Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#841 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-06-20 3:52:32

And this was yesterday. The thread is updated... for now.

Greetings.


Pairoa

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#842 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-07-11 1:13:36

Well… a few weeks and not one comment or reply. That can be quite discouraging though I am aware that this thread has been going on for a long while, and the last news and updates have been not pretty interesting, and so… I understand.

But even if this has lost interest for many, I still go on at the pace I am allowed, and I feel amused by the necessity to tell the story, as if the revival meant that all the bad moments and the frustrating episodes could be overcome and only the successes and the lessons learned remain. I like to think that way, so here I go again.

In general, June was a quite lazy month concerning the project, though full of regular work. Good for the fundings but poor for the progresses.

The AC installation had turned to be a real pain in the ass, and the lack of time made it even worse. I needed to complete that item in order to close the carter and crank the engine, test the pressurized air circuits, the brakes, electrics, etc. When I put the cabin back on the frame I thought I could go on more rapidly but, instead, everything became slower and more complex. I know… if not… it would be toooo easy.

The weather changed, fortunately, and the cold days were gradually replaced by rainy days followed by some windy, less chilling ones. No matter what, the dogs woke me up early every Sunday, barking loud and scratching the windows in claim for the morning run. They love to run under the rain. Well… me too.

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When I could I went to pick the 10 mm steel plate from Verardo’s machineshop, and tailored a copy of the unborn support for the AC compressor with it. It was really strong, much more strong than the thinner one… and heavy too. Eduardo was right, as usual.

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And finally, the turner delivered the spacer for the extra driving V-belt pulley. Do you recognize the pulley from Spare the truck? It was not a big deal, the spacer, but the guy took his time to turn it, hmm…

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Anyway, I had to perform some acrobatics to remove the fan, modify it a little bit to allow the new longer bolts to fit in, and to bolt it back in place including the new pulley with the spacer. It went pretty good, in the end, though I struck my head quite a few times against the frame and the radiator.

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One of the blades of the fan scratched the funnel of the radiator as the fan got moved forward a few millimeters due to the spacer. As I did not want to mess with the fan, at all, I opted for simply putting a supple between the supports and the fan. Four millimeters each side gave enough free space for the fan to turn as it wanted.

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As the time approached, or so I badly wanted, I ordered the cranking batteries for the Merkabah. The original design included two normal type and size 12V truck batteries, but since I saw the spiral cell batteries the idea changed abruptly. Two 150 Amp arrived one day in the afternoon while I was at a tea brake. They looked pretty good, and it seemed that the tray was made for at least four of them. I would have to think on how to use the extra place.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#843 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-07-11 1:19:49

Once the support for the AC was assembled, I checked for the tenth time the fit, and it was really tight. There was no way to put the support and the AC compressor separatedly, not enough space to maneuver.

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I then used the old trick of the rope, remembering the front winch issue, and after a few efforts the assembly was complete. The alignment was perfect, as expected, as measured, as measured again, and again.

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It was really tight, and there was barely a couple of centimeters between the pulley assembly of the compressor and the hydraulic pipes that ran along the inner side of the frame. Probably, the V-belt should have to be mounted, some way, before even installing the compressor. Christ.

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The connectors for the AC hoses were also almost hidden by the support of the engine, leaving barely enough space to make the connections. It was a real luck.

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If I wanted to get a more compatible compressor, or a condenser, with the space and the shape of the space available on the Merkabah I would have never been capable of finding one, not in a million years, and they came to me, without asking for it, just at the right moment.

After a few more measurements to be completely sure that everything was aligned I took out both support and compressor and got to the labor of fitting a proper tensioner for the driving belt. Eduardo provided a tensioner for another type of belt and so the pulley had to be replaced for the proper kind, but the lever and the dimensions were the correct ones.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#844 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-07-11 1:26:37

I was at it, threading the hole on the support for holding the tensioner, when my phone rang. It was my father with some rather strange news. He was with her family at home, having an opiparus lunch as usual, when suddenly they heard and felt a terrible noise and shaking of the house, as if a bomb had exploded in the garden.

