In order to cook in our Toyota Hilux and Toyota Hiace we use a glass ceramic hob Steba HK 30 that – according to the manufacturer – allows for precise adjustment of the power consumption from a company called Steba. However, in reality these ratings seem to be different. In this article, I give an overview of the energy ratings I measured.
Observed Power Consumption
The hob has 2 rings with a nominal rating of
Ring 1 100w, 400W, 600W, 700W, 800W, 900W, 1’000W
Ring 2 200W, 800W, 1’200W, 1’400W, 1’600W, 1’800W, 2’000W
In the table below you see the actual values I measured in comparison to the nominal values as shown on the hob. For our Victron MultiPlus Compact 24/1600/40-16 the highest setting is on Ring 2 with 1600W nominal.
Ring
Wnominal
Waverage
Wmin
Wmax
0
0
0
0.4
4.1
1
100
200
225
254
2
200
450
417
459
1
400
400
375
409
1
600
475
450
477
1
700
600
580
602
1
800
700
708
731
2
800
750
699
770
1
900
860
850
863
1
1’000
930
932
934
2
1’200
900
863
901
2
1’400
1’150
1’108
1’148
2
1’600
1’400
1’368
1’396
2
1’800
1’650
1’645
1’659
2
2’000
1’800
1’787
1’795
Energy ratings of Steba HK 30
Other Observations
There are a couple of (negative) things that I noticed when using this hob:
When using the outer Ring 2 (or the full hob) the lowest level you can choose is 200W or then already 800W which turns out to be too much when trying to cook for a longer period of time. In my case, I use a large cast iron pot and let it cook for 4h to 5h. With 200W it was too little and with 800W it effectively started burning its contents at the bottom.
After 2h – 3h of constant use the hob once switched off after the pot boild over and spilled sauce on the hob. But I do not know if this was just a coincidence. After turning it back on it worked without interruption for another 2h – 3h.
The hob pulses when heating, i.e. turning the heating rings on an off very quickly. This seemed to stress the inverter when it was connected to mains (which was another inverter on batteries). For whatever reason it quite often drew power from the battery instead from mains.
After use the hob keeps a ventilator running for approximately 15min. It is rather on the loud side but not necessarily disturbing. Power draw during the cool down phase is 4W. When cooking something on the move one has to take that duration into consideration before switching it off.
The device is relatively bulky for that it is meant for only a single pot.
Summary
Most of the devices are not perfect (as described in the observations above). But all in all I really like the hob and we use it quite often. It is easy to clean and usable over several hours of constant use. Bon appetit.
Pulled Pork cooked on the Steba HK 30 with a Victron MultiPlus ( 1 )Pulled Pork cooked on the Steba HK 30 with a Victron MultiPlus ( 2 )Steba HK 30, taken from https://steba.com/produkte/glaskeramik-kochfeld-hk-30
Now, that we got our Toyota HiAce we thought it might be a good idea to add more power to the vehicle: in form of an 8s EVE LF280K LiFePO4 battery and a Victron MultiPlus Compact 24/1600/40-16 inverter/charger. In the following, we describe our setup and the reason why we built it like this.
The Requirements
The sustained output power of the inverter must be over 1'200W.
Charging via AC via EVSE or generator must be possible.
Charging via alternator must be possible (but is not the norm).
Charging of 60% of the battery (from 20% – 80%) via AC should take less than 180min.
The installation should use the minimum amount of space possible.
We should be able to use our existing Eve LF280K cells, thus limiting the overall current to 140A.
As the vehicle will not have a diesel heater, it should be possible to run a 150W infrared heater for at least 3 * (4+2)h = 18h (^= 2'700Wh).
In addition, the battery should be able to run a refrigerator with an average power consumption of 50W for at least 72h ^= 3'600Wh (next to other power consumption).
Design Considerations
With a maximum current of 140A and a cable run length of 1.5m, we should plan with a cross section of at least 35mm2.
Basically, with Eve LF280K cells we have three choices regarding the battery size:
1* 4s (“12V”) Configuration 4 * 3.2V * 280Ah = 3'584Wh This would lead to a required nominal AC charge power of at least 716.8W/h and a charge current of at least 56A/h.
2* 4s (“12V”) Configuration 2* 4 * 3.2V * 280Ah = 7'168Wh This would lead to a required nominal AC charge power of at least 1'433.6W/h and a charge current of at least 112A/h.
