Realities of Extreme winter Vanlife | PROBLEMS and UPGRADES
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- A bit of winter van camping & I fixing my problems of the freezing engine coolant with some more glycol and have a nerdy session of installing the new Ruuvi tags on my Victron VRM raspberry pi. Starting in a snowstorm in Finland after coming from Sweden.
I pop over to Finland to meet a friend via the Haparanda / Tornio boarder with sweden and drive down to Oulu to visit the "verkokauppa" shop to buy some Ruuvi Tags for my Victron set up.
After returning to Tornio I visit some garages to get my coolant tested and find out its only good down to -18C. after no one has free time to help me I start driving north on that E8 and change the coolant myself.
Check out my cold weather & winter van life upgrade videos to see what changes I made to the van for this trip.
#snowcamping #wintervanlife #Mispronouncedadventures
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I emptied and flushed my coolant system.then used Evan’s prep fluid,and finally replaced the whole system with Evan’s non water coolant heavy duty for turbo diesel vans.as I had to do the mother of all jobs.and replace a burst heater matrix everything has to come out and be disconnected to get at it.plus my egr manifold had cracked ‘hot spots and cold spots’.never wanted to go through all of that again so Evan’s non water coolant was the answer for me 👍.✊🙏❤️👌😎
A few people have told me about non water coolant. I’ve looked into it before but for me I’ve done 3 arctic winter now and just change the mixture to suit my winter needs
I love the nerdy stuff, I would monitor everything if I could too😆
Glad someone has enjoyed it! It’s not an action packed episode, just a day to day one
Alex, the videos are very entertaining. It’s interesting and entertaining to watch a man who seems to enjoy performing his magic in extreme conditions. Your knowledge of internal systems is phenomenal. Being a former employee (now retired) in the aerospace community, your work is highly appreciated. The attention to detail is first class. One suggestion: I would buy an Arctic jumpsuit while performing my outside chores. I’ve worked in conditions similar to yours, and I would never have been without one or two. If you spill fluids, grease etc., on yourself, your every day cloths are preserved. The level of comfort and warmth while lying on slabs of ice is top drawer. Anyway, safe travels. Cheers!
Thank you for such a lovely comment and taking the time to write it. I’m glad you enjoyed my attention to detail and the way I present myself 😁
The arctic suit is definitely a great idea! I don’t usually like wearing my good outdoor waterproofs when doing van related things!
Basically kind of epic 👍
The first comment king is back!
Normal winter weathers here in Finland.
Nice to see your film, thank you!
I’m back up again this winter. It’s been pretty warm so far.
Welcome!
This year there is snow more in south than north of Finland
Said somebody.
But anyway snow enough...
You say we don't care about it (the monitoring) but we do!! I am certainly going to integrate lots of monitoring when I get my van. Still looking for a van, I will get there eventually. Thank you for sharing your adventures.
I’m finding the comment so far quite lovely that people are actually interested in the sort of things I am!
Because I do like monitoring systems! Seems other people do as well!
@@MispronouncedAdventures interested? this got me to sub and like ;)
The Artic trials and tribulations. All good content! Interesting even for a life long Californian.
I’m loving it up here. Lots of learning. Glad you have find it interesting
@@MispronouncedAdventures As a person from a warmer climate it is good to see just how little I know about keeping it all working in such extreme cold.
Going to be some particular videos on upgrades and what’s needed to come up here
love techie stuff. If you feel like it, please make a techie video someday and you could link it to your vanliving video to nerdsnipe those interested!
Glad you have enjoyed it. There are quite a few techie videos on the build and upgrade series. Haven’t particularly made one about the raspberry pi. But other things like some of my smart lighting and control systems are on there
You are a born adventurists.
Quite a compliment thank you!
Cracking job Rick, and filming it 👍
Cheers
Hi Alex. I have just time~travelled back from late 2024 (when I got around to watching this first Arctic adventure series,), just to say that I am interested in the temperatures and the Raspberry Pi. Hopefuily more details are revealed. I will checkout the Europe Van Travel series on a later time~travel.
