Congratulations Carlos!

Living and working in Spain – Carlos has provided us with an introduction to him and his family in both Spanish and in English.

First, let’s hear from him in Spanish:

Estudie Formación Profesional-II en Electrónica industrial, me gustaba mucho cuidar la instalación aislada de mi familia en la casa de campo donde teníamos hace 25 años; baterías de camión, una placa solar BP (de las primeras) y consumos DC como bombas de agua, TV etc.

Estuve trabajando 9 años en Autoliv, empresa de Airbags y cinturones de seguridad sueca, aprendí la importancia de la calidad y I+D en un producto, luego 4 años en TAB un distribuidor de Victron, allí entre en contacto con Stefan Juncker y Floor van Olphen. Decidí aceptar entrar en Victron y nos trasladamos de Valencia a Alicante, de eso hace ya 10 años.

Me gusta ir al gimnasio para hacer musculación, pilates y yoga, además siempre que puedo cocinar. Mi familia y amigos dicen que mis paellas son deliciosas. Como mis hijos Lucia (13) y Víctor (10) son aún pequeños, me gusta estar con ellos y montar en bici, hacer pádel surf o simplemente intentar ser un buen padre junto con mi mujer Raquel que estamos casados hace 17 años.

Mi filosofía de trabajo es hacer clientes felices en el menor tiempo posible ;porque principalmente me ocupo del proceso de garantías en España, Portugal y Italia ,reparándolas cuando es posible .Considero que Victron tiene una alta calidad ,pero también influye que el instalador  y distribuidor Victron hagan bien su trabajo .Muchas veces recibimos equipos dañados por no haber leído los manuales ,o simplemente no presentan defecto (NDF), hemos desarrollado un documento Pre-RMA para que incluso el instalador o cliente final pueda probar el equipo por que un alto porcentaje de errores son por desconocimiento .Por ello gasto mucho tiempo formando a los técnicos y distribuidores que son Centros de reparación  en Europa , latino América y últimamente también en USA. Con Richard y Juan Alberto hacemos un gran equipo.

Vivo en Alicante a 5 minutos de la playa, somos afortunados de disfrutar un buen clima y buenas playas con agua limpia. Doy gracias a Dios diariamente por tener un buen trabajo, una familia unida. Espero que si algún compañero no me conocía ahora tenga una visión más ajustada de como soy.

And now for readers in English…

I studied Vocational training in industrial electronics. I really enjoyed improving the off-grid installation of a country house we, as a family, bought 25 years ago. There were 12V truck batteries , a solar panel BP (the first) and DC consumption for all installed conveniences – such as the water pump and TV.

Then I worked 9 years at Autoliv, a Swedish Airbag/seat belt company. There I learned the importance of quality, and product R&D. Then I worked 4 years at a Victron distributor – TAB  – where I met Stefan Juncker and Floor van Olphen. I decided to accept an offer to join Victron and we moved from Valencia to Alicante. That was 10 years ago.

I like to go to the gym to do weight training, Pilates and Yoga, I also like cooking and my family and friends say that my paellas are delicious. As my children Lucia (13) and Victor (10) are still young, I like to spend time with them – bike-riding, paddle-boarding, or just trying to be a good father – together my wife Raquel with whom I have been married for 17 years.

My work philosophy is to make happy customers in the shortest time possible. I deal mainly with the warranty process in Spain, Portugal and Italy, repairing units, when possible. I consider that Victron builds to a high quality, but it’s also necessary for the Victron installer and distributor to do their job well. Many times, we receive damaged equipment because the customer has not read the manuals, or we find that the equipment simply does not have a defect (NDF). Because of this we developed a Pre-RMA document so that even the installer or end customer can test the equipment as a high percentage of errors are due to lack of knowledge, so I spend a lot of time training technicians and distributors who run repair centres in Europe, Latin America, and lately also in USA. With Richard and Juan Alberto, we make a great team.

