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Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 8:55 pm
by Oldboybob
This build looks incredible, loads of ideas for my Maxi Life now. Thanks

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:35 pm
by mark1a
Thanks. There’s loads of ideas on this forum, very helpful people and some amazing builds.

Mine suits me as a bike wagon and daily drive, only problem with Caddy ownership is it’s never finished, there’s always something else.

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:40 pm
by The_Evil
Very Nice build!!
What is the brand and model of the 2 DIN Stereo?

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:52 pm
by mark1a
Thanks @The_Evil

It’s a Pumpkin of some description, 2 years old now so model will have been superseded, but basically octa-core Android 7.1 32Gb, 2Gb RAM and VW fit so goes in the existing bezel perfectly. Needed a quad lock and reverse cam adapter, but other than that plug and play. A couple of days tweaking to get all the canbus stuff working OK and better apps from Play Store, sounds better than the basic Composition Colour that was in there originally.

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:59 am
by The_Evil
Oh yes!
I was thinking about Pumpkin, also because it has the video-out for a second screen.
It will be the last step of my build, though! ;-)

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2019 4:58 pm
by mark1a
Quick update. Over the last couple of years, I've had some intermittent battery related faults, e.g. slow starter motor, interior lights not working, mostly symptomatic with low battery charge. Despite the relatively long journeys, the Caddy would never really want to hold much of a charge, and I had put this down to it being a Euro6 model, with the alternator only charging when it needed to. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, it wouldn't start at all, so called out VW Roadside Assistance. I assumed they were just going to start it and then go on my way (my own battery booster wasn't starting it). However, the technician looked at the battery, said "thought so" and then proceeded to take a couple of photos of it, serial number, etc, and then ran some tests to produce some print-outs. Upshot is, the battery was knackered and he replaced it with one on board in his van.

I deduced from the handful of old Moll branded batteries in the van, and the number of brand new Varta branded ones he had, that this was not unexpected. I asked about it, and he said he needed the photos & print-outs to give to VAG to cover the warranty replacement. I asked if this was a known problem, he just said "can't really say, just google it". I subsequently did and it turns out that many VAG vehicles from around the 2017 build year had these Moll batteries and are all being replaced with Varta under warranty.

So, I'm happy that I got a new battery out if it, and the all of my charging problems have gone, but it looks like this is a kind of VAG "unofficial recall/enhancement" that's been swept under the carpet.

I've since found another post on the forum about this from @Kamoer here: https://www.caddy2k.com/forum/viewtopic ... 5&p=309857

Also this is state of charge history from the Ctek app, so you can see what it was doing (or not doing) before:

Image

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:30 pm
by Ripley55
That’s really interesting
Many thanks for that, just read entire thread, and my mind’s made up :D it’s a Caddy Life for me :D
Dave

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:25 pm
by mark1a
Thanks Dave, much appreciated.

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 6:55 pm
by MaxiQ
Beautiful van mate! If my maxi looks half as good as this when I’m done I’ll be chuffed to bits. Some great mods, wireless charger is so clever! Do you have much else planned?

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 10:28 pm
by mark1a
@MaxiQ thanks very much, I'll keep an eye out for a build thread on your black Maxi too.

Next things on my list are:

Finish off the leisure battery & DC-DC charge
Rear curtains
Sub & replacement speakers
LED interior lights
Door card & roof retrimming
Bed & camper pod
Roof mount screen & AV system
Sort out something with the front seats
MFSW & highline MFD

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 11:42 am
by MaxiQ
I’ll be keeping an eye on this then, look forward to the updates.

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:22 pm
by Katiecaddy
Cracking build thread. Really enjoyed reading this and looking forward to further updates.

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:41 pm
by mark1a
@Katiecaddy thanks very much...

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:31 pm
by Katiecaddy
Just ordered the parts for the wireless charger. Really neat idea.
When you used those snap connectors for the power onto the 12v socket, did it throw any errors up etc or require any coding?

Thanks

Re: Blackberry Life

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:22 pm
by mark1a
Hello @Katiecaddy,

No, just simply piggy-back onto the 12v socket wires, no errors, no coding required.