Battery

[Steve_5040970]

Hi all, looking for a bit of info on the electrical side, would gladly accept any advice. I have a Hobby van with only mains electric, I want to buy a leisure battery and power up my lights etc using an inverter. The problem I have is charging the battery! I own a Pajero that has both 12 s and n sockets, am I able to charge the battery up on the move using the unused socket 12s? Thanks in advance, Steve.

 

[metz]

Hi Steve, Take a look at the Hobby Owners Club Site, and in particular "Docs" homepage I think You'll find the info your looking for!!!

 

[headlesshedgehog_5040383]

I think that you have a vain hope of powering even the lights on your Hobby with an inverter but if you manage it please pass on the info . To me it seems daft to change 12 volts DC into 240 volts AC so that the Hobby transformers can knock it back down to 12 volts again . With all that inverting charging and transforming I dont think there would be a lot of current left . I think Docs solution does work ,but I think there is simpler way . A pal of mine in Nurnberg is checking out on the Deutsche Hobby sites as there are Hobbys with DC and mains systems, but whilst his German is perfect, he's not a caravanner . If anything occurs youll be the second to know!

 

[Steve_5040970]

I think that you have a vain hope of powering even the lights on your Hobby with an inverter but if you manage it please pass on the info . To me it seems daft to change 12 volts DC into 240 volts AC so that the Hobby transformers can knock it back down to 12 volts again . With all that inverting charging and transforming I dont think there would be a lot of current left . I think Docs solution does work ,but I think there is simpler way . A pal of mine in Nurnberg is checking out on the Deutsche Hobby sites as there are Hobbys with DC and mains systems, but whilst his German is perfect, he's not a caravanner . If anything occurs youll be the second to know!

Thanks Hedgehog, as far as i know in my van (preparing for it's first run out to Spain) all electrics are 240v. I see no sign of running anything on 12v. The fridge/freezer and microwave combi is certainly running on 240v.

As far at the hobby owners club, they seem to have to many users of late....time to upgrade there monthly bandwidth maybe.

Cheers, Steve.

 

[Steve_5040970]

Hi G W Metcalf, i have been having lots of problems with the Hobby's owner club web site, bandwidth problems apparently! Now Doc gave me some useful advice before purchasing my van (very helpful it was too I add)

 

[Steve_5040970]

I have eventually got my leisure battery and connected everything up with the inverter, powered up all the lights no problem fans on the fire fine. All my electrics are 240v that's why I have to use the inverter.

Thanks for your reply, cheers, Steve.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have eventually got my leisure battery and connected everything up with the inverter, powered up all the lights no problem fans on the fire fine. All my electrics are 240v that's why I have to use the inverter.

Thanks for your reply, cheers, Steve.

Hello Steve, I have a couple of concerns about your setup. Firstly if the entire caravan is wired for 230Vac, then the equipment installed may not be low wattage models. You mention a microwave, and expect you probably have an electric kettle among other items. I hope you appreciate that a 1Kw device draws 4.34Amps at 230V, (W =VxA) however if you try to use an inverter to power this, the wattage remains the same so the draw on the 12V battery would be 83.3A!plus a little extra to run the inverter. Most caravan (Leisure)batteries are not designed to support such high current draws, and could be damaged. There are some inverters rated to carry this size of load but not many. Another possible problem will occur as the battery current is drained, the voltage will fall and typically at about 10.5 or 11V the inverter will give an audible alarm and shut down. May I suggest you adopt a cautious approach and where possible use gas to power appliances (Fridge and cooker etc)Turn off lights when not needed etc.