leisure recharge, alternator vs genny vs solar vs theft

[California Dreamin]

Once the propex has started and running the draw drops significantly (I can't quote as I don't use one but I'm guessing that draw is around 1 amp) Even on a dull day, and baring in mind that it is constant, your panel should easily cope.

Martin

[itchyfeet]

Yeh about 1.4A from memory but add tablets and phone chargers an Led ovherhead light and small tv for an hour or so.
Suns out today, I guess it rarely stays away for too long.

[busbuddy]

the propex should be fine, my old bay used to cope with 4 days at vanfest with one leisure battery and no solar

the phone/tablet charger can rip through a battery, depending on phone, and some tv's with built in dvd suck huge power as well

[keith]

Propex in August....jeez. Ive slept in mine in december and not switched the eber on.

Single malt does the trick without using any batteries

[itchyfeet]

Propex in August....jeez. Ive slept in mine in december and not switched the eber on.

Single malt does the trick without using any batteries

Not so much about being cold it's about being dry, when everything is damp heater on windows open.

being pissed does not get you dry.

[keith]

Agreed...damp does equal misery ...especially in a little van

[CovKid]

I think once you've got a refillable tank, the cost of running a Propex is negligible. I use mine every day in Winter, before and on the way to work but it really does have to be cold to warrant it. Its usually November before I need it but its surprising, even in Summer you can get the odd cold/damp night.

[itchyfeet]

Sunny all day yesterday and 60W folding panel recharged it to full from under half
Night before was reading 12.0V when tv on (1.5 A) and higher with no load 12.3 ish, not sure which to take as indication of charge?
It's really no hardship moving it two or three times a day to face the sun, no more work then moving your chair to face the sun.

[nordberg]

I am thinking of getting 2 x 100watt panels for my van. I think i can accommodate them quite comfortably as I am going to re-instate my roof bars purly to house the units. I am thinking with the additional permanent wight of the panels and roof bars I will get one of the pop top hydraulic stanchion struts to aid with lowering the roof. Can anybody see any disadvantages with running a double non flexible panel set up?

[California Dreamin]

The one 100 watt panel I have just adds enough weight to prevent Michelle pushing up the roof, two may well require strut assistance lol.
There aren't any issues fitting two 100 watt panels although I have to say 1 has been fine for me.
Issue is finding panels that fit nicely between those bars.
I would also recommend more battery capacity to store all that power you are going to be producing otherwise its kind of wasted 'literally'.

Martin

[ghost123uk]

Night before was reading 12.0V when tv on (1.5 A) and higher with no load 12.3V ish, not sure which to take as indication of charge?

I too was wondering about this. Yesterday night a friend had a sort of BBQ / party in a wood on his farm. For "tunes" I provided a pair of half decent speakers, a 300W car power amp and a half decent battery. We plugged phones into the amp as a source of music. It all worked very well. (Note though, we weren't using anywhere near the full 300W power of the amp).

During the course of the evening I kept an eye on the battery voltage. Towards the end of the night it had dropped to about 11 Volts, so I was glad to be able to turn it all off. However, immediately on turning it off it rose to ~11.5V and over the next few minutes recovered back to around 12.3V. I was happy then that the battery had not been hammered, but it did make me wonder if those charts of battery voltage V charge remaining, should be considered whilst under load, just after a load, or after a short recovery time?

Normally it is I who would be answering a question like this, but I admit, I am not sure which is correct.

[itchyfeet]

yes I remember now, measure after rest...

also means your battery low cut off relay may be triggering earlier than needed and a battery on permanent solar charge and use while camping will be hard to determine state of charge by voltage as there is rarely four hours with no use during waking hours.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/arti ... _of_charge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The most blatant error of voltage-based SoC occurs when disturbing the battery with a charge or discharge. This agitation is like a pull-up or pull-down rubber effect that distorts the voltage and no longer represents a correct reference to measure state-of-charge. To get accurate readings, the battery needs to rest in the open circuit position for at least four hours to attain equilibrium; battery manufacturers recommend 24 hours for lead acid. Adding the element of time to neutralize voltage polarization does not work well with batteries in active duty.

[ghost123uk]

Well that is good and useful information

also means your battery low cut off relay may be triggering earlier than needed

Well by coincidence (rather than design) my Low Voltage Disconnect) doesn't actually disconnect my battery
Because I don't want it to suddenly kill my electrics when I might not want it to, I have connected a small buzzer (via the appropriate internal relay in the LVD) to alert me when it drops below 11.5 Volts.

[Oldiebut goodie]

The systems that I have already have a warning buzzer.