1800W invertor generator

you could yes, but there are better ways to charge your leisure battery, it all depends on the circumstances on how you are using your motorhome, where and when?

if you posy a likely scenario, then i am sure people will offer their opinions and options, so you will get a much broader view on the oprions,
 
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Thanks MisterB.
we had a VW camper with 300W of solar and 2 leisure batteries, it was fine for 4-5 days offgrid
Now have a new Chausson with 250W of solar but only 1 battery, but it's is down to 12w after 2 days, was looking for a route to support the solar
Cheers
 
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you dont say how big your current single battery is, but have you considered a lithium battery, if youre going to keep the motorhome, then its a worthwhile investment though it is a big chunk of money. if youre going to be moving around and staying off grid then a B2B is also a good investment as would be more solar if possible. from my understanding, a simple rule of thumb would suggest that a lithium battery the same size as your current battery should give you almost twice as much time off grid, double the size should give you almost four times as much time off grid (VERY ROUGH CALCULATION !!!!!)

as regards the generator, if youre away from everyone else then its an option, but more to carry and set up. it might be better to spend the money on a min of 280ah lithium

lots of threads on benefits (and cost!) of lithium set ups on the forum. a few people still swear by their agm batteries, so dont discount that option but for me if youre going to change your batteries then lithium seems to be a decent option.
 
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Better off and cheaper to get a second battery installed or get a lithium.

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I did ask the dealer when we bought it , was told that there's no space for a second battery, and they refused to fit a lithium battery.
They fitted a C20-82Ah battery, which they told me was an upgrade, me thinks I've been told bollocks ☹️
 
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I did ask the dealer when we bought it , was told that there's no space for a second battery, and they refused to fit a lithium battery.
They fitted a C20-82Ah battery, which they told me was an upgrade, me thinks I've been told bollocks ☹️
Yep sounds like dealer BS.
 
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I did ask the dealer when we bought it , was told that there's no space for a second battery, and they refused to fit a lithium battery.
They fitted a C20-82Ah battery, which they told me was an upgrade, me thinks I've been told bollocks ☹️
Hope they didn't charge you for it! If a second one can't be fitted then lithium is definitely the way to go.
 
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Think you’ll need to plan park ups very carefully, as the quickest way to be antisocial and p off the neighbours, is to fire up a genny, no matter how good, quiet or enclosed they are, especially if people have paid a kings ransom on a pitch as is the case these days.

Good luck with whichever way you go.
 
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I did ask the dealer when we bought it , was told that there's no space for a second battery, and they refused to fit a lithium battery.
They fitted a C20-82Ah battery, which they told me was an upgrade, me thinks I've been told bollocks ☹️
I'm another one that doesn't believe that they couldn't fit another battery, I think what they really meant was it's not easy peasy so we can't be ar bothered. Find some space and put a decent amount of Lithium and you will be fine ;) forget the noisy smelly generator. Two days on a 82ah battery you are doing really well as you have to remember that down to 12v is just under 50% capacity (but time to stop all the same) 200ah of Lithium would give you 3 or 4 times the capacity.

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I did ask the dealer when we bought it , was told that there's no space for a second battery, and they refused to fit a lithium battery.
They fitted a C20-82Ah battery, which they told me was an upgrade, me thinks I've been told bollocks ☹️
time to get your tape measure out ..... you might find somewhere to fit a much bigger battery, but it might involve additional wiring, BUT dont be put off - take a look at lithium battery suppliers, they usually state the dimensions of each battery, so its not difficult to find a size that will fit in the space available.

is it a lead acid battery, GEL or AGM? when you speak to the lithium supplier make sure you know the model of the in built charger so they can check to see if the charging profile will match a lithium (i think most are although might need to be set to lead acid) but it doesnt hurt to ask.

a single 82ah for a motorhome is a nonsense in my opinion -
 
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Thanks all, guess I'll need to get an auto spark involved, lithium sounds like the way to go, but once the conversation turns technical I'm lost.
Give me a hammer and I can do it, but I'm told things like "controllers", what ever they are, don't like hammers.
 
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Thanks all, guess I'll need to get an auto spark involved, lithium sounds like the way to go, but once the conversation turns technical I'm lost.
Give me a hammer and I can do it, but I'm told things like "controllers", what ever they are, don't like hammers.
I'm a bit of a hammer basher as well so I try to break things down into a way I can understand, the solar panel makes more volts than the battery can cope with, think of it as a bit too much pressure so you need something to reduce and regulate the pressure to a level the battery can cope with, that is the "controller" or "regulator" you can get fancy MPPT controllers that are better so of course they are more money, but worth it ;) the important bit though is that the controller can regulate the voltage and charge cycle to suit your battery so if you are going Lithium at some point the solar charge regulator/controller needs a Lithium profile. Even if I am not doing the job myself I like to know what the other person is doing so need to know the questions to ask.
 
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Thanks, attached is the installed controller, can a lithium just be put in with this ?

IMG_20230218_135359808.jpg

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If you are considering a lithium battery, you need to look at how the leisure battery is charged by the engine/alternator while the engine is running.

The traditional method is to have an electrically operated switch (called a relay) that connects the leisure battery directly to the starter battery when the engine is running, so that the alternator can charge both batteries. When the engine stops, the relay switches off, and the batteries are separate again.

That method is fine if the leisure battery is more or less the same type as the starter battery. However if it's a lithium battery there are a number of problems. The answer is to scrap the relay, and fit a proper battery charger that is powered by the alternator. It's called a Battery-to-Battery (B2B) charger, also called a boost charger or DC-DC charger.

The newer motorhome models which have a smart alternator will already have a B2B fitted, because the smart alternator doesn't fully charge a leisure battery using the relay method. So the year of the motorhome is important.

A B2B charger is a good idea for any motorhome, a correctly chosen one charges the leisure batteries much faster than the relay method. It is essential for smart alternators and lithium batteries.
 
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The Victron MPPT 100/20 Smart Solar Controller is a first-rate controller that is exactly what you need for charging a lithium battery.

The 'Smart' bit means it has built-in Bluetooth, and can be linked to an app on your phone, so you can change the settings to the correct battery type, such as lithium. The app will also tell you how much solar power is being generated, and even the history over the previous days if you want.
 
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Thanks, attached is the installed controller, can a lithium just be put in with this ?

View attachment 723539
Yes that should be good for Lithium, you will/should have an app on your phone that you can see how many amps it's giving etc etc, you will need to use this and set the controller to Lithium.
 
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Motorhome was new in October 2022, so should have B2B fitted, but I've no idea what it looks like ....... or even where to look for it.

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The big slipper just to give you another option besides lithium.
Your present 82AH battery gives you about 41amps of usable power.
A lead carbon leisure battery of the same AH's would give you about 66 amps of useable power or about 66% more as they can be discharged lower.
A single 110AH lead carbon would give you about 88 amps of useable power.
If your previous set up was 2x90AH lead acids then the single lead carbon would give you about the same amount useable power.
Lead carbons are much cheaper than lithium costing about £170 for a 110AH battery and use the same charge profile as a lead acid battery so no need to alter charging methods.
 
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Motorhome was new in October 2022, so should have B2B fitted, but I've no idea what it looks like ....... or even where to look for it.
This is Victron's version of a B2B, they call it a DC-DC charger. One wire to the starter battery, one to the leisure battery and one to the common negative.
 
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Thanks everyone for your replies, plenty for me to consider and need to look into before doing my usual and jumping in feet first.,
Cheers 🍻
 
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