VW Grand California 680

[satuja]

Last night we made a test sleep in -18 degrees celcius in our GC680. We have not put water in the tank yet because of the cold weather here in Finland and haven't used the toilet either. We wanted to know how the temperature is inside compartment where the toilet cassette is to be sure if one can use it in winter. I put a ruuvitag bluetooth temperature sensor (https://ruuvi.com) with tape into the side of the cassette and placed the cassette back into its place.

Outside temp was -18 and inside the car was +12 according to the control panel in the back, and the cassette was -2 after several of hours of driving after we parked for the night. Time was 19.00 when we started the diesel heater at 100% battery power. It took a hour or so to reach the asked +19 inside the car and at the time the cassette was at +2.

In the morning at 07:00 when we woke up outside was still at -18 and inside the car was +19 as set in the control panel. Toilet cassette was at +18, so the cabin heater can easily keep the toilet waste from freezing even it's really cold outside. Battery power was down to 30%. And we could hear the Truma diesel heater work for entire night. We don't have any isolating window covers yet, but most likely will be getting a set of those at later time.

But all in all, a night in -18 celcius degrees went well and 12 hours of heating drained 70% of the battery and we did not get cold inside. =)

Just to let you know if anyone finds this useful.

 

[Paddy GC680]

Thanks for that very useful. Did you just turn over the engine to get the battery topped up ? You would notice a significant difference if you use insulated covers on all windows. I am also thinking of adding lithium battery s when mine arrives in may. Some great batteries arriving. Please keep us posted. Appreciated

 

[satuja]

Thanks for that very useful. Did you just turn over the engine to get the battery topped up ? You would notice a significant difference if you use insulated covers on all windows. I am also thinking of adding lithium battery s when mine arrives in may. Some great batteries arriving. Please keep us posted. Appreciated

In the morning when I turned the engine checked from control panel how the leisure battery was charging the best I saw was +54A. Pretty nice for just engine idling.

 

[Jester]

Thanks for that very useful. Did you just turn over the engine to get the battery topped up ? You would notice a significant difference if you use insulated covers on all windows. I am also thinking of adding lithium battery s when mine arrives in may. Some great batteries arriving. Please keep us posted. Appreciated

Hi Paddy, if your planning on going somewhere cold I believe lithium batteries are not very effective in cold weather. You may wish to check that out.

 

[Jester]

View attachment 73052

Last night we made a test sleep in -18 degrees celcius in our GC680. We have not put water in the tank yet because of the cold weather here in Finland and haven't used the toilet either. We wanted to know how the temperature is inside compartment where the toilet cassette is to be sure if one can use it in winter. I put a ruuvitag bluetooth temperature sensor (https://ruuvi.com) with tape into the side of the cassette and placed the cassette back into its place.

Outside temp was -18 and inside the car was +12 according to the control panel in the back, and the cassette was -2 after several of hours of driving after we parked for the night. Time was 19.00 when we started the diesel heater at 100% battery power. It took a hour or so to reach the asked +19 inside the car and at the time the cassette was at +2.

In the morning at 07:00 when we woke up outside was still at -18 and inside the car was +19 as set in the control panel. Toilet cassette was at +18, so the cabin heater can easily keep the toilet waste from freezing even it's really cold outside. Battery power was down to 30%. And we could hear the Truma diesel heater work for entire night. We don't have any isolating window covers yet, but most likely will be getting a set of those at later time.

But all in all, a night in -18 celcius degrees went well and 12 hours of heating drained 70% of the battery and we did not get cold inside. =)

Just to let you know if anyone finds this useful.

Great review on cold weather usage, as paddy says you would have an improvement using a screen cover, also carpet to the cockpit area as this should help with the thermal transfer. Good to know the heater is effective in those temperatures.

Interested to understand what used 70% of you battery. May be different as I have gas.

Thanks for your review.

Will

 

[satuja]

Truma diesel heater takes 4-5A when heating at high power according to the control panel so:

12h * 5A = 60Ah
Leisure battery capacity 92Ah
60/92*100 = 65%

so it seems legit that control panels shows -70% to capacity.

Earlier we camped for 12hours at 0 degrees celsius and the battery drainage was from 100% to 70%.

For gas truma pages say for power comsumption -> max. 6.5 A for short periods (average approx. 1.4 A)
and for Diesel it says -> 1.8 – 4 A (in normal operation between "Off" and "lowest operating level" less than 1.8 A)

 

[Jester]

Truma diesel heater takes 4-5A when heating at high power according to the control panel so:

12h * 5A = 60Ah
Leisure battery capacity 92Ah
60/92*100 = 65%

so it seems legit that control panels shows -70% to capacity.

Earlier we camped for 12hours at 0 degrees celsius and the battery drainage was from 100% to 70%.

For gas truma pages say for power comsumption -> max. 6.5 A for short periods (average approx. 1.4 A)
and for Diesel it says -> 1.8 – 4 A (in normal operation between "Off" and "lowest operating level" less than 1.8 A)

Satuja many thanks for your breakdown of power used, I now have a better understanding.

I am surprised how little insulation the GC has especially that VW would understand it would be used in such climates.

Will

 

[satuja]

Our best fuel consumption so far. Straight from fillup for 80 kilometers adaptive cruise set to 85km/h and consumption says 9.2liters/100km (We have converted 9.2 Litres per 100 kilometres to 31 Miles per Gallon). GC680 3.88t with 4motion and outside temp -5 degrees celcius.

 

[Jester]

View attachment 73668

Our best fuel consumption so far. Straight from fillup for 80 kilometers adaptive cruise set to 85km/h and consumption says 9.2liters/100km (We have converted 9.2 Litres per 100 kilometres to 31 Miles per Gallon). GC680 3.88t with 4motion and outside temp -5 degrees celcius.

View attachment 73668

Our best fuel consumption so far. Straight from fillup for 80 kilometers adaptive cruise set to 85km/h and consumption says 9.2liters/100km (We have converted 9.2 Litres per 100 kilometres to 31 Miles per Gallon). GC680 3.88t with 4motion and outside temp -5 degrees celcius.

Morning, thanks for the further info and great to see the updated infotainment head unit, and also now the inclusion of the LED temperature display. Starting to feel less commercial van like. Shame there is no speaker upgrade option.

Mine goes into build this Monday, hopefully.

 

[The Blue Merle]

Ok thanks just wondering about the wheel bearings and perhaps additional stress on the steering, may be I over think things?

What colour, have you a build date, will you still attend meets

I saw them wheels on YouTube vanworxs conversion, thought they maybe of interest to you. Delta range

 

[Jester]

I saw them wheels on YouTube vanworxs conversion, thought they maybe of interest to you. View attachment 73791Delta range

Ha thanks for that can’t remember right now but the offset is a lot different to the standard wheel. Just want someone to tell me that’s fine and don’t worry it won’t cause any issues.

 

[The Blue Merle]

Ha thanks for that can’t remember right now but the offset is a lot different to the standard wheel. Just want someone to tell me that’s fine and don’t worry it won’t cause any issues.

Vanworx are local ish to you Weymouth and on YouTube said they are a supplier of delta wheels. Maybe worth a call to pick there brains on wheels as they’re been around years.

 

[Jester]

Vanworx are local ish to you Weymouth and on YouTube said they are a supplier of delta wheels. Maybe worth a call to pick there brains on wheels as they’re been around years.

Good call yep they seem an honest lot, I like the quality of their product. Thanks for the steer.