Inchy's Auto & Electrical

Inchy's Auto & Electrical Mechanical and electrical diagnostics and repair as well as installation, maintenance and advice.
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Another custom caravan system punched out last month. 620Ah of lithium batteries, Victron Cerbo GX and Touch 50, Victron...
13/05/2026

Another custom caravan system punched out last month. 620Ah of lithium batteries, Victron Cerbo GX and Touch 50, Victron dcdc, 4 x Victron solar controllers (panels consist of original 3 x 175W, 2 x 220w and 3 x 130W = 1355W total), Victron 3000W inverter, bluetooth ultrasonic tank sensors, packaged into a tight package. It took a bit of planning, testing and adjusting, but I was able to make the unit easily serviceable/accessible should there be an issue with the battery or the inverter located under the fuse panel section. There's cooling fans to push air into the cavity on the solar controller side and then exhaust it out at the inverter side.

The system was tested for a few days in semi-ideal conditions (the van was parked on a slope facing away from the sun and partially shaded by palm trees) with the aircon running on 24⁰C and after 3 days of running flat out in warmish conditions the SOC only dropped to 40% the morning I turned the AC off.

Very happy with how this build turned out, as is the customer. I got to try some new components and dip my toes into the world of 3d printing with the Touch 50 mount I designed from scratch to cover the holes from the existing inverter controls and water tank gauge.

Onto the next build.

The last few months have been crazy. So I'll drip feed the big things that have been happening. Finished up this Ford Ra...
29/01/2026

The last few months have been crazy. So I'll drip feed the big things that have been happening.

Finished up this Ford Ranger for 4T before Christmas which makes vehicle number 4 (or maybe 5, there's been a few 😅)

It's not a crazy system but it does what they need it to do.

✅️ 2 x 322Ah Lithium Batteries
✅️ 2 x 200W Solar Panels
✅️ Outback Accessories Starlink kit
✅️ Victron Battery Monitor
✅ Victron 30A Solar Controller
️✅ Victron 50A DCDC
✅️ Victron 1600VA
️✅️ Remote Switch Hub with Bluetooth
✅️ 9" Ultravision Driving Lights (Made in Australia too)
✅️ Mine Spec Lightbar

There were a few curly issues to solve (some the result of my OCD) but the end result was worth it. We managed to fit both 200W panels on the canopy roof and mount them low enough that they sat 10mm below the top edge of the roof rack. The allows them to retain use of the roof rack for the lengths of pipe they need.

The batteries were mounted as far forward as possible and protected with a cover. By doing that it opened up that front section for any long items they may need/want to carry.
The electrical distribution board consists of a custom aluminium frame for strength that forms a base to support the full weight of the inverter and then everything else is then built around that.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out.

If there's anything you think I can do better, let me know. I'm always striving to offer the best I can and even the smallest improvements add up.

Something pretty cool that I'm proud to put my name to.A recent customer of mine put together this immaculate Chev ute. ...
09/04/2025

Something pretty cool that I'm proud to put my name to.

A recent customer of mine put together this immaculate Chev ute. Full custom aluminium chassis with independent rear suspension as well as a suite of other modifications that only a real enthusiast would go to the effort for, and I was lucky enough to be posed the task of rewiring/tidying up the existing wiring.

With most classic cars, time does not bode well when it comes to the journey these vehicles take. The wiring and electrical often takes a back seat (I'm talking third row back where you can't hear it screaming for attention) to engine mods, paint jobs and other things that sound and look good, which is understandable when 99% of it is hidden away. Out of site, out of mind. But it should be made one of the most important parts of any build. It's the thing that keeps a vehicle reliable when done properly. It's hard to enjoy something if it won't start, the lights don't turn on, or you dont want to drive too far because the fuel gauge doesn't work. But I digress...

When I started this project, I knew I wanted to use something a lot nicer than the standard corrugated split loom and electrical tape. So I looked to the Carbuilders' range of loom wraps and was not disappointed. Easy to work with and super happy with the quality of the product, too.

