Sprinter Project

In July 2005 I bought a bare Sprinter van that I could run on biodiesel. The Sprinter is made by Mercedes and sold in the US at Dodge and Freightliner dealers. Believe it or not this is the small model with a 118 inch wheelbase and the standard roof height.

Electrical additions

I had a solar panel and 2 gell cell batteries waiting for a good use so I decided to install an independent 12V electrical system in the Sprinter to power small devices including a fan, ceiling light, laptop computer and mp3 stereo. The gell cells are surplus backup batteries used by cable TV companies.

Uni-Solar 64W panel; 12V ceiling fan; Thule roof rack

Left side elec: first gell cell battery; 12V jack with 10A breaker for DC system; next 12V jack (ahead of wheel); front combo outlet (white) 120VAC and 12VDC

Right side elec: second gell cell battery; 120VAC ground fault outlet with 20A system breaker; 12V jack near sliding door

Solar controller charges gell batteries and monitors 12V load

Interior

The empty shell was very noisy so I decided to insulate with foam and finish the interior with birch doorskin. I built a foldaway bed and had a couple of custom cushions made to sleep on. The bed can be used in a single or double configuration or fold up against the wall.

Fuel Economy

Doing short hauls with moderate loads in the city I get about 22 mpg on biodiesel. The exhaust is less noxious than petro-diesel and it's safer to store. Any spills or drips just smell like salad oil.

I don't have reliable data for highway driving. I threw out my first test due to an engine problem that was caused by a faulty sensor. That has been fixed and I'll post the results after my next long trip.

I get my biodiesel from Whole Energy in Bellingham, WA, USA. Their primary feed stock is recycled cooking oil that has already been used to fry food.

Audio System

I installed my home built computer speakers and drive 12V amps with my mp3/ogg player. It sounds great but I could use a little more power on the sattelite speakers.

• Small Tubes
• 8inch Sub

I currently use a small T-Amp (about 10-15W channel) for the sattelite speakers and a 100W class-D amp with crossover for the sub. Both amps run off 12V and use pulse width modulation which makes them more efficient than traditional class AB amplifiers. I'll have to watch the power drain when running the subwoofer off the solar electric system. There is no problem running off the engine circuit.

I suspect that the headphone ouptut of my mp3 player is not delivering enough power into the high impedance input of the amps to drive them to full power but it's loud enough most of the time. I have a larger class-T amp kit for the sattelites but have not assembled it yet.

Updated: 4/11/2006