Going - No hook up.

[KentMike]

Hi,

We've been vanning a couple of years now and up to now have always used sites with electric hook up but i'd like to use CL's - I know some have electric - but what about some advice from you experienced guys for all us no hook up newbies.

Just how careful with the power do you have to be ?

Is an 85amp battery good or is an 110 loads better ?

Just how long can you go on battery ?

How much strain does an inverter and Colour TV/DVD add and is there a way to work it out ?

Whats the attitude of other vanners and CL owners to generators ?

Do you use them for charging only or as a hook up ?

Do you charge the battery by hooking a generator to the hook up inlet or direct to the battery ?

Do you need to take a spare ?

How much quicker does your gas go down - with everything running on it ?

Any any do's don'ts or tips ?

 

[emmerson2]

Michael, it depends on the weather and the time of year.I often use non-electric CLs, and have never yet run out of battery in the summer. We did three weeks once,took a spare battery an d never used it A little electric economy is called for, but we've not found it a problem. I think the inverter may be a bit much to ask though.Leave the telly at home! ^kg of gas should last a couple of weeks...

 

[David.O]

Michael

My wife and I have a CL in Suffolk the bulk of or visitors want electric so we have 5 x 10 amp hookups. but we do have lots who do not want to use this facility its no problem. our visitors play an important part in the farms financial plans but for us we have made many new friends,and this time of year we look forward to greeting them again this summer.

 

[Eddie1FromNottingham]

Hi, Michael,

Lots of questions, not many answers I'm afraid. We have been Caravanning for over twenty Years and mostly use Sites without Electricity. We find that this type of Site is less formal ie. usually you can pich your 'Van to face whichever direction you like and more often than not take up as much space as you need. The practicalities however require a bit of forward planning and common sense. As some one said earlier time of year impacts on usage paticularly of Battery Power. Gas is never a problem, in the U.K.We carry 2 7kg. Butane and with the exception of one long break (3 Weeks) have only ever had to replace 1 Cylinder whilst away from Home. This was actually done on site which luckily stocked calor. Calor is readily available in the U.K. Even in rural Areas.

Battery power is more difficult to deal with and the lenghth of time a Fully Charged Battery will last depends on Time of year ie Summer Months doesn't require the use of lights Etc. The biggest drain on a leisure Battery is the T.V. The use of which needs to be controlled or at least restricted. My trick to survival is always start out with a fully charged Battery I use a 110 Amp. As soon as I arrive on site I connect A solar Panel. This tends to maintain the Battery for normal use of Lights Pumps Etc. If you allow the Charge to fall before you connect the Solar Panel the Battery won't recover.

I also carry a Honda Briefcase Style Generator. I try to avoid using this, but when needs must, usually in inclement weather without Sunshine, I connect it to the the Blue Input Socket in the same way as EHU. Using the on board charger to top up the Battery. Using the Generator this way also allows limited use of other Mains Eqipment ie Phone Chargers and the like. You will find that most c/ls and Ralley sites allow the use of a Generator for a limited time during Daylight Hours. Mine is very quiet (85d.b.) but I still think it is unfair to run it continually so as to provide the equivilent of Hook Up. Last Summer I was On a Site at Fairford for the Air Tattoo and my neighbour ran his from (10am untill bedtime! Fortunately we went out in the Day but it's this type of action that makes people anti Generator. On this same Ralley I lasted the whole 5 Days on Solar Power only. However it was July, very Warm and the Evenings were spent outside in the Awning or Barbecuing. With T/v use restricted to Morning and Late evening News. If you are concerned about surviving C/L Camping just go for a couple of Days and see what happens. my guess is once you have tried c/ls you wont look back.

regards Eddie.