They ran out to the patio and they saw with amazement that the old and big front pinetree had fallen on the entrance road, on the car, and partially on the roof of the guests room. Fortunately nobody was injured, but the C4 surely had seen better days. Life is hard.

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It took them the rest of the day to get the car from under the branches and the trunk of the tree.

I finished the support for the compressor, including a quite simple system for adjusting the tensioner pulley, and I painted it black as the mighty V8. It would be necessary to wait for the next week to go to Santiago to look for the right part to replace the pulley of the tensioner. If there was none available Pimentel, one of Verardo’s turners, would be charged with the job of making one.

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That Saturday I had a few hours to dedicate to the Merkabah so I went to the shop carrying a gift for the truck. I had to put the front grille on to be sure that it would fit, and after drilling a couple of holes at the proper place, the powerful headlamp washer pump of the old and neglected Terrano found a new home. It would replace the broken “original” windshield washer pump of the Merkabah.

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The grille had to be slightly modificated to leave room for the pump, but it was not noticeable, and worth of it. Furthermore, the aspect of the Merkabah with the grille on was far better and pushed many comments from the bypassers, as if she was “almost” ready. I limited myself to smile.

Profiting of the sunny afternoon I prepared a little black matt paint to finish the central plate of the dashboard that I prepared before with the classical three hands of primer and some sanding. To make it worth using and cleaning the paintgun, I took out the gear lever, the long one, and sprayed a little black on it too, but it was a disaster as the paintgun jammed while painting and splurted over the plate. I forgot that I was not the last to use the paintgun, and nobody cleans your stuff as yourself. Hmm…

I would have to redo the painting, which I do no like too much.

Next sunday I woke up by myself and surprised the dogs for an earlier morning run. It was pretty cold but refreshing. We did the classical route and I got distracted a moment to make a picture of the mountains on the east on the way back home and, suddenly, I heard a big splash.

Deva, always the restless Deva, got too close to the edge of the pond and fell down directly into the cold water. I made my way to take her out of trouble, and she said thanks with a big body shake that left me soaking water and mud. I laughed a lot after the muddy shower and we went on, arriving home almost dry but dirty both of us. Carmen laughed as well, but not that much.

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Hope you are all okay.

Pairoa

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#845 Beitrag von Wilmaaa » 2018-07-11 7:08:12

Just continue your updates as usual.
no comments don't necessarily mean no interest.
lots of people are travelling at the moment.
Ich hab einen Virus: den H-A-N-O-M-A-G-I-R-U-S
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"Frauen haben in der Küche nichts zu suchen. Sie müssen sich um die Schweine kümmern und den Traktor schmieren." (Charlotte MacLeod)
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"Das ist also ein Kleinbus und ein LKW in einem." (Mitarbeiterin über den 170er)

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#846 Beitrag von Pirx » 2018-07-11 7:15:49

pairospam hat geschrieben:
2018-07-11 1:13:36
The AC installation had turned to be a real pain in the ass, and the lack of time made it even worse.
Hola Pairoa!

I fully agree to your statement! I am just about to fit an A/C into my truck ...

Greetings to all and keep on! Finish is already in sight ...

Pirx
Der mit der Zweigangachse: 15 Vorwärtsgänge, 3 Rückwärtsgänge, Split, Schnellgang, Differentialsperre
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Ein Unimog-Fahrer.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#847 Beitrag von hjm » 2018-07-11 8:38:46

Hola Pairoa,

nobody want such a visitor in the entrance road.
The goodthing, nobody was hurt.

Regarding your rebuilding, or better new construction of the truck.
Your thread is a highlight in the forum and it's amazing that you still have such a high motivation to optimize still the smallest piece on the truck. :unwuerdig:

At the end of the day, I would say that the truck did not even have had that condition when he left the factory.

