I've got a Solar Headache (1 Viewer)

[Brakers]

Why pair up a brilliant new battery in parallel to a knackered old battery?

Yes Danial I'm with you 100% on that, if the battery I've got on at the moment is low quality, and I will have to ascertain that, then I will get two paired better batteries. But you never know as Mel said I don't know at the moment if my battery is a low grade one. Once I've built myself up to getting down to check it and doing the research then I can make a more informed decision.
Best Wishes Tony

 

[Minxy]

Tony - you need to update your profile as it says you're still looking for a MH.

If I'm right, I don't think you've had it long in which case your existing battery must be quite new, therefore adding another to it wouldn't be detrimental as it could be with an old worn out one.

When we had a Rimor we had a second battery installed - the original was 85amp I think, the extra one was 110amp - never had any problems at all.

 

[Brakers]

[

Tony - you need to update your profile as it says you're still looking for a MH

All Updated spick and span until the next change

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[Brakers]

I posted a thread up recently about a little experiment I did with the power set up here:

Hi Daniel I looked at your experiment and I see you bought a Waeco MS1812T and you state it's a 2KW I've had a look and can't find that No. at 2KW but 1800watts is that the one classed as a 2kw or am I looking at the wrong inverter, also did you get a good price on it as I might go for the same one, nothing like getting recomendations from the horses mouth as they say. Not that I'm implying your a horse LOL.
Very interesting post by the way, I'll probablly be following in your footsteps.
Many Thanks Tony

 

[DanielFord]

Tony, yes it is 1800w, but I rounded up
I did get a good price, I got the funster discount at Vanbitz, and they do cracking work. I had loads of work done there so hard to break it down, but keep your eyes open. As promised, I will post a boring run down of the set up I currently have in our van I am visiting the van tomorrow, so I'll give you some pics in the afternoon.

 

[Brakers]

As promised, I will post a boring run down of the set up I currently have in our van I am visiting the van tomorrow, so I'll give you some pics in the afternoon.

Daniel Can't wait, it's like waiting for the new Star Wars movie premier. ;-)
Many Thanks Tony

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[Cavs]

Hi Stephen or is it Steve, While the motorhome was in there did you get them to fit a inverter as well and if so what do you intend to run on it.
Many Thanks Tony

No, it already had an inverter fitted - 600W pure sine wave, which I've wired to some sockets that we use for recharging various bits and pieces, and operating low wattage gadgets.

 

[DanielFord]

Daniel Can't wait, it's like waiting for the new Star Wars movie premier. ;-)
Many Thanks Tony

Your wait is over, just been over to the van, so here we go. First off, this is the gubbins under the back sofa. I've had to lift out all the junk that we carry in here, but what you can see is the two banner batteries, the inverter along with the additional consumer unit for the inverter, also there is the shunt for the battery monitor, which is the copper junction with all the small wires attached.

The inverter has a discreet switch to turn it on positioned on the outside of the sofa, this was an optional extra, but I think it looks very neat.

Up on the roof we have a 150w panel, there is no longer any room left on the roof.

The solar controller is fitted inside the cupboard that also houses the Sargent, the battery master is hidden away and quietly does its thing.

I fitted a battery monitor so that I could see the state of the leisure batteries, here it is in action. The batteries are full, hence they are only receiving a trickle charge from the panel of 0.6 amps.

Now for the fun part, we switch on the inverter and after about 20 seconds, the mains power is active. Here is the microwave running from the inverter.

Time for a coffee I think, still on inverter, let's switch on the coffee machine. Notice the light is green, so it has heated the water and is ready to go.

There is a downside to using the coffee machine, check out the battery monitor while it was heating the water.

However, even though it is not particularly sunny today, this is after about 5 minutes after the inverter was switched off, the batteries are receiving a healthy 2 amp charge.

Hope you find all of this informative

 

[Brakers]

Hope you find all of this informative

I would like to say yes but it's a bit overwhelming, I was going to click useful but as I'm not totaly sure what I'm looking at I clicked Like. I love your set up and hope I can achieve the same or similar. Is that 108Amp on that meter and the batteries still at 12.2 V amazing. I always thought that running things from an inverter was pie in the sky, but you have dispeled that myth.
I'm afraid you might of made a rod for your own back with you showing me this setup, I hope I don't pester you with my sometimes it might seem stupid questions.
I will be studying your set up over the weekend and see if I can understand it more.
Many Thanks Tony

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[DanielFord]

@Brakers yes that is 108 amps discharge whilst running the coffee machine on the heat cycle, and 12.2 volts. When it pours the coffee it drains at about 50 amps. When it finishes the batteries return to about 13 volts (providing they were fully charged).
I too always thought that it would kill the batteries, but the meter has shown that to be false I am happy to say
I see you are in Southampton, our van lives in Dorset, I'd be happy to show you around someday (there's always beer in the fridge and gin in the cupboard ), the downside is you would get slobbered on by an extremely large dog! No rod for my back, ask any questions you like. The only fear I have, I think the electrickery stuff shown here cost around £2,000 installed, but damn it was worth it! I can only give you an estimate, because we also had our roof repaired and a new air conditioning unit fitted all at the same time, so our total bill was monumental!

