for more than just engine heating. Well I'd definitely like to see that write-up, Webastos and Eberspachers are pretty relevant to a lot of folks here. I'd be quite interested in the low-power mode control scheme as the smaller units seem to only really do ON/OFF control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 1 hour ago, FridgeFreezer said: Well I'd definitely like to see that write-up, Webastos and Eberspachers are pretty relevant to a lot of folks here. I'd be quite interested in the low-power mode control scheme as the smaller units seem to only really do ON/OFF control. Thanks John - I shall! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 Would you be willing to sent one of these said controllers to Holland or France please ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 19 hours ago, Arjan said: Would you be willing to sent one of these said controllers to Holland or France please ? I don't see why not! Let me write it up and I'll send out the PCBs I have to those that are interested, once they have an idea what's involved in building a controller. It's not hard, but does involve soldering & using the Arduino IDE to at the very least, upload code to the microcontroller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 OK - thank you !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 For a quick look, I've uploaded the code to GitHub which includes a link to the PCB https://github.com/SimonRafferty/Webasto-Heater---Replacement-Controller 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger110 Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 In my shower set up I use the cold water feed side of the PHE (plate heat exchanger, the Webasto side heats up the water ) to allow the hot side to remain at temperature but I found it keeps going beyond the cut off as the PHE gets hot and the input cold water cannot override the temperature increase and thus I end up with a cold shower ( Webasto shuts down ). However I have no idea how this side of electronics work but the idea is brilliant for this kind of thing. I can get around my issue by taking quick showers or even extending the Webasto closed loop side of the PHE or removing the jacket, even mounting the PHE outside of the vehicle underneath so it can drop heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 12 hours ago, Badger110 said: In my shower set up I use the cold water feed side of the PHE (plate heat exchanger, the Webasto side heats up the water ) to allow the hot side to remain at temperature but I found it keeps going beyond the cut off as the PHE gets hot and the input cold water cannot override the temperature increase and thus I end up with a cold shower ( Webasto shuts down ). You could improve matters by having a bigger reservoir of water in the heater / PHE loop. Then, even if the heater shuts down (which will take longer), you still have a bigger store of heat to warm the PHE so long as you keep the webasto circulating pump running. Somebody, before I decided on my solution, said I needed 20l or more water in the webasto loop. At the time I only had 4l I increased it as much as space would allow to about 10. It helped the short-cycling a lot (maybe 10 min cycle time) but not enough for my purpose. One of the 'inspirations' I found on line was actually a webasto shower: https://davidmcluckie.com/arduino-webasto-shower-project/ I figured I could re-purpose the code & make a better job of the controller. I'd like to completely re-write it as there's a lot of junk code in it - but, as I have a version which has worked well for 8 months, I've not bothered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 One thing i learned recently having hire a camper for a holiday, is that if there's more than one of you in it, you need stabilising jacks. If one gets up in the night the rocking wakes the other. But the issue with overlanders is the ground clearance, such that the commercially available jacks (manual or electric) dont have the stroke. So would require some kind of folding jacks. Sounds like a nice project for you I visualise some nice laser cut legs and an auto-level controller.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 I had contemplated fitting the parking legs from a knackered Sankey to the inside of the jackable sills on my 109 for that very purpose. There was a company selling “bonking bars” that are like short acro poles with decent sized feet for soft ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 4 hours ago, HoSS said: One thing i learned recently having hire a camper for a holiday, is that if there's more than one of you in it, you need stabilising jacks. If one gets up in the night the rocking wakes the other. We've not found that in the ambulance - probably depends a lot on the vehicle and its setup. I was pondering a half-way house of using helper air springs or even short hydraulic jacks to take up the slack between axle and chassis, leaving only the sidewalls as a source of "bounce" but removing the springs/shocks from the equation and allowing a bit of self-levelling. However, as it's not really been an issue for us I've left it alone as all this stuff adds weight and complexity and eats space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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