Therefor keep on grinding, welding, screwing and painting, it's always outstanding to read new progress.


Also it's fascinating to read your storys beside your the work.


Best regard, allways good work and have fun, :spiel:
Hans-Josef



p.s.
(I have an old Magirus truck in the yard, I'll send it to you when you have yours ready)

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#848 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-07-11 15:42:03

Thank you guys, and thank you Wilmaa.

It is not quite easy to discourage me, but a few words are always welcome.

More to follow.


Pairoa

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Joe
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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#849 Beitrag von Joe » 2018-07-11 21:23:52

Hi Pairoa,
since a Long while I am more or less just cross- checking the Posts and only read those which raise my interest (too much work and other things to do) but your thread is one of those which I always have in Focus! Great work, lots of ups and downs (Keep the head upright even if the neck is dirty! :joke: ) but I admire you and didn't give up the hope to be of those to knock on your door with Big Foot outside. So keep on updating - please.
Mit lieben Grüßen von der Nahe
Joe

Die "private" Seite ist unter www.gertenbach.mobi zu finden.

Veho Ergo Sum // Feinstaub ist doch Kinderkram - Grobstaub!!

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#850 Beitrag von tonnar » 2018-07-12 12:31:57

Up to now, I didn´t want to write a comment without technical background. But if you like some feeback: Gread work pairoa, keep on rockin' that heavy metal!!! :rock:
I´m looking foreward to the very near moment, when you can drive your truck the first time (no matter with or without the cabin).
Wilmaaa hat geschrieben:
2018-07-11 7:08:12
no comments don't necessarily mean no interest.
Very soon this thread will have 300.000 visits!!! :eek:

Best regards
Tino

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#851 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-07-17 19:11:59

Thank you Tino, and thank you Joe.

I am the most anxious regarding the wills to crank the engine and drive the truck out of the workshop on its own power.

By the way, Bigfoot´s build blog was one of the most inspiring. It would be an honor to open the door and see it parked at the front door and have a beer with you, Joe.

Nothing to share for now, unfortunately.

Regards.


Pairoa

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#852 Beitrag von Lassie » 2018-07-17 21:55:24

Dear Pairoa,

just a short note, I might have written it earlier:
You are insane :eek:
Your meticulous work is incredible :unwuerdig:
The whole threat is one of the most interesting reads in the whole offroad-truck-scene.
So please, please keep up posting and don't get discouraged, if you don't get too much feedback from us, cause we are just sitting in awe in front of our computers, saliva dropping on the keyboard and everybody is thinking: WTF.....

Best regards
Jürgen

PS: Joe is a really nice guy, we met him already a couple of times (on Iceland, various offroad meetings here in Germany...) - just a word of warning: don't let him start mixing drinks... :ninja:
....down-sizing vom U1300L zum U100L Turbo:

Die höchste Form des Glücks ist ein Leben mit einem gewissen Grad an Verrücktheit.
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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#853 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-07-18 3:27:44

"PS: Joe is a really nice guy, we met him already a couple of times (on Iceland, various offroad meetings here in Germany...) - just a word of warning: don't let him start mixing drinks... "

Jürgen: this is also true for all of us!

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#854 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-08 5:09:00

Hello to everyone:

The thread was about to fall to the second page and I thought that maybe it was okay to tell just a little few things I have done lately regarding this endless project. Not too much, of course, because these have been hard times at work and with big health issues in the family.

As said before, when you think you are almost done things become, magicaly, more complex, slower and hard to solve than ever, and time gets even more scarse than before. Little accomplishments mean a lot under these circumstances.

Little details, left for “later”, showed up continuously in the last weeks. One of them was the need to replace the superior tie rod end for the shift linkings of the gear box. It was worn out centuries ago and I thought it would be very hard to find the part so I left it to the oblivion. Well… it was actually pretty easy to locate the right store which had the piece in Santiago, not original of course, but it would work the same even if of argentinien make. The other two tie rod ends were okay so I decided to leave them like that.

