THINGS ARE BREAKING | Arctic Vanlife
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 жов 2024
- From Lofoten to Kiruna during the Arctic Winter. Extreme Vanlife has its ups and down. This time parts of my Ford Transit self built Camper are failing and im having some mechanical issues, Finding somehwere to buy the parts is a proving difficult, although it seems to be the alternator clutch pulley. This episode im also with @Adz so he can enjoy some cold temperatures and get rescued if needed. 
Filmed February 2024
-----------
Gear up for adventure with these exclusive deals:
🔋 ROAMER BATTERIES! Elevate your journey - [Affiliate Link] roamer.com/?af...
🔥 AUTOTERM Discount Code: mispronounced5% - [Exclusive 5% off] planarheaters....
🚿 BOBILVANS Hot water ! - [Affiliate Link] www.bobilvans....
☕️ Support the channel! Grab a coffee, beer, or diesel at: www.buymeacoff...
🛒 Check out my curated Amazon Store for van build essentials: www.amazon.co....
Your purchases fuel the adventure. Thanks for being part of the journey! 🌟
Connect with the adventure on social media:
📧 Email: Alex@alexfrood.com
🌐 Expedition Photography Website: www.AlexFrood.com
📸 Instagram: / alexfrood
📘 Facebook: / alexfroodoutdoorinstru...
Stay in the loop and join the exploration! 🌍✨
Disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links where I'll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Also as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.⚠️
____________________________________
New alternator? Or repair it?
What capacity of alternator should I go for if I would upgrade?
For a camper with the electrical set-up like yours, I would definitely go for a 250 Amp alternator and a pulley ratio of 3:1, so that the alternator is spinning around 2500 rpm at idle. That way it’s internal fan will spin fast enough at idle to keep it cool enough, even when a battery-to-battery charger is pulling up to 100 Amps to charge the house batteries. If your next build requires even more amps to charge the house batteries, maybe looking at a dual alternator set-up might make sense. Take into account that big alternators take away some extra horsepower and increase fuel consumption, so your electricity does not come for free, but it’s the best way to produce electricity and it works in all climatic conditions. Looking forward to find out how you solved this issue on the side of the road.
@@tcs7678since you mentioned it, 746W = 1hp (although the way these things are measured can give odd numbers).
I would go for the highest power available, every section of the system is self-regulating so you can't overload any of it & all of it should come off maximum power pretty quickly so the 3 or 4 horsepower it's consuming at peak is very unlikely to ever be noticeable. Check the capacity of the drive belt & heavy cables though.
It would be a shame to spend that much money only to have the alternator holding the rest of the system back.
Repair is most often the cheapest, if you do it yourself. But some times you can get a refurbished one for close to parts(of the generator) cost.
Your produced power should equate to what you are using. Lets say you have 2.000 watts of continuous power draw with everything on, and underline that EVERYTHING, you'd have 167 amps of continuous draw, 2000W/12V=166.66A. Your car battery has probably just also started the motor, so for the next 10 minutes, you could expect 50 amp draw for charging your battery. So now we're at 217 Amps. That should then be the target. If you cannot get the generator you need, consider adding and extra generator or alternatively add resistors to the charge lines for leisure(0.1 to 1 Ohm, depending on your charge wishes).
This is of course considered that you don't have to charge your leisure batteries. But given the fact you probably don't use MAX power continuously it will probably be fine given enough charge time.
Seeing the sped up footage of the rescue reminded me just how many attempts we had to make before we got out 😂 But again, one of the good memories from the trip. Makes me want to be back there!
Unless it works at the first attempt tow outs usually do take ages.
Definitely all good memories, mate
I appreciate it so much when you show things that go wrong. That is my biggest worry is things going wrong when I'm in the middle of nowhere. So it's good to have some ideas. Yes, go with a brand new alternator. 😁
Definitely think it’s important to show the ups and the Downs
Good videos, well done. I also like.Taffs destination and watching the pigeon
Thank you, and I’m glad you enjoyed the video. i’m always watching over the pigeon when I’m around
Bloody alternator pulley flew of my T5 going up the motorway bloody great bang underneath and lost my power steering as the belt obviously comes off, managed to drive home with no belt or PAS, new Bosch alternator from Euro car parts £110 job done 👍🏻🇬🇧
The price of a same spec Ford alternator in the Nordic was also 4 digits!
I had my belt snap last year a trip 3500kg van with no power steering is rather heavy!
@@MispronouncedAdventures Saves you going to the gym 👍🏻 bonkers prices out there, good job it’s not a Mercedes !
