Van Upgrades - Installing a 12 Volt system for off-grid living

[@LynneCarey]

Love the haircut Sue. It looks fantastic. Also love the new fridge. Definitely have to go 12 volt, so much more efficient than the 3-way, and more room inside as well., You won't know yourself with all the upgrades. 🤗

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks Lynne, I’m hoping it will be easier to manage, especially as we come into winter. I don’t have a hairdryer!

[@alisonglencrawley8390]

You two are amazing! Love the work you do on your vans & the new haircut is very trendy! Happy travelling & stay safe with the crazy weather going on around the World.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks Alison!! We haven't hit any crazy weather yet. Well apart from a few snow flurries yesterday!

[@SandVan]

Great video guys 😊love the fridge 🚐🤩sue the new haircut really suits you 😊

[@nigelandsueadventures]

We really wanted the Vitrifrigo but just couldn’t get one in time! And thank you I’m loving the shorter hair!

[@marianjacobs5597]

Never seen such a skinny fridge before but it looks great. Hope it all goes well with the new system ... Sue love the new hair cut. Thanks for the update

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks so much! I’m loving how much easier it is. New van is going great!

[@marianjacobs5597]

@@nigelandsueadventures I'm glad that all is well now you only need to wait 6 weeks for Nigel to get back to you. I look forward to see where you end up. Stay safe, Marian

[@nigelandsueadventures]

@@marianjacobs5597 this video was actually released right at the end of the 6 weeks. We are always a few weeks behind. He's back, so look out in a couple of weeks for the start of our Euro Road Trip!!

[@robertacasey5204]

Way to go Nigel! Amazing what you can get done on a deadline. Exciting to do some more traveling rather than prepping for traveling.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

We are on day 2 of our road trip and so happy Roberta!!

[@jennyrego7321]

The off grid beast is coming along. Great setup, love the new fridge. All ready to hit the road. Yay! Sue, love your new hair cut ☺️

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks so much!!

[@VicLee-fs4ce]

Your cousin David aka Stilts's cabin is a work of art! I love it & what a hidden gem nestled is the bush beautiful! Great job again Nige, I also went with Renolgy :)

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Cheers Vic, Stilts is definitely a legend! How long have you been running the Remote gear?

[@VicLee-fs4ce]

@@nigelandsueadventures I've had the solar battery system in for a couple of years now, it's awesome! I've only done small trips here and there as the bus itself has been causing me grief which is also slowing my build down :( but I'm hopeful that travel will be on the cards for this summer :)

[@jaydegier3892]

Hey Nigel and Sue another great video and yes of course you guys can do anything. Great work that you did on the van Nigel, must have been the inspiration from your footwear!!! Sue I just love your cousins place, I could live there in a heartbeat. The new slim fridge is a great use of the space. A great job driving the new van to the airport Sue to drop Nigel off. Stay safe and happy travels to both of you. Coen and Jay

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Yeah his place is just amazing isn’t it? We are looking forward to going back for another visit next year

[@createandliveyourbestlife]

LOOKING FAB Sue, great new Hairstyle - suits you 👍🏻👏🏻, and well done with the driving 👍🏻👏🏻. The fridge is a ‘cool’ one pardon the pun 😂. Nigel safe skys and fair winds 🚁

[@nigelandsueadventures]

So glad he’s back now, we are having a good time in the road in Europe!

[@Lee-astrololee]

Awesome new fridge and haircut Sue. It's all coming together for new adventures, can't wait to see where this new van takes you! Very neat job Nigel with the wiring and carpentry!

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks Lee!! We are loving things being back on the road!

[@neilthorman3646]

Hi guys, love your cousins place I bet he’s a real character you can just tell by his shed. When I first saw the fridge I thought it was a gun safe . Travel safe.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

He is pretty awesome. And yes it’s about that size but turning out to be a great fridge

[@ruthkirby9277]

Sue you definitely have some nerves of steel driving to Heathrow for the first drive of the van!!! All the work you have done - wow🙂. I now have fridge envy and if wasn’t for the cost I would swap our 90 litre fridge for that one. Sad that Nigel has had to leave again….booo ha ha. Your new hair do is fabulous btw🙂. Hope you enjoy your new set up 🙂x

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Heathrow wasn’t nearly as bad as those skinny country lanes!! I’m glad Nigel is back behind the wheel now!