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When I was inspecting the linkages I realized that there was a leak of oil from some hidden place on the gear box side, not enough to make it drop, but surely when the truck was used the leak would grow and it would become a problem. Hmm… Naturally, I left it for later.

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Profiting of a short trip to Santiago I went to pick the tie rod end and the elusive cabin shock absorbers that I found also at the same store. Unfortunately there was a stock problem and the shocks were not there as they promised so I returned home with just the little trophy. They apologized and said that they would send it by bus with a special discount. I shrugged and just hoped they would arrive at some moment in time.

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Next Sunday morning it was really cold and there was a dense mist that covered the valley and gave the countryside a ghostly allure. I felt pretty sad and angry because the amount of garbage thrown away by the bypassers had amazingly increased the last months. I was really ashamed and furious because of the lack of consideration and the crude disrespect of the people, my people, with the other people and with the environment. This is a third (fourth) world country, of course, but basic good education is free anywhere, and it seems to be everytime more scarse.

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Carmen, always with her big and lovely smile, caught me by surprise as she told me not to waste time and energy being so mad at it and proposed me to go there and clean a little by ourselves. And so we did that afternoon, and spent a couple of hours until the sun disappeared behind the west mountains, picking up all sort of trash lying at the roadside.

We cleaned for good just half a kilometer, filling three big trash bags and collecting a dozen or more glass bottles, but it felt preeeetty good. Oh… I really love her and her way to make me feel less dumb.

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Another forgotten detail regarding the cabin suspension was the lack of lower bumpers, originaly located on the upper aspect of the rail. Ops. I looked for them among the lot of pieces around and I could only found one of them that belonged to the old and disappeared Spare truck, so I had to fabricate the other one from the classical piece of steel found elsewhere and got a rubber bumper from an old Chevy that fitted the needs.

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As I had to paint the pieces I profited to take the supports of the suplementary front shocks off and the already repaired central cover of the dashboard and a few other pieces to give them the usual priming treatment and then I painted them accordingly. As I had to prepare more paint than required for such little amount of pieces I gave them generous hands not caring if there were some drops. I am learning.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#855 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-08 5:16:47

I had to make it in two different sessions because I had no place to hang the pieces from and I had to turn them to cover both faces. And everytime, with every color, I had to clean the bloody paintgun!

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Some days later the paint was dry enough to bolt the pieces on, and another little step was completed. As you see I did not touch the original frame rivet when putting the cabin bumper; instead, I let it pass through and hoped that one bolt (with a reinforcement added later) would hold. Sure it would.

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And after a week, and a few calls asking what was the problem, finally the cabin front shock absorbers arrived. I installed them the next day and it was a relief to take out the stiff steel wire that served as a limiter to the upward movement of the suspension of the cabin. It was really a pleasure to tilt the cabin back and forth using the hydraulic cylinder with not worries now.

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Going on with the assembly, it was the turn of the windshield. I was always afraid that something happened and it ended up broken. I made an appointment with the guys that knew the business and took the winshield and its weatherstrip down from the attic. I cleaned the glass roughly, thinking that the guys would clean it thoroughly before installing it, but the weatherstrip was quite dirty and full of deeply stuck pieces of rust. I was pretty sure that if I did not clean it up myself nobody else would do, so I put my hands at that and, taking good care not to damage the fragile material, I scraped off all the rust and dirt I could.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#856 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-08 5:23:35

And the people came, at the right time, and they set the cords around the winshield in a pretty simple but special manner and I helped them to put the winshield on. The older guy was surprised by the good state of the weatherstrip and opened wide eyes when heard that it was forty years old. As expected, they did not clean the winshield nor they cleaned the weatherstrip before installing them. Anyway…

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She looked pretty good, the Merkabah, with the winshield on. More like an actual truck, I would say.

