Then the lights went out!!!!! (1 Viewer)

pappajohn

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 26, 2007
43,207
48,810
Dark side of the moon
Funster No
172
Exp
Since 2005
with all the rain at stratford our solar panel was pretty much useless, only producing a couple of hundred milliamps most of the day.

we have 2 X 110ah batteries

late on sunday night (11pm+) the leds lights died, very fast and totally out.

the leds may have gone out but the TV/sat receiver was still working so i figure this is a good indication your battery is in need of a charge:thumb:(LEDs more low voltage sensitive than the TV/sat)
(im not checking battery voltage at 11pm in a dark locker so im guessing at this.:RollEyes:)

might i add that we arrived on friday around 3pm and 1 hour later the rain started and didnt stop until sunday around 1pm which meant we had next to no charge for 46hrs.

we used the TV/sat for around 20hrs total plus 2 or 3 LED lights during the evenings (we have 12 leds but no point in using when you dont need 'em) plus water pump, phone charger etc.

stratford last year was a different tale, arrive friday afternoon.....one 110ah battery, no solar panel, similar daily TV use and HALOGEN lights and the genny was out and running on saturday afternoon:whatthe:

Solar panels, extra batteries and LED lighting........its the only way to go.

BTW....no probs with the lights going out sunday night....just switched to the chassis battery for an hour.:thumb:
 
Last edited:
Jan 31, 2009
491
456
Shropshire
Funster No
5,511
MH
Van Conversion
Exp
10 years +
The morale of the tale being - don't watch the telly.

I have an 85 aph battery in my caravan. We just did 9 nights in Scarborough and the battery was still fine at the end of it. All we had was a little solar trickle charger, and the lights are the old fashioned sort.
 

Geo

Trader - Funster
Jul 29, 2007
11,757
14,563
Mansfield,Notts
Funster No
35
MH
Autotrail Tracker FB
Exp
45 +years with breaks
Ive asked Mark (CLS) to look into some rain panels for us, about 1 amp per rain drop ought to do it:thumb:
 

Kon tiki

Free Member
Oct 11, 2007
487
0
North Wales
Funster No
594
MH
Low Line
Exp
20+
We were at Stratford from the Monday (we were just up the road at Evesham from the Friday) We only have one 85 amp gel battery & our solar panel is around 80/85 amp. We still have the halegon lights, we had the sat digi box on the radio during most the day through a couple of speakers & usually watched a few hours TV in the night & the grand Prix qualifying & race in the day. The lowest I saw the battery was about 12.4 volts & it was back up to around 14.2 volts usually before midday except for when it was raining (even then it was putting about 1 amp in) We didn't run the engine or get a charge from anywhere else. So I can't understand why you had problems with over twice the battery capacity?

The only economy we took was using candles (the small scented tea light type) this was when we had the TV on as the spotlights were too bright.:thumb:

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
pappajohn

pappajohn

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 26, 2007
43,207
48,810
Dark side of the moon
Funster No
172
Exp
Since 2005
not a problem Ed.....

TV and sat box for 20 hours at 5 ah drain = 100amps....one battery used.

3 LEDs for maybe 8 hours daily plus others as needed = maybe 9 amps total.

water pump...total use maybe 1 hour = 10 to 15amps.

the battteries may be 220ah but only usable for maybe half this capacity before they become dangerously dis-charged and knackered in no time.:Sad:

only 200ma going in.:cry:

im happy with that and i certainly wouldnt have a live flame in the van:Eeek:

BTW......my tv will run as low as 10.5v through the stabilizer but if i run it that low it means iv just killed my batteries
 
Last edited:

vwalan

Funster
Sep 23, 2008
8,835
5,798
roche cornwall
Funster No
4,148
MH
lynton5th wheel
Exp
since a child
latestin charging batteries is available world wide but not in uk. they are lunar panels not marheted here as there could be a rush. i,am sure we get more moon than sun even in summer.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
pappajohn

pappajohn

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 26, 2007
43,207
48,810
Dark side of the moon
Funster No
172
Exp
Since 2005
latestin charging batteries is available world wide but not in uk. they are lunar panels not marheted here as there could be a rush. i,am sure we get more moon than sun even in summer.