I think I might have mentioned it on the other comment replying, however they are Ruuvi smart tags, they can be standalone just on an app or directly integrated into Victron equipment via Venus OS running on a Cerbo or Pi
Hi Alex. Thanks. I found quite a lot of info on the Victron Energy Cerbo GX 'Monitoring Powerhouse?` and was trying to read through it. It seems really good to have an almost plug-n-play system to interconnect and monitor equipment. I'm guessing that a lot of that was developed for the marine industries. Do you have a 'Monitoring Powerhouse` on the right hand side of your cab dash (oval `Konnwei`), that you refer to each morning, plus a secondary (slave?) unit inside your van living area (oblong, that appears maybe in the 3rd series?? - It mentions `Shore`, `Bulk`, `AC Loads` etc)). Would you, at some time, be able to switch on your pre-heater in the morning, without climbing through to the cab area? No, I'm not building. It is just nerdish interest, marvelling at the interconnected electronic systems available. I have watched part of your build episodes, but probably need to watch everything to be able to shuffle everything in my head.
love the use of the pi!
Thank you very much. I’m going to make a video on it now, lots of commenters have requested it
@@MispronouncedAdventures I'll look forward to watching that one! Just discovered your chanel the other day and enjoying your videos, love the techy side of things too being a bit of nerd myself 😜
glad you found the channel. Lots of nerdy and tech video on the build playlist
That was a good amount of work. And you seem to know a special technique to get unstuck.
Thank you very much
Some great content here, loving these videos
Glad to hear enjoy!
Excellent as always buddy 👍
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it
A tip for next winter. Skip the "All Terrain" tires.
They are at best for mud, gravel or sand.
It makes a big difference with a set of studded quality winter tires(tyres?)
Is there a video of the build of the van, specs, layout etc?
Nevermind, i found them.
To be honest I’ll stay with the AT tyres as I’m happy with their performance . In the last 2 winter got myself “stuck” maybe 3 times. Once on ice when temps in Alta went up to 8c when studs would have helped. The other two times were in deep snow.
Studs vs no studs is always a hot topic. But I’m happy with mine and a few of my Nordic friends with big vans also said stay with no studded as you have them. But I make sure I’m normally only around in the middle of winter, I wouldn’t want to be around towards springs when it’s more ice.
“Tyres” would be the uk spelling I know, Tires would be what I know as the US spells
Another excellent vlog Alex,looks beautiful up there,safe travels.
Thank you! It definitely is beautiful up here
Assume this van is not 4x4, great vlogs love winter stuff. Just found channel
Hey, no it’s not the AWD drive version of the transit. Just RWD but it’s always got my where I need to go!
All good content, so no pressure here, record the trip, edit, upload. Loving the contrast with the guys in Turkey we're following. Take care.🥶
Thank you! Definitely a contrast to my van friend is currently in Turkey which ones are you following in particular?
Courts & Meeks, who are still in Turkey. The rest have moved on out of Turkey and heading back to the UK or other destinations. Philly & Keely (spain) Tread the World (USA), Overlanding Sophia and John & Mandy (back in the UK). Plus Greg Virgo and Pack the van & go. All nice people and they all make enjoyable films, as do you. Loved your first instagram of the big aurora that you posted. Stunning. Do you use Space Watch for the electromagnetic storms?
I speak to Courts and Meeks daily, lovely couple. And chat with most of the other parts from Philly and keely ( chapterby.chapter ) and tread and world & overlanding Sophia as I’ve not met them before. But all seems nice people.
I have a few Aurora forecast apps I use. But I will check out space watch as I’ve not heard of that one
Sorry, space weather live. Doh!! We call it space watch as I get warnings on my watch. Its my age.😉
You lost me on the geeky stuff but I still enjoyed it 😁
Snow helped of course 👍🏼
glad you still enjoyed it! Snow definitely always helps
very interesting video, well worth watching. Thanks for the info.