1* 8s (“24V”) Configuration 8 * 3.2V * 280Ah = 7'168Wh This would lead to a required nominal AC charge power of at least 1'433.6W/h and a charge current of at least 56A/h.
The Victron MultiPlus Compact xx/1600VA inverter/charger provides enough sustained power output (while being smaller than the non-Compact edition). Depending on the voltage of the battery, this will slightly impact the amount of charge current.
To charge the battery via the alternator we would need a DC/DC converter that depends on the battery configuration as well (either 12-12 or 12-24). So, let’s have a look at the battery first.
1* 4s (“12V”) Configuration
The smallest, lightest and cheapest configuration. But capacity requirements regarding the fridge are only fulfilled, if there are no other loads. In addition, the discharge current is relatively high (scratching the maximum discharge rate of 0.5C).
2* 4s (“12V”) Configuration
More complex setup, as each battery needs a separate BMS, which leads to the need of an aggregator for both batteries to correctly report SoC and calculate CCL and DCL. In addition, more cabling and fusing is required (and probably to a large bus bar). Comes with the advantage of having a redundant battery in case a single battery fails. Most expensive configuration.
1* 8s (“24V”) Configuration
Custom battery build needed, as there is not enough space for a typical 2 * 4 cells setup behind he seats. But, only a single BMS and thus less wiring is needed. Comes with a slight disadvantage of not having native 12V from the battery. This is actually not an isse, as all our DC devices also accept 24V. Cells can better balance voltage differences across a single 8s bank.
The Setup
In the end, I decided for the 8s configuration, due to less complexity. Splitting the 8s configuration across two cell blocks seemed to be an acceptable compromise.
As a regular MultiPlus 24/1600/40-16 would not fulfill my AC charge requirements, I had to decide to either add a second MultiPlus or to add a dedicated charger. I opted for a Phoenix Smart IP43 Charger 24/25 instead of a second MultiPlus. The MultiPlus in parallel would always consume 10W though most of the time I would not need the output power. Whereas, the Phoenix would only need power, when connected to AC. And reconfiguring the MultiPlus every time I charge was not an option for me. And yes, I lose redundancy – but also save some money (Phoenix is much cheaper). So, in the end the nominal charge power is 40A + 25A = 65A, which lets me charge at 1'560W reaching 60% within 165min.
The HiAce comes with a 70A alternator, so I chose a Orion-Tr Smart 12/24-15 DC-DC Charger. With this charger, I could run the engine in standby and still have the car heater running. And this is probably the predominant use case (if charging via alternator at all).
For the DC bus bar I went for a Victron Lynx Distributor, so I could use and install MEGA fuses. Having a 1’000A bus bar seems certainly overkill, but a separate bus bar and fuse box that accepts 35mm2 cable and MEGA fuses would be not be much smaller.
I changed the existing AC inlet of the HiAce to Neutrik PowerCON True1 TOP (congrats to the marketing department, I am still amazed how this name rolls of the tongue) and installed 2 Siemens compact 16A CRCBOs (external AC in, internal AC out). I am aware that theoretically I could support more than 16A on the internal AC out (via PowerAssist). If ever needed, I can replace the RCBO with a 20A version.
I added a VE.Bus Smart Dongle to the MultiPlus and opted against a complete (Raspberry-based) GX installation. The reason, I keep a USBMK3 with me anyway (in case I need to reconfigure the MultiPlus) and still have (Bluetooth) access to the most important settings and information of the MultiPlus. With the GX, I would to be running a WiFi hotspot (and consuming more energy as well). The disadvanage of not being able to use DVCC with information from the BMS is clear to me and accepted.
I selected a B2A8S20P JK-BMS that has an integrated 2A balancer and an RS485, CAN and heat port. In case, I ever add a GX device, I am still able to connect them and use DVCC.
