Autoquest Battery & Solar Panel (1 Viewer)

[Dubiousp]

Good morning all

A couple of questions if I may. Last weekend I took the motorhome out to a site that had no power so used solely battery. We pitched up on the Friday about 15:00 put the tele on for the kids probally no more than hour. Left heating on over night on gas allbeit I think there is a connection to the battery system.

Saturday tele on for about 2 hours heating again on during the night, all lights in the van are LED so no big burners around 2.00am Sunday morning nature called and I found a completely flat battery, I have to say this was not new when I bought the van.

My thoughts are the battery is probally due for replacement as the loads do not really stack up, any thoughts appreciated ?

Does any one know what size the 2009 Autoquest 130 take ?

Solar panels is it worth getting one ?

Many Thanks

 

[GJH]

You probably have a 85Ah battery factory fitted but if the battery box is the same size as we had on our Autoquest 100 you can fit a 110 Ah in there - simply measure to see.

We used to use a free standing solar panel with our Autoquest but have a roof mounted one on the Burstner. If you have a roof mounted panel fitted plus a Battery Charge Manager (CAK Tanks) it should keep both leisure and starter batteries topped up.

As to whether your existing battery is on its way out, no doubt others with more knowledge than I will be along to advise how to test.

 

[ShiftZZ]

Solar panels is it worth getting one ?


Short answer YES.

We have 2 x 110amp batteries and 2 x 80w solar.

We dont go on EHU and we find that with LED's etc we have more than enough..

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[Gooney]

Hi Mr Dubious, if you had your heating on you probably had the blown air on as well, that would have hammered your battery:Sad:

 

[Pikeman]

I had doubts about ny leisure batteries. Bought this from machine mart - now I know my batteries are fine and it is my charger that needs attention. Worth every penny.

Product NameQuantityUnit price
ex VAT
(£)
Unit price
inc VAT
(£)
Total
ex VAT
(£)
Total
inc VAT
(£)
Clarke CVT1 Battery Tester
Item No: 010910350
119.9823.9819.9823.98Delivery - Standard4.164.99Order Total £ 24.14£ 28.97

 

[Dubiousp]

Many thanks, the blown air to my knowledge wasnt on but I suppose the kids might have played lol

It looks like a panel will help so 65-80w not sure if to get fixed or not

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[Gunner29]

solar panel

GJH> is a free standing panel better than a fixed one? I would have thought so as it can be pointed to the sun no matter where it but I'm sure it could be damaged if not careful. also it it acheaper option as saves on fittings etc>:thumb:

 

[Dubiousp]

well might see if I can get a cheapy before I head to Shepton tomorrow

 

[GJH]

GJH> is a free standing panel better than a fixed one? I would have thought so as it can be pointed to the sun no matter where it but I'm sure it could be damaged if not careful. also it it acheaper option as saves on fittings etc>:thumb:

I should have expanded previously. Our free-standing panel was 50W (Solar Solutions, who now offer a 65W one instead) and the fixed one we have now is 80W. They are pretty much equivalent in terms of producing power as the free standing one can be kept at a better angle to the sun - so long as you are around to move it from time to time.

The way we used the Autoquest, especially in early years, that suited us but now the fixed panel meets our needs more closely.

Cost depends on what deal you can get. We had a very good deal from Dave Newell for supply and fit of our fixed panel. It could be cheaper for those competent enough to DIY but I would never trust myself to make holes in the van necessary for panel fitting so was happy to pay for Dave's expertise

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[steevie]

solar panel.

Hi, We have just fitted a 250 w solar panel to the roof, and have 2x 110ah batteries, bought at Pickering steam fair from a caravan shop for £70 each, the solar panel was from ebay at £198 delivered, and so was the controller, £28 delivered. We have just done a week at the great Dorset steam fair, and I checked the batteries daily to see how they were doing. When we arrived the were showing 12.8 volts from the journey, then remained at 12.7v the rest of the week, with the fridge freezer on, water pump as needed, toilet flush, LED lighting, TV every evening, and phone charging, laptop etc aswell. It was just great to know it did the job just as it should, even when it was cloudy some days. And you know you have good house batteries to help start the engine aswell when needed.

 

[Wildman]

Hi, We have just fitted a 250 w solar panel to the roof, and have 2x 110ah batteries, bought at Pickering steam fair from a caravan shop for £70 each, the solar panel was from ebay at £198 delivered, and so was the controller, £28 delivered .

could you expand with a little more detail please as the output of these huge panels would normally be too great for a 12V system (around 60Volts) What controller is it. These large panels are intended for use on a house not an RV, hee hee. So intrigued. What am I missing, always eager to learn something new.

 

[Gunner29]

could you expand with a little more detail please as the output of these huge panels would normally be too great for a 12V system (around 60Volts) What controller is it. These large panels are intended for use on a house not an RV, hee hee. So intrigued. What am I missing, always eager to learn something new.

Snap

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[steevie]

reply

could you expand with a little more detail please as the output of these huge panels would normally be too great for a 12V system (around 60Volts) What controller is it. These large panels are intended for use on a house not an RV, hee hee. So intrigued. What am I missing, always eager to learn something new.

Hi. The controller handles a good bit higher voltages than the panel gives off, but I will find the details that came with it to be more accurate. The panel runs at around 37v from memory, with a peak of 40 something. All these panels run at well more than 12v, hence the need for a controller. I bought a 30amp as it wasnt much dearer, but a 20 would have been OK apparently. I have just ordered a digital amp readout, and combined voltage readout for the batteries, as it is less than a fiver delivered, whereas if I had got a controller with it all built in it was about £60. As I have not used anything for the past few days, when I checked it yesterday, after a few days good sunshine, all the batteries were at 13.2.