dont think there'll be much of a rush for them somehow, Alan

found 'em on the web.....

can generate almost 1.2watts per hour :whatthe:

can run a ceiling fan for 1 hour off an 18 hour charge :Eeek:

website states....for mere thousands of dollars it can save hundreds of dollars per panel during the life of the panel.

you must be winding us up!!!
 

vwalan

Funster
Sep 23, 2008
8,835
5,798
roche cornwall
Funster No
4,148
MH
lynton5th wheel
Exp
since a child
i was only joking but you beat me every time how you come up with these things so quick. i,ll never know . :ROFLMAO:
 

vwalan

Funster
Sep 23, 2008
8,835
5,798
roche cornwall
Funster No
4,148
MH
lynton5th wheel
Exp
since a child
i just googled lunar panels . didnt know if it would get anything . we koke about it in the winter n even get people believe us that we have them. in future i,ll shut up.nnnnnnno i,llhave to sleep on it.
 

GJH

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 20, 2007
29,450
38,828
Acklam, Teesside, originally Glossop
Funster No
127
MH
None, now sold
Exp
2006 to 2022
Interesting thread. Our 50 watt free standing panel kept our 85Ah battery topped up all weekend.

The battery was fully charged when we arrived Thursday lunchtime. We used a couple of LED lights in the evenings but not for long; longest was Friday from about 7:30 to 11:00, otherwise just half an horu to an hour. Plus half an hour to an hour of TV/Sat each day plus water pump for washing, washing up and re-filling the tank.

Even with all the rain on Saturday we never dropped below 12.5v.

Graham

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
pappajohn

pappajohn

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 26, 2007
43,207
48,810
Dark side of the moon
Funster No
172
Exp
Since 2005
Interesting thread. Our 50 watt free standing panel kept our 85Ah battery topped up all weekend.

The battery was fully charged when we arrived Thursday lunchtime. We used a couple of LED lights in the evenings but not for long; longest was Friday from about 7:30 to 11:00, otherwise just half an horu to an hour. Plus half an hour to an hour of TV/Sat each day plus water pump for washing, washing up and re-filling the tank.

Even with all the rain on Saturday we never dropped below 12.5v.

Graham

big difference though graham....2 to 4 hours TV. we had it on for 20+ hours (tele addicts)
god knows why but three LED lights were on for maybe 8 hours a day(still watching tv at 2am)....you had 5 hours use total.
 

gazznsam

Free Member
May 15, 2009
273
0
Eastwood, Notts
Funster No
6,715
MH
C Class
Exp
13
the price of being a telly addict, we never turned ours on all week... infacct i cant remember the last time i riased the sat dish, the freesat card will have been turned off again through no use.

we have 3 x 123 watt panels flat on our roof, during the begining of the week we were regulary getting 20 amps going into the batteries, (displaying 24 amps again on power from the panels)

by the weekend and the rain, we were down to around 5 amps into the batts, and had to run the genny for a few hours on saturday evening.

but our batteries are shot, 460 AH worth, but lucky if there's 150AH of capacity, the fridge pulls 9 amps, runs for about 14 minutes every 35 minutes or so (varies on ambient temp and how many times we open the doors) think i worked out once i need about 70 AH a day for the fridge, which the solar panels usually provide with some excess.

the only other loads we had are water pump... 7 amps, but run for maybe 10 mintues a day in total,
heater, that's 10 amps on start up for a max of 3 mins (usually a 1.5 min re-start time for the glow pins) then 3.5 amps running, 1.5 of that is the water circulation pump, but begining of the week the heater only came on for half an hour at 3pm to heat the calorifier for hot water,
during the weekend it was keeping the van heated due to colder temps outside.