The Specs
Nominal power (“capacity”) 8 * 3.2V * 280Ah = 7'168Wh
Maximum discharge power 1’600VA (1'280W, capped by the inverter) with a maximum current of 80A/63A/55A (at 2.5V/3.2V/3.65V)
Maximum AC charge power 1'560W
AC Charging from 20% – 80% in 165min
Maximum DC charge power 360W
MultiPlus self-power consumption 10W
The Build
As mentioned before, due to space constraints I had to split the battery in 2 parts (with each having 4 cells). Instead of using utz RAKO boxes I used 12mm (sanded) plywood which I did not screw together but tied down with a banding/tensioning tool and a ratchet strap. With this setup, I can easily access und disassemble the cells if needed, while still having a sturdy case. Both cell blocks are connected with a (blue) Anderson SB175 connector.
The BMS itself is mounted to the side of one of the cases (I took extra care to use short screws, in order not to drill into the cell casing). I used M6 Weidmüller 35mm2 90° angled compression cable lug to get the wire away from the BMS and into the bus bar. All other compression cable lugs are DIN 46235 from Klauke (M6 35mm2 on the cells, and M8 16mm2/35mm2 on the bus bar).
The AC and DC wires are all Eland H07RN-F (except for the last two points):
Charger to bus bar, battery to bus bar: 35mm2
Cell block to cell block: 2 * 35mm2
Alternator to DC-DC converter, DC-DC converter to bus bar: 16mm2
External AC in to RCBO, RCBO to inverter/charger (both directions), RCBO to internal AC out: 3G2.5mm2
For the connection of the Inverter/charger to the bus bar, I used the Victron installed 25mm2 welding cables.
Images
The installation is barely visible behind the seatsView from the back with preliminary wiringConnection of cell blocks with SB175 connectors, cell block 2 and DC-DC converterLynx Distributor with cell block 1Inverter/charger with space for second charger and cell block 2 (left)
Note: the Phoenix charger is not visible on the images, as I am still waiting for it to be delivered.
Charging via EVSE
Conclusion
We now have more than 7'000Wh of additional energy without losing any storage space for roughly 2'850 CHF/2’500 GBP (parts without labour). We can survive an extended weekend of 72h without recharging while still being able to enjoy amenities as using a coffee machine, heating and refrigerator. In case of longer periods of usage, we can recharge at any EVSE, or via shore power. And in emergencies, we can also charge via our Honda EU10i or via the alternator of the vehicle.
The battery is placed directly over the engine which helps in cold weather conditions to easily warm up the batteries to a chargeable level.
With the next Toyota Hiace and the Saurer 2DM around the corner waiting to be converted, I thought it was time for consolidating our vehicular electrical installations.
But before going into details, some history first: In 2019, we started on the VW Calkifornia T6 with a Super B Epsilon 12V90Ah LiFePO4 battery as a simple drop-in replacement and added a Votronic SMI 1200 ST inverter to it. And this was probably where I made my first two mistakes. At that time, I decided for Votronic and against Victron Energy. And I did not pay attention to the non-existing programmability and extensibility features of the Votronic inverter.
Once with a vendor stick with that vendor? There a pros and cons to it as we will later see.
When we later prepared our Hilux for our first longer trip to Loch Watenan, I opted for a Liontron 12V200Ah battery again (for the reason Liontron being way cheaper than Super B). And for the inverter/charger, I went for Votronic again (SMI 1200 and the same DC-DC charger 1212-45) .
But when I tried to get the DC-DC charger working, I realised that the D+ signal was not available on the Hilux. All in all, I did not get it to work in any configuration and looked for alternatives – which came in the form of the Victron Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC Charger family. And when I had to add an AC charger (where in the Hymer I could use the existing AC charger) to load the Liontron battery “on-shore”, I chose the Victron Blue Smart IP22 Charger.
So, at that time there was some kind of tie between Victron and Votronic. And the setup was getting more complicated and more complicated. And I am not only talking about the diminishing space in the trunk of the Hilux.
If I had known about the Victron MultiPlus series at that time I could have saved me a lot of headaches and complications.
It was shortly after our first and very successful trip to Loch Watenan, when we got rid of the Hymer and I added the battery from it as a second battery to the Hilux. And I got 2 more Victron DC-DC chargers. But I sticked to my Votronic inverter. And this is how the final layout looked like:
Toyota Hilux setup with 2 Liontron 12V 200Ah batteries, 4 DC-DC 30A chargers
This all worked well end of 2021 when one of the Liontron batteries did not want to charge properly anymore. The combined cell voltage stayed low at 13.1V with no single cell near at 3.5V and the internal BMS still reported 100% SOC.
