Advice on battery and solar power (1 Viewer)

[Jac Sprat]

We have finally made it back home after a six month trip and are enjoying the Brit Stop hospitality of The Flying Horse off the shuttle.
Our batteries are dead this morning and having inadvertently let them deep discharge twice on our trip I assume we need new ones.
All round Europe the solar panel has struggled to deliver enough power to top up properly and we'd like to have it replaced or updated or add an additional . We think it's been on for 4-5 years.
Any thoughts on what we need and where we can have it done from Norwich? We have reservations about Simpsons in Yarmouth having had experience of one botch job from them. Becks didn't seem too interested in helping us when they realised we hadn't bought the van from them but I could try again. We are happy to travel further afield if necessary.
Any advice appreciated.

 

[Boringfrog]

What size panel do you currently have, are you "power hungry"?

 

[Lenny HB]

Would help if you told us the current set up, size of batteries & panels and type of regulator. An upgrage could be an easy diy job and if you don't want to do it yourself with some advice you would know what you need to get done.

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[andy63]

Hi.. you will have to give a few more details on your set up ..
Ie battery bank capacity,what solar you have now , have an idea of your usage to know how much you need replacing on a daily basis...
Your existing batteries may be damaged.. it depends on how long they were left fully discharged and whether you were ever able to bring them back to fully charged... best get them load tested before deciding...
Andy.

 

[Armytwowheels]

Hi Jackie

I doubt it is your solar panel that is the problem, more likely your batteries and or wiring. Having said that you need to make sure that there is nothing shading the panel, even a shade print the size of a hand will effect the panels performance. Do you have a tv aerial on the roof near the panel, or satellite dish? It really doesn't take much shade to cause a problem.

Perhaps post a few photos of your roof, batteries and controller on here and I am sure help will be forthcoming. At least you will be armed with more info before setting off to a dealer.

 

[Jac Sprat]

Thanks. We are newbies and untechy so don't really know where to look for the answers.
Our usage is normal phones kindles for two people lights TV warm air bursts occasionally. Usual stuff I'd say nothing extra.
We'll certainly get them tested.
Can any moho dealership fix solar power panels ?

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[Armytwowheels]

Just another thought - before leaving Kent you could call in to @Johns_Cross_Motorhomes for some advice and maybe a quote.

 

[Jac Sprat]

Hi Jackie

I doubt it is your solar panel that is the problem, more likely your batteries and or wiring. Having said that you need to make sure that there is nothing shading the panel, even a shade print the size of a hand will effect the panels performance. Do you have a tv aerial on the roof near the panel, or satellite dish? It really doesn't take much shade to cause a problem.

Perhaps post a few photos of your roof, batteries and controller on here and I am sure help will be forthcoming. At least you will be armed with more info before setting off to a dealer.

Thanks Amy we can try. Through the skylight? Can't get on the roof. I am accident prone and husband has Parkinson's so I'm not letting him up!

 

[Armytwowheels]

Can any moho dealership fix solar power panels ?

Any motorhome dealer will say they can but do your research first, you could be wasting money on new panels if that's not the problem. Your existing panel might be fine, you could probably do with another one, it's not as simple as that, you need to make sure your controller is the right one etc.

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[Armytwowheels]

Thanks Amy we can try. Through the skylight? Can't get on the roof. I am accident prone and husband has Parkinson's so I'm not letting him up!

Or park near a bank or set of stairs.

 

[Jac Sprat]

When we are at home we can take it out of the window. Thanks.
Won't we need to clean the roof anyway?? It's just occurred to us.

 

[Jac Sprat]

We were told by someone who knew about it that an extra solar panel would benefit us hugely and also the guy who sold it to us said the same so I think we will need one but I take your point about the shade.
It did manage a seven day festival wild camping last may though...

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[Jac Sprat]

Just another thought - before leaving Kent you could call in to @Johns_Cross_Motorhomes for some advice and maybe a quote.

Thanks for this suggestion Amy but we are tied into a schedule so I think we'll just get advice when we get home .

 

[The Wino]

How about a specialost in fittin extras rather than a motorhome dealer eg vanbitz

 

[Madeinengland]

There is Broadland leisure vehicles in Acle http://www.leisure-vehicles.com/ who we found very good with repairs to our van. They maybe able to help with advice.

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[WhiteCheyenneMan]

Just another thought - before leaving Kent you could call in to @Johns_Cross_Motorhomes for some advice and maybe a quote.

