How Reversing Cameras & Parking Sensors Protect Your Car

October 12th, 2010

How Reversing Cameras & Parking Sensors Make Your Car Safer

Reversing cameras & parking sensors are a great addition for the driver who takes pride in parking a car properly and accurately while also preventing possible collisions. Parking systems are available as either camera/monitor combinations, or as proximity sensors. There are many different types of camera systems each with their own pros and cons. Parking sensors are basically grouped into 2 types and can be fitted to any vehicle with a plastic bumper.

Drivers of all vehicles on the road will benefit from any one of these systems and many coroprate and government fleet managers are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits. With increasing media focus on four-wheel drives and the number of passenger cars with poor visibility, it is no wonder that assisted parking systems are becoming increasingly more popular.

Let’s take a look at the differences between the various systems on the market.

Camera systems.

As mentioned above, there are basically 3 types of systems.

Stand-alone monitors and camera combinations are fitted on the dashboard or the windscreen usually with a full-colour, TFT LCD screen in a variety of sizes. For example, a 4 inch screen will suit most passenger vehicles, utilities vans and four-wheel drives and these work in conjunction with a mini camera fitted under the boot lid or number plate light.

The larger screens of around 5 to 7 inches are more suitable for trucks, buses and motor homes and are usually fitted with a larger commercial grade camera.
All systems offer at least 2 inputs for multiple cameras allowing you to have a camera at the back of the vehicle as well as behind a caravan or boat.

Rear-view-mirror-monitor and camera combinations incorporate a built-in LCD screen. Although these are available as a clip-over or replacement, most safety-conscious suppliers will recommend a replacement, because clip-over types may become dangerous in the event of an accident. It is common for existing mirrors to be removed and the replacement unit fitted using the existing base.

After fitting, the mirror operates normally and is very neat and has a factory fitted appearance. As with camera units, most models offer at least 2 inputs for multiple cameras so that you can see behind a boat or caravan.

Integrated camera systems are vehicle specific and use the existing factory-fitted colour screens fitted in some cars. They are usually used in conjunction with a mini camera under the boot lid or number plate light and require integration hardware depending on the vehicle. Integrated camera systems are the neatest option and work hand in hand with existing in car technology, although they cannot be fitted with a 2nd camera.

Parking sensors.

Parking sensors are available for both front and back of the vehicle or both if you choose. There are two types of systems available, audible or audible with LED distance display. The units operate by utilising 4 sensor heads fitted into the bumper bar. They can be fitted to any vehicle with a plastic bumper and are therefore especially suited to all passenger vehicles.

They can be colour matched to take on a factory-fitted look at an additional charge.

So if you want to know more or ask about any of the 3 types been fitting to your car, bus, motorhome, ute, truck or something else u want, come in to Coffs Harbour Auto Electricial when we are willing to help you pick the right one for you and help as much as we can and give you a price in saving you from them little accidents like running in to a pole that u didnt see, or over your kids bike in the driveway.

Coffs motorsports and Drift

October 9th, 2010

Coffs Coast Drifting

With coffs harbour now growing on the car scene, Which has just been picked to hold the hold the World Rally Championship and also offering the Drift racing .

Which is one of the fastest growing Motor Sports in the World today and available on the Coffs Coast.

“Drifting” an extreme sport, started out in Japan over 30 years ago, however, it has exploded in popularity throughout the world over the last two years.

Unlike other types of Motor Sport it is not just about who is fastest or who crosses the line first. “Drifting” is a driving technique of turning your car sideways, usually the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn, the driver controls these factors.

So if u have anything need to do on ur pride and joy from anything like a Tune, performance mod’s or accessory installation like turbos, turbo timers,boost controllers, aftermarket ECU’s or most other things.

Coffs Harbour Auto Electricial are the people that can help you no matter what. All you need to do is ask our friendly staff and we can see what we can do

Coffs Gets WRC round

September 30th, 2010

Woohoo!!

SYDNEY — Rally Australia, part of the FIA World Rally Championship, will relocate to Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales from 2011, organisers said on Thursday.

The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport said the new location, 530 kilometres (330 miles) north of Sydney, would offer WRC competitors and manufacturers some of the most exciting and spectacular rally stages Australia could offer.

I reckon this is great news for Coffs Harbour, both Business and Public will benefit.
Heaps of publicity for Coffs tourism, funding for roads, input of funds from motoring bodies.

All round Great news, Well done Coffs!

Coffs Harbour Auto Electrical

Solar for Caravans and Motorhomes

September 30th, 2010

Coffs Harbour Auto Electrical has spent some time and effort researching and installing solar setups on caravans and motorhomes.

The Basic Setup

In our opinion a reasonable set of requirements for the majority of Caravans is,
1 x 100AH Deep Cycle Battery (Remember it must be sealed unless you have a sealed and vented battery box)
2 x 80 Watt Solar Panels
1 x 20 Amp 3 Stage Charger 240 Volt
1 x 20 Amp 3 Stage Charger 12 Volt
An Alternative to the 12 volt battery charger is :-
1 x Smart Battery Isolator so the caravan battery can be partially charged from your veheicles electrical system

The Facts

The most common request we get is “I need an extra battery for my caravan”, really the question should be “how can I better charge my caravan battery?”……

Fact – Most caravans do not have adequate facilities to properly charge a deep cycle battery.

The Ideal Solution

The ideal solution to charging your battery really comes in 3 distinct parts;
1. Charge the battery while driving
2. Charge the battery when connected to mains power
3. Charge the battery from the sun

Redarc (yes, we love Redarc products :) ) make an excellent product to acomplish this, the BCDC1220 is a Battery Managment System or BMS, that accepts inputs from your 12 volt car or motorhome, the 240v mains when you are at a caravan park or running on generator and also has a built in solar controller. The BCDC1220 is a fully automatic 3 Stage battery charging solution that is selectable for Wet, Gel, AGM and Calcium Batteries. The Redarc BMS also monitors your battery useage/charging and displays estimated battery status on its remote mounted LCD Screen.
We believe that the best feature of this product is that it automatically selects the best input for charging, this means that the unit is “set and forget”. Nothing to switch on or off, no boiled batteries and best of all a charged battery when you need it!
We have bundled a some Solar Packages that include the Redarc BMS, Solar panels and cable etc.
Click here for more information.
Product deatils for the BCDC1220 are Here

Solar Packages

Coffs Harbour Auto Electrical

Automotive Cable Sizes

June 16th, 2010

This aims dispell the myths and misunderstanding surrounding automotive cable sizes, and provide some useful guide to appropriate cable sizing.

Automotive cable is commonly sized by total conductor diameter, and not cross section area like household wiring. As an example 3mm automotive contains 16 x 0.3mm conductors or approximately 1.13mm².

Cable size Maximum Load Example Usage
2.5mm 5 Amps Small lamps/LED lights
3mm 10 Amps Light Loads, Headlights, Stereo/UHF
4mm 15 Amps Driving lights, Compressor type fridges
5mm 25 Amps Power feed for other circuits
6mm 50 Amps Power feed for other circuits
8BS 75 Amps Alternator supply, small electric outboard
6BS 100 Amps Power for 50A Anderson plug to caravan
3BS 200 Amps Starter cable, winch cable
2BS 300 Amps HD Starter cable, winch cable

NB: Cable should be upsized every 3 metres

Coffs Harbour Auto Electrical

Air Conditioning Basics

June 16th, 2010

The automotive car air conditioning system can be a complex system, however the basic principal of air conditioning remains the same.

A compressor driven by the engine draws low pressure gas from the evaporator and pumps high pressure gas to the condensor which is usually located in front of the radiator.

Here the gas is cooled and condenses to a high pressure liquid by the air passing over the fins, this is where the heat taken from the cabin is released.

The liquid is then passed to a filter and reciever that ensures a steady flow of liquid to the TX valve.

The TX valve maintains a constant pressure drop so that the liquid can change state to a gas in the evaporator, this is the unit in the dashboard.

As the liquid changes state from liquid to gas it takes heat from its surroundings and the result is cool air (air without heat) from the vents.

Air conditioners also de-humidify the air making them ideal for demisting foggy windows.

Coffs Harbour Auto Electrical

Dual Battery Setup

June 16th, 2010

There are a lot of experts when it comes to dual battery setups, and each is entitled to their opinion.
This is the preffered way Coffs Harbour Auto Electrical do it (of course if you have a specific requirement we shall attempt to accomodate you).
The best setup to charge an auxillary battery in an automobile is with a DC-DC battery charger 9like the Redarc BC1220, this can be mounted near the battery being charged and is resilient to voltage drop.
An alternative method that also works well is with the batteries connected using, 6BS cable and a Redarc Smart start solenoid.
If jump starting from the auxillary battery is required we upgrade the cables to 3BS and fit a manual override switch.
Optionally a dash mounted LED can show the state of the Smart start solenoid on the current version.

Coffs Harbour Auto Electrical