I used the Pro Loom Lite on everything internally, the Pro Loom Heavy for everything in the engine bay, down the chassis rails, and behind fenders, the Hot sleeve on the starter cable due to the proximity to the headers as well as down the chassis near the mufflers and the Slim Line compact heat sleeve where the loom was run along the V of the engine under the intake manifold.

In typical fashion, I got caught up putting the pieces together instead of documenting everything, so there's only a couple of before images of the quality of what I had to work with.

As a kid, all I ever wanted was a dirt bike. Looking back now, I'm sure the novelty would have worn off rather quickly, ...
24/12/2024

As a kid, all I ever wanted was a dirt bike. Looking back now, I'm sure the novelty would have worn off rather quickly, and I most likely would have seriously hurt myself at one time or another, but the want never really went away.
Being married to my amazing wife who grew up riding bikes, our kids were always going to get something at some point.
So before Charlotte learned to ride a bike, we had her ripping around on a Honda XR50 with training wheels. She outgrew that about the time Harry was big enough to start riding, so after a quick family discussion, the decision was made to purchase a Honda XR110.
As confidence grew, so did the number of crashes. All of them down the bottom of the paddock, too far away to get to quickly.
So this year we had to make a very difficult decision.
And purchase a cheap "paddock" bike to chase the kids around on. I present our new (to us) KTM 450exc. I chose this bike for several reasons. It was a low owner, well looked after, cheap, close by, road registrable, not a 250 or 2 stroke, and a KTM. 🤣
Even though I had ridden a road bike for a few years, I knew a dirt bike would be a lot different. But just quietly, this thing scares me a little, so it'll take some adjusting.

If anyone knows if/how I can claim it on tax, that'd be great. 🤣🤣🤣

As more and more people hit the road, staying connected has become more important than ever. Whether you're trying to wo...
22/12/2024

As more and more people hit the road, staying connected has become more important than ever. Whether you're trying to work on the road or run a business, keeping up to date with social media, or just staying in contact with family.
The popularity of starlink has exploded, and with it, the many different ways it can be adapted to the travelling setup.
This customer contacted me to install their starlink mini and vehicle mount. Install was straightforward. The dish and bracket were mounted sideways to minimise the chance of forced water ingress while on the road, the dish is powered by a 35v dcdc converter and controlled through the Redarc TVMS. While the dish is capable of running on 12v, there are occasional spikes in power consumption that can cause a momentary drop in voltage. In that instance, while the router componentry will stay booted up and connected to your device, the dish will drop out and have to reconnect to the satellites. Keeping the voltage stable at 35v alleviates this issue and allows the dish to work reliably by eliminating/reducing the voltage drop during those momentary peak power demands.

One thing to avoid like the plague, is anything plastic and white. ESPECIALLY if you live in Queensland. Or anywhere in ...
18/12/2024

One thing to avoid like the plague, is anything plastic and white.
ESPECIALLY if you live in Queensland. Or anywhere in Australia, really.
The white plastic plugs pictured here have become brittle and basically disintegrated in my hands when I tried to handle them. The same thing happens with the white cable ties and the adhesive foam backing on cable tie mounts.

For reasons that can be explained by science (which one I'm not exactly sure), the UV from the sun causes the plastic to break down prematurely. Leading to complete failure. I've worked on a few vehicles and caravans now, and on EVERY one that I found using white cable ties on, they were brittle and either broke with little force or had already broken.

While black plastic based items aren't 100% immune to UV damage, they will last many many times longer. I've personally had white cable ties on my roof rack break within 1 month in our QLD summer sun. I've replaced them with black, UV stable ones and they've been on the roof for over 3 years and still going strong.

Some jobs I look at, I want to walk away from. Opening up this can of rainbow coloured worms had me seriously considerin...
17/12/2024

Some jobs I look at, I want to walk away from. Opening up this can of rainbow coloured worms had me seriously considering it too. 😅

The customer hadn't used their motorhome in a while and come to find their side outs weren't functioning.
And so began the game of chasing the coloured spaghetti noodles.

With perseverance (and a little bit of luck), I managed to find the control modules. But with no documentation with the motorhome, so began the merry-go-round of calling manufacturers and suppliers to gather what little information was available.