So it was time for a change. And while doing that eliminting some design shortcomings of the current installation:
Invertert has a power maximum of 1200W.
AC charging is limited 30A.
Both 200Ah batteries are operating separated with one of them feeding the inverter and the other feeding the 12V DC sources.
Each pair of DC-DC chargers is bound to a single battery.
The alternator cannot feed all 4 DC-DC but only 3 chargers at the same time.
Have both batteries run in parallel to feed the inverter and the DC sources at the same time and thus reducing the maximum current at 1300W to 65A (when both batteries are dropping down to the minimu of 4* 2.5V = 10V) or considerably lower when running at 14V (45A) .
But the “best” of it, I then got rid of all the Votronic devices and can integrate and configure more easily with Victron. And I can do the same in the Saurer and HiAce.
I hope I can start with the conversion mid of March and will post updates on the way.
So, what do you think? (And no, I have no affiliation with Victron at all.)
Two weeks ago our water tanks arrived. But due to heavy winds, it was only possible to collect them last weekend.
The tanks are manufactured by Enduramaxx, but I actually ordered the tanks from JDP in Inverness, as it was cheaper to buy from them.
And then there were the transport cost … According to Enduramaxx or JDP, delivery cost to Whaligoe would be have been between 1’800 GBP and 1’900 GBP. Hmm, that is actually more than the price for the tanks!
Though JDP on their web site offered free delivery, there is a fine print on their web site (“Remote Areas”), stating that specific post codes seem to be exempt from it. When I suggested to them to pick up the tanks directly from their branch in Inverness (and thus saving me the delivery cost), they told me that I could certainly do that but the delivery fee would also apply. As it seems their branch in Inverness (post code starting with IV1, in the center of the city) is also considered a “Remote” or “Restricted” area.
But then funnily, Farm & Forestry in Ardersier (being 10 miles away from the JDP Inverness branch) was not considered a restricted area and could get delivered without paying a fantasy price.
A distance of 10 miles makes a difference of 1’300 GBP in delivery cost (source Google Maps)
The next interesting thing was the price of the water tank itself. The price quoted by the JDP main office was cheaper than the price of the Inverness branch – though both would buy the tank from Enduramaxx directly.
Anyway, after some weeks now the both tanks arrived. And I got 2 times the 6’000l version (instead of a 5’600l version that I originally wanted to buy).
And on Saturday, I went to Inverness to load one of the tanks on my trailer. Once again, the trailer proofed its purpose. After unmounting the high side walls we could drop the tank carefully on the trailer bed.
And as soon as we have the roof on the barn, we can start collecting rain water …
Tank loaded and secured with 2 orange and 2 blue ratchet strapsTank safely arrived in Whaligoe with 3 orange and 2 blue ratchet strapsOn the way to the plotUnloading with the TeleHandler
ps – yes I had to stop on my way home a couple of times as the road surface and the resulting bouncing of the trailer was not helping at all to hold the tank in place …
On Saturday, we picked up our first water tank. Thanks a lot to the guys at Farm & Forestry in Ardersier for helping me! pic.twitter.com/YOaKvmKTpK
It has been a while since I last wrote about what has been going on the plot. And actually, something has happened.
Still with Toyota, trailer and telehandler
Let me briefly explain where we currently stand and maybe I find time to to dive in to details in additional posts.
Even the cat likes the telehandler
So what happened?
We got our Telehandler, the JCB 531-70; so we are now able to do some heavy lifting and more … Quick note: And yet with this delivery not everything went smoothly, as the brand new machine was not working completely as expected. But we now have a new local technician from Latheronwheel who is very kind and helpful.
The digger finally got fixed. We now even have a quick-hitch, which seem to be not so “quick” (but that is a different story). We were even able to fix a loose track on the excavator. It is easy once you know …
We also now have a 3.5t 13ft tipping-trailer with which we are able to bring more stuff to the plot (such as concrete, gravel – more on this later).
We fixed more parts of our track to the plot (by adding stones to the ground and putting gravel on top of it). This is only a temporary fix, as the ground is still way to weak to hold the weight of the 7t Telehandler or a fully loaded trailer.
We even now a diesel tank from which we can fuel our vehicles and machinery. And refilling it on the main road is as easy as lifting it with the forks of the Telehandler.