@@MispronouncedAdventuresI don't know these modern vans but the older ones were offered with or without power steering & the difference wasn't the effort to steer, the difference was how much you turned the wheel to go left-to-right or right-to-left.
Obviously if the manufacturer had gone mad with the ratio it was impossible to steer when the power assist packed up.
I used to drive 7.5tonne on agency work so I often got "the dog" & one time they sent me through Hemel Hempsted with a truck with failed power steering - there's a roundabout made of roundabouts which I presume look pretty on a scale model but I had to pull over for 5 minutes while I put my shoulders back in place!
Fantastic you helped Adz Ventures out (again haha) - epic footage again! Pleased he looked after you beer wise 🍻 Alternator seemed a bit warm at 125C seemed a bit odd. Cracking Reindeer! - great you got Adz unstuck 😀 - You off to Vanlove Fest this year? Have a great weekend, all the best, David 👍
Normally my alternator is about 80 odd degrees with both dcdc charging. I think that high temperature was a mix of a higher draw than usual and Alternator clutch pulley slipping.
Those wolves 🐺 😯
Indeed
Real adventure, and hopefully you can get the car fixed for a reasonable price. Quite a price difference for parts between countries.
It will get fixed for a price that’s for sure, maybe not a reasonable one 😂
I’d also make sure you don’t get one of those “smart” alternators, as I’ve heard and read of many frustrations about them. Stick with a direct replacement as it works with all your systems fitted 👍🏻
It would have to be a smart alternator for my van anyway, due to how new it is. Though that doesn’t cause any issues for me.
Oh no, what a bad luck with the alternator. Adz was lucky that you were around and could tow him back to the road!
About 9 years ago a fresh water hose began to leak in my campervan that I had then. I was in Kiruna and fortunately got some hose there. It was very near to that Ford store where you were, but the weather was quite different that time. It was July :)
Today it was maybe the warmest day of this year so far here in southern Finland. About +25°C.
Probably be nicer to have an issue in the summer months than it would the winter
And there I was, thinking there was an end to your kindness 😂😂 Good man there, Alex.
I left him alone for a total of 15 minutes!
@@MispronouncedAdventureslol 😂
You're a lot braver than me in driving any distance with a dodgy Alternator where you are! Good luck getting it sorted.
Not so much brave, just the position I found myself in.
Too fair there’s so much machinery that far north in the Nordic auto parts shops are actually pretty common
Well done indeedy, I think Adz owes you many many more pizzas and beers 🍺 🍕 Hope you get the alternator sorted and please don’t mess around trying to repair yours in any way, get a new one fitted, it can literally save your life in those conditions (teaching you to suck eggs I know 😁). Stay safe and warm 👍🏻
Adz definitely paid his debts! As for alternators, you will see the results in next video. In the Nordics, the price was nearly triple the UK price getting towards four digits
@@MispronouncedAdventures Gulp
@thecurrantbun agreed
13:51 I am a mechanic and have thought about the one-way-roller. The old Citroëns used to have(15 years ago) a rubber damper on the crankshaft. They would often go bad. Later they switched to hard belt drives on the crank(not dampened) and made vans have one-way-rollers and they would then go bad. smaller engines got bad tensioner or squeaky belts.
So my guess came to be that; Bigger generators 130+Amps have such a large rotor, that if not the engines oscillations are relieved then the belt will have to take a beating. If the generator is small
This one is 220A. Alternator clutch pulley ( I believe what you were calling a one-way roller ) failed, not too bad for 147k miles. A few other people who have my own van model, experienced the same issue with the tensioner going crazy, but it was the alternators clutch pulley which failed.
@@MispronouncedAdventures The same on Jumper/Boxer/Ducato.
Something has to take/pass the oscillations. Yeah clutch pulley/one-way-roller/clutch bearing. Great for pullstart on nitro engnes.
Car manufacturers should just do like BMW. They made a large belt tensioner with a mechanical damper.
Definitely get a new alternator I’d say that’s mission critical when you live in your vehicle I upgraded mine the first time it played up I got the same spec welfare vehicles use the ratio as a bit different so it outputs almost full power at idle revs
I had planned on it until you’ll I the next video that the local prices for an alternator where nearly triple the UK getting towards four digits, and I already had a pretty high spec alternator, although I didn’t know about the ratio aspect you mention
Another great video! Don’t suppose you have the part number of your current uprated Ford alternator please?! I’m currently building a mk8 camper so your series is so helpful - thank you!!!!