I live in Alicante a short walk from the beach; we are fortunate to enjoy a good climate and good beaches with clear water. I thank God daily for having a good job and united family. I hope that if any of my colleagues did not know me now they will have a better vision of me.  Carlos

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Thanks very much to Carlos for telling us about the important work he does, and for introducing us to his family. I know I speak for everybody when I say we’re looking forward to the next ten years.

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Introducing themselves today are Guy Stewart – online video training manager and  Victron Community page moderator from New South Wales, Australia; and David Gutierrez – Sales Manager in Mexico.

Here they are in their own words:

Hi, my name is Guy Stewart.

As one of Victron’s more public faces, there is a chance that you have already come into contact with me through our Victron Community, or Professional Online Training program.

Working at Victron really feels like the job of a lifetime for me. It brings together so many of my previous interests and work experiences into one. My first contact with renewable energy systems was when I moved to an isolated forest in the Australian bush with my wife Kirrah.

When we arrived we had no electricity, no toilet and no running water. So had to learn through necessity how to build the systems to survive. It was a fantastic time and since then I have not stopped learning. While trying to figure it out, I studied and graduated with a Diploma of Permaculture, using my real world experiences as part of my course work. I also began to teach what I had learned (earning a trade certificate in training and assessment), giving presentations and other public speaking. Terrifying, but also a great thrill.

I found a strong mentor in Natalie Meyer and went to work for a community service organisation named the NNIC, as a Sustainability Project Co-ordinator. Helping start community farmers markets, a food co-operative, and …. locally owned renewable energy projects! I’d found something that I really loved to do, and pursued further professional work at one of Australia’s pioneer renewable energy companies Rainbow Power. There I found another mentor and role model in Paul O’Reilly. I had a diverse role at Rainbow, though working mainly as a stand alone power system designer, and part of a team developing tools to design the systems.

Living off grid myself helped me to understand at a very deep level what it was like, and doing it with my wife also helped me to understand what it could be like for other people!

Once I began working with the Victron equipment for my own customers, I was all in. I focused my time at Rainbow at becoming a Victron Specialist. Learning absolutely everything I could about the products, and how to use the range to meet the needs of my clients. At a point, I had read every Victron manual, designed and installed systems in nearly all possible applications (portable, cars, boats, caravans, homes, businesses and factories) domestically and internationally. I began helping others with Victron issues, troublesome systems are a great way to learn – and less stress when they aren’t your customer (or your wife).

Margreet Leeftink, the Victron Australia sales manager at the time, later told me that each time she saw one of my emails she knew the answer wasn’t going simple, and it wasn’t going to be in the manual. I loved the products, but eventually my frustrations with Victron’s documentation and training came to a critical point. I got a phone call from Amsterdam one afternoon, it was Matthijs Vader, the CEO of Victron. He had seen me trying to help others, and had heard some of my criticisms and he had an offer. If I thought I could make things better, I was welcome to join him at Victron and try!

Guy Stewart sent me a number of great images from which to illustrate his story. I’m tempted to move to Australia myself if this is his back garden.

Next let’s hear from David:

I am David Gutierrez, the Sales Manager for the Mexican market at Victron. I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico – the land of tequila. I live with my lovely wife and my beloved 3-year-old son, Leon.

My professional background is in energy engineering, and before and during my university studies, I worked as a technician and installer of photovoltaic systems from 2012 until my graduation in 2017. After that, I worked in the wind energy sector and substations maintenance.

I always have had an affinity for energy storage systems, which have seen an exponential increase in demand in recent years. I discovered Victron Energy in 2019 while working as an engineering manager for a local company. In a short time, I was fascinated by the solutions and became a loyal fan of the work that Vader’s father and son had developed. I am infinitely grateful for the opportunity to enjoy my work while doing what I love.

When I’m not working, I spend time with my son Leon and my wife. Apart from my passion for technical subjects, I am also an avid music lover. During most of my adolescence, I played the drums for a rock band, and today it remains one of my favorite hobbies.

