Last Updated: 14/08/2022

November, here we go..

Another month has gone and still so many things left to do.. The stress is rising, as it is the temperature in QLD, and that doesn’t really help.. I’m finding myself drifting away with my mind, on a beautiful white beach just sitting under a palm feeling the onshore breeze while drinking an icy cold glass of water and lime.

Is that really so much to ask, after these many months of nearly 24/7 working non stop? I don’t think so! I simply don’t know when in this precise moment, but I’ll get there!

Now, this month while still trying to finish the wood work, I had few unexpected interruptions.

  • The fresh water sensor level stooped working all at once
  • The inside cabinet temperature where the oven is located got definitely too hot one day while cooking some potato (combined temperatures issue)
  • A leakage in one of the engine injector’s line
  • Hot water coming out from the cold tap (this was actually funny)
  • Too many appliances running on one extension cord
  • Google suggesting that I don’t use the words “Motorhome Conversion” enough to make a good ranking. So here.. MOTORHOME CONVERSION

Before I get started, I’m going to answer a question posted by Bruce in the Log Book n.20.

I have enclosed two pictures for you so that you can see how easy those TO-220 voltage regulator are to connect. The first picture is one of my lights and you can clearly see how I connected them:

  • Left Leg 1 = 24 Volts Positive in
  • Mid Leg 2 = Common negative
  • Right Leg 3 = 24 Volt regulated

Simple as that. Now, the heatsink is there because if you look at page 98 of the Jaycar catalogue (the last picture, click on it and it will enlarge), you can see that the 7824/LM340T24 can supply up to 1 amp or 24 Watts. Now those LED were rated at 830 mA (20 Watts), so the heatsink is just there as a buffer, just in case. They cost a couple of dollars, so is not a big deal. With 20 dollars I did the entire vehicle. Your light been 12 volts they probably are 10 watts, so that still gives you 830 mA consumption.

Your lights, been 12 Volts, allow you to use either the 7812 or the 7912 or you can splash out and get the MC78T12 (3 amps).

Now this is important.. The 7812 and the MC78T12 have the same pin out (as listed above), but the 7912 pin out is different. 1 is negative and 2 is input while 3 is still the output. My suggestion would be to get the MC78T12 or if not go for the 7812 with heatsink. Also remember that the metal backing of the voltage regulator is normally used as pin 4 (negative). Just keep that in mind if you are installing those things around metal objects. If you are going for the heatsink solution you will probably need some thermal paste as well. Cheers.

Regarding the list of problems above..

Fresh water sensor got damaged when a heavy slider hit the microchip and destroyed the unit. Got two new replacement from Canada within a week. Garnet are simply the best.. The second problem was fixed by adding a 90 mm fan in combination with a thermal switch (see pictures). All good now.. The leakage in the injector is not really a big concern at the moment as I will have to clean the entire engine upon inspection and registration time.. The hot water coming out of the cold was simply a great blonde moment I had while installing the hot water system. The one way valve was simply on the wrong side of the tee junction. I was wondering why every time the hot water system was coming on, I was getting a bit of hot water coming out of the cold.. (I’m getting too old for this shite). The other day I found the limitation of the 3kw extension cord. I simply had everything on and it was just too much.. Not a real problem anyway..

While waiting for the hot part of the day to pass, I indulged myself making Gigi more cosy by adding some pictures of the girls and a massive map of Australia. That wall will fit another purpose soon but the map can stay there for the time being..

The main control panel cabinet was nearly completed. All is needed now, is some finishing touches and a few coats of varnish. By adding the composite panel on the edge the corridor was also finally completed.

I finally got the delivery of the subwoofer that will be incorporated into the couch, but upon try to connect it to the system I realised I had a problem. The unit need up to 500 watts of juice and the two original power supply were only rated one at 10 amp and the other at 7 amp. A quick search on Google showed up a nice 60 amp converter (720 Watts) going for a song.. So there they are. The new 60 amp just for the stereo system and the 10 amp below for GPS, UHF, rear camera and scanner. The 7 amp has been used inside for all the other little 12 volts necessity. (the water gauge system run on 12 Volts).

You can also see a picture of what it seems to be a bird’s nest. Well it is and it belongs to a couple of butcher birds that uses to be nesting just above the entrance of the motorhome. A strong wind came and it fell off. What’s so strange about this? Have a good look at the picture and you may realise that the actual nest was built using composite materials. Is not just made of wood but it also has plenty of metal wire in it. I couldn’t believe at first. Not just those birds are famous for going around destroying and killing other bird’s nest, but he also built his in such a way that even after a 20 metres fall, it didn’t even break.