 

[Brakers]

No, it already had an inverter fitted - 600W pure sine wave, which I've wired to some sockets that we use for recharging various bits and pieces, and operating low wattage gadgets.

Hi Stephen thanks for that, what is the most demanding piece of equipment you run from it?
Best Wishes Tony

 

[Brakers]

I can only give you an estimate, because we also had our roof repaired and a new air conditioning unit fitted all at the same time

Danial that sounds a good offer to me, I might take you up on that even if I’ve already sorted my motorhome out. Your motorhome is where I want mine to be, although mine is older than yours I plan to keep it till I might have problems with my C1 licence being revoked, which is 2023, Air conditioning nice hey, is that because you do a lot of foreign travel and does that run from the inverter or 12v or 240.

So am I correct in thinking that the inverter is wired into the ring main, if motorhomes have a ring main, so it needs a separate consumer unit, also what is a shunt? I like the idea for a separate switch to turn it on does this have an indication when it is switched on and what would happen if you connected to the mains with the inverter switched on?

Many Thanks Tony

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[DanielFord]

Danial that sounds a good offer to me, I might take you up on that even if I’ve already sorted my motorhome out. Your motorhome is where I want mine to be, although mine is older than yours I plan to keep it till I might have problems with my C1 licence being revoked, which is 2023, Air conditioning nice hey, is that because you do a lot of foreign travel and does that run from the inverter or 12v or 240.

Read up on here, the C1 licence isn't an issue provided you take steps in good time to retain it. Lots of folk decide it isn't worth it in the long run. Personally I just can't see myself being happy in a smaller van
The air con is essential for us, we do a lot of foreign travel, but also our dog is a Bernese, and they really do not like the heat, so we have to keep it cool inside for her. The aircon runs fine on the inverter, but you would need at least the power output that we have to run it, they are power hungry beasts. Our unit has an isolator switch so that we can power up the inverter without powering up the 240v on the aircon. The roof panel for the aircon runs 12v so that the lighting will still work.

So am I correct in thinking that the inverter is wired into the ring main, if motorhomes have a ring main, so it needs a separate consumer unit, also what is a shunt? I like the idea for a separate switch to turn it on does this have an indication when it is switched on and what would happen if you connected to the mains with the inverter switched on?

Yes, you are correct, the inverter is wired in to the ring main for the sockets only, so the fridge, hot water and heater will not run from the inverter. I think the second consumer unit was added for extra safety to be honest, it certainly seems like a good idea to me. When the inverter is on, there is a red LED light on that little switch I took a picture of, letting you know it is powered up.
To be honest I have no idea what would happen if you hooked up with the inverter on, I think that is a question the man who fitted it would have to answer, @eddievanbitz what's the answer?
A shunt is a device to measure the voltage drop and current drawn from a circuit, it gives the data to the battery monitor to display the readings. I think I got that right, there is an electronics man on here who will know better than me

 

[Brakers]

@DanielFord Danial loads of very good and interesting info, I myself like the large vehicles but it might not be my choice as my health might determine it. Anyway I'm now going to give my head a rest let the info sink in or leak out as the case may be and get out the brandy and chill out a bit.
Thanks for indulging me.
Speak Soon Best Wishes Tony

 

[eddie]

There is an automatic isolator so you cannot mix mains and inverted power

I often leave my inverter on when my van is on mains as a back up

The NEC show in February for example, England V Ireland, rugby Six Nations and I was working. I have Sky+ in our Motorhome and had set it up to record all the games and was worried that a power cut, or some idiot unplugging us would mess up the recording

Had the mains gone off the transfer switch would react almost immediately, fast enough for the Sky+ box not to notice

Excellent posts BTW Daniel

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[Cavs]

Hi Stephen thanks for that, what is the most demanding piece of equipment you run from it?
Best Wishes Tony

The most demanding thing so far is the electric awning, which is why the inverter was fitted by Frankia.

 

[DanielFord]

The most demanding thing so far is the electric awning, which is why the inverter was fitted by Frankia.