Glad you found it interesting
That must have very cold working under the van. You shore like a challenge. Loving these videos.
That was only a balmy -10c I think! I’ve had days down to -27c. Definitely not wanting to work under the van in those temperatures!
Great video as usual, safe journeys , good luck with the upgrades
Thank you!
Lovely!
You are
I found that very interesting. Not familiar with raspberry pie system. My son uses it at the place he works. He’s an I.T. Systems analyst so understands all that.
Great to the point videos. Keep them coming.
Glad you found it interesting. Running there Victron Venus OS on the Pi was the first time using one. looking forward learning what else I can do with them
Great vid as ever. Looked windy for the drone work though. Well done.
I’ve finally bit the bullet and bought a drone (DJI Mini 2] and I’ve got to do some serious practice before I take it and my van to the alps next month.
Drive safe 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it. wind wasn’t as bad as it looked, visually being able to see wind the effect from the sideways snow makes it look a lot stronger than it! Found in the past the drone often throws up a motor overload error if it can’t maintain its position due to wind.
Enjoy your new drone and the alps!
When i fit a Cerbo GX, the Ruuvi tag's will be my next job, victron updated their software recently for the Ruuvi so easy job 😀
Yes as long as it’s running version 2.8. The Ruuvitags will work, and the Cerbo GX always has auto update.
With the raspberry pi version of the Venus os, auto update works most of the time but occasionally for large updates it needs to be a clean install
@@MispronouncedAdventures good video, I like the tech stuff 👌
It’s a new van. If you leave the dam coolant alone everything would be fine!!!!
2018, and no that’s not it works. It’s a British van, in the Nordic. Our coolants and have different requirements. A conventional 50-50 glycol water mix isn’t going to be enough in some of the colder areas.
It’s a new van from the uk ya daft F@@k . Typical American knows every thing but has mastered nothing . I love some American comments it’s like what ever state there from is the whole universe in there eyes . 😂😂😂😂😂 clueless
Keep up the good work Alex love the videos and the nerdy stuff is it possible to connect them weather dongle too Victron Energy Cerbo GX, Panels and System Monitoring Cheers Shaun
Yes Cerbo GX and Pi both run Venus OS.
Basically the raspberry pi is running the Venus os pretending to be a Cerbo GX. So the Ruuvitags will work on both.
Spent my entire last winter here in my van in Eastern Canada. Let's just say it's not exactly comfortable, especially when your heat source stops working. Definitely some of the coldest nights I've ever felt in my life, but I guess it wouldn't be vanlife without the natural elements to deal with :)
I love the cold, been one of my working environment for years. Sorry to hear about your heat source failing. For this trip I packed a whole spare Diesel heater and my five season high-altitude sleeping bag for this trip
Thanks for the video. I continue to use it to learn for our own tour. Unfortunately, due to the war in Ukraine, we are unable to do this at the moment.
Glad you enjoyed the video sorry to hear that you’re unable to travel at the minute due to current events
I would like also to use Victron Venus os. If you have time to do some videos about it.
Merci
There’s been a lot of comments like. This seems something people are interested in! So I think I will definitely look into making a video about it!
I find this amazing
I wish I could go in my motorhome! Yours drives brilliant in snow with the ko2 tyres
Do you see normal motorhomes over there not camper vans but as in a big 4 birth bessacar or swift escape type
It is pretty amazing up here. You do see a good amount of motorhomes here in the winter they just might be build a bit differently from this environment
@@MispronouncedAdventures I would love to take mine 😊 it’s definitely my thing what you are doing buddy
I have made my motorhome into
Pure off grid
With either truma e4 inet or diesel heater
but it’s 7metre long at 4005 kg so I’m thinking the ko2 tyres
I know John & Mandy swear by these tyres when they travelled Europe
@@MotorhomeDIY they are great tyres that’s for sure. Great to hear you’ve made your motorhome off grid!