Mine is the 220A which isn’t the top model, there is also a 250A model.
Part numbers on my mine
GK2 T-10300-BC
317151430
FGN205041
Get a 24 volt truck alternator and run split batteries then use a diode block. one battery for the engine and the other for your systems. This means your van engine battery is not going to be dragged down by accessories. Ford do a marine alternator for this sort of system. Also loose the pulley clutch its not needed on a low revving diesel. On my rally car I shut off the rotor voltage so the alternator was not a load on the engine which gave me a few more HP same can be done on deceleration but not worth it on a van. Carry a spare plus belt. Great van...
Had one alternator breaking down as I used a DC DC charger from Skanbatt and it drawn 30 A while the alternator Itself is rated for 64 A I think it was the problem or just the age of the alternator not sure.
There is a dealer in Harstad selling alternator for all cars maybe it will help next time. Harstad Batterieservice but it seems all parts are anyway way more expensive compared to the rest of Europe
Capacity in this case isn’t so much of an issue it’s a 220 amp alternator, given the mileage of my van it’s likely just a worn out part.
I’ll take note of that option most of the places I looked were double or triple the UK price for a same spec alternator
@@MispronouncedAdventures 220 Amps thats a good Alternator 🙏
@@ArcticNorthAdventures came with my van, but it seems a lot of the modern vans are coming with larger models
@@MispronouncedAdventures nice thanks for taking your time to answer
Great load of content this year! I hate vehicle electrics...new, better alternator. Would have been funny if Adz had to rescue you for a change. I do find it strange with some of the people I watch who don't have shore power and alternator charging capabilities for their batteries and only rely on solar in winter. On another topic, my cousin's kid summited early hours of Wednesday morning, making way back to BC if not there already👏👍
Probably about 20 episodes in total from this years trip.
Yeah, I definitely see redundancy and multiple options as important
Congrats on your cousins kid Summit attempt
Top man , you make it all seem so simple .
cheers
You were worried about your towing technique - I saw nothing to question, even the slight snatch as the tension came on was well within specification, you expect more snatching than that with normal along-the-road towing & as you said the slight snatch helped get it unstuck.
I do one thing very slightly differently, I have most of the line pulled tight & put a wiggle near the end, it's easier to judge when it's nearly tight.
Thanks for the feedback. It’s definitely an area. I need to learn more about and want to in the future.
This is why you need a winch! Would have had him out in 5 minutes. Great safety and peace of mind in these dangerous climates and geographies.
I agree, it’s on the cards for the next one. I did intend it for self rescue scenarios but I would’ve ended up using it about six times this season to help others
@@MispronouncedAdventures Yeah its one of those expensive additions where you never use it 99% of the time you're on the road but the 1% of the time you need it, it feels like your using a cheat code. Time is a precious commodity . You can dig under a truck for four hours or push a button for five minutes!
Nice one Alex, being a good chiropodist and giving Adz a toe! :) atb
This went way of my head, I honestly had to read it about four times and then google that word before I understood what you meant 😂😂😂
I don´t know if you know about Biltema in Luleå? That is the no-label high quality cheap chain in Sweden for cars etc. Check it out on your next visit.
Yeah think I’ve been to Biltema in Luleå in the past.
Will this van ever be fixed, will Alex become entombed in snow until the spring, will spring ever arrive? These are the questions bugging me! Just have to wait for the next vlog installment 😮
Hopefully so! Only a few episodes left
Ford, Volvo and the other ones 🤣🤣🤣
Brilliant haha
The names were getting longer and there was more than I thought 😂
8:40 .... 😏 goals
Hundred percent!
@@MispronouncedAdventures
💯 bc I'm greedy and want multiple waman 😎 (more than more of 5 or 2
.
(but mostly bc I'm polyamorous)
Can’t wait to get my van done and get out on some proper adventures too. The vw has done me proud but I’m ready for more space.
Hoping you get out on some adventures as well! where are you planning to go?
@@MispronouncedAdventures I really fancy the coast of Croatia. I’d like to do a cold one too but that would have to be without the missus. She’s like my cat… a heat seaking missile
Hi Alex! New subscriber and love your videos as I learn enough to attempt my own van build. Question for you, do you have to worry about water freezing in your plumbing lines? Are there precautions to take so they don't burst or damage equipment? Thanks!
