Electric reels recommendations

[CMcB]

Does anyone use an electric reel on a swivel base on top of the tank? If so, does it work well? 

 

[spruce]

Just had these installed looking forward to working with them. Hopefully did my last 100m manual  reel in today. 

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That is really nice outfit.

I'm interested to know how you get on with your Sterling B2B charger.

As you know I did that sticky regarding split charge relays. I had plenty of experience with those on older vans but have no actual experience with units fitted to vans with regenerative braking.

@dazmond's van has the Grippa B2B charger on his system but my gut tells me that the Sterling unit is much more sophisticated for less money.

I bought a Sterling unit for my 'new' Peugeot Boxer. I could have taken the VSR off my Citroen Relay but decided to go this route. As my van doesn't have regenerative braking I was able to wire it in as it virtually comes out of the box. All I had to do was adjust default charging parameters from sealed lead acid battery (max charge 14.2v) to flooded lead acid battery charging parameters (14.6v).

I'm still experimenting with this but it seems to be keeping my leisure battery fully charged. I have noticed that it was also drawing current from the starter battery to do this after the engine was switched off. There is another setting which allows me to limit this draw which I have recently activated. Due to the weather I haven't had a chance to work with this in practice.

When I was in communication with George Sterling (jnr) about this B2B charger he wouldn't get drawn into a debate about whether the Sterling unit will recharge a leisure battery quicker than my old VSR would. But my experience to date shows me that it was a good investment. I put my smart leisure battery charger on my leisure battery a couple of days ago and it went to 'float' after a few seconds telling me my leisure battery was fully charged. Both my son and I had been using our hose reels for a week before I did this.

What I've also noticed is that my Boxer's alternator has a maxiumum output voltage of 13.9v where my Citroen Relay was between 14.2 and 14.6v. This Sterling unit boosts that voltage up to 14.6v from 13.9v immediately it starts to charge the battery. Charging amps are also higher. I can see this as I've introduced a Victron BWM -712 battery monitor into the system as well. Its great to be able to see where I am on the app on my phone.

The other interesting fact is that my smart charger has a max voltage charge of 13.9v as well. The Sterling unit boosts that to 14.6v.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed. But its early days.

 

[Moor]

Does anyone use an electric reel on a swivel base on top of the tank? If so, does it work well? 

I have the Pure freedom swivel base mounting my grippa reel on top of my tank, works really well.

 

[Part Timer]

What I've also noticed is that my Boxer's alternator has a maxiumum output voltage of 13.9v where my Citroen Relay was between 14.2 and 14.6v. This Sterling unit boosts that voltage up to 14.6v from 13.9v immediately it starts to charge the battery. Charging amps are also higher. I can see this as I've introduced a Victron BWM -712 battery monitor into the system as well. Its great to be able to see where I am on the app on my phone.

The other interesting fact is that my smart charger has a max voltage charge of 13.9v as well. The Sterling unit boosts that to 14.6v.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed. But its early days.

The bloke that installed it was saying something about the Sterling unit putting extra power into the battery, but as that type of thing goes straight over the top of my head I didn't really pick it up ? All I know is the 2 batteries are running hot water, pumps and electric reels so will need to be good. 

 

[Iron Giant]

Bu@@er the Vac, I've now got a place to sleep when the wife's not talking to me ?

Do you thinks you and @Dencould double up on bunk beds ?

 

[Part Timer]

Do you thinks you and @Dencould double up on bunk beds ?

As long as I'm above ?

 

[ks789]

As long as I'm above ?

Lol watch out on top bunk for fart gas in that confined space  ?

 

[Pjj]

I got Pure Freedom to do all the work, including taking the hot water system out of the old van, servicing it, and installing it into this. They installed a pole rack and under floor rollers. 800l tank with booster pump, smart charger etc. The bill wasn't far short of £8k

Let us us know what you think of the reels , ime still undecided what to get but leaning towards the waterworks power up , but not keen on the banjo fitting they use I recon it will leak in a very short time especially using hot water and reeling in and out up to 50 times a day 

 

[Iron Giant]

Lol watch out on top bunk for fart gas in that confined space  ?

It will be like a scene out of porridge ?

 

[Iron Giant]

Does anyone use an electric reel on a swivel base on top of the tank? If so, does it work well? 

If you do a search there is someone who has the GrippaReel on a PureFreedom swivel base you may well need the additional fittings , which can be seen on PureFreedom's fb page 

 

[chelmsclean]

My mate does with his pure freedom reel. It works well. He made his own base though

 

[AGlassAct]

Does anyone use an electric reel on a swivel base on top of the tank? If so, does it work well? 

I’ve got the waterworks reel on a swivel base on a flat tank - it’s all a bit experimental at the moment as is on a temporary linear rail system so I can work out of either side door or the rear barn door. I’ll upload a picture at some point. Does it work........ game changer for me

 

[AGlassAct]

The rail runs the full depth of the van so I can slide the reel to the front or back, it’s sat on a swivel base that locks at 45 degree increments. I can run the hose out of any door and park in any position without worrying about access. I’ve converted the reel to wireless remote so I can stand away from the van to reel in. Just need to sort a roller system and it’s job done. The only downside for me is the tank. But that’s another story!!

 

[ks789]

The rail runs the full depth of the van so I can slide the reel to the front or back, it’s sat on a swivel base that locks at 45 degree increments. I can run the hose out of any door and park in any position without worrying about access. I’ve converted the reel to wireless remote so I can stand away from the van to reel in. Just need to sort a roller system and it’s job done. The only downside for me is the tank. But that’s another story!!

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very clever that. must be very handy able to take hose easily in any direction

 

[Diamond geezer]

As long as I'm above ?

what van have you got please P/timer?

 

[Part Timer]

what van have you got please P/timer?

Fiat Ducato MWB HR, also known as L2H2. It's got a 1575kg payload. I was going to buy a Citroen Dispatch, but after walking 3 months for them to deliver it, and last info was they didn't know when it would arrive I cancelled it and bought a new one of these instead. 

 

[Part Timer]

what van have you got please P/timer?

This one

 

[Diamond geezer]

Just looked at a vid.Big van,Cheers Ilke all the space ,but to big for me at the moment,Think I need a Tardis!

 

[Pjj]

This one

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Thats a BIG van ??? looks nice though , they are about 9 inches wider than most other vans and a very popular choice for camper van conversions as you can sleep across the van due to the extra width . 

 

[Part Timer]

Thats a BIG van ??? looks nice though , they are about 9 inches wider than most other vans and a very popular choice for camper van conversions as you can sleep across the van due to the extra width . 

Only about a foot longer than the LWB Vivaro, it is a tad wider though. No Adblue required ?

 

[spruce]

Thats a BIG van ??? looks nice though , they are about 9 inches wider than most other vans and a very popular choice for camper van conversions as you can sleep across the van due to the extra width . 

While we are on the topic of these vans @Pjj, please can you tell me how you know when the dpf filter is going through a regen process?

I met up with a customer's son who drives the same model as mine albeit 2 years younger. he didn't even know his van had a DPF filter. I looked under the van and confirmed it did. He is a heating engineer and most the the customers they service are local so his van doesn't get to do many long runs. He's had his van for 5 years and never seen a flashing dfp filter regen warning light.