Hi Alex. This is an honest but hopefully not too odd question. Is there a particular name or style to the cap you are wearing? I really think it looks warm and practical. Dont know if you see the comments on older videos, but here is hoping. Thank you,
I wouldn’t know what to called it. I got in years ago in the Souks on Marrakesh in Morocco. There are a number of stalls which sell them in the markets stall in one particular area. I could send you the GPS location
I have the Victron Smart Battery Sense on my (non-Victron) Lithium batteries, and whilst I can see their temperature locally via the Victron Connect app I can’t see this on VRM?
I’m really interested in alternative options here, so definitely keep posting this stuff please.
From my understanding the Victron battery sense isn’t something which can connect to the VRM. It’s sort of a standalone unit
However if you have a Victron smart shunt or BMV-712 you could get the temp sensor for those. That temperature data can feed into the VRM via the shunt. Or you could get a Ruuvitag and put it on the battery ( but that would give you only temperature information)
Yes, I have a BMV-712, and that’s connected via Bluetooth to the Battery sense unit, and the BMV relay is set to cut off charging (solar and B2B) below 5C, so obviously that data is being sent. I have a CCGX as my hub, and it’s not even visible on that screen despite them all being connected on the same local Bluetooth network.
I did post a question about this to Victron on their last video, but I’ve not seen a reply yet.
Ah good. I have used the BMV temp sensor and BMV relay to cut the signal to the H pin on the B2B’s to stop them in a cold battery temp Scenario
I’ve done exactly the same thing with my B2B, Solar controller and Multiplus (all Victron kit - my electrical cupboard is also quite “blue” 😉) to stop charging at low temps.
It does seem slightly strange that this data is present on the local network - Bluetooth from the smart sense to the BMV, then cabled from there to the CCGX hub, but then they don’t show it, locally or via VRM. I guess the BMV would need to be updated, as the internal relay control appears to be local to that device only.
Great content as ever, safe travels, and lots more what you call “geeky” stuff please 👍
In the Arctic Circle?!
The start of the video I’m just south of the Arctic Circle line , the later half of the video I am inside the Arctic Circle line
I care very much! Loving this combination of travel and conversion
Glad you have enjoyed it. Yes I did. In the cab with the window open. However the signal and range for that drone is terrible, I’m lucky I get any shots
Love it…
When you were struggling with the radiator drain valve, did you have the rad cap off to let air in and prevent a vacuum? 😬
Hmmmm…. This is a good point! I’m going have watch some of the unused footage back to check this! I definitely had to cap off before I started with the drain valve as I removed the first litre and a half from the expansion tank with the siphon pump. Honestly can’t remember if I replaced the cap after that, before I started on the drain valve. that might have explained it!
cheers :)
Thank you
I car about any sensor on bluetooth going! lol
Good to hear, these sensors are great!
What sofware do you use for monitoring on the Raspberry Pi? Would like to see a full episode just around that
Victron’s “Venus OS” is what I have my running on my Pi. as all of my electrics are Victron, combine that with the Venus OS and a few VE.direct & VE.bus to USB cables into the Pi. All my equipment integrate together for one for monitoring with local and remote access.
@@MispronouncedAdventures Thanks
Love the scenery but you lost me regarding the coolant ..
Glad you enjoyed the scenery!
Can I ask you questions about hooking up a PI 3 to OBD2 port ?
Sure, it’s anything I’ve tired before
Another great video, thanks. I also use an RPi but with the Venus Large Image which includes Node-Red, one job is to control the inverter that powers the 3-way fridge on AC down to a variable SoC. I want to use some Ruuvi Tags but they are so expensive delivered to the UK! Did you buy them over the counter in Finland? ATB
Thank you, haven’t started playing with Node-red yet ( also not currently using the large image ) but I am interested in having a play.
But seems like it will be quite a powerful tool and a good example is what you want to do with your fridge.