Oh and the laptop charger, that's a 12 volt one, so no wasting power running the inverter, but i charged it during the day using spare solar power, and ran the battery down at night,
we didnt use the washing machine at all... and hence lasted exactly the week on 140 litres of water.

and lights at night, once we're in bed we have a couple of 12 inch cold cathode tubes on, they pull just over half an amp (and light up nearly all the van) they'll run right down to 4 volts, infact they can be dimmed just by varying the input voltage,

But once i've sold the bike and buy me new bigger battery bank, we'll be back to normal power usage, which will be a 3 minute vacuuming every morning (150 amps) microwaving ready meals (100 amps), sam using her hairdryer (120 amps), watching TV or at least playing dvd's or CD's and so on.

i do keep toying with the idea of rain water collection, to top the water tank up, would have to be implemented at van build stage, roof made to slope towards one point where a screened hopper is set below the roof skin, through a filter or 3 into the tank, with an overflow for when it's full,

but in that downpipe insert a small turbine wheel, connected to an alternator, and we have a rain water generator.
 

GJH

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 20, 2007
29,450
38,828
Acklam, Teesside, originally Glossop
Funster No
127
MH
None, now sold
Exp
2006 to 2022
big difference though graham....2 to 4 hours TV. we had it on for 20+ hours (tele addicts)
god knows why but three LED lights were on for maybe 8 hours a day(still watching tv at 2am)....you had 5 hours use total.

Definitely agree John. Overall it's a matter of balancing consumption against capacity. That's why we changed our main lamps to LED (saving 90% of consumption).

I see you mentioned that your TV/Sat draw 5Ah. Ours draw 2Ah so that's another significant difference.

I noticed that one of the Hymers parked behind us had a small wind generator on its roof, spinning on a vertical, rather than horizontal, axis. Any idea how much those things generate?

Graham

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Kon tiki

Free Member
Oct 11, 2007
487
0
North Wales
Funster No
594
MH
Low Line
Exp
20+


im happy with that and i certainly wouldnt have a live flame in the van:Eeek:



Interesting so you don't use a gas cooker :ROFLMAO: We use candles in glass containers & then I usually put something non flamable under them for safety. :thumb:

Don't really know why but I am fine with our set up for the leisure battery as it's always had enough power. My problem is with my engine battery, it seems to lose power very quickly. The original one was replaced after 3 months but the new one seems to discharge quickly. I tried putting an ammeter on it to see the parasitic current drain when left with nothing turned on, this showed as 0.25 amps:Eeek: but I don't know what the expected reading should be. One thing I am going to check is how much the radio is using, other than that there is only the alarm fitted.
 

Munchie

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 28, 2007
8,921
12,581
Camping Les Vigeres
Funster No
26
MH
Font Vendôme
Exp
Since 2004
I'm gobsmacked :Eeek:

We have two 120 batteries and were at Stratford from the Monday. We had to run the gennie twice for around 15 mins to top them back up and they never fell below half. We are expecting with 2x80 solar panels to be able to run the van for at least a week.

A couple of questions, I was under the impression you can run the batteries down to 1/4 without damaging them? Is the big battery drain due to using invertors?

We would expect to run our 12v tele and sat box approx 2hrs per day. There would be the water pump of course and LED lights say 2-3hrs per day. Possible invertor to recharge pooter battery and occasionally recharge camera battery.

Are my expectations unrealistic? :Eeek:::bigsmile:
 

hilldweller

LIFE MEMBER
Dec 5, 2008
605
36,108
Macclesfield
Funster No
5,089
MH
Zilch Mk1
Exp
From Aug 2007
might i add that we arrived on friday around 3pm and 1 hour later the rain started and didnt stop until sunday around 1pm which meant we had next to no charge for 46hrs.

We arrived Thursday. 85Ah. Left Sunday. No problems. No charging at all. Watched one video. Charged my laptop.

What are you doing wrong ????