Thank you very much David and Guy, for taking the time to introduce yourselves.

Next time we find ourselves in a club in Mexico City at 4am it will be reassuring to know that – no, it isn’t the beer …we really DO recognise the drummer.

The post Meeting Victron Energy People appeared first on Victron Energy.

When he and his family are not working they like nothing better than to spend a few nights under the stars, enjoying the quietude of natural locations such as Tau Cave (Hang Táu), Son La Province.

Hang Táu is a remote village of twenty households on stilts and is home to the Hmong people who live a simple lifestyle of livestock farming and cultivation. The gated village lies on a grassy plateau of about one Hectare in an otherwise mountainous region.

There is no electricity or cell net, and the nearest town is 18 km (11 miles) away by dirt track. To access the village you’d need a 4×4 – like the Ford Ranger Raptor Pick up Truck seen here equipped with its own accommodation in the form of a roof tent.

A tidy mobile energy system provides all the power you might need for a luxury ‘glamping’ break, comprising a 230VAC 3kVA Inverter/Charger capable of running any domestic appliance.

The camper truck has a dual battery system – the 12V Lead Acid vehicle battery; plus a 24V Lithium battery which supplies the Inverter to run ‘House’ loads. Battery charging – 12V and 24V – is controlled and automatically switched by the system’s three Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC Chargers 12/24/15A 360W.

Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC Charger

The Orion DC-DC Charger has an ‘Engine On’ detection feature which simplifies installation wiring. It is based on user-definable alternator voltage detection, and works in the case of both ‘regular’ and ‘smart’ alternators. The Orion DC-DC Charger continuously tests the charging voltage, so that when the engine is once again turned off, the voltage drop will be detected, and charging disabled. You can find more information about the Engine On detection sequence here. Orion DC-DC Chargers are available up to 400W output, and an unlimited number of units can be connected in parallel to increase output power.

The Lithium Battery in this set up can be charged either by the Orion-Tr Smart, or by the MultiPlus II when it receives AC power from the electricity grid or from a generator.

Live System data information – at your fingertips, nearby, or from afar

A Cerbo GX communication device lies at the heart of the installation. It allows the Inverter and BMV 712 Smart Battery Monitor to communicate with each other – and with the user via a GX Touch 50 touch screen device.

More than that, the Cerbo GX is a multi-port communication centre which accepts data from a range of Victron and third-party equipment – allowing power data, temperature, tank-levels …in fact a huge range of information to be communicated to the web-based platform Victron Remote Management (VRM) – Victron’s communication portal which enables system interrogation and management from anywhere in the world.

Additionally, all smart devices can be monitored and managed locally using the VictronConnect app on a smart phone.

The VictronConnect app – which allows the user to view and change settings on their system straight from a phone or tablet – was further enhanced recently by an additional feature known as Instant Readout. This feature allows at-a-glance checking of essential live data of individual devices – without the need to ‘connect’ to each device.  In this system the MultiPlus-II, Orion DC-DC chargers, and Lithium Battery will all report data to the VictronConnect app.

The system build is configured thus:

• 1 x MultiPlus-II 24/3000/70
• 3 x Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC Chargers 12/24/15A 360W
• 1 x Orion Converter 24/12-70A
• 1 x Lynx Distributor 1000DC
• Cerbo GX and GX Touch 50
• Battery monitor BMV-712 Smart
• 24V-210Ah Lithium battery

Robert has expert practical knowledge of mobile energy systems for land and sea, and in Backup power for home and industry. You can get in touch with him at MES Services,ltd which is based in HoChi Minh City.

• We’d like to acknowledge Mr Nguyen Huy Tuong from Hanoi – a professional photographer – whose work has been used in this story.

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As a certified American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) electronics installer, Peter Bakker’s wiring diagrams are densely populated with hints, tips and important information which ensure power installations conform to the highest standards of safety and reliability.

How does he work?

Using Autodesk’s Autocad computer aided 3D design (CAD) software Peter says he visualises an installation before setting out the relationship between component parts.

Concentrating on the DC side of the installation he first establishes the size of the Inverter(s). From there he suggests a Battery Bank of sufficient capacity to serve the loads. Next comes the charging ability – where will the recharge come from: Solar, Generator, Alternator, the Electricity Grid …and how will the charge current be controlled?

In the case of Lithium – which Battery Management System (BMS) is appropriate? Or if the batteries are Lead/Acid, how will they be protected against deep discharge?

Of course, with our extensive product range there are many thousands of possibilities for which reason Peter always arranges his schematics in the same way (Batteries bottom Left, Distribution top Left; etc) and always at the same scale …the advantage being that it may be possible to integrate two drawings for use as a guide to building your own installation even though there is no schematic exactly matching the product combination you have in mind.

Some components of an installation are deliberately left out of the wiring diagrams – there will be no guide to wiring sizes, for example, as this depends on unspecified factors such as cable length and load. To make fully-reasoned decisions with regard to everything from resistance and voltage drop to grounding and isolation we have a wiring resource.

Also, there is no switchboard in Peter’s drawing as these depend on the specific application.

Peter is keen to hear suggestions for new schematics or to provide new technical resources wherever they would help installers achieve the highest standards commensurate with the Victron Energy brand.

Early Career

Dutch national Peter Bakker began his career as an Audio Visual engineer working for companies, students and specialist recording studios. He worked both as a teacher and installer of media electronics.

Peter Bakker

When his 40ft sailboat was being built he ordered the suspension of work as things were not looking good at all from a wiring point of view. After he finished a complete wiring diagram for his boat under construction, work resumed under his supervision to be carried out the way he wished and envisioned it.

That intervention began a new career: working mainly with adventurers Peter designed robust on-board electrical systems to provide reliable operation in all conditions during extended periods offshore. Quite a number of his old customers are still sailing the globe with no power problems whatsoever.

Advertising his services in the yachting magazine Waterkampioen (Water Champion) brought him to the attention of the editor who interviewed him for an article which opened with Peter’s deliberately provocative sentence: It’s time the ship’s carpenter stopped installing the electrical system. This caused quite a stir amongst the so called desk jockey business professionals.

Having the intended effect this greatly increased his workload – sometimes designing complex electronic and communication systems with a mind-numbing 25km – 40km of cabling. Peter says: When the beginning and the end of cables are not marked properly, it’s a puzzle everyone will get lost in very soon. 

Using CAD, Peter pioneered off-site pre-build electronic installations for Boats and undertook complete surveys of recording premises, which allowed him to cut and label all cable runs back in his own workshop. These cables were then re-spooled, matched with trunking, and taken to site for fast efficient installation causing the least disruption. Similarly, for yachts he designed and installed complete navigation areas including all equipment and switch panels at his workshop, allowing him to test they were fully working before fitting on board the intended vessel.

An interest in the build quality of Spectra Watermakers led to Peter gaining a distributorship for those products. His technical knowledge, plus a large stockholding of spares, proved a successful business combination.

Cheetah having killed a Spring buck

Spending quite a bit of time in South Africa, Peter and his wife Zita roomed all over the western parts, off-road, towing a caravan as a house-on-wheels, where they pursued an interest in wildlife photography in their spare time.

He has a consultancy relationship with Phoenix Catamarans whose luxuriously-appointed range includes the
18 metre XSC60 currently under construction; with the Knysna Yachting Company – also a builder of luxurious Catamarans; and with offshore craft builder Legacy Marine who build 25 metre Aluminium dive support Catamarans to Lloyds/Veritas approval.

Peter’s rich experience in designing and specifying top of the range electronics introduced him to Victron Energy 35 years ago – so it seemed a natural progression, when talking to our European Sales Manager Johannes Boonstra a few years ago, to offer to design meticulously presented schematics which provide suggested topographies for Victron Products to suit numerous applications.

