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I'm guybrush and i wanna be a mighty window cleaner

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Intelligent battery charger/split charge relay? I must admit you've lost me there. Had a quick look on PF site and can't see one. Do you have a link to one? and should I tell them I will buy my own (if they can't supply)
Also can't find an oil heater on there. I'm glad you mentioned that because that would never have crossed my mind.

Hi Guybrush

An intelligent battery charger is similar to an ordinary battery charger you would use on you car battery to charge it if it was flat. A leisure battery needs a charger that has a different charging profile to a standard charger.

There are many variants of this type of charger on sale. This is the one we use;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Numax-Connect-Forget-12V-10Amp-5-STAGE-Leisure-Marine-Battery-Charger-/161195693706?pt=UK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item258803168a

Halfords do different ones as well;

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/car-battery-chargers/ctek-mxs7-0-battery-charger

here's another;

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/car-battery-chargers/halfords-fully-automatic-battery-charger

You also don't need a fast charger when charging leisure batteries. Numax, a well respected (amongst some) leisure battery manufacturer recommend a charger that is rated at around 10% of the leisure battery's capacity. We have found that the 10 amp Numax works well on the 85 amp batteries we have on 2 of our vans and the 110 amp I have on mine. A 20 amp charger would be too big.

Depending on the amount of work you are doing on a daily basis, I would suggest you recharge your battery every second day. Sometimes I do mine every night depending on the days work load.

A split charge relay is typically a switch that joins your van's charging system to your leisure battery when the engine is running to give a supplementary trickle charge whist you are on the move. Its not a must/got to have item but it can be fitted at a later date. It saves you having to charge you leisure battery overnight as often.

We use similar units to this;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CARAVAN-SPLIT-CHARGE-RELAY-KIT-30-AMP-12V-/161446719966?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Touring_Travel&hash=item2596f971de

Its easy to install and works well.

You can find all sorts of useful info on motor home/RV forums regarding leisure batteries and split charge relays. Our use in WFP is similar to theirs.

Here is an example of the type of heater you would want

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4150499.htm

Something similar would do but must have a frost protection. Remember, you don't need the van to be toasty warm over night. My frost stat is set to come on at around 1 degree and go off at about 2 degrees. (My heater is a simple 800 watt converted wall heater which is at least 30 years old with a frost thermostat added.)

(We do have our r/o in the garage with a 1000 litre IBC tank rather than in the van as we each need to fill up our tanks at different times in the day. The r/o is fitted in a cupboard that is warmed by a tube heater and temperature controlled by a thermostat.)

I have a 650 litre tank in my Citroen Relay van and I have also found that throwing an old double duvet over it at night works well. My pumps are mounted on the side of my tank and the duvet covers them and the 2 hose reels at the back. I usually fill my van at night and even with the water at 6 or 7 degrees it will help to keep the pumps and hoses from freezing.

The only issue I have ever had is frozen van ports.

I also found a second hand factory bulkhead on ebay to separate the cargo area from the cabin area.

We have found that painting the van floor is worth the effort as it does protect the floor against water spills. (We sit our hose reels on rubber mats as they are inclined to damage the paint surface when lifting/taking them in and out of the vans.) The reason why I recommend Protectakote is that it is a non slip paint. I once hurt my back very badly when I slipped on a yet to be plylined floor of a brand new van with wet shoes getting inside. Had I been window cleaning then and had the same 'accident' I would have been laid up for at least a week. In that case £80 worth of Protectakote would have paid for itself many times over.

I'm not sure about the latest model Dispatch but the earlier ones did have the cargo area floor lower than the cabin floor. This is great because any water spills will be contained in the back area and not fill up the driver's footwells with water.

 
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Thanks for the detailed reply spruce. Definately all very helpful. I have printed this thread off and will fire off some questions to PF in an email.

It was a real face meets palm moment when I saw the oil heater, I was thinking of something completely different.

Guybrush.

 
Is it april fools yet. Threepwood. ..
Hhahahaha..... was waiting for someone to make the comparison. Me and Threepwood are very similar- both amateurs and both at the beginning of a new adventure (hence the name Guybrush)

See you down the Scum bar Koopmaster!

 
Scum bar....you ain't gooners are ya

Noooooooooooòooooòoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 
Have a look at xline systems. They fitted my van mounted system and it also included

Training. Plus I could ring james up at any time if I had any questions. I found purefreedom to have a shite after sales service

 
Hi Nigel,

What was it you bought from Pure freedom that led to a bad after sales service? if you have the van mount fitted by X-line i'm guessing it was'nt a van mount. I do believe Pure freedom take you out for some training.

 
I brought pole flow control valve. It didn't come with any instructions, I have rung them twice about how to fit it, been promised they will email instructions but never received anything. Guy brush didn't quite understand your last comment, but xline fitted my van mounted system which was done at a great price with excellent after sales. I can really recommend them

 
Got the quote back from Pure freedom. Luckily I was sitting down when I read it.

They said this would be what they recommend and to cut down the list where needed to bring the price down so I can see why they do it like this.

I asked for a breakdown of the prices in the quote which they didn't do, a bit annoying. They recommended 2 pumps as one for a backup (pretty sure one will do me as i won't be flat out and will have time to replace/fix) theres no poles on the list as I will buy my own. Overall they was quite helpful on the phone and took time to explain things and I didn't feel like I was talking to a salesman which is a good sign for me.

Nigel- I will be getting a quote from them soon.

What do you pro's think? have they got the list spot on or overdone it? or even, dare I say it... missed something out?

Total including VAT 3045.

View attachment 3072

 
Lol makes makes me smile. There are generally only 3 main components. A tank. A pump and a controller. Hook them together and you just need juice.. ie a battery and water.. ie pure.

 
That list has bamboozled me. I said on the phone I just want the essentials, just give me what I need. The more things you have the more things can go wrong. Walter whites lab set up looks less complicated than that.

 
Is that the one you went for awcs and is it the same price? also do you think the second pump is needed? just gonna see wether I can get the price down without compensating on quality/realibility too much.

I think because I went through their DIY form and totalled it up at obviously a lower price but didn't think the jump in price would be that big. I'm coming un stuck already guys haha.

Tolish- cheers mate, might be saying my goodbyes soon lol

 
Yes its the same system minus 1 pump, the price was more or less the same as i stocked up on resin and filters and a few other bits, the only thing i would have done differently was getting a booster pump fitted at the time as my fill time from empty is about 4 hours!

To be honest i have had no problem whatsoever with the system or aftersales from pure freedom i cannot fault them, the system paid for itself fairly quickly, i chose them as they are not to far from where i live now so if anything goes wrong i can be there in 40 mins :thumbsup:

When i get home i just connect the hose and let it fill as it shuts itself down!

 
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