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

haganap

LIFE MEMBER
Dec 5, 2007
12,711
25,974
planet earth
Funster No
974
MH
Carthago C Tourer
Exp
I'm an oldbie MH number 9
Hi Kieth,

I thought that your van looked really nice, not sure i got to say hello and thankyou for the blinds .

in answer though, I have given up worrying. We have etwo batteries and I ran the genny for about 4 hours per day. only because I can:Cool:

However Geo, your wrong. a panel that would give 1amp per raindrop would of clearly light up all of Paris at the weekend.
 

gazznsam

Free Member
May 15, 2009
273
0
Eastwood, Notts
Funster No
6,715
MH
C Class
Exp
13
250 milliamps current draw (0.25 amps) is enough to flatten the starter battery, most likely the combination of an alarm and radio,

if you listen to the cab radio when parked up, connect it upto the leisure batteries, could do the same with the alarm, but if it uses the current sensing option then it'll go off everytime you turn a light on, flush the bog etc,


anyhoo, it really does seem there's no way to say xxx battery set up will work for xxx person,

firstly there are different battery types, a lot of leisure batteries are just re-badged starter batteries, and with those there are cheapo ones that have hardly half the capacity stated on the label after a month of use, other seem to last forever,

50 dod (depth of discharge) is the max you should take a normal leisure battery, elecsol and agm types you can take lower, they have their paste secured to the plates with carbon/glass fibre matting, so dont sulphate up.... i really mistreated my last elecsol, and it took almost 8 years to finaly loose capacity.

but as has been shown, everyones current consumption will be different, we pull about 4.5 measured amps running our 15 inch lcd tv, the pace javelin sky box and the dvd player used as an amp,
some lcd tv's pull more than that on their own, some a lot less,

like water pump usage, some people shower as if at home, shower on all the time singing for 15 mins, others do the water on, get wet, water off, soap up, water on rinse off, water off, job done, so use about 20 seconds worth of pump time.

and those who use inverters for charging things use more power than those who use 12 volt chargers,
my laptop mains charger pulls 8 amps from the batteries when charging and running the lappy run off the inverter, the 12 volt charger pulls nearer 5 amps doing the same job.

i like to use 12 volt items if i can, only using mains ones if they are more economical or have no choice... washing machine, hoover, microwave are mains... 12 volt versions could be had but performance suffers,
i do prefer to use mains fans to 12 volt fans, much quieter and a lot more air flow for a given current draw.
 

GJH

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 20, 2007
29,450
38,828
Acklam, Teesside, originally Glossop
Funster No
127
MH
None, now sold
Exp
2006 to 2022
Gary's post prompts me to mention a couple of things we do to save power draw from the leisure battery.

We have a small wind-up/battery radio so use that rather than the cab radio when we want to listen. Apart from the wind-up option, the AA batteries last for ages.

Similarly for the iPod. We have a battery operated docking/speaker station in which AA batteries last a good while.

We have a Power Station, bought from Aldi, which has three 12 volt sockets so use that to charge the netbook and PDAs if required. Just have to make sure it's charged before we leave home.

Latest addition is a Freeloader with Supercharger attachment which is brilliant for charging the mobile phones & iPod using solar energy.

Apart from the Power Station the payload for these gadgets is very low.

Graham

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Kon tiki

Free Member
Oct 11, 2007
487
0
North Wales
Funster No
594
MH
Low Line
Exp
20+
The 0.25 amp current draw I have is from the engine battery with nothing on :Eeek: The battery is a Renault battery fitted new in March, on the battery it has the Master & Trafic listed amongst others it is suitable for. It is not used to power any of the caravan electrics. I intend to run a wire from the radio to the leisure battery & I will see if I can get the alarm checked out to see if that is taking too much but it is the same Toad alarm I had fitted to my last van without any problems.
 