The year 2023 brings new Victron products, of course, for which Peter will continue to complete new drawings, and update the older ones, bringing them in line with current specifications throughout the updated product range.

Why not type a product name into the search bar of our System Schematics page where you can expect the very latest developments to be incorporated in Peter’s extensive schematics library.

It’s thirsty work.

The post Wiring Diagrams map out First Class installations appeared first on Victron Energy.

Here is a personal greeting from all of us:

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So let’s ask:  Who is Henrik Nilson?

Hej from Sweden!

I’m Henrik Nilsson, the Victron Sales Manager for Sweden. Born and raised on the Swedish west coast (the best coast!), I currently reside in Kungälv, a small town 20 kilometers north of Gothenburg with my daughter (Engla, 15 years old) and my son (Loke, 13 years old).

My career arose from a burning interest in boats and the ocean in my teens, which inspired me to become a professional boat builder.  After getting tired of series production, I started my own company where I installed all kinds of equipment in boats of all makes and sizes.  This eventually led to a job as Sales Manager for Mastervolt Sweden where I began to comprehend the power-conversion solutions.

After feeling for quite some time that Victron’s products were becoming more and more user-friendly and sophisticated, it was not difficult to say ‘Yes’ when the offer came to start working for the Blue team. Choosing to work for Victron was the best professional move I have made, and I feel that I have found a home with our family owned company.

When I’m not working, I try to combine my children’s smouldering interest in athletics with our shared-interest in boats, and the sea – so there have been many training sessions on rocky islands on the Swedish west coast in recent summers.  During the cold dark period of the year we take advantage of any nice weekends in the archipelago, but otherwise most spare time goes to athletics, and trying to brew my own beer, or messing around a little with my old mopeds.

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Hello, my name is Thierry Cortassa, and I have recently joined the Victron Energy team in France!

I’m 45, married and I have one boy (Yann, 16 years old ) and a girl (Delphine, 13 years old )

My hobbies are Travel,  Alpinism, Skiing and Paragliding (which I teach in my free time).
I live in the capital of the Alps – Grenoble – so it’s easy to practice my hobbies !
I come from an unusual and rather self-taught background: I started as part of the Victron France team from the air (plane, glider)!

After gaining an aeronautical maintenance diploma I worked for 8 years as a specialized airliner mechanic! It was very interesting work but its schedules weren’t compatible with the arrival – seventeen years ago – of my son. Following this, and the arrival of my daughter, I decided to set up my own company exclusively for solar application (thermal and photovoltaic). It was whilst carrying out some rather specific projects (at the time!) that I discovered Victron.

Matthijs and Jacques helped me set up the first hub1 in France. From there I specialized in off-grid and self-consumption systems based on Victron products. As our experience grew we became known for our expertise, and with many installers coming to us for advice regarding their own installation we began distributing Victron products.

It was during the Munich meetings that I really learned about the spirit of the company and from there we were able to start collaborating on experience/feedback from installers at French Victron training days. Last year, we opened a Victron technical training centre having visited Richard IJzelendoorn at his Spanish training centre in Alicante.

This year the French team parted with Jacques when he retired (good retirement Jacques!) and the logical continuation for me was to join the team .

I manage the French training, organise exhibitions and offer technical support for the distributors during a typical project. It is therefore with great pleasure that I learn more about the internal organization, and the efficiency of the Victron teams!

Besides the spirit of Victron what I like about this area is the diversity of projects, which makes our activity very exciting.

Despite my 13 years background in solar I still admire to see a system in operation with solar energy as the only power source!

I am lucky to live in the Alps because it allows me occasionally to work or train in a mountain shelter – and then to descend either by skiing, or in my paraglider. There’s nothing better to enjoy my three passions (mountain, solar and paragliding) all in the same day !

Thierry Cortassa can be reached here.

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My name is Simon Ytterbom and I am based in hot and sunny Florida. I am one of four sales managers in the USA & Canada, along with Alan, Rich and Justin. It’s said that August in Florida is God’s way of reminding us who’s in charge. While that may be true, I began my career in the cold north.

