Thought I would share my review of our GrippaMax Hot System with you all.
Last year when sourcing a new van, I looked at many systems, on price and safety, and of course ease of use. We needed a delivery only system, crash tested. This ruled out most suppliers instantly.
Having looked at the usual suspects, and had lengthy discussions, I couldn't find anyone who would build the system to my specification, it was off the shelf (more or less), or nothing.
That was until I discussed things with Oliver at Grippa.
I run my business in a particular way, as I am sure a lot of you do, and I like things done the way I like things done, including the van set ups, as I believe the way we have them set up works well for us.
So, discussing things with Oliver, I immediately found him to be extremely knowledgeable about the products we discussed, and the industry and what the system would be doing. Great start.
For this new van, I wanted a hot system, as having had one previously, an L5 gas system, I could see the benefits, but this time I wanted something more reliable and without worrying about a gas bottle rattling about. The system also needed to be able to be left overnight in freezing conditions without the need of mains powered heating to stop freezing. Whats the point in a hot system if your connecting pipes and reels freeze up over night?!
So...Grippa didn't offer a hot system at this point, but were contemplating it, and between myself and Ollie, we bashed heads and ideas for quite some time to develop a system that would be up to the job. Essentially a hot system that required little or no maintenance in terms of winterising or changing gas bottles etc.
Having had the vehicle floor treated with Line-X, at their dealership in Slough (superb flooring by the way, HIGHLY recommended!), the van was ready to go to Grippa.
Backwards and forwards we went, tweaking various design elements and plumbing, controllers and so on, until we got what I see as a fantastic system that does everything I want it to do.
So what do we have?
- 650l crash tested tank system - superb, cant feel any sloshing/momentum from water, this saves brakes and suspension, van is a dream to drive!
- Webasto based water heater
- Liquid Logic controllers with variable thermostat and recyling set up for freezing nights, simply plug reel into a return feed pipe, and it heats the water for a set period of time to stop freezing. Doesn't fire it up for hours at a time, leaving you with no fuel in the morning, just enough to ensure system doesnt freeze. Also control the temperature through these!
- Floor mounted Redashe reels, on a crash tested frame, often an element forgotten about, wouldn't fancy a reel to the head in an accident!
- 2 x 110a Batteries with intellegent split charge system, been in 6 months and never needed charging yet!!
Many other neat little touches we developed along the way, but it's a long enough review as it is!!
Remember this is a development system, so might not look as "polished" as production models!
A few pics for you:
