And another Maverick in administration

In the wind and rain at Rossville Retreat just down the road from the Lions Den
Going down the Bloomfield tomorrow for an Icecream at the store at cape trib to check out if I will take the camper down to Cape Trib on the Bloomfield in a couple of days. Varying ideas on whether I should go or not with the camper so we are doing a recon first.

"The batteries BMS shut them down into sleep mode when they got too low. Being older, they don't have a button or a key to "awaken" them. They need a proper lithium charger with a "wake up" mode. (this why the app can't see them)"

I had that problem on our last trip. The van didn't have a DC-DC converter set up on the car feed, and just has an older solar controller. So when our van batteries went flat when sitting unused for a few rainy days visiting family in Toowoomba, neither the solar nor car feed could wake them up again. Had to juice them up again in Stanthorpe

Go the Knights 

Never a dull moment, safe travels.

we generally have the Kedron running on 240v via an Ampfibian plugged into the house when we're home. All the vans external lights are left on 24/7 (to deter those that might be considering inspecting it at night). The air con is left on (as Kyria likes to sometimes take her laptop out and work from there) and the fridge is running.

being in a community that runs off diesel generators... we occasionally have brown outs and blackouts... usually only 15-20 mins or so.

About 3 weeks back we had a few of them back to back. A day later, I noticed that the air con in the van was off and checked the circut breaker on the Ampfibian. Sure enough, it had done it's job and tripped.

Flicked it back on and the air con fired up just fine. A few days later another 15 min black out. We were at a friends house and forgot about it.

2 weeks later... I head to the van and the air con is off... aha... check the circut breaker. Sure enough... it's off. Flick it back on and think nothing more of it.

a week ago. head into the van to grab some frozen chocolate from the freezer. Odd... the freezer is off.

air con is on. Microwave light is on. Fridge is off.

I then spend 2 days chasing fuses etc for the fridge before I realise that the exterior and interior lights are not working. In fact... no 12v systems at all are working. even the battery and water monitors are blank.

start chasing it down... is the AC/DC charger dead? is the master fuse gone...

a lot of quiet time last night thinking and i recalled the blackout, and the circuit breaker being off for... two weeks??

ok. realisation.

the van was running on battery only for a full two weeks. All lights were on (no... not LED's either) and the fridge is 190L. There are three 130w solar panels but I know that two of them are cracked. So the van was trying to recharge each day from one measly 130w panel. And under some big trees no less.

The batteries are dead. Search online. Invicta 200ah (even from 2021) have a bluetooth app feature. Download the app, but it can't find the batteries. Phone Invicta for advice. AMAZINGLY helpful lady and then a tech guy run me through it.

The batteries BMS shut them down into sleep mode when they got too low. Being older, they don't have a button or a key to "awaken" them. They need a proper lithium charger with a "wake up" mode. (this why the app can't see them)

Off to katherine this weekend to see my mechanic (who is also an auto electrician) and then to Darwin to pick my wonderful wife at 1.30pm (Darwin time) from the airport after a conference in Melb the last week.

then back to Katherine and a large screen TV in time for the NRL grand final to watch NEWCASTLE SMASH THE ROOSTERS!

(we'll be dining on Red Rooster to assist the cause)

also getting 6 new Toyo MT's fitted to the Troopy as the Nitto MT's lasted less than 27,000 klms. This time with the 6 x Toyos we'll do a 6 tyre rotation every 6 weeks to hopefully extend their life. But I need to be in Katherine at 9am Saturday... so we're (three dogs and I) leaving Yarralin at 3am.  With the state of the Troopy rear tyres... and the sate of the 127klm track to the hwy, I'm allowing an extra 1.5h to get there,

Hopefully Badger (my mechanic) can get life back into the van batteries for me on Saturday.

Quote from: sparksy on September 25, 2026, 09:53:30 AMLooks like the claims about phoenixing the company were enough for the administrators to inform ASIC.  47 orders on the books but only 13 chassis found, deposits of up to $110k taken with about $2.2 million owed to customers,  reports of vans being taken off site by related persons and even vans in for repair going missing.  $9 million in dept.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-24/australian-off-road-caravans-creditors-meeting/107182046

its bullShit how this can happen... and the bloke whose was in for repairs but has gone AWOL.. WTF?

QuoteAOR's directors are also facing questions about assets located at a different factory in Kunda Park operated by another of Mr Evans's companies.

"Our auctioneer has inspected this site and advised it appeared preparations may have been underway for an alternate business operation involving a similar line of business," Mr Keramos told creditors.

Looks like the claims about phoenixing the company were enough for the administrators to inform ASIC.  47 orders on the books but only 13 chassis found, deposits of up to $110k taken with about $2.2 million owed to customers,  reports of vans being taken off site by related persons and even vans in for repair going missing.  $9 million in dept.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-24/australian-off-road-caravans-creditors-meeting/107182046?fbclid=IwY2xjawUilfJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5UtGsZbuTX3VrfaYUJzUCUyiKUNpW7HfsTOzKrjLoB6D4z2OP1NkZBY_KepA_aem_OffOnCvFnNJyFjGq6ooFuw