Born and raised in Sweden, I grew up watching and playing soccer (football!) with my younger brother Gustaf. My passion for the sport eventually took me to New York City, where I played in college while earning my Business bachelor’s degree. In the concrete jungle is where I met Lauren. I consider it my most brilliant achievement in life to convince her to marry me. After all, it takes a very loving and considerate wife to listen to AC/DC, regardless if it is on the radio, or me. Today we have two beautiful children: a 3-year-old daughter (Tove) and Christian (9 months’ old).

My career began in the energy storage field, where I worked with technical support for a battery distribution company in North East Florida. After a year in Florida, we decided it was a good time in our life to move to Sweden and introduce my wife to my homeland. This is where my power/conversion interest gained traction as I started working for Mastervolt, Sweden. My journey with Mastervolt halted a year later when we decided to move back to Florida to start our family. Upon moving back to our current hometown St. Augustine, my old company offered me the position for specialty products. Of course, my initial thought was to introduce Mastervolt to our current product portfolio but there was this other company, Victron Energy, that looked appealing as well. Upon spending late hours comparing the two companies my newly “greened” heart turned more and more blue and our company eventually turned to Victron. Working with Victron products was (and still is) an endless education and it rapidly turned into an obsession and had a drug-like impact on me. I began questioning what I could not accomplish instead of what I could.

In the end of 2018, our family owned company merged with a larger corporation. It took me about 6 months to realize that I wanted to work with a family company, so when the opportunity as a sales manager for Victron Energy arose, I did not hesitate. In the end, my favorite part of my position was to work with Victron products, so why not full time.

And as Covid-19 came around, so did my beginning with Victron Energy.

The post Who is Simon Ytterbom? appeared first on Victron Energy.

For a complete list of Victron Energy people in this series please see:

https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/category/victron-people/

Jono

My name is Jonathan Cecil (Jono) and have for the past three and a half years been living on a narrowboat on the waterways of the British Isles.  Everywhere I go, my black Labrador Molly comes with me.  I used to work for BBC News for some 14 years as a video journalist, trainer and programme producer. I sold my house and bought a new 60-foot narrowboat barge and called it Alice.  It was classed as a ‘sail away’ and had no insides or electrics. As I had filming experience my friends encouraged me to start a YouTube channel called Journey with Jono.  I filmed Molly and my journeys around the canals and rivers and detailed turning the boat from a shell into a home.  After using lead-acid batteries for six months and looking after them really well they of course started to deteriorate and I was keen to find an alternative power source. Despite having companies wanting to give me huge discounts in return to film and talk about their batteries, instead, I decided to buy Victron Energy lithium batteries at full retail price as I could see how good they were.  I filmed my experience and how I installed them and other electrical equipment and that’s when Victron noticed me.  I was flown out to Almere in the Netherlands to meet both Matthijs and his father Reinout and started to produce videos for Victron. 

A year and a half later and I work full time for Victron Energy as a Video Executive Producer. I have stopped filming for the YouTube channel Journey with Jono and Molly and I no longer live afloat.  It is strange getting used to living back on land in a house but I do like the endless water, more space and faster internet!  My role with Victron is to film interesting projects and installs around the world as well as technical films on equipment and guides. Whenever I film in the UK on location, I take Molly with me and there is always a shot of her in my videos – just to keep the Journey with Jono viewers happy that have followed me over to the Victron channel – plus it’s great having her with me

Jono & Molly

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They attended a Vanlife event on Australia’s Pacific Coast – where they demonstrated a compact installation and found the audience eager to hear practical advice on choosing, installing and managing mobile power systems. Margreet also gave away copies of her information-packed book Wiring Unlimited.

If you haven’t had a chance to sit down with Margreet Leeftink’s book yet, you’re in for a treat. You can download a free digital copy here; or print versions of her book are available in five languages on E-Order, or from your Victron dealer.

