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I have a Benimar Europe 6000 ST. My previous MH was a 1990 Autoquest van.
The Autoquest had a switch to select Leisure or Vehicle, nice and simple.
My Benimar does not seem to have any such switch. But a panel where it displays the separate Leisure and Vehicle voltage / charge reading(as %). Thats straightforward enough.
When I am on battery only the current seems to come from both batteries. Virtually both batteries discharge equally. Which is great, as I get twice the AHC. :thumb:
But last month, I ran the batteries a wee bit too low and had to get a jump from a fellow MH'er. A part of me was testing to see how much usage I would get from the batteries. Clearly I pushed it too far oh:
The question is and it might be a Benimar specifc or not. How do I limit the use on the vehicle battery. Yes I could disconnect it. But clearly I want to maximise my useage without totally draining the vehicle battery.
I thought I could have the Vehicle battery voltage constantly displayed and at certain voltage I go for a drive or down the current hungry things in the MH. Yes I have a solar panel wich gives me 3 - 3.5 amps on a nice sunny spring day with the sun over head. So I assume the panel is 60w - 80w type. Might give more in Summer.
Is there some button, switch which I havent yet found on the MH(only had 2 months) that will resolve this matter. Is there some device I can buy which will do the job?
One finally thing, how low should I let my Vehicle battery go before I have to bump. Clearly the open cct voltage and the voltage on the display are going to be different to I will have reconcile the two voltages.
But have worked out a 50% reading(12v) which is display voltage is ok as it turns over the 2.8 JTD engine.
Dave
The Autoquest had a switch to select Leisure or Vehicle, nice and simple.
My Benimar does not seem to have any such switch. But a panel where it displays the separate Leisure and Vehicle voltage / charge reading(as %). Thats straightforward enough.
When I am on battery only the current seems to come from both batteries. Virtually both batteries discharge equally. Which is great, as I get twice the AHC. :thumb:
But last month, I ran the batteries a wee bit too low and had to get a jump from a fellow MH'er. A part of me was testing to see how much usage I would get from the batteries. Clearly I pushed it too far oh:
The question is and it might be a Benimar specifc or not. How do I limit the use on the vehicle battery. Yes I could disconnect it. But clearly I want to maximise my useage without totally draining the vehicle battery.
I thought I could have the Vehicle battery voltage constantly displayed and at certain voltage I go for a drive or down the current hungry things in the MH. Yes I have a solar panel wich gives me 3 - 3.5 amps on a nice sunny spring day with the sun over head. So I assume the panel is 60w - 80w type. Might give more in Summer.
Is there some button, switch which I havent yet found on the MH(only had 2 months) that will resolve this matter. Is there some device I can buy which will do the job?
One finally thing, how low should I let my Vehicle battery go before I have to bump. Clearly the open cct voltage and the voltage on the display are going to be different to I will have reconcile the two voltages.
But have worked out a 50% reading(12v) which is display voltage is ok as it turns over the 2.8 JTD engine.
Dave