The turner called me when the tensioner pulley I had ordered was ready. It had been necessary to fabricate a new pulley as the flat original one was not right for the V belt, and no 6 cm diameter pulley was available from any supplier. They did a good job, but still was necessary to adjust the tensioner and to give it a longer lever for it to work properly. Hmm…

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Next act: to install the snorkel. Ahh… it was something I really wanted to do since a long time, but I decided to do it only after installing the windshield. The hardest part was to install the big corrugated hose that connects the air filter case to the back port of the snorkel itself, but once done it was just pleasure to contemplate the truck and realize how the presence of the snorkel trully changed the its look. From plain stone-carrying-truck to mighty all-terrain-earth-cruiser-ship… or something like that.

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I couldn’t help myself and installed the front grille, just for the fun of looking at the cabin almost complete and, at least, closer to its final look. Nothing actually changed, though I really liked it.

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One of the other wishes (and necessity) was to crank the engine for it was a couple of months that it did not run at all. I installed the AC compressor with its support and made sure of the alignment of the pulleys, once again, and then installed the oil filling hose neck and the oil dipstick guide pipe. Good. I then checked the electrical connections to be sure that there were no peeled wires around ready to shortcircuit and burn in flames the recently reborn truck.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#857 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-08 5:30:56

Doing so, theoretically, the engine was okay to run. I connected the batteries to the proper wires this time, verified that the cardan shafts and the fan were clear to spin, that the diesel pump was filled up, that the double air dryer was energized and put for the first time in seven years the original key in the ignition lock. It was a strange feeling to see the red battery light up on the instrument panel. Then, I pushed the start button and the old and mighty V8 came to life after a few seconds. Great.

The well known and reassuring ruminate of the engine at idle was music to my ears for a couple of minutes and all the lectures were normal. Then I descended from the cabin to check out for possible problems of any kind. And I found them.

There was a powerful whistle coming from a loose connection between the governor and the wet tank, which I tightened at once. Then I saw a quite notorious oil spill that stained the soil under the engine and the carter itself. Christ. I went up the cabin and suddenly I realized that I had not installed the throttle cut off cable. Ops.

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I maneuvered with some difficulty as the cabin was fully down and manually pulled the throttle and shut the engine off. When checked I confirmed that there was a gap between the oil filler neck and the carter. Ops. I had to take the AC compressor support out and bevel it to allow the oil filler to fit in. I thought it was okay but I never checked when tightening the piece.

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To make a long story short, I took out the heavy support and put it back on a few times until the initial humble bevel was large and deep enough to accommodate not only the neck of the collar of the oil filler but also the hose and the bloody metallic bracket.

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There was also a strange noise coming from the clutch at some moment when the engine ran so I decided to fill the brake fluid reservoir and check if both the brake and the clutch pumps worked. I installed a couple of old tecalan pipes not to let the brake fluid on the floor of the cabin when bleeding the circuits and made up a proper lock for the push rod from a piece of wire. The ad hoc snapwasher was another one of the forgotten issues.

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Unfortunately, the fluid filler hose for the clutch pump was bent because of the angle of the plastic adapter and the lumen had collapsed, so it did not work properly. I would have to change the hose or change the adapter, which were two valid though bad alternatives involving emptying the circuits and taking out the pump itself. I was not happy.

Anyway, it was late and started to get really cold again so I left the shop and went to do some regular work, for a change.

The next day was Saturday, and I went early in the morning to a big motorbike enduro competition not far away from San Felipe. Just for the fun of it I signed up for racing in the strictly amateur category. It was a highly technical circuit 15 km long, with lots of sand and rocks, and only bikes of no less than 600 cc were allowed.

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It was pretty funny and hard at the same time, and there were really lots of people, eighty of them competing from amateurs to experts. There were lots of big, gorgeous motorbikes also, and that was pretty nice to see.

