On board caravan battery system

[(RIP) PLANK]

Thanks, was looking at leisure battery chargers yesterday, not cheap to buy are they..

have a look on towsure they have some from around £26 i think, i did put a link earleir in the thread

 

[tezzer]

i've been caravanning for over 25 yrs and i always charge my leisure battery with a car charger, and never had any problems, i think leisure battery chargers are regulated for a smoother charge and wont boil the battery, as will a car charger.


this link might help -- www.windsun.com







tezzer

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I have 2 car chargers and charge my leisure batteries every day with them, and have not problems, just as i sadi they need leaving on charge after the charger says they are completely charged! I try to get as much juice as possible in them as i have to cary them over muddy fields to change them and an extra day or two out of each one adds up to a whole lot less humping them about each month.

 

[CaptLimey]

Re mains power from a battery bank

Hi Plank and others.

To respond to your 12 volt to mains power question Plank; I have to say that the subject of batteries amongst live aboard boaters consumed much time over many social (boozy) evenings!
Essentially, unless you want a quick 'squirt' of mains power, to get a reasonable and sustainable amount of mains energy from a battery bank it has to be big, i.e. in the hundreds of amp hours level, and you need a pretty hefty inverter to convert the 12 volts to whatever mains power your systems needed. I my case it was 110 volts and I had a battery bank of around 800 amp hours. I used a bank of eight Trojan 6 volt batteries in series to give 12 volts, supplemented by two big 12 volt engine starting batteries. Trojans are designed for deep cycle and slow charging as in golf carts and industrial lifting gear. For charging I used a bank of six of the biggest solar panels I could get, I think they were Siemens 110 watt, supplemented by a wind generator. I also charged when running my engines on passage (I had a catamaran with two Yanmar diesels) and I had a 2kw Honda suitcase generator as back up. Having said that, we rarely used mains power as most sail-boat systems are 12 or 24 volt but even moderately sized refrigeration/freezer systems consume a huge amount of energy in hot climates. If we needed substantial mains power we used the Honda, it even ran our small air conditioning unit.

Hope that answers your question but I'll be happy to respond to any other boating/battery questions you or anyone else might have.

I have one for you - it's on the totally different subject of VAT on caravans so perhaps I should start another thread or should I PM you, what's your view?

Regards CL.

 

[rustic]

Thanks, was looking at leisure battery chargers yesterday, not cheap to buy are they..

Aldi do one for £11-£13 Around October time, they are nearly identical to the Towsure ones. I use one all the time, at home to keep the Mav battery topped up on these cold days. It drops to a holding current of less than 1/2 amp and limits the voltage to approx 13.5-13.9 when fully charged. This avoids gassing the battery (over charging).
On a flat battery they are capable of charging at 3.5 Amps, but they have 3 charge settings for different sizes of 12 Volt batteries.
Hope this helps.
Best regards, Rustic

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I have bought a lot of tool from ALDI and never been dissapointed, I recently bought a 2.8kva frame generator, from them for around £150, it is a power craft but on the label in small letters it says 'omega wolf' so I checked wolf tools web site and called the customer help lkine and guess what? it is a wolf generator just a different colour and the price difference was ostading plus it came with a 3 year warranty!

I will look out for one of their chargers myself!

 

[daveg]

hi guys

when i had a caravan, we went with solar power to charge the batteries, yes it can be dear to have it installed but well worth it in my book.you need to decid what you prefer and can afford.we thought about long term use, with a regulater fitted i didn,t need to do a thing. just let the sun get on with it.

dave g :thumb2

 

[Paul]

I have bought a lot of tool from ALDI and never been dissapointed, I recently bought a 2.8kva frame generator, from them for around £150, it is a power craft but on the label in small letters it says 'omega wolf' so I checked wolf tools web site and called the customer help lkine and guess what? it is a wolf generator just a different colour and the price difference was ostading plus it came with a 3 year warranty!

I will look out for one of their chargers myself!

Keep looking at those, are they noisey??

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

Keep looking at those, are they noisey??

for the size of it suprisingly quiet! They also seell a small 650 watt suitcase generator and in comparison to that it is mybe sligtly louder (I think the official Dba level is 5 higher) but in reality it is a lower pitched noise and tends not to carry so far so feels quieter!

The only issue I had with it was a leaking fuel tap, some 'skilled-employee' had overtightened the lock nut and split the rubber seal against the tank so I had to strip it and fit a new one. But apart from that no problems, it is also suprisingly economical try these links for the latest models at pretty good prices:

http://www.wolf-online.co.uk/product.asp?id=003423

http://www.wolf-online.co.uk/product.asp?id=001622

 

[CaptLimey]

Hi Plank

Just seen and ordered the smaller of the two generators you recommended - fantastic value! Can't buy anything like that as cheap here, many thanks for the link.

Kind regards CL

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I have a couple of the older model of them, and they are bomb proof, they are used and abused, I dropped on around 11ft onto hard sumer grass and it still works, my son in law threw the other one in temper whn the pull cord snapped, and it still works!

We run them on the petrol diesel mix from when his customers put diesel in the petrol or visa versa and he has to drain their tanks, I even use engine oil instead of two stroke oil and they still keep going, and will do up to around 8 hours on a tank full!

they are also pretty quite

I dont know if these newer 'emissions comliant' ones are as good but if they are you wont be dissapointed!

 

[CaptLimey]

Hey Plank, re engine oil and petrol, in the days before there was 'two stroke oil', I used to put engine oil in a can with petrol and shake to mix it before pouring it into the tank of my BSA Bantam 125!!! I had to carry a plug spanner so I could remove and clean the 'whisker' off the plug every 10 miles! Ahhhh those were the days (Glad they're over - Jeez, I'm getting old!)
Regards CL

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

Well, I have a few bantams (see avtar) and a BSA rifle will that do :lol

Thinking about it I have only eer took the plug out and cleaned it once on one of these generators in abotu 4 years of owning them, which isn't bad going by any standards!

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

captlimey, i found you input on boating aspect of battery use and power very interesting and informative thanks!

 

[CaptLimey]

Hi Plank.

Glad you found my diatribe on batteries/charging of use. I'm also glad to have been able to make a useful input and hopefully it was a means of thanking you and all the other members for the good advice on Nissans I've enjoyed over these past months.

Regards CL

 

[wildbri]

I have two of the aldi chargers one I use in the garage the other one is wired up in the caravan, the built in charger went US . to use a caravan charger would have cost a lot, but
the intelligent charger as they are called keeps the battery topped up without "boiling" as it automatically drops to trickle charge.

...bri

 

[rustic]

Aldi do one for £11-£13 Around October time, they are nearly identical to the Towsure ones. I use one all the time, at home to keep the Mav battery topped up on these cold days. It drops to a holding current of less than 1/2 amp and limits the voltage to approx 13.5-13.9 when fully charged. This avoids gassing the battery (over charging).
On a flat battery they are capable of charging at 3.5 Amps, but they have 3 charge settings for different sizes of 12 Volt batteries.
Hope this helps.
Best regards, Rustic

I was in Aldi Rugeley (Staffs) earlier today, and they have a couple of the battery chargers that I mentioned for under £13.00 They are called motor cycle/car battery chargers as they can also be used with the lower capacity 12 volt batteries.
They could have them at your local store, much cheaper than towsure.
Best regards, Rustic