[@cynthiakammann7368]

You are the sweetest couple!

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Awww thank you 🙏

[@rosemaryshepherdsmith5110]

Love your new hair style Sue and what a feat you've achieved in 13 days, congrats 😊

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Yes Nigel did an amazing job.

[@fionaludbrook8193]

Jeez that Welsh countryside is exquisite. So different to Australia. Jobs well done Nigel and fridge installers and a groovy new do too Sue! Hope you are heading south as days get colder in Europe, unless heading to the ski fields over winter. The Mediterranean coast may well be the go over winter. Be great to travel in that off grid beast and get into all that the back roads offer! Meanwhile I'm gearing up for a few days at Mt Franklin in October. Close to home, but I need to do a dry camping run with my pup and get him used to camping at my side, as his predecessor was. He needs to be ready to head to Northern Rivers and Scenic Rim areas, as well as bits of SA, before too long!

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks Fiona! Yes we are super happy with the van now. Hope you enjoy Mt Franklin as much as I did!

[@fionaludbrook8193]

Yep. Love Mt Franklin, camped there a number of times as so local to me in Ballarat.

[@evelyn2178]

So happy for you both, love watching your travels and what you have accomplished, well done. Look forward to your next video.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks so much! 😊we appreciate you watching Evelyn!

[@letsgotravelaustralia]

Love the new hair cut, very nice.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thank you so much!!

[@ianrobinson4501]

Great upgrades looking forward to your next episode

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Cheers Ian, thanks for watching!

[@deeoh3708]

Great fridge! Solar is a big plus for you..enjoy your new travels :)

[@nigelandsueadventures]

It really is! And the fridge hardly uses any power.

[@bishopkinlyside8477]

Hi Nigel and Sue looks like everything is coming together. Unfortunately Nigel had to go back to work. Make some money and have a bit of fun flying around in the helicopter. Keep up the good work. Really enjoy your videos Cliff from Logan City Queensland Australia. We’re on the big island island.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Yeah I gotta send him back to make more money! Luckily I can work wherever. Hope you’re doing well Cliff

[@JustClaireWood]

Brilliant. Thank you for sharing.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks for watching Claire!

[@petercroft9895]

I put a very similar size solar setup on our wee Rosa bus (South Island NZ). 480W solar, 240A/hr lead-acid (the budget didn't run to lithium 😢), a 130 litre compressor fridge, 600W inverter (hardly ever gets used), and a bunch of 2A USB sockets all over the place for device charging. It's the ducks' nuts, having previously fed a 3-way a 9kg gas bottle every week. We have no dc-dc connection to the vehicle electrical system, and no 230V charger - it's 100% solar, and so far, three years in, it has never been a problem. Your lithium battery fully charged should be good for close to a week, and it's amazing how much charge goes in even on an overcast day. For the roof wiring, you can get self-adhesive plastic cable tie mounting doodads if you feel the need to secure that better.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Solar is so good isn’t it? Thanks for watching!!

[@dale9896]

Throw it again, hilarious Nigel. Great job well done 👍

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Yeah I had to leave that bit in!! Thanks for watching

[@robertarmbruster5650]

Great video, thanks for sharing the detail.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@ibagm.8]

thank you very much for your explanations. They are very helpful ➕➕ ​​well done

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Glad you found it helpful!!

[@davidmilledge221]

Nice job 💯👍 gee i like that bedford tipper truck 🙂

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Right? Old Smokey is so good!!

[@Sunny.Jay22]

10:47 The way Nigel called that robin "Rob" 😭Why is this so funny?

