Club 80-90 Forums

fodtommo wrote:
I did a trial recently, spent the evening in the van from 6 till 1am drinking beer with mates - someones gotta do it and checked the voltmeter at the end, we had lights and radio on and battery was down from 12 to 11 volts. which indicates to me that my kit does not require much

It indicates to me that below 12.6v is a deep cycled battery not what that starter was designed to do as when you do that a few times the plates start to dissolve and it will die very soon after.
Leisures and traction batteries in particular can be taken down to 11 v at which point a starter is considered flat and dead.

paulo999 wrote:So, a quick update.

The gotcha is the laptop. The net loss from running that means one *is* hitting the starter, which is obviously not good. The inverter fires a low volt alarm after about 90 mins. At which point I switch off. Whereas if I had something that would be happy with deep discharge, I'd happily drain it a fair bit more.

So, project continues, but my corner cutting hasn't been a disaster - yet.

Are you saying that you are running an inverter (approx 90% efficient) to run your laptop? Crazy converting 12v to 230v and then to 19v or so. Use a voltage converter (dc to dc) rather than an inverter. Less power loss that way.

hi all i run a solar panal on my van have a 60w mounted on the roof rack down through a charge controller then feeds 2 batteries i can camp for a week with no problems with power, i run a 600w inverter colour tv playstation etc i also never charge from the engine anymore, i have a zig unit that lets you charge engine battery or all batteries but i just leave it on engine, i in theory save fuel as well as im not working the alternator harder charging the cabin batteries. i would add tho that the rating on the solar panal will never be reached i have had solar panals for the past 10 years and seem only to get half or less the stated power, my 60w gives about 20w on a normal day but 20w x 12-14 hours really helps i have another batterie that i sometimes take for early in the year trips eg easter (less sunlight more lights on in camper) the bigger the batteriy bank the better i say!

Really interesting reading all the comments here. We bought a second battery last week - after some deliberation in the camping shop between a second battery or a solar panel. We asked advice in the shop and were advised to go for the second battery - the reason given that solar panels are not really all they are cracked up to be.

But, from comments on this thread, it seems that they are quite useful on a camper. Maybe the assistant was more used to their efficiency on a caravan rather than a camper? If we were to buy one in the future what wattage do people recommend?

Donna

norfolkbcs wrote: We asked advice in the shop and were advised to go for the second battery - the reason given that solar panels are not really all they are cracked up to be.

But, from comments on this thread, it seems that they are quite useful on a camper. Maybe the assistant was more used to their efficiency on a caravan rather than a camper? If we were to buy one in the future what wattage do people recommend?

Donna

think the shop bloke was rather wrong!!! I have a 48watt panel on mine, get the biggest you can fit really anything under 48 tho is a waste of time fitting!

jamesc76 wrote:

norfolkbcs wrote: We asked advice in the shop and were advised to go for the second battery - the reason given that solar panels are not really all they are cracked up to be.

But, from comments on this thread, it seems that they are quite useful on a camper. Maybe the assistant was more used to their efficiency on a caravan rather than a camper? If we were to buy one in the future what wattage do people recommend?

Donna

think the shop bloke was rather wrong!!! I have a 48watt panel on mine, get the biggest you can fit really anything under 48 tho is a waste of time fitting!

aha - the ones they had were 5W or 10W I think - which might explain why he thought they weren't worth it.

Oldiebut goodie wrote:

paulo999 wrote:Use a voltage converter (dc to dc) rather than an inverter. Less power loss that way.

I run an events 'office' out of the van, and as such have to cope with all sorts of random kit that people turn up with. Kit with mains adaptors. So I have to have mains.

(As it happens, yes I do have a dedicated 12v PSU for my own laptop. Which blew the lighter socket fuse the first time I tried plugging it in. Thankfully I had the inverter. So all was good. Just wish I hadn't wasted the money on the PSU with the crap plug that shorted the socket. It was more expensive than the inverter, and ultimately pointless in terms of efficiency due to all the other stuff I have to deal with.)

jamesc76 wrote:I have a 48watt panel on mine, get the biggest you can fit really

I reckon with roof bars and framed panels, one could get 200w up on a high top, no probs.

I didn't fancy the clutter, so I've got a flexible panel that'll get bonded/bolted to the roof.

This is me and my 100w and that will easy go up there lengthways.

norfolkbcs wrote:

jamesc76 wrote:

norfolkbcs wrote: We asked advice in the shop and were advised to go for the second battery - the reason given that solar panels are not really all they are cracked up to be.

But, from comments on this thread, it seems that they are quite useful on a camper. Maybe the assistant was more used to their efficiency on a caravan rather than a camper? If we were to buy one in the future what wattage do people recommend?

Donna

think the shop bloke was rather wrong!!! I have a 48watt panel on mine, get the biggest you can fit really anything under 48 tho is a waste of time fitting!

aha - the ones they had were 5W or 10W I think - which might explain why he thought they weren't worth it.

100w framed are about £200-£250

100w flexible are more like £350

It's a bit of an indulgence unless you need to be on site somewhere for a week or two with no hook-up. Nice to have though. You get an extra feeling of independence having it.