You'll have to leave Kent if you want to go to John's Cross in Sussex

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

We are on the A21, easy to find TN32 5JJ

Peter

 

[MR. FUSION]

When we are at home we can take it out of the window. Thanks.
Won't we need to clean the roof anyway?? It's just occurred to us.

Yes, You most certainly need to regularly inspect & clean the solar panel (if you haven't I wasn't sure??) I do mine every couple of days when out (through the main skylight with a long window washer thing). Bird muck and general detritus and particularly things like tree sap (camping under trees, the continental way!! ) quickly builds up reducing the output. If you haven't cleaned it for a long time the problem could well be there. My friend who has a MH had green slime on hers as it nor the roof had been cleaned for over a year

Mine has been in storage for only 4 months and the freshly cleaned roof and panel when put in was thick with some sort of 'stuff' when I got it out

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[suavecarve]

Detritus, "Word of the week"

@campa cola

 

[hilldweller]

Won't we need to clean the roof anyway?? It's just occurred to us.

If your panel is dirty that will really kill it.

 

[sweetie]

We have finally made it back home after a six month trip and are enjoying the Brit Stop hospitality of The Flying Horse off the shuttle.
Our batteries are dead this morning and having inadvertently let them deep discharge twice on our trip I assume we need new ones.
All round Europe the solar panel has struggled to deliver enough power to top up properly and we'd like to have it replaced or updated or add an additional . We think it's been on for 4-5 years.
Any thoughts on what we need and where we can have it done from Norwich? We have reservations about Simpsons in Yarmouth having had experience of one botch job from them. Becks didn't seem too interested in helping us when they realised we hadn't bought the van from them but I could try again. We are happy to travel further afield if necessary.
Any advice appreciated.

Pleased you are safely home.
For panels you could try. Solar energy alliance Lowestoft.
Broadland leisure vehicles or MandG leisure norwich

Steve

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[TheBig1]

Not going into the science part because it may confuse. As a rule of thumb you need at least 1 x 100watt solar panel for each 100ah leisure battery fitted, but more is better. And as said, the glass on top of the solar panel needs to be kept clean to work properly. Oh and avoid always parking in the shade as solar panels need BRIGHT sunlight

 

[The Dudess]

but more is better

Is that more solar panels or more batteries?

 

[TheBig1]

Is that more solar panels or more batteries?

in context of my reply, it meant more than 100watts of solar per 100ah battery is better. however if payload allows, more batteries too would be better

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[Jac Sprat]

I heard back from the previous owner and tvis is what is fitted:
We have the Shaudt controller and regulator and currently 2 x 110amp batteries and a 130w Solar panel.

 

[WhiteCheyenneMan]

in context of my reply, it meant more than 100watts of solar per 100ah battery is better. however if payload allows, more batteries too would be better

If two batteries can take up to 10 x longer to charge than one battery, how long does it take to charge 3 or 4 batteries?

 

[Eddystone]

If two batteries can take up to 10 x longer to charge than one battery, how long does it take to charge 3 or 4 batteries?

You only need to replace the charge taken from the batteries. The larger the bank the lower the amount taken from each. Problems occur when a small capacity is discharged to 50%

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[JeanLuc]

I heard back from the previous owner and tvis is what is fitted:
We have the Shaudt controller and regulator and currently 2 x 110amp batteries and a 130w Solar panel.

I have a 2003 B630 Star-line fitted with EBL 99, 2x90 Ah batteries (used to be 2x110) Schaudt LR1218 controller and a 135 watt solar panel (Kyocera). From April to mid-October we have never needed hookup apart from one time when the last batteries were starting to fail. We use aires extensively, sometimes exclusively over 4-6 weeks.
At this time of year in Southern Europe with your setup, I would expect to need a hookup for 24 hours perhaps every other week to keep the batteries in good condition. The solar panel will not keep them fully charged until the sun is higher in the sky, next month onwards.

 

[Jac Sprat]

The previous owner suggested i needed a third leisure battery rather than an additional solar panel .
Any thoughts on that?

 

[andy63]

If two batteries can take up to 10 x longer to charge than one battery, how long does it take to charge 3 or 4 batteries?

Where does that come from... ? However many batteries you have paralled you have to put back what you have taken out +, but it doesn't take 10 times longer to charge just because you add a second battery.... or am I missing something.
Andy.

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