[@nigelandsueadventures]

It’s not Rob, it’s Wob!!! He was named by my cousin

[@Sunny.Jay22]

@@nigelandsueadventures I know! But it sounds like Rob 😭

[@billdonald3671]

You didn't say what that fridge cost, but for sure right up there. When my 95 litre 3way died I installed a normal 240 volt, 110 litre fridge run by inverter. Both top quality items and it works great and efficiently, so far I've been in up to 39 degrees. Far cheaper than a 12 volt compressor fridge. That space is a bit of an odd one so it's possible you might not have been able to find one that fit. I thought the lighting inside the fridge not very good. They need to make it an LED strip down the side so the bottom lights up too. A big problem with Maxxfan is the terrible mounting design with all those screws points exposed up top. Other brands manage to mount from inside the van - I don't know why they don't.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

We haven’t installed an inverter in this van, but I can imagine that drawing a lot on the battery, how big is your battery? We did have a leak early on with one of the Maxx fans we installed in our sprinter build, but this one is fine. We’ve had a LOT of rain the last few months.

[@billdonald3671]

@@nigelandsueadventures It probably wouldn't leak until the sealant comes off the screws (or if it's badly applied, or missed all together). I could see an owner that can't get to the roof missing that. The battery for the fridge was 100Ah lithium (300 watts solar and a B2B) and that had spare capacity to use for other things too. If you size the inverter right and buy good ones it doesn't use any more than a 12 volt compressor fridge (I have another Hymer with one of those in Tassie, so I can compare). I've since added another 100Ah lithium to it so I can run a bigger inverter as well for air fryer, etc. There's also the original leisure battery system - 110Ah with 200 watts solar which is separate to the fridge battery system. I didn't convert the original leisure system to lithium as I wasn't sure how to then. I have done so in my Tassie Hymer (the one I'm talking about above I keep in the UK). That's got 626Ah lithium and 710 watts solar.

[@susandale7006]

Love your new hairstyle sue.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thank you! I hope it’s much easier to manage as we head into the cooler weather

[@JimmyCall]

Just be weary of your wire gauges. It looks like you've used a lot or 12AWG, which only has a 20--30AMP continuous capacity, depending on room temperature. If you add an inverter, use its boxes/product wires supplied, direct to the battery, or via a fuse using same wire gauge after a fuse. Any other heavy loads or combined loads, make sure suitable to wiring, else you could end up with the wire becoming a fuse.

[@billdonald3671]

I would guess Nigel would be well aware of wire/cable sizing. BTW, I have never seen the cables that come with inverters to be of a suitable size for the job. They are always undersized and often poor quality.

[@JimmyCall]

@@billdonald3671 I agree on the AWG of packaged inverters. They're relying on short use bursts.

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks for that feedback! At this stage we don’t plan to install an inverter, we are just using the ALLPOWERS unit to run our 230 appliances.

[@viniettamajor6415]

Van looks good,btw have you tried Doom Bar?its a dark beer originates from Cornwall i was told but available all over UK.😊 Good travels guys.x

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Yes we like that beer too! So many good ones over here

[@merilynp-j294]

Glad you got the fridge in as I'd seen that you had received it so watching this I was a bit confused! Also Nigel - please don't wear thongs when you are working - yes you know better and it takes nothing for an accident to occur. And yes I'm an Aussie so I've seen my fair share of accidents by weekend warriors who just thought that they would be right mate!!!

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Ah sorry for the confusion! It was all happening!

[@deniseorourke7235]

I love the birds too I’d have fed him some crumbs too

[@nigelandsueadventures]

He was so cute! Except he 💩 everywhere in the house!

[@michaelsecomb4115]

I see Nigel is wearing his best industrial-standard thongs while climbing the ladder. Well done Nige! 😂

[@nigelandsueadventures]

I know... I just shake my head!!

[@weejimmyhannah]

Renogy battery, used 2 of these in my RV 18 months ago, just replaced them as they failed. Renogy would not answer emails. Check out their reviews…😢

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Yeah we had read the reviews, but have also heard good things so I guess we shall see!!

[@melstephen5191]

💕💕💐💕💕

[@nigelandsueadventures]

Thanks for the love!!