Electricity is now much easier as we can run on a generator as long as we have not finished the turibine/battery set up. As the generator runs on diesel we can refill it from the same diesel tank as everything else.
We discovered a quarry on our plot (which has not been used for probably more than 100 years. I have 2 raw short video sequences (no voice, just walking aroung) that are linked below to get a first impression. As you can see, we had to cut through a lot of gorse to actually get there. The only reason I found out that there is a quarry was, that I saw it on some older maps from the scottish national library archive. There is still some work to get done to easily access the quarry or to get some stones from it. But the good news is, that we now would not have to transport that much amount of stones from a different quarry further away.
We actually started with our shed; i.e. we did the foundation by pouring concrete for 12 pads and nearly finished the floor insulation. That actually means that the wood *finally* arrived (more than 3 months). Next time I buy the wood somewhere else and not at the Sutherland woodyard in Wick (and yes, I would link a website if they had one).
Planning permission for entrance from the A99 and the barn is still under consideration (*everything* in the Highlands justs takes looonger).
I got myself a pocket calculator Construction Master Pro Trig from “Calculated Industries” to at as a babel fish between the “imperial” surrounding and my “metric” mind. Now I know that 2″ 7/8 are roughly 73mm – so good!
We cut away even more gorse (and still have to wait until autumn to be able to burn it).
I finally admitted to myself that I will have to do a monthly trip to Inverness to be able to buy the stuff I need (the cowboys riding to the city). And here the trailer really comes in handy! Side note: and it was actually in Inverness where I got the scaffolding poles for the turbine. No way for me to get them in Wick.
We did some sheep shearing support – first step in becoming real crofters …
Shearing sheep
So why am I writing all this? Is everything solved? Far from that.
I am probably more of writing this to remind me that though it seems that nothing really proceeds as planned and barely no progress is visible, some things are still getting done. So there is actually progress (however small it is).
Toyota Hilux 2.4D 2020 with a Safiery 250A Alternator
Our current Hilux is from early 2020 with a 2.4D engine and has a built-in 100A alternator which is frankly quite underpowered to quickly charge our 2 * 12.8V 200Ah Liontron batteries. When I installed 3* Victron Smart Orion-Tr 12-12 30A DC-DC chargers, I could only use 2 of them at a time.
When I talked to the guy who sold us the car, to get an upgrade, I was told, there is no bigger alternator than 100A and no room for a 2nd alternator in the engine compartment. What a pity.
Back, when we bought our Toyota Hilux we basically got the cheapest variant we could get; meaning, that we would not have seat heating or SatNav system. Instead we got a built-in no-extras “entertainment system” with a CDplayer. I added some links, in case you are generation x-why-z-what-do-i-know and were obliged to pass on this pre-historic equipment.
But that now has changed! (And no, we did not upgrade to DVD.)
When sorting through some boxes, I discovered an old Android tablet (a Huawei MediaPad T3 7″, if I am not mistaken; with street prices around 70 CHF) that still seemed to work. When I checked, that it could still run Google Maps and connect to my Victron Chargers and LionTron batteries, I thought I give it try.
With some Velcro I quickly sticked the tablet on the screen of the “entertainment system” and the CD slot. And I must say, it looks exactly as it was built for being in that very place.
Finally, I could make use of the 3.5,mm TRS input and the USB charger on the front. However, the charger does not provide enough power to charge the device. It just prevents it from discharging. So maybe, I still have to use the charger at the 12V cigarette output.
On the other hand, my onboard monitoring capability greatly improved, as now all my apps are much better readable due to the larger screen.
And now the cables:
I used a 3.5mm TRS male to 3.5mm TRS male cable (originally from my JBL BoomBox 2) that just fitted.
An short MicroUSB to USB-A cable with cable ties.
But to all this good news there is one caveat: now, I do not have a CD player any more.
Last December we got ourselves an AutoTerm Diesel Heater for our tent or side awnings. However, we could not really use it for our roof top tent, as the pipe was so long, that practically all the heat was lost before getting into the tent. Therefore we created an extension at the rear of our tent to place the heater on it (amongst other stuff). Have a look at it at the video below.
We can even fit the extension with a tarp to have some rain protection on a quick stop.
Roof Top Extension with Tarp as Rain Shelter
A very basic installation and far from perfect setup – but it works …
Our Journey to Scotland 