Yes just bought them off the shelf in an electrical shop in Finland! UK shipping is something like €35
@@MispronouncedAdventures Thanks. And would there be customs duty on top of that (if delivered to UK)? It doesn't bare thinking about, it's probably cheaper to drive to Finland ;-) . With Node-Red I'm trying to use weather predictions so I can estimate the the DoD today depending on tomorrows weather...
I was about to suggest buying from a local reseller. But I just checked ruuvis website and there are non in the UK. I received mine yesterday from a german reseller.
For the customs part, I'm a german customs officer, so yes, there will be customs duties to the UK, but I don't think it'd be an arm and a leg.
EDIT: In checkout I just changed the country to UK and for 35,something€ you can have it delivered to your doorstep with all duties paid.
Thank you for answering the customs part.
@@YamahaYZFR6RJ05 Yes but one Ruuvi costs €32.18 and the postage on top of that €35.90 gives a total €68.08 delivered! I think I'll drive to Finland although the way fuel prices are going up, perhaps not!
Bauhaus in Finland? Didn’t know that…
Great shop
@@MispronouncedAdventures A bit of a German equivalent of Wickes and B&Q.
Interestingly they got things you can’t find in the UK and in the UK things they got aren’t available.
I‘m waiting for a „fusion store“ of both 😁
Don't you have problems with diesel freezing or are there additives in it👍
Good observation but lucky in the Nordic countries all diesel is treated at the pumps I’ve found. So you are always buying “winter grade” fuel. So no need to adding additives yourself
@@MispronouncedAdventures I thought so
What is the name of the Mercedes 6x6 that was shown?
I don’t know the name. But “6x6 sprinter” brings up results, he did say it was one company which converts them in Germany
You watch out for them trolls under them bridges your way
I’ll keep an eye out for them! No trolls as of yet
have u any channel stickers?
I do yes, I’m still figuring the best way to distribute
Just curious... are u worried about warmer reading on the outside temp with being close to heated mirrors?
I was slightly, I might have a small effect when the van is stationary and the engine is running but climate control is turned in such a way that it does turn on the heated mirror. It’s does seem to give a Pretty accurate reading of outside temperature if driving or parked. Seems the glass in the air gap is isolated enough to not really affect the temperature sensor. It’s only VHB tape so I can always move it in the long run
Kool. Didn't figure it would totally kill the average. Either way I dig the the tech stuff
Nerds will take over the world. Have you considered Home assistant and EspHome. All your nerd gear stats in one place and you can write auromations to respond to said stats / data.
Edit... auto start engine to combat cold is not difficult.
Oh I already have plans, already have quite a few smart home integration in the van.
Haven’t started playing with Home assistant yet but I’ve got a spare raspberry pi 4 I believe I can run it from.
@@MispronouncedAdventures You won't look back. Nothing comes close to Home Assistant and you can run it locally as well, no clouds, no tinternet required.
Sunday evening USA time, think that equates to early hours of Monday morning? We're due a BIG solar storm!! just an heads up👍 (did post on Ash's channel but in case you missed it)? ua-cam.com/video/KMx40E5vS-o/v-deo.html
Brilliant thank you I’ll keep and eye out. I was with Ash and Marie last night. got a nice display last night as well
@@MispronouncedAdventures that's a great channel to follow for the aurora, not long videos but gives you advanced warning👍
Fingers crossed for clear skies🤞🤞
In civiliz😂d countries, coolant comes premixed. This is 2023!!! My god man!! 😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂 you really think the Nordic nations are less civilised than where you’re from? Of course, coolant is available in concentrate or premix.
50/50 isn’t always enough in the Nordic. 60/40 can be needed in some of the colder area.
Or in my case, why I want to remove the entire coolant loop volume when I can only remove a small amount of it and top it up with concentrate
What an idiot
Make such a big deal out of the dam coolant when it’s unnecessary
Pretty sure coolant is pretty necessary
I love snow but too cold.
I love both! However, most of my friends choose to drive south for winter sun and not north for winter cold cans darkness