LEISURE BATTERY

[genpen]

I have a motor home with a leisure battery which is not charged when on mains hook up. I am thinking of using a Solar 12v 2.5 w charger so that when on sites without electric or even on mains with hook up the battery is kept charged. The battery is only used for lighting, radio and the pump. Would this Solar panel be ok for this purpose ?
Glen

 

[TonyJones]

Puzzled by the problem Glen. For most of us, the point of the mains hookup IS to charge the leisure battery.
Is the van a branded conversion, or a self-build? There may be a fault on the charging system, which would be cheaper to fix than the cost of a decent solar setup.

 

[roli]

A 2.5w Panel would not be a lot of use for topping up on site.
That size of panel would be used to keep vehicle battery topped up whillst the van was parked up and wasnt being used.
Its easy to say you need this wattage or that wattage sized panel but without further details of your van its difficult to offer an opinion as you may not have the space for say an 80w / 100w panel
As Tony suggests it may well be worth checking the electrics out before doing anything else
What is your van ?

 

[genpen]

Puzzled by the problem Glen. For most of us, the point of the mains hookup IS to charge the leisure battery.
Is the van a branded conversion, or a self-build? There may be a fault on the charging system, which would be cheaper to fix than the cost of a decent solar setup.

Hi
My van is a 1990 Talbot Express Rambler Auto Sleeper and from what I have found out that there was not a charging system from mains to leisure although it charges when the engine is running. Its not a very big van so I don't have much room for carrying a large solar panel.
I sometime go on rallies with no hook ups.

 

[TonyJones]

The Rambler was a popular Autosleepers conversion for a number of years, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't originally designed to charge the leisure battery from both alternator and hook-up - it was a pretty standard arrangement, even back then.
So certainly get the charging system checked out, for the times when you're on hook-up.
But since you need some "off-grid" capacity, for rallies etc, a solar panel would be worth having. I'm no expert on those, but with a small van I'd start with "What can I find room for?" then just get as much power as you can within that restriction.
I only have one leisure battery on my Transit, it's usually enough for several days without driving or plugging in, but recently I found it was struggling a bit if I needed the blown-air heater on a lot.
I bought a little fold-up panel online for about £25, the sort designed for keeping a car's battery topped up when not driven for a while. I can put it on the roof during the day, with an extra bit of wire so I can run it through the skylight to plug it in. It's nothing like as powerful as the ones designed for motorhomes etc, but so far it's been enough.

 

[roli]

For a bit of help fom actual owners have a look in the Van Conversions section and sign up on
http://www.autosleeper-ownersforum.com/