Another Daft Question (1 Viewer)

[Doddy999]

Ok I'm new looking to get some 12v stuff, kettle, toaster, iron. Cheap on e-bay
but for using often what and where is your stuff, as need them to last.

Thanks Doddy

 

[GJH]

I don't really know that such 12v stuff is any good. We use a normal whistling kettle on the gas and a toaster similar to Link Removed when not on hook-up (toaster also when on hook-up). No idea about an iron.

Graham

 

[vwalan]

nice shiny aluminium kettle for gas ,no iron .two burners ang grill .you dont need hardly anything on 12 volt or mains . gas lights lovely. its camping. iron ?who uses an iron ?no offence but come on . gas heater .yes a 12v pump for water and a radio,cassette,cd.
we know yoyu are new but i say go and try it dont spend any cash till you really know what you need . think camping. most have showers but whats wrong with a good strip down wash. have fun live simple simple simple.
cheers alan.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

to be blunt...forget it.

i have, somewhere, a 12v kettle, takes around 20 to 25 mins to boil a half liter of water and the engine has to be running or it'll flatten the battery.

only use it once then chucked it in a corner to be forgotten forever.

if there is a 12v toaster out there it will, at best, just warm and dry out your bread...feels like toast but just warm, dry bread.

12v Iron you'll need a battery bank the size of a house and still have crumpled cloths.

kettle...whistling billy on the gas hob

toast....under the gas grill

iron...go to a laundrette and get a service wash.

 

[gazz]

apparantly a kilo of gas contains the same ammount of power that a ton of batteries does,

for anything that heats up, forget about running it off battery power, it's just too wastefull, the only exception being a microwave, but they dont heat up them selves, the high frequency waves vibrate the water molecules in the food, heating it... but a nuker is only used for a few minutes at a time, hence you may be able to get away with it.

but like pappajohn said, 12 volt kettles are a joke, people only buy them once, not because they never wear out, because people soon realise just how patheticaly useless they are,
i guess if your a truck driver, then it may be of use, switch it on whilst your driving half an hour before your next break, and it should just be hot by then, but for using one in a motorhome, don't.

toaster, i know some people who use a mains toaster off an inverter, they dont like gas grill toasted bread, rekon they can taste the gas
but again, it's using batteries for heating, use the grill on the cooker, or if you dont have a grill, get one of those stove top toasters, they sit on a gas ring, and you prop upto 4 slices of bread on the rack, takes longer than under the grill, but does make good toast.

i have one of those toast thingies for the cooker, i also have a toastie maker, it's 2 toastie irons hinged with long handles, and you heat it on the stove top, makes good toasties from what i remember, i last used it about 4 years ago, and its sat at the back of the cupboard ever since.but i think i will dig it out tommorow and make a cheese and spam toastie just for the sake of it.

as for the iron, easy answer, dont take clothes that need ironing when you go motorhoming
i guess if you have a genny, then a travel iron may do the job, but again the 12 volt ones are useless, to get enough heat out of one you'd need a cable the size of jump leads, and need to connect it directly to the battery bank, as it's unlikely the vans wiring is done using jump lead sized wires (some motorhomes have wires so small they struggle to run a tft TV pulling 4 amps)

if you really must iron in the van, then maybe see about getting an old victorian style iron you heat up on the fire, and heat it up on the stove?

you didnt mention hairdriers, but again forget 12 volt ones, useless,
when i have a woman traveling with me, they can use a 900 watt hairrier i have in the van, runs off the inverter, but only for 5 or so minutes, as that's pulling 90 amps from the batteries,

i am still waiting for the ideal camping hairdrier to come to market, read about it many years ago, it heated up using gas, like those cordless hair straightners do, and had a little battery operated fan for the blow bit,

also something i saw years ago, an accessory for eberspacher blown air heating, was a hair drier difuser on the end of a length of extra flexiable pipe, you plug the pipe into one of the warm air outlets, fire the heater up on full, and dry your hair,
it didnt sell very well, mainly because back then eberspachers were only really used in trucks,

Sorry this sounds all so negative, but better you know before you buy the items and find out how rubbish they are,

 

[Doddy999]

Many thanks, so the 12v is out the window now, will get the pan instead & keep the gas
bottles filled
Oh the iron was'nt my idea

See if you dont ask.
Thanks again

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Happy Hippy]

Agree everything that has been said already, basically forget anything electric that has a heating element or a big motor. Even then you need to have a way to charge your 12V batteries unless you are doing plenty of miles every day or have the luxury of EHU. The only things I run off my 12V system are radio, computer, water pump and phone charger - oh and very occasionally put the light on for a minute or two when I need to see extra well for things like washing up, cooking, having a pee etc, rest of the time I use candles. I keep the leisure battery charged up from solar panels on the roof - the main alternative would be a small genny, which would be cheaper to buy than panels but more hassle and expense to run - the panels are just there doing their job all the time, requiring no maintenance and no fuel, taking up no space inside, making no noise or fumes and not requiring setting up and packing away every time I move. I also had a wee gizmo called a "battery master" fitted, which allows the leisure battery to trickle charge the engine battery if the engine battery has a significantly lower voltage - this allows my solar panels to maintain both batteries indefinitely

 

[ips]

I also concur with Mr happy hippy and others, anything 12v apart from lighting and water pump is useless.

 

[olley]

Hi I agree with the others, 12v appliances are useless, but there is another option, use 230v appliances and power them from an inverter and batteries. You will need a big inverter, around 1800-2500watts, a 200ah plus battery bank, the bigger the better, and even better is to have solar panels to recharge the batteries.

Olley

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Rainbowchaser]

An iron? What's that?
Oh yes, I remember. ...
Wifey no. 1 used to spend hours ironing my
hankies and stuff I recall....

However, if you're determined to do this ironing thing, my granny used to have a cast iron one that she always heated up
on the gas ring or the range.
:thumb:
I agree with everyone else re: 12 volt gadgets.
I do carry a kettle, George Formby grill and toaster for when I'm on hookup or genny.
And of course, the Carmen rollers...






​

 

[ShiftZZ]

We have nothing 12v. What we do have is the following...

Wind up torch,
A solar freeloader for the phones
Solar Shower to heat water when its sunny
Solar battery AA and AAA charger

We only have the one leisure battery and a 120w, adapted all the lights to LED.

Whilstling kettle and thats about it..

ShiftZZ

 

[rainbow chasers]

just get a low voltage kettle for when hooked up on sites - and have a whistling kettle for when on 12v - 12v kettles and so on are not much cop, will eat your battery and take 4 months, 3 days 6 1/2 hours to boil per cup.

solar phone/ipod/laptop chargers are available and are good for charging those sort of things. wind up torches are very handy as are the led headlights. Petzl do the better ones, but the £3 garage ones suffice and are great for handsfree lighting. Very handy when changing bottles, walking the dog and so on.:thumb:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}