The Beast showed off all her sobriety among all the other more prepared challengers, and she behaved, as always. Lots of droppings, lots of people struggling against the curves, the sand and the abrupt descents and slopes. It was pretty amusing and I think we all had a really good time.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#858 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-08 5:34:15

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After the race I had to change and left the soaking protective gear to dry up under the palid sun. Found a couple of known people around and had a brief and squalid lunch before returning home.

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The prizes were reserved for the first five places. I got no medal nor cup, but almost… even if I dropped the bike twice. It was okay to me.

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As you may suppose, there was no Sunday morning run with the dogs this time.

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#859 Beitrag von campo » 2018-08-08 7:23:28

Did I see a 12V clutch on your AC compressor ?

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#860 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-08 17:29:40

Hi, Campo:

Yes, this is a 12V compressor for a Mercedes car, I guess. It will be powered by the 12V circuit of the truck, along with other devices such as the windshield washer pump, the stereo and the amplifier, the the fan for the heater and the A.C. and some other minor stuff.

To keep things right an electronic balancer will be installed between both batteries.

Very acute view!

Cheers.


Pairoa

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#861 Beitrag von jakob » 2018-08-08 18:09:05

Hi Pairoa,
as far as I know an electronic balancer is designed to compensate for the charging difference that occur during standard cycles of batteries switched in series. If I understand you correctly you are planning to replace a voltage divider (24V/12V) by the balancer. I doubt that a balancer could compensate for 12V-consumers that are connected to one of the batteries, specifically taking into consideration your list of consumers. I got a balancer that can deliver 40A at 12V for small money.
Regards
Jakob

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#862 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-08 19:05:08

Hi, Jakob:

Ah... I really like the instantaneous feedback...

I did the homework long ago but what I found is that the electronic balancer between both batteries connected in series compensates the withdrawal of energy produced by the non permanent 12 V consumers taken from the electrical bond between them and thus keeping the charge, regular charge, at equal or almost equal level avoiding premature failure because of overcharging of one of them and overwithdrawal of the other.

For what I remember, according to the literature (and the makers of the balancers, of course) you can take a lot of 12V power from the batteries more efficiently and without damaging the batteries than installing a voltage divider, which was my first choice. In fact, the truck comes with a 12V circuit to feed the lights of the trailer and other things, with an electronic balancer but not in between the batteries.

The higher consuption would come from the sound system at full power (40A), though I doubt to reach frequently that state, for the sake of my ears and my marriage.

Thanks for your words.

jakob
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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#863 Beitrag von jakob » 2018-08-08 19:46:22

Hi Pairoa,
Thanks for the quick reply also from my side of the world!
I don’t understand: your truck has a balancer already which is not between the batteries? Where is it then?

The old voltage dividers were rather inefficient, since they discharged the 24V system with almost the same current they supplied in 12V, by adjusting their internal resistant to match the resistant of the 12V load. In other words they burnt the surplus energy – these things got hot. This resulted in a degree of efficiency below 50%.
Nowadays voltage dividers work like inverters as far as I know: They electronically generate 24V AC from the 24V DC, transform it to 12V AC and rectify that to 12V DC. Thus achieving a degree of efficiency above 90%.

If there is really a balancer which is up to your consumption, then this principle would still suffer from the losses that occur in discharging and recharging the batteries plus the internal losses of the balancer. Unfortunately I can’t estimate these losses.
Jakob

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#864 Beitrag von jakob » 2018-08-08 19:59:04

Hi Pairoa,
One thing crossed my mind when I re-read your answer: Are you sure that you are talking about a balancer? To provide 12V for the trailer Mercedes usually installs a special voltage divider. Special because it needs separate channels for directions indicators, rear and braking lights. Is it possible that you took that box for a balancer?
Jakob

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#865 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-09 5:12:27

Hello again, Jakob:

Sorry for the delay but I had to move and I wanted a little more information before writing back. There is no shadow of doubt that your knowledge on electrics is far deeper and wider than mine. I am an enthousiast, but always an amateur on anything not regarding my regular work.

