Alvin Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 I'm swimming in idea's for improvements on "Odie" (89 Toyota Odyssey). For example I love gulfstream_greg's dash improvement and the only remaining question I have is about the transmission drive-gear indicators... I'd like to make sure that going to a 4-runner (SR5) panel will still give me a correct indication of the gear I'm in; OD and all. I can build one myself (I design circuits and boards for a living... ethernet mostly) but it would not be as cool as the SR5 panel... I had an old SR5 corolla for years and years, until it got totaled (260K and no issues!) However, in this email I specifically wanted to comment and ask about electrical improvements which are driven from the "driving experience". On my trips so far, I'm the primary driver and most time is spent in the cab. I now have a Pioneer AVH-4200DVD system and a Pyle backup camera system. Next I'm looking at properly installing a CO/LP gas monitor (which I have... but sucks off the 7323 Progressive Dynamics Ripple King converter... holy crap, what a pile of crud... it's another post though). Also, I want to power both rear-view video camera's and a rear floodlight off the front engine battery. The idea is this... a bank of switches with night-time dimmable LED's for indicating video camera power, and rear/side lights... I dont' want these things on while driving. But the "normal" mode would be working exclusively off the key switch... and another 2ndary power mode which would be on a timer... to give up to 1/2 hour of power... and then shut down to not to drain the battery. The gas monitor is a simple 2-battery system... I'm installing power filters in several locations for the monitor and the video... Are there any other outdoor features that would be must haves for a high tech Odyssey that I'm leaving out? I could leave a couple of extra positions for future switches but it's so hard to 'guess' ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvin Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 After giving it lots of thought, I've decided that I only need to install 4 switches for the following: 1) Fog lights, 2) Rear flood light, 3) Possible side door light (under the awning, but may not be that useful) 4) Video camera system. I'm using a Pyle system bought at amazon currently for about $75.00 and the problem has been that there is noise in the video signal while either generator or shore power is connected. I plan on solving that by installing a "Pyramid NS-10" noise suppressor near each camera, and running the 12VDC wires (larger gauge) along with a much better grade of shielded video cable out to each of the 2 rear cameras. Finally, I'm disconnecting the 12VDC from the house power and using the vehicle power battery. All 4 of these systems will run off of the front battery. There will also be a 2nd power source switch for my CO/LP gas monitor system which comes from the front battery. The unit draws 40mA, so I will need a kill switch for it during long periods of time which the motorhome is sitting. Any recommendations for fog lights? There are tons available but I don't know which would do the job most effectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvin Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 Okay, my "electrical transformation" of our 89 Odyssey has matured and I now have a definite road map of where I was, and where I'm going. In fact, I'm almost finished with the electrical part of the transformation and should be all but complete by this coming weekend when I "re-install" my video camera system to make it look exactly like my roadmap schematic. Where have I been? That's the schematic I've uploaded with the PDF file odie0.pdf. The next schematic odie1.pdf is where I'm going. Everything in this drawing is almost complete as I said... although there is one very important detail to finish... and it's not electrical... it's the furniture. Our "Odie" is missing a dinette set and table. This project will take me a few evenings and weekends... and it will involve an embedded sub-woofer, audio jack console, remote cubby's, and on the other bench... my wife wants a cold ice chest (yes the fridge works just fine... we just like to have a cold ice chest.). I've taken lots of pictures of the process along the way... so I can remember what the heck I did mostly. Parts parts and more parts. I think we've spent about $1400 on the electrical modifications and I'm glad we're about done. We've solved the problems of the transfer switches for generator and inverter and converter. We've solved the problem of noise from the ole progressive dynamics PD7231. We've solved the problems which came with running the video off of the wrong battery (poor choice on my part... I originally selected the house batter for the rear cameras... with associated noise whenever AC was present. Honestly, I really don't know if anyone is interested... but here it is for what it's worth. odie0.pdf odie1.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 I'm interested and thanks for posting your schematics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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