jamesc76 wrote:to be honest I avoid inverters like the plague horrid things that flatten battery's in my opinion, what is it you want to use it for ??
I have everything running on 12v. I have a two very nice solar panels. But please don't laugh too much!!! I was considering using an electric blanket in the poptop to take off the chill before bedtime.
dansimpson wrote:0.5 amps at 240 v, but will still be 120w at 12v which = 10amps
Doesn't seem to bad. I could use it for an hour and run the Eber on low for the night. I have up to 4amps from the solar panels during the day (maybe not in the winter) and split charger. We do not stay anywhere for long.
Not laughing, I used to have a poptop and recall being away i9n winter with no heating save putting the kettle on. and there was frost/ice on the inside of the canvass about 4 nights running
Get a few hot bottles and the kettle boiling will warm the van as you know, as for later in the night? well im not going there
mike
Maplins used to do a 12v blanket but its discontinued, was 3amp, so 36w, about £15 ish, dont know if anyone else does one, obviously it wont get as warm as a 120w one though, and if its thermo controlled yours should switch off when its hot enough, so shouldnt pull current for a constant hour.
dansimpson wrote:Maplins used to do a 12v blanket but its discontinued, was 3amp, so 36w, about £15 ish, dont know if anyone else does one, obviously it wont get as warm as a 120w one though, and if its thermo controlled yours should switch off when its hot enough, so shouldnt pull current for a constant hour.
Dan
120w Is on the highest setting. Thanks for the info. As it doesn't seem ridiculous I'll try it and report back. Thanks for all the help fellas!!
Ah so thats the one your getting then James
Now Ive had a look at the instructions etc and it makes no menchion of using it on a bed either under or over the doss bag/duvet
mike
metalmick8y wrote:Ah so thats the one your getting then James
Now Ive had a look at the instructions etc and it makes no menchion of using it on a bed either under or over the doss bag/duvet
mike
nope no need for one!
DJ at Dubdayz Summerfest Now cutting about in an LT35 MWB
We need to put things into perspective here. There is no way a 'normal' sized leisure battery can supply a large enough current for a sufficient amount of time to heat bugger all appreciably. They simply do not have the capacity unless you have a bank of them connected together or a ruddy huge one out of a boat, lorry etc. That's what the one in the link dansimpson put up is designed for.
The only thing on our vans that can do this is the alternator which obviously requires the engine to be running. The 12v side of the fridge is only about 100W and that is deliberately wired so that it cannot be used unless the alternator is running else it would flatten the battery pretty sharpish. That's what the one in jamesc76's first link is designed for. I can't seem to open the link to the westfalia one.....
Unfortunately, batteries are not so straightforward that you can have an 80AH battery and assume it will supply 10amps for 8 hours or 40amps for 2 hours; it don't work like like that (more's the pity). As it discharges it's voltage will drop; the more the voltage drops the more current will be required, the more current required the faster the voltage will drop until the point is reached where it cannot supply any appreciable current cos the voltage drops to nothing as soon as a load is placed on it - although it may still show a voltage with no load connected.
Furthermore, I have a 200W electric 'underblanket' on my bed (the sort that you can leave switched on while you sleep on it - not that I do) and even with that running at full pelt it takes a good half hour before the bed is even slightly warm in normal winter temperatures.
Get yerself a hot water bottle.....
Last edited by 1664 on 28 Oct 2010, 13:46, edited 1 time in total.
none of yer namby-pamby 'central heating' la-de-da new technology in this house Kev . Before I had the blanket I used to have to beat the bed wi' lump hammer, and were bluddy grateful fer sweat worked up. Tell that to the kids of today..................
