Leisure battery

[craig84]

Hi,
I’m new to the scene 😁 I have just bought a Renault Traffic camper and replaced the leisure battery (previous owner only used hook up so we knew it wasn’t working) however we still can’t seem to get the battery to power the sockets even though it’s powering the lights! The sockets work when the van in plugged into the house so I’m not sure what to check! Thanks in advance 😁

 

[Fraseb01]

Hi , I would imagine the 240 sockets will only work when on the hook up as these will be on a different circuit compared to the leisure battery being used for the 12v lighting etc.

some better people in the know will be along shortly but that's my guess.

Cheers.

 

[Parksy]

Hi,
I’m new to the scene 😁 I have just bought a Renault Traffic camper and replaced the leisure battery (previous owner only used hook up so we knew it wasn’t working) however we still can’t seem to get the battery to power the sockets even though it’s powering the lights! The sockets work when the van in plugged into the house so I’m not sure what to check! Thanks in advance 😁

Are you trying to power the round 12v cigar lighter type sockets or the three pin 230v sockets?
Obviously a 12v leisure battery isn't connected to the 230v sockets which are powered by mains electricity, when the electric hook up lead (ehu) is plugged into the house electrical supply or a 230v ehu bollard on a campsite.
The 12v circuit, powered by the leisure battery, runs some of the lights, the water pump and toilet flush, it operates independently of the ehu and works off grid if the battery is fully charged.

 

[craig84]

I’d assumed that the wee interface in the van was linked to an inverter but I don’t think that’s the case! Think that may be the way forward

 

[ProfJohnL]

Yes! Just as Fraseb01 suggests, the battery only supplies 12V to the camper. If you want 230V mains power, you either need a mains hook up cable to connect to a mains bollard, or run a 230V generator, or fit a 12Vdc to 230V AC inverter.

Generators are considered to be antisocial because of the droning noise they make. so are not allowed on some sites or they are limited to certain times of the day. They also happen to be very inefficient, and comparatively expensive to run and keep fueled and serviced.

If you consider an inverter which runs from the battery , then there are some practical limitations you should be aware of. You might think your inverter needs to be able to match the 16A 230Vac of the mains hookup cable. This would allow you to use up to 16x230=3600Watts of power. The problem is inverters are basically constant power converters, which means the power out must be matched by the power in. This case it would be 3600W at only 12V which would be an input current of 300A! Even a large 100Ah battery would not provide 3.6kW power for more than 20 minuets!

Consequently inverter power has to be practically limited to short term essentials that cannot be powered by other means.

In motorhomes and caravans, the big power users are heating appliances, like space heaters water heaters, cookers/ovens and because they tend to be switched on most of the time fridges, these items usually can be powered by gas, which is the way to run the camper if you do not have mains power from an external bollard.

 

[SteveW]

I’d assumed that the wee interface in the van was linked to an inverter but I don’t think that’s the case! Think that may be the way forward

Bear in mind it is not the norm to link the vans 240VAC sockets to an inverter even if you get one. To do so introduces complexities. To simply feed into the mains supply of the van is likely to be impossible as your inverter is likely capable of way less output than a 16A/3600W mains hookup. In that event turning on any space or water heating would likely send it into overload or at the least flatten your battery. Any scheme to use the vans sockets would likely have to isolate such devices when on inverter. There are also earthing complexities. Cheap inverters provide a floating “unearthed“ output whereas your van is designed around use of a protective conductor commonly called the “earth”. They are not approved for use supplying such a system, rather just appliances connected directly to their own output sockets. It’s theoretically possible to supply the entire van with more professional/expensive inverters which allow grounding of the neutral to the protective earth conductor, assuming the qualified sparkie involved knows what they are doing of course. The Victron in my van can do this but I haven’t bothered due to the overload risk described, it’s max output being only 1600W. I run it into a few separate sockets which are a different colour and clearly labelled as inverter powered with the max rating. It is run with the protective conductor operative and via an RCD rather than in floating mode.

Hope this helps if you are thinking of going in that direction, be aware that any scheme to power standard wall sockets in the van will cost a great deal more than would simply buying a cheap inverter as found on eBay and will involve installation by someone who knows what they are doing. Mains power in a caravan is a dangerous area in which to make mistakes.

Steve

 

[craig84]

Thanks, I think we’re just going to stick with the hook up and power banks 😂