Welcome to the channel. The main precaution to prevent water freezing in the lines is the way I built the van. all water tanks and pipes are internal and none of them are mounted or sitting on the floor. The water system is in the same cabinet which houses the diesel heater so that keeps the inside of the cabinet. Plenty warm.
nice vlog.
new alternator. 50% uprate.
You don’t really get much larger alternators as standard even heavy duty ones on offer, unless you go specialist are 250A,
Capacity isn’t too much of an issue though my DCDC charges on my auxiliary load which is less than a third of my capacity
@@MispronouncedAdventures was thinking more uprate, then less stressed , & lasting longer.
loved the rescue, looked like a kinetic pull. need an elastic rope from matts off road recovery.
@jonathansmythe6273 wasn’t intentionally a kinetic pull, although only a minor one, I took the slack out the line a little bit faster than I intended! Which I definitely didn’t want. That was probably about our 15th attempt. Those threaded tow eyes or the fixed rear bumper tow points are not rated for kinetic recovery!
Buy a new alternator keep the old one and get the parts to fix it when you are back in the UK, so you have a spare.
That would’ve been my plan, though the local prices were getting towards almost 4 digits for a new alternator which wasn’t the same spec and was going to take a long time to get delivered
@@MispronouncedAdventures couldn't you have got one delivered to a friend in the UK, then shipped to you via UPS next day etc? Although you would have been stuck in one location for a few days which is rather annoying.
@stephenjohnson3520 I was seriously considering that option
When my cousin and I participated in the Carbage Run, a 2,500 km, five-day winter road trip through sweden/norway involving 500 cars with a maximum value of €500, we frequently used a kinetic recovery rope for numerous recoveries. It worked really well! Is there any specific reason you don't use one?
Main reason is I didn’t have kinetic rope, only a tow rope. Second from a safety point of view the tow points be that front threadable tow hook on vans and/or fix rear points are definitely not designed for kinetic rescues, there are for towing. when dealing with 3500kg vans and a kinetic rescue on tow point points not designed for the forces involved for you could be making a metallic missile and a rather dangerous situation.
Kinetic rescues should only be done on recovery points spec for the forces involved
@@MispronouncedAdventures Makes sense! Thnx!
@@mathieu94 sounds like an epic rally!
@@MispronouncedAdventures yeah i'd recommend checking it out! It was lot of fun :)
I checked what the instruction manual for my Berlingo had to say about towing people free...
'Don't'...
I’m significantly larger than a bingo! I decided to buy the tow rope as I had to pull a number of people out of ditches this winter
@@MispronouncedAdventuresit's one of those things you should never be without!
Check its date stamp & check for discolouration, they deteriorate with age & with UV light & change colour as they age, often unevenly.
there is a motonet in örebro sweden
Didn’t realise they had motonet in Sweden
Interesting how old is this video, because at the moment there in Finland is +17°
Videos are filmed between January and mid March. A two month filming trip usually gives around six months of videos on a one week schedule.
80A is a lot of current that is going somewhere....and potentially overheating something else (Lead Acid Batteries can catch fire...). It is possible that your alternator problem might be linked to a problem somewhere else e.g a faulty cell in the battery, this additional load on top of the additional charging requirements would gradually cook the alternator.... It will be expensive but I'd change the vehicle battery and the alternator, so any new alternator does not get cooked. I know you have probably solved it by now but good luck (I'd go for the bigger one and I would guess that the rest of the alternator probably isn't that healthy after being at that temperature so I'd change the lot...not just the pulley)
I wasn’t able to replicate this fault subsequently.
The 80amp at idle after the DCDC charges were off. I put 40A of it down to just the idle amount, I did remember I had my EcoFlow plugged into the cigarette lighter which would have been 10A, still leaves 30 left over. but my starter battery has been particularly weak on this trip so potentially as this was the first few minutes after starting the van it was taking additional charge.
@@MispronouncedAdventures Google and armchair mechanics are dangerous so treat this with caution. ... but I read that alternators are at best 80% efficient. By my maths that means that when it is under a significant load (I guesstimated 130A) that would amount to a minimum of 310W to loose as heat.... ( I assume some of this is just resistance in the windings etc...) . That is quite a lot of heat to dispose of and generally when mechanical and electrical things get hot they wear out faster.... So a more powerful alternator will probably have better cooling, and you might want to check the air flow isn't obstructed. (Not what would be expected at -20...)
So do you still recommend to double up on a B2B Victron Charger, W/O changing Alternator?
Oh yes the alternator clutch pulley failing isn’t anything to do with load. It’s 147,000 miles of wear and tear and the part failed
What is the mirror/reversing camera? Also, is the friend going to keep using A/T tyres for winter?
