Hi and help needed (1 Viewer)

[chrisshipp]

Hi

Been a lurker for possibly almost a year now, but having put a deposit on a Rapido A class at the weekend, I though I'd better introduce myself. Totally new at this, so be gentle with me!!

My question is, as its a newish Rapido on a Merc chassis (10 months old) would it come with an inverter to convert 12v to 240v? The spec says it has an inverter, but on closer inspection this appears to be able to let you run the heating whilst on the move. Therefore, would "The team" expect a newish model to have an inverter fitted and if not what type to go for - do I need to spend £700 or so on an all singing all dancing pure sine wave inverter for the few times I may actually need to use it when not hooked up to an external electricity supply?

I would probably only need a 240v supply to recharge laptop/bikes/phones and for SWMBO to run her hairdryer for 10 mins or so a day - I reckon the leisure batteries should be able to cope with this load, but any advice gratefully received...

Chris Shipp

 

[DESCO]

Hi Chris Shipp

Personally if you intend using EHU would wait and see if you need one.

I don't believe loading a van with kit till I know I need it, it costs money, and a lot of these supposed essentials only finish in the classified ads section.


Best of luck with the van.

Dave :thumb::thumb:

 

[Hayleylulu]

hi and welcom

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[haganap]

Desco's advice is good.

Running a hair dryer might be more tricky than you imagine off an inverter. If you simply just want to charge laptops phones etc then I would opt for a 300w inverter to do simply that. We have used an argos one for years (not pure sine wave) and never had a problem. If you are going to want to do lots of wild camping etc then you may want to re-adjust your plans.

As Desco says, get started, get going, and pay the bills on the way. It won't take you long to realise you needed something so so much you ended up with two.

 

[Taran_Las]

Welcome

Phil

 

[bald eagle]

How chrisshipp and :welcome:

regards
bald eagle:thumb:

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[siesta]

for the cost of a large inverter you could buy a kippor would even charge the batteries.Merc,Rapido,kippor,mmmmmmmmmmmmm?may be not

 

[Minxy]

Hi Chris - welcome!

No, you don't need to get a great hulking inverter or a pure sine wave one at that, a bog standard 300w as has been suggested should be more than sufficient for your laptop and smaller item needs.

Running a hairdryer though is a completely different thing - you can get some low power ones but they still use a fair bit of juice and no matter what the size of the inverter, if you haven't got a large battery source you'll soon drain what little you have and 10 minutes is a LONG time for a high draw piece of kit to gobble the juice.

If you intend to use campsite you can use their facilities, if you have hook-up then a standard hairdryer will suffice so long as it's not one of those posh high draw professional salon types! If all else fails, your Mrs can dry her hair under the blown air hand driers in the loos!!! :Blush:

I'd wait until you get the MH and then see how you get on for a while. I used to have long hair, nearly down to my waist, but over the years I got fed up to the back teeth with it (and I don't do lots of curling, drying etc) and now at it's longest I cut it in a bob, but normally it's just below my ears - makes life much easier and more time for me to have fun!!!

 

[Doodlebug]

Hi and welcome.

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[solitaire woman]

Would running the engine briefly whilst drying hair with hairdryer through the inverter not be an option so that you don't drain the battery? Forgive me if this is a stupid question!!

 

[haganap]

Would running the engine briefly whilst drying hair with hairdryer through the inverter not be an option so that you don't drain the battery? Forgive me if this is a stupid question!!

not a stupid question at all.

Here's my answer, (may not be correct but my understanding) I relate this to the aircon unit I have in my van. It too is rigged to run off 12v. However very soon even whilst driving the inverter will start squeeling telling me that it has kicked both 85amp batteries.

The problem is that the ammount you put in to your batteries through the engine source is only a few amps compares to the drain of the batteries from a hair dryer. You can buy different alternators that increase the input to the leisure batteries whilst running the engine though.
Hairdryers are power hungry. Nikki has a 12v hairdryer which aint that good. We use a small 1kw gennie when away which she then runs her normal hairdryer through (just).

 

[JeanLuc]

Whilst the engine alternator can put a fairly high charge into the leisure batteries, it is not good practice to let the engine idle without a load on it. Modern diesels are designed to fire up and go, not sit turning over with little to do. It can lead to a condition called cylinder bore glazing, which eventually affects compression and performance - not a cheap fix if the engine gets knackered.

If you must use a hairdryer and cannot hook up to mains, I would suggest either; 2 or 3 batteries (say 110Ah each) and a big inverter (perhaps 1.5 - 2 KW) but don't use it for long; or a 2 KVa generator, perhaps an even bigger one if your hairdryer is very powerful.

Bear in mind that an 1500 watt hairdryer (many are more powerful) running through an inverter will draw a current of about 150 amps, so if you use it for 10 minutes, that will take 25 Ah out of your batteries. Most onboard chargers can deliver 18-20 amps, so it will take over an hour on mains hook-up to put back the power you have drained in 10 minutes.

For recharging phones, camera batteries and laptops etc, we have a 150W inverter. It happens to be a pure sine wave version, but you may be quite OK with a quasi-sine wave type; the price difference is substantial. For that kind of light use, the current draw from the batteries is pretty insignificant.

Philip

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[chrisboyo]

:welcomefunster::welcome:flyingwelcome:rollonfloor:
Happy Daze
Chrisboyo