OP
OP
pappajohn

pappajohn

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 26, 2007
43,207
48,810
Dark side of the moon
Funster No
172
Exp
Since 2005
beginning to wish id never started thread now....

just how many of you really get all this power for no battery loss or are you deluding yourselves?...i bet you get 40+MPG as well:Doh:

as i said....i used almost the equivelant of the FULL capacity of one 110ah battery just running the TV/sat.
you cannot get 110amps from a 110ah battery unless you run it totally flat (10.5v)and destroy it in the process.

i aim to run mine to no lower than 50% capacity (approx 12v but exceded that this time i think)so the two batteries will give me around 110ah IN TOTAL.

for those who say they were getting 4amps from an 80watt panel in the rain....i say rubbish.....80w at 17v = 4.7amps at 100% efficiency and it aint that efficient in the rain or any other time come to that!!!

where are you measuring it at.....the panel side of the controller or the battery side?.....i measure mine at the panel side AND battery side using a professional (robin)clamp type ammeter and at best i got 450ma, for a short time, in the rain.
 

Kon tiki

Free Member
Oct 11, 2007
487
0
North Wales
Funster No
594
MH
Low Line
Exp
20+
All I have for checking my panel is the Link Removed panel, in the rain I was getting up to 1 amp showing from the panel & it showed 1amp going into the battery.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
OP
OP
pappajohn

pappajohn

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 26, 2007
43,207
48,810
Dark side of the moon
Funster No
172
Exp
Since 2005
All I have for checking my panel is the Link Removed panel, in the rain I was getting up to 1 amp showing from the panel & it showed 1amp going into the battery.


it would be interesting to compere your inbuilt meter readings to my caliberated clamp meter readings if we are ever at a meet at the same time..:thumb:

at least you have a more sensible reading than some on yours:thumb:
 

gazznsam

Free Member
May 15, 2009
273
0
Eastwood, Notts
Funster No
6,715
MH
C Class
Exp
13
i remember saying i was getting 4 amps or so into my batteries in the rain, but i have a bit more than 80 watts of panels,

i'm also one of those who gets seemingly higher readings on the stecca controllers display when the panels are at full output,

one day i'll get a proper battery meter that does all this purketts law equasions to calculate power left in the batts, but it'll have the basic amps and amp hours in and out too, with data recording so i can look at the figures over a period of time,

but i've lasted 6 years without one, like i've also never fitted a water gauge or waste tank gauge, keep thinking about it, but i know we can last 7 days on a fill of water, if i want a shower on the 6th or 7th night, i open the inspection cap on the water tank and look at the level, over half an inch and i'll be fine.

likewise the waste tank, when the fresh tank is running out, the waste tank is full (providing i dumped it when i filled the fresh tank up)

as for the bog tank, the full indicator stopped working years ago when some cheapo blue chemicle stuff melted the foam in the float, but we have to empty the darn thing so often it dosent matter (one of many down sides to having gut problems and using toilet with a limited capacity holding tank)

i do have gauges for red diesel and lpg, the lpg one hardly moves, we are still on the fill we put in 3 years ago, the red diesel usage varys wildly, from 4 months a tank in summer when the heater is only heating the water up once a day, to 3 weeks in winter running the central heating day and night (on the thermostat, so not on all the time)

i'll be glad when i get my new batteries, then we can forget about power usage like we used to, as long as we get one day of sun every 5, were fine, if not then we run the genny for hours (takes all day to do a full re-charge with out little 20 amp charger and 500Ah battery bank).. another job is to get a nige big 60 or 80 amp mains charger, so i can run the genny a lot less when i have to,
 

GJH

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 20, 2007
29,450
38,828
Acklam, Teesside, originally Glossop
Funster No
127
MH
None, now sold
Exp
2006 to 2022
beginning to wish id never started thread now....

(snip)

It's what becomes of being a telly addict John - you get The Bill and become a Casualty :ROFLMAO:

Thinking about it I'm sure our not running out is as much a consequence of not using so much as it is of (generating) capacity.

Graham

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Funsters who are viewing this thread

Back
Top