Our "New to Us" Winnie

[jon_d]

Passenger side, release at the back of the bus.... sounds like it should work ok.

I've had a think about another strategy, if I can find short bits o.......

or you could wait till tomorrow and ring them.
The more you tinker, the harder it becomes to make a warranty claim.

[T1 Terry]

Passenger side, release at the back of the bus.... sounds like it should work ok.

I've had a think about another strategy, if I can find short bits o.......

or you could wait till tomorrow and ring them.
The more you tinker, the harder it becomes to make a warranty claim.

Scrolled all the way to the bottom of the listing and there is a yank doing a video of fitting a similar awning ..... https://youtu.be/agbIkMVVSbE
He has the benefit of a second hole in the spindle each end to make it easier to wind up the spring, no hassles with trying to install the "R" clip in the little hole.
The other benefit he has, the sailtrack is much closer to the ground than it is on the Winnie

I'll get the other one out of the box and see if that spindle can be pulled out far enough to put a phillips screwdriver in the wind up the spring.
His directions make a lot more sense than the Chinglish ones, getting that awning into the drum is much easier the way he does it ..... trying to wrestle 18 ft of awning drum while sliding the awning in with the plastic already in the awning pocket is not the ideal way to spend half a day
Also realised I put the second retainer the wrong side of the stitched pocket groove on the awning ..... I'll have to take that one out and redo it .... later It's awful hot out there in the sun ......

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

Why cant you just

remove the materiel,
drop the roller and legs
set the lock to stop it winding up...
rotate (unwinding) the roller 16-17 turns to set the "fully unwound" spring tension. (locking on the mechanism to stop it winding back up)
then simply thread the material down both sail tracks.

then release the lock and it will just roll up.

hey presto, magic!!



jobs done.

[T1 Terry]

It was easier that that actually. Dropped the bolt out at the ratchet end and added another 10 turns, then refitted the bolt.
Took the bolt out of the other end, removed the "R" clip and wound another 10 turns on that end, then fought with it for half an hr till I got the "R" clip back in and refitted the bolt through the arm.

Then it was just a matter of fighting the "R" clip out and reversing the ratchet pawl .... helped it turn a bit and lifted the arm so there was less weigh on it ..... and it rolled up.

Still have to centre the upper arm brackets so it all folds up neat, but too hot and getting too windy to climb a ladder at the moment .... maybe after the sun goes down ......

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Now the awning is completed, and I've added shade cloth to the remaining sail track on the awning drum, I parked the flatbed truck parallel to the Winnie and tied the shade cloth over that. Now I have a shaded work bench ready to start the sodium ion battery build ...... The end stops for the battery compression using the Winnies 20 tonne jack to squish the cells together, have been drilled and tapped and bolted in place .... and work commenced on the project today ..... I'll write up more about the process and have some photos tomorrow

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Ok, some rather crappy photos, looks about as blurred as things look to me anyway so .....

This is just the ratchet strap cut into strips and contact glued in place on an end plate. As can be seen in the next photo, the plastic wrap on the cells can't be relied on to act as an insulator. If a plate inside the cell comes into contact with the aluminium shell, it would be either at the same potential as the negative or positive terminal, depending on which plate makes contact ... or if it is just a result of the electrolyte coming into contact with the cell casing.

Ratchet strap insulators1.jpg

This is just an example of how flimsy the plastic wrap on the cells is, can't be relied on as a protective insulation layer. You can also see my rough as guts cable tie insulators under the stainless strapping, it was an after thought when I saw what happened to the blue plastic film on the cells

Sodium ion 6v 600ah 3.jpg

This would have looked better if I'd actually arranged the two battery packs side by side, but 5 x 200Ah Sodium ion cells equals the same length as 6 x 100Ah Winston cells, they are the same width but slightly shorter. You can see my carpet piece as an insulator/protector under the battery

Sodium ion 6v 600ah 2.jpg

A shot from the top down. As you can see, it is more important to get all the cells lined up properly before compressing them into a pack, you just can't bump them into alignment, the cases are so soft they just buckle and dent. The bits of strap acting as insulators can be seen each end and in the centre separating the two 3v packs

Sodium ion 6v 600ah.jpg

Strangely, the positive cell posts have black plastic marker rings under them and the negative terminals have a bakerlite looking marker ring. I spray painted the negatives black for identification, I'll get some of the liquid electrical insulation in red and black and paint them later .....

T1 Terry

[Greynomad]

Just make sure you hold your mouth right!

[Dot]

And a stack hat on as well just in case.

[Greynomad]

Don’t forget the Chinese Safety Boots!

[T1 Terry]

Thank you both for the sage advice, where would I be without your guidance Still wearing the Japanese safety boots Ray, foots too sore for the work boots.

The worst thing you can do on a new project, is sleep part way through, a better idea always rolls up about 3 in the morning and you spend the rest of night carving it into your brain so you don't forget it .....

So, this is version 2

Sodium ion 6v 600ah 2nd battery pack 4 .jpg

Sodium ion 6v 600ah 2nd battery pack 3 .jpg

Sodium ion 6v 600ah 2nd battery pack 2 .jpg

It was getting late by this stage so the photos a tad dark. The 20 tonne jack (cause I had it) can be seen that I used to compress the pack before strapping it ..... no, I did not apply 20 tonne pressure on the pack, just till it didn't want to compress any more and started to life off the truck bed.

Sodium ion 6v 600ah 2nd battery pack .jpg

Now each cell has 3 bits of ratchet strap to insulate it with an overhang each side to hold the stainless strap away from the cell cases, rather than that mess with the cable ties. Had to add the piece in the middle because there was too much area for the cases to bulge. If they bulge, the loose capacity because there is barely enough electrolyte in each cell to keep the plates soaked and fill in the gap between the plate separator material. If the case bulges, the electrolyte fill that gap and there is no longer enough to soak the plates to the top ... no electrolyte, no ion transfer from that area on each plate ......

Now I'm gunna have to redo the other pack, just for peace of mind

T1 Terry