Electronic gadgets for our vans

[ghost123uk]

I'll start off with this, copied from another thread :-

It is a cheap 20 Amp motor speed controller that goes from zero to full power, might be good as Ralph suggests for heater fan use (and much cheaper than the normal 3 speed switch and resistor set-up) or even infinitely variable windscreen wipers

have complete control (any speed you desire) for under £4:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-DC1 ... 2ed90035b7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Then I found a very cheap circuit that could be used as a device to provide optimum charging voltage to a leisure battery. It takes your system voltage and can boost it to a preset level, say 14.5 Volts for a modern type leisure battery. It's only 10 Amps, but I bet there are heavier duty ones available. Ebay link to DC voltage booster

Then there is this Car Temperature / Thermometer / Clock / Voltage / Meter thingy, like this one I bought



It is rubbish This is my review on Amazon :-

Having now had this fitted for a few months I find my review less than complimentary, but it was cheap !!!!
The Voltmeter on mine reads about .8 of a Volt low

The outside temp sensor reads all over the place. I suspect this is due to moisture on the unsealed contacts in the sensor (I might try and seal it).

The "icy road" alarm is a damn nuisance as you cannot turn it off. Even worse when I had the unit wired permanently on, it woke me up at 4am one night! (it's in my VW camper van)

The "icy road" alarm actually stopped working recently. Good news or bad? At least it won't pee me off on a long journey at minus temps outside.

The clock re-sets itself to 12:00 whenever the inside of the van gets very cold (most nights recently)

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So what is your best, or worst van "gadget" purchase?

[AdrianC]

It is a cheap 20 Amp motor speed controller that goes from zero to full power, might be good as Ralph suggests for heater fan use (and much cheaper than the normal 3 speed switch and resistor set-up) or even infinitely variable windscreen wipers

Wiper speed isn't controlled by varying resistances, though - there's two different windings in the motor for fast and slow speed.

BTW - did you notice the thread duplication?

[ghost123uk]

It is a cheap 20 Amp motor speed controller that goes from zero to full power, might be good as Ralph suggests for heater fan use (and much cheaper than the normal 3 speed switch and resistor set-up) or even infinitely variable windscreen wipers

Wiper speed isn't controlled by varying resistances, though - there's two different windings in the motor for fast and slow speed.

I knew that it was that fool Ralph who suggested that idea
Mind you, you could put it in the "fast" circuit couldn't you, I bet that is what he meant

BTW - did you notice the thread duplication?

I hadn't noticed, but have deleted the other two. Very odd, I didn't do the "click, click, click get on with it" thing.

[dave friday]

I tried a speed controller on one of those clip on fans,the fan didn't like pulsed dc, quite a lot of vibration!

[CovKid]

Was just being flippant - visions of someone slo-------wly watching their windscreen wipers go from one side of the screen to the other. As you know I suggested this for the blower motor to provide a completely variable control as opposed to messing with expensive resistors which seems a bit archaic anyway in this age of cheap circuits.

[Drucifer]

Well have just ordered one those controllers to use on my heater motor so will let you know how it goes.

[CovKid]

As I said in other thread, I see no reason why it shouldn't do the job. The output to the motor would be to the 'fast' windings (or flat-out mode) as the controller shopuld do the rest. I think I read somewhere that some newer motors only have the two wires rather than three. Let us know how you get on.

You'll probably need to box the board (Maplins?) and shove it up out the way. The knob should fit where your existing one is.

[Drucifer]

Looks like it will fit in one the little boxes that my business cards come in. Will take some photos and post them when it gets here.

[CovKid]

Bear in mind it will get warm - hence the heatsinks to shunt the load.