I eventually got onto someone from a tech support area who sent through a very basic description that gave me enough to work out that there was an issue on the earth side of the circuit. I had +13V at the positive supply and +11.7V on the negative. The tech support on the other end of the phone was quick to say that both modules were toast and needed replacing.
I'm not a fan of the "parts cannon" and prefer to confirm that a component is dead before replacing it. Given past experience, I know that you should not have a positive voltage on the negative circuit as it should be effectively tied to the negative of the battery system (a potential difference of 0V). So I gave it an "artificial" negative supply, and everything started functioning. Great 👍

Now, I just had to work out why there was a break in the negative circuit. After more chasing of the inedible spaghetti, I found a relay, under the floor, cable tied inside the middle of a loom (a bundle of what I estimate to be close to 50 other wires), behind a trim panel that was borderline inaccessible. But I found it, and with it sorted, we were in business.

In my eyes, a $10 relay is a way more preferable repair compared to expensive modules that weren't even faulty. 🤦‍♂️

Had an interesting one the other week. A customer contacted me about their VW Amarok having intermittent issues with che...
23/11/2024

Had an interesting one the other week. A customer contacted me about their VW Amarok having intermittent issues with check engine lights and a trippy dash.
Given that it was the main car for the family (and maybe a little because I have a thing for Volkswagen's 🤭), I managed to find some time in my busy schedule to have a look.

The initial health report came back with multiple codes relating to the loss of communications between the various modules. Using the information from the fault codes, as well as the wiring schematic for the CAN circuits, I was able to work out that there had been a break somewhere in the circuit leading to the dash cluster. I just had to find it.

I logged the codes, cleared everything, and ran the health report again to get a base line to work from. With no codes logged, I went to start the vehicle, and as soon as I pushed the clutch in, everything went haywire. Clutch out, normal. Clutch in, problem.

So I poke my head under he dash, and straight away, I can see an issue. The main harness had come away from its retaining clips and was sitting on top of the clutch pedal bracket. As the clutch was pushed in, the pedal arm/spring (red arrow) would contact the harness. Not much, but enough that several years of changing gears wore through the outer fabric tape and through a wire for the CAN network (red circle)

With the clutch released, the damaged wires were able to touch just enough to allow signal to the dash and correct operation. With the clutch in, the pressure on the loom would push the 2 ends of the wires apart. When this occurred, the dash would illuminate all warning lights, and with the loss of signal, the gauges would drop to 0.

After gaining better access to the loom and damaged wire, I was able to confirm that it was the wire on the CAN low circuit that supplied the dash cluster. Thankfully, I was able to coerce enough free to allow a solid repair.
Fault codes were cleared, a health report ran, and we were good to go. I refurbished the loom with some OE spec fleece tape, and it looked good as new.
A quick drive and test of all functions, and it was happy days. 🤙
All in time for school pick up too.

Something a bit different to the usual cars and caravans. Or the same, I feel like I've been doing a lot of boat work re...
19/11/2024

Something a bit different to the usual cars and caravans. Or the same, I feel like I've been doing a lot of boat work recently 😅

This customer picked up a decent centre console in need of some love. Everything came out and we started from scratch. The best way to do it in my opinion.
Forward and rear hidden deck lights, nav, anchor and spot light up top, Uniden VHF (mounted in an existing hole, I'm a lot neater than that), Garmin sounder, bilge pump and a new switch panel to control everything.
One thing I like to do too prolong the life of all wiring is to tin the ends of every terminal and seal it with dual wall heat shrink. The biggest killer of electrics in boats is green death and this boat had it bad. There were several connections that crumbled in my hands when removing everything and out of curiosity I checked a few cables for corrosion. Of the 3 I cut and stripped, all 3 were corroded their entire length. 🥴

Finishing this job today makes me want to buy a boat again 🤭
And why wouldn't you own one living where we do?

29/04/2024

Central locking install on an Isuzu NPR truck. Integrated into the factory central locking too. And the local Isuzu dealer said it wasn't possible. 😜

Address

Yeppoon, QLD
4703

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Monday 7am - 4pm
Tuesday 7am - 4pm
Wednesday 7am - 4pm
Thursday 7am - 4pm
Friday 7am - 4pm

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+61428439629

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