 

[KentMike]

Hi, Michael,

Lots of questions, not many answers I'm afraid. We have been Caravanning for over twenty Years and mostly use Sites without Electricity. We find that this type of Site is less formal ie. usually you can pich your 'Van to face whichever direction you like and more often than not take up as much space as you need. The practicalities however require a bit of forward planning and common sense. As some one said earlier time of year impacts on usage paticularly of Battery Power. Gas is never a problem, in the U.K.We carry 2 7kg. Butane and with the exception of one long break (3 Weeks) have only ever had to replace 1 Cylinder whilst away from Home. This was actually done on site which luckily stocked calor. Calor is readily available in the U.K. Even in rural Areas.

Battery power is more difficult to deal with and the lenghth of time a Fully Charged Battery will last depends on Time of year ie Summer Months doesn't require the use of lights Etc. The biggest drain on a leisure Battery is the T.V. The use of which needs to be controlled or at least restricted. My trick to survival is always start out with a fully charged Battery I use a 110 Amp. As soon as I arrive on site I connect A solar Panel. This tends to maintain the Battery for normal use of Lights Pumps Etc. If you allow the Charge to fall before you connect the Solar Panel the Battery won't recover.

I also carry a Honda Briefcase Style Generator. I try to avoid using this, but when needs must, usually in inclement weather without Sunshine, I connect it to the the Blue Input Socket in the same way as EHU. Using the on board charger to top up the Battery. Using the Generator this way also allows limited use of other Mains Eqipment ie Phone Chargers and the like. You will find that most c/ls and Ralley sites allow the use of a Generator for a limited time during Daylight Hours. Mine is very quiet (85d.b.) but I still think it is unfair to run it continually so as to provide the equivilent of Hook Up. Last Summer I was On a Site at Fairford for the Air Tattoo and my neighbour ran his from (10am untill bedtime! Fortunately we went out in the Day but it's this type of action that makes people anti Generator. On this same Ralley I lasted the whole 5 Days on Solar Power only. However it was July, very Warm and the Evenings were spent outside in the Awning or Barbecuing. With T/v use restricted to Morning and Late evening News. If you are concerned about surviving C/L Camping just go for a couple of Days and see what happens. my guess is once you have tried c/ls you wont look back.

regards Eddie.

Thanks for all the replys so... far - has anyone tried the cheaper generators that PC reviewed a few months back ? cause the honda one is a bit pricey if memory serves

 

[Eddie1FromNottingham]

Thanks for all the replys so... far - has anyone tried the cheaper generators that PC reviewed a few months back ? cause the honda one is a bit pricey if memory serves

Hello Micheal,

Yes, the Honda is pricy at around

 

[Rod_5041370]

I use a roof mounted, 55watt solar panel and a 110A/h battery.

This is sufficient for all my needs apart from my waterheater which is 230 vac only, so I use a Honda 2.0i generator, when hot water is needed but only between 09:00 & 18.00. Once heated the water remains hot for 8 hours but does need boosting due to draw off.

With a good, inverter type of generator such as the Honda 1.0i or 2.0i, you can connect directly into the caravans mains inlet socket. I wouldn't recommend this with the cheaper 2 stroke generators as these are known to destroy chargers, Tvs etc.

 

[Guest]

I go all the British Supebike rounds and there are no hook ups whatsoever on any of the campgrounds. We go stay from Thursday night and come home Sunday evening. 3 Full nights.

Using a fully charged 110a battery, and using electric for lighting(fairly sparingly) and also the colour tv, we just about make it through the 3 days, occasionally we have fallen short and it conked half way through the last night. The tv can be used for 5 or 6 hours a day, off and on. We then either revert to hitching up and using the car battery for the last part of the third evening.....or I have a small jenny that I sometimes start up. Its no good using the jenny to charge the battery, you would have to run the jenny for hours.

 

[David.O]

Thanks for all the replys so... far - has anyone tried the cheaper generators that PC reviewed a few months back ? cause the honda one is a bit pricey if memory serves

Michael

Following my previose comments re CL in Suffolk and other comments re freedom on CLs I would agree our CL has only two reqirments 1 animals kept under control and 2 children on leeds.

our charge per night is