• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Battery Charging without mains supply

D

David_374396536

Hi, we plan to go away to a few DA's this season and because most of these haven't electric available we have to run the Caravan using the Gas and 12 Volt Battery. Could anybody tell me how they kept their battery topped up when not having a mains charger available.

Thanks
 
David,

Many people on this list will tell you to use a Solar Panel, I have not got one myself but am considering on getting one.

I can get through a W/E with my 110ah Battery, but find longer times causes too much drain, therefore I take a back-up battery with me,

best regards, Martin
 
David,

Many people on this list will tell you to use a Solar Panel, I have not got one myself but am considering on getting one.

I can get through a W/E with my 110ah Battery, but find longer times causes too much drain, therefore I take a back-up battery with me,

best regards, Martin
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, so taking a 2nd fully charged battery should be sufficent? I just find solar panels a bit expensive.

Cheers

Dave
 
I used to take a second battery all the time,then decided on buying a solar panel,not cheap as you say but lasts a lifetime and its free.

You still have to charge the battery when you get home and also a battery life could only be 2-3 years.
 
I use a solar panel (55 watts) most of the year except the couple of occasions when I have electric hook up.

A cheaper option is to have a separate battery. To save the hassle of changing it on the van put it into a plastic battery box and wire up a 7 pin socket to the outside. Then plug the caravan lead into it remembering to switch the 12v supply from caravan to car from inside the caravan.

Bill
 
I used to alternate between the van battery and the car.

Care has to be taken with the car battery.

Also you can allways hook the car up to charge the van battery up.

With the engine running of course.
 
David,

Your question can only be constructively answered if we know more of your needs. It is possible to cope with a battery without support but it all depends on the requirements you have.

First you need to address what you want the electricity for and this I suggest changes very much with time of the year.

Lets throw some general but realistic figures about.

You say DA ing so I assume its a friday late afternoon to sunday afternoon, from April. So its two evenings of lights, say in all 8 hours with 30 watts of lights at the most. [ 8x30=240 watts , = 20 Ah for that]. The pump usage will be low 15 minutes at 6 amps= 1.5 Ah.

The devastating contribution will be a TV or car derived radio. Budget this to be 4 Ah for each hour of use for a modest 18" set and even more if you have a stand alone DVD player as well. For a radio use a portable one if you need it on for long periods they use far less power than a car one and the power come from its own battery.

Lets say you have 3 hours of TV over the week end. It should be warm enough that blown heating will not be needed, convection ought to be adequate other than for a 15 minute fan burst after stand out in the cold socialising.

So we are talking of circa sub 40 Ah for a DA meet.

You should aim not to deplete your battery below 50% [ if your thinking 5 plus years from it, if not abuse it a bit more but never below 25%]. So an 80 Ah battery well charged before the meet is just about adequate. You need a bit of contingency if you need the mover to put the van to bed after the meet. On road you will get some but DA meets tend to be local so the time to recover is limited. Say you need the mover for 5 minutes actually working, it will pull about 60 amps if its hard going so there is another 5Ah that ought to be budgeted for.

So this leaves us with a 45 Ah demand so a 100 Ah battery if your looking after your battery.

I have these days a very power hungry van and I now go away for weeks rather than days. I compliment my battery with a 85 Watt solar cell, but for years I week-ended without anything but the battery. In the winter I use a second battery carried in the car and charged via an inverter and C-tek charger, but for Da meets you dont need this level of complexity.

Cheers John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Back
Top