Does that really need 240v? Considering the winches that pull vehicles up onto recovery trucks are 12/24v that seems excessive! I doubt it puts a huge strain on the inverter ;-)

 

[Cavs]

Does that really need 240v? Considering the winches that pull vehicles up onto recovery trucks are 12/24v that seems excessive! I doubt it puts a huge strain on the inverter ;-)

It seems so! It's the same as those supplied for attaching to the side of buildings, and is self supporting (no legs), which was another surprise to me. It would look quite good on the back of the house.

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[Brakers]

There is an automatic isolator so you cannot mix mains and inverted power

Hi Eddie you say you have an automatic isolator is this what you mean
Waeco Mains priority circuit for inverters 2300Watts?
and if so would Danial have one fitted in his setup?
Best Wishes Tony

 

[Brakers]

I see you bought a Waeco MS1812T

Hi Danial Question about your Waeco inverter the ones I've found say (EU) socket, is that what you have and also did you fit a Mains priority circuit like the one below?
Waeco Mains priority circuit for inverters 2300Watts
Also where did you get your Solar panel from and how did you decide which one to buy as there are so many on the market at different price levels?
Many thanks Tony

 

[DanielFord]

Hi Danial Question about your Waeco inverter the ones I've found say (EU) socket, is that what you have and also did you fit a Mains priority circuit like the one below?
Waeco Mains priority circuit for inverters 2300Watts
Also where did you get your Solar panel from and how did you decide which one to buy as there are so many on the market at different price levels?
Many thanks Tony

Hi Tony, the inverter is wired into the mains ring, so the sockets in the van become live when we hit the button. It probably does have a EU socket on the actual unit, but I have no idea
I think the mains priority switch is the thing that @eddievanbitz was talking about, so when you are hooked up with the inverter on, the mains takes priority. Haven't tried it yet, but it sounds logical (in my mind)
Our setup was fitted by Eddie, and our decision was influenced partially by his advice, but more importantly by how much room we had on the roof. Ashley at Van Bitz managed to shoe horn in a 150W panel, with inches to spare in all directions.
We spent many months in conversation with Eddie, deciding on what we would fit. There were many complications along the way (none of which were caused by Eddie I have to say). Suffice to say, we are so happy with what we have ended up with, and we made a couple in the van next to us at the weekend very jealous when we emerged from our van with cappuccinos in the morning

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[Reevsie]

Tony,
We have much the same set us as Daniel, and it was also fitted at Vanbitz.
1800 Waeco Inverter connected so all the sockets work, Aircon Unit and I think it was a DC3 kit so the Aircon will work from 12v whilst we are traveling. I also fitted a BM-2 unit to monitor battery usage. The only thing is I find myself looking at the BM-2 unit every time somebody flicks a switch to see what power it is drawing from the batteries.

I would not be without the inverter and as we wild camp a lot it is used for the microwave, kettle and hairdryer. My batteries are 2 x 100 amp and I have had then down to 40%. But they are the factory fitted ones and even though they are new, I think they are not the best. But I am looking at 2 x 135amp ones in the future if needed.

I would recommend Vanbitz to do all the work if you want it done to a very high standard. They may not be the cheapest, But in this life you get that you pay for. My wife is still waiting for the new kitchen I promised her. But Eddie has now got the money I saved for it.....

 

[Reevsie]

Daniel,

108 AMPS......WOW.

Out microwave, toaster and kettle all switched on at the same time draw 122 amps. Whet the hell is in that machine? Are you sure the rest of the site is not plugged into your motorhome.....

 

[funflair]

Daniel,

108 AMPS......WOW.

Out microwave, toaster and kettle all switched on at the same time draw 122 amps. Whet the hell is in that machine? Are you sure the rest of the site is not plugged into your motorhome.....

By my calculations that about 1400 watts so so you must have a pretty low power consumption kettle and toaster as well as a low power microwave.

Martin

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[Reevsie]

Sorry, I have just re read the message I wrote. It is 142 amps in total. So that is about 1700 watts.
The kettle is 500w Takes ages to boil, but you enjoy the cuppa more as you have waited so long.
The microwave is the one fitted by Swift. I think it is 700w
The toaster is a low wattage one that also takes ages. But quicker than the grill. I think this is about 500W. ( to be honest it just warms up your bread instead of toasting it)

 

[eddie]

I would recommend Vanbitz to do all the work if you want it done to a very high standard. They may not be the cheapest, But in this life you get that you pay for. My wife is still waiting for the new kitchen I promised her. But Eddie has now got the money I saved for it.....

Thank you

Re the money, I no longer have it! My wife wants a new kitchen!