MAN – The equipment

Diesel supply

• 2 diesel tanks with a total capacity of approx. 680 liters. Including a smaller, narrower tank for steep ascents and descents to ensure the diesel supply when the tank is half empty. Access steps for emergency access are embedded in the large tank.
• Additional diesel emergency hand pump
• Separ diesel filter heated, water separating

Stainless steel storage boxes

Mounted on the chassis. Version with labyrinth seal (the inside remains dust-free)

• 2 beveled storage boxes left and right behind the interaxle, 1x each left and right behind rear axle approx. 1000 x 640 x 550 mm
• 1 storage box on the left in front of the rear axle approx. 800 x 600 x 610 mm
• 1 storage box for tripods under the cabin approx. 1000 x 600 x 240 mm

Outer tires

We opted for a “half-lug tire” and thus followed the recommendations of
Pistenkuh
and Offside Travel followed.

The 6 Continental HCS 365/85 R20 with a load/speed index of 164/J may be loaded with 5000 kg each and driven at a speed of 100 km/h. They are a halfway house between studded and construction site tires and take into account the fact that 70% or 80% of our trips are on good gravel roads or tarred roads. We also hope to achieve a higher mileage with these tires than with the studded tires (such as the Michelin XZL MPT).

The Conti HCS are mounted on 20-10″ three-piece snap ring rims. The snap ring rim can be dangerous if handled improperly, but offers the possibility of changing a tire yourself without any machines, which we consider necessary for our destination Africa.

The conversion of the rear axle to single tires is accompanied by a reduction in the permitted axle load on the rear axle from the original 9 to the new 7.1 tons. The total weight is reduced from 14 to 12.7 tons (the front axle was increased from 5 to 5.6 tons by MAN).

Tire inflation system

With the automatic tire inflation system, the air pressure can be lowered or raised from inside the vehicle while driving, i.e. without having to get out of the vehicle. However, in the African bushland with its bushes growing close to the roads, we will only be able to use the filling system for convenient filling or lowering before each stage and will have to dismantle it during the journey (plug connections), as otherwise it could be torn off.

Fresh water system

The two water tanks, each holding around 260 liters of fresh water = a total of approx. 520 liters, are installed in the rear.

Our fresh water system is based on the “clean tank principle”. This means that no polluted or contaminated water enters the water tanks. This keeps the tanks clean on the inside and prevents silting and germs. As a result, the filling process takes longer, as the water to be filled is purified during the filling process.

As water purification and sterilization can only be problematic with filter systems – filters can become overgrown with bacteria – we use the MR 45/65 water purification reactor. The water is heated at a flow rate of approx.
9 liters / minute (maximum 15 liters / minute) several times a
vacuum ultraviolet radiation
several times. This incinerates all organic substances, i.e. all bacteria, residues of medications such as antibiotics, residues of fertilizers, etc.

A fine sediment filter and a carbon filter from Lilie, which removes metals, are installed upstream of the water purification reactor so that the reactor can develop its full potential.

No minerals are removed from the water purified in this way, so that the water straight from the tank is of mineral water quality and can be drunk.

The circuit of the water purification reactor also has a so-called recirculation function, i.e. the water in the water tank that has already been purified can be fed through the reactor again to prevent any recontamination.

Toilet and waste water

We opted for the Vetus TMW 24Q chopper toilet.

The black and grey water tanks each have a capacity of around 100 liters. They are insulated and heated. The contents can be drained automatically. A high-pressure water cleaning system is built into the tanks.

Heating

As we were already familiar with the Truma Combi 6 E Diesel hot-air heater with altitude kit from its use in Africa, we opted for this heater with integrated 10-liter water boiler again. We also use it to heat the double floor, so that we should also be warm from below in cold weather.

Energy concept

We only use diesel and 24 and 230 volt electricity as energy sources. As the gas supply worldwide is not an easy issue and we have already had to do without gas for several months due to a lack of gas adapter, we have decided to travel without gas in future.

The idea of the “230 volt concept” comes from
Bruno Furrer
from PEPAMOBIL. He has implemented this concept in his vehicle even more consistently than we have. Thank you Bruno for your willingness to provide information and encouragement.

The website and videos of

PEPAMOBIL

are very worth seeing!

230V consumer

Kitchen

• Miele CS7612 FL Smartline induction hob (2 variable hobs)
• Miele H2601-1 oven
• Fridge-freezer combination Liebherr ICP 2924-20 with 184 liter fridge compartment and 57 liter freezer compartment = total 241 liters. An external flap 500 x 500 mm in the outer wall behind the refrigerator for maintenance of the compressor from the outside (cleaning).
  The idea of using a household refrigerator as opposed to a special motorhome refrigerator is that replacements can be procured worldwide.
• Hoover Candy Aqua 1142 washing machine for 4 kg of laundry with easy-to-use transport lock from the top. We can also use it to wash the bed linen. We traveled for 1 1/2 years without a washing machine and had to realize that washing clothes clean on the road can be a problem due to the lack of facilities – and doing a small hand wash every day isn’t the real thing either. Of course, there is also the wash box or the bucket that washes the laundry during the journey….

EDP

• Cut PC from Brentford PC – Train
• 27″ Benq SW2700PT monitor for video editing and image processing
  
• Mobile router (SIM card router) with W-LAN access point (24V),
  2 mobile antennas and a 15db W-LAN rod antenna from Trophy-Tec. This allows us to set up a WLAN inside the vehicle and connect to the Internet via mobile (telephony) networks or WLANs.

Electrical installation

• Display panel from Philippi STV 250
• Additional 24V / 150 Ah alternator, for charging the on-board batteries alone
• Lithium ion batteries Super-B 160 Ah, 3x 2 pieces = 6 pieces = total 480 Ah at 24 volts, controller from Super B, which combines the batteries. (Two batteries of 12 volts are combined = 24 volts).
• Solar cells 4 pieces from Solar Swiss, KVM 210W / 24V, i.e. 210 watts of power at 24 volts.
• Automatic loader Philippi ACE 24/60. Input voltage range from 90 – 265 V/47 – 65 Hz. This allows us to tap into shore power worldwide where available. For this purpose, Füss has wisely installed both a European and an American shore power connection.
• Inverter from the Swiss forge Studer Innotec XTM-3500-24 with a continuous output of 3000 watts at 24 volts. As we can neither cook nor cool without an inverter, we have installed two of them.
• VT65 solar controller from Studer Innotec