This is the electric plan of the Merkabah, with the source of the 12V circuit at the bridge between the batteries. The u6 is named Elektronische Ladeeinrichtung, whose translation tells Electronic Charge Balancer. Maybe it is not the right translation? Maybe it is just a misinterpretation?

Bild
Bild

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#866 Beitrag von jakob » 2018-08-09 12:23:31

Hi Pairoa,
Thanks for the compliment but my knowledge is not good enough to tell you exactly what is going on here. Some clues:

Your translation is almost right. “Elektronische Ladeeinrichtung” translates to “Electronic Charging Device”. This designation doesn’t support neither yours nor my interpretation. A balancer should be called something like “Ladeausgleichsgerät”.

It could be helpful to also see the explanation on the left side of wiring diagram. This is what I understood so far:

W: Seems to be the power supply of u6, protected only by a 5A fuse, presumably 24V.
D+: alternator +
12V: this seems to be the ominous connection to the one battery (163 on your upper scan)
54: Braking light
58: Rear lights and parking lights
V12V: Supply for the trailer lights (switched by relays d6, d5, b35 and d4)

Conclusion: To me this looks like the supply for a 12V trailer, just the name “Electronic Charging Device” doesn’t really fit into the picture. It might indeed be possible to use it (V12V) for additional 12V consumers, but you shouldn’t use more than 10A / 12V, or rather 8A to be on the safe side, since this was designed to support only the lights of a trailer and of those only the rear lights permanently.
I would therefore still recommend a voltage divider of appropriate size.

For example this one:
https://www.offgridtec.com/victron-orio ... -480w.html
Victron also offers a 70A/85A (permanent/short-term) version, which could also charge an additional buffer battery..

or this:
https://www.autobatterienbilliger.de/DO ... ngswandler

I hope this is helpful for you.
Jakob

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#867 Beitrag von pairospam » 2018-08-12 6:15:16

Very helpful indeed. I will give it another thought, thanks.

Kind regards.


Pairoa

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#868 Beitrag von egn » 2018-08-12 15:19:33

Hi Pairoa,

you should't use the 12 V connectio in the middle of the 24 V block, except you have a real electronic battery balancer that can compensate the voltage difference to 10 mV at least. For trucks there were dump balancers, i.e. from Hella, available that dumped the voltage difference as heat by using a resistor for the upper half.

This is ok for low usage and with wet batteries, in other cases it is better to use a DC converter. This reduces the chance that the batteries in the 24 V block go out of balance over time. Even then it is of advantage to have an electronic balancer for the block.

BTW, I find your thread really great with all this details. :rock:

I hope you can finish the build soon so you can benefit from your work.
Gruß Emil

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#869 Beitrag von olaf » 2018-08-14 8:59:43

Hi,

with all the effort you spent in every detail, you should also think about using a seperate alternator and a battery for the 12V system. This would be the most robust solution.

BR

Olaf

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Re: Mercedes 2626 AK 6x6

#870 Beitrag von jakob » 2018-08-14 10:16:52

Hi Olaf,
I agree with your point. To improve the redundancy one could also consider to use an additional 24V-alternator for the entire consumer circuit and (again) to install a voltage divider for the 12V consumers. I did that in my Unimog since it was easier to install a second instead of a bigger alternator. This way I got away without a cutoff relay and I don’t have to carry a backup alternator. If one alternator fails I can easily bridge the two circuits.
But now we are getting off topic to a fundamental discussion on how to layout the electrical system and I am worried that we are hijacking Pairoa’s thread which is supposed to document his work. If Pairoa wishes some support in that regard, I would suggest that he starts a new thread in the electrical section of the forum.
Jakob

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