Autovox V5, reversing camera.
Yep he’ll still keep using the KO2, his are studded. But he’s a front wheel drive van whilst I am a rear wheel drive so handling characteristics even with the same tyres are quite different.
@@MispronouncedAdventures thanks! Greetings from Kiruna
Oh dear Alex that grease has calcified - age and excessive heat do that - There is no way it should be pulling high amps with no load at tick over - remember high amps is a symptom, not a cause - for the regulator to do that it must either be broken or be sensing a low voltage due to irregular load - check your engine battery first it may have a buckled plate or sediment partially shorting - is it gassing? have you a cell down? What is the voltage?
I would go for the new 250amp alternator with new pully but only after solving the unusual voltage/load.
More or less result was the part ( alternator clutch pulley ) was worn out and failed. 144k miles isn’t to bad.
The idle and pulling 86A with no DCDC charger on, no air-con, lights and so on was the concern. Although it had only been a few minutes after I turned on so potentially it was a combination of the engines idle running costs +40 amp for recharging a flat starter ( which has been a previous issue on this trip )
The ridiculous heat on the other hand might be because the alternator clutch pulley has failed was slipping. So the amps were being pulled but even less rpm than idle
@@MispronouncedAdventures The high draw from starting the engine should only be for a minute or so and should taper off quite quickly on a healthy battery
@trevortrevortsr2 oh this battery isn’t healthy, which has been shown throughout this trip, it’s on the list of things to replace.
Although I’ve never been able to replicate that issue that day
@@MispronouncedAdventures I went for the biggest battery I could fit in my Peugeot Boxer 2.5 D reasoning that a big battery would work less hard and have a marine grade 15watt solar with a tiny 3 stage mppt controller keeping it tip top - She likes Valvoline Profleet and oversized Bosh filters - purrs like a kitten
cool vids dude !!! Would you buy another Ford ?
Thank you and yes, Currently doing my best to source new AWD transit
@@MispronouncedAdventures sweet !!
Get new alternator the pulley will stuck on there im a mechanic and the get stuck so bad u brake the alternator getting them off get new one shipped out to u or new one from over there
The Nordics wanted almost triple the UK price for alternators. Almost 4 digits.
As for the pulley and removing it you’ll enjoy laughing at me in the next episode!
What Is the alternator rated for?
220A
It’s not a capacity issue with the alternator. I’ve been running it pretty much of the same set up for three years. Victron’s more Conservative rule of thumb is an auxiliary load shouldn’t be higher than one third of the alternators capacity, especially at idle. So 60A DCDC chargers isn’t an issue.
When I put those charges in, I actually left it idling for half an hour with thermal cameras running and it only reached 79°.
So 129° in less than a few minutes after start up in -10c definitely something else was wrong. As I know what the issue was now, I suspect the problem at the time was the knackered alternator clutch pulley was slipping, therefore it was going at a even slower rpm than the engines idle but still had the amps being pulled
@@MispronouncedAdventures Using dule/tri 30-amp Victrons for 220 amps is acceptable 100%. I have been using a 190-amp setup and consistently draw 130 amps while charging for the past four years without any issues. Have you checked your cable and calculated the length based on the amperage and voltage drop?
@tacticaladvance my voltage drop for changers is tiny as it’s 50mm2 cable. Additionally the Amp drop on the alternator was as expected when turning both the charges off or just one.
To be fair, the 86 amp idle with no chargers running might just be no red herring of an issue. The starter battery might just have been flat so pulling 40amp to charger and plus engine running is about 40amp.
although the excess heat might of been from the alternator clutch pulley slipping
@@MispronouncedAdventures Sounds like you know what the problem is?
Rescue/recovery with the help of a drone
Both are UA-cam creatures, might as well use every opportunity. I think we had 7 cameras running if you count dash cams as well
Your a bit crazy and fully cool at the same time....
Thank you. people do mention their crazy bit quite often as most of my van friends seem to head south for southern Sun and head north for cold and a darkness
I'd just get a new alternator. Less work, higher chance of success, more amps...
Might have been less work, but the Nordic price for the alternator was almost triple the UK price for one
Comment
You fulfilled the brief. 😁
👍🚐😎
Cheers
2nd 😂
Better luck next time!
So boring
So is your comment
@mispronouncedAdventures - FYI i think the link to your facebook is corrupted took me to something dodgy...
Well, that certainly weird. I’ll fix that now. Thank you for noticing.