The 100-plus attendees at the meet-up, held at Waves Camping at Crescent Head, New South Wales, got the opportunity to talk through problems they were experiencing in their own set-ups;  increase their understanding of correct system design; and get some valuable advice about planned improvements. Margreet and Craig then went from van to van troubleshooting ….multimeter-in-hand.

What’s in the book?

Wiring Unlimited is a book about installing power systems – of any size – which contain: Batteries, Inverters, Chargers, (or Inverter/Chargers); Solar Panels, Generators …and more.

Generously provided with illustrations, tables, graphs and examples – in the clearest terms possible the book presents us with all the formulae we need to understand what is going on in our installation. Beginning with a simple analogy of how electricity behaves, she takes us through:

• choosing wiring guages and the correct fuses; making professional terminations; routing cabling; and designing system layout.
• the functions of each piece of equipment in a power installation are described, and how they behave under various conditions. It explains how to test and troubleshoot, ensuring correct operation.
• Data-communications cabling and its vulnerability to radio interference is explored.
• Three-phase grid supply is explained, and the distinctions between distribution networks topographies are drawn.
• Ground, Earth and safety devices such as the RCD are discussed …as are systems incorporating Electricity Generators, and for boat owners – the important topic of Galvanic Corrosion.

Wiring Unlimited is a seminal work for DIY and professional systems installers alike. What we learn can’t be unlearned – lifting all our installations from ‘Workmanlike’ to ‘Advanced’.

The Vanlife meeting was also a chance for Margreet and Craig to experience life on the road; hear directly from people living-the-life; and to keep up to date with the latest trends and demands. Most popular of all was a discussion of Lithium Batteries. Lithium offers great advantages to Van-lifers …they’re much lighter to transport than lead-acid; they take less room; they can withstand many more charge cycles …and additionally 80% of stored power can be routinely used per cycle whereas draining a lead acid battery below 50% state of charge will accelerate its decline.

The biggest rig they found was 48/3000 MultiPlus fitted in a Mercedes Sprinter – which enjoyed the benefits of air-conditioning. But most van-lifers had chosen systems which although simpler often experienced charging problems – problems which the Cyrix battery combiner goes a long way to sorting out. The great thing about the Cyrix is that it’s automatic – not only does it ‘remember’ to combine the ‘house’ and ‘starter’ batteries when there is a charging current available (from the alternator, for example) but it remembers to isolate them again when there isn’t. That avoids a whole list of disasters, right there.

Craig’s own set-up in his Isuzu 4×4 has a simple Tarpaulin for weekend trips, and includes a 115W Photovoltaic panel charging a Lithium SuperPack 60Ah controlled by an MPPT, BMV battery monitor and a Smart Battery Sense. He used it that weekend for running a 40L Engel fridge over 4 days and is happy to report that he always had cold beer.

The campsite is situated in a little piece of paradise between Goolawah National Park and Limeburners Creek Nature Reserve. Forest gives way to sand dunes, and beyond the sand dunes the ocean rolls into a deserted bay. Even though the location is remote the site offers water by bore hole, hot showers, and – best of all – no phone signal.

We’ve been hearing about the devastating forest fires in that part of the world. Margreet drove six hours to attend the event and says that although the fires had burned to within twenty kilometres of the camp site – the site itself was untouched. And where the fires had been ‘the buds of new growth have already begun to appear‘ she says.

Vanlife is a popular lifestyle choice in Australia with many young and young-at-heart Australians preferring the freedom of the road to being ‘stuck at home’. Vehicles represented at the meet-up ranged from weekenders with cars and tents; ex-delivery vans with DIY accommodation fit-out, Camper Vans, Motorhomes-with-everything …and still going strong a 1970’s VW Combi.

Activities at Waves Campground  included awareness centred exercises and fire-side story telling – in acknowledgement of the indigenous land-ownership …an insight into how we all can benefit from having a yarn! There was music, of course, together with therapeutic breathing exercises, Yoga.

Sounds like a great weekend was had by all.

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