Compact sc issues with solar panel - leisure battery - electric fridge

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sally.jeffrey

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Hello, we are having
Hello, we are having endless problems with our leisure battery being unable to run our electric fridge for more than one day off grid even in the full sunshine in Spain. We have had the battery replaced and the whole system checked but it just doesn’t work… I wis the van had been fitted with a duel fuel fridge but electric ones appear to be the way forward in most vans. Any advice or ideas would be wonderful.
Thank you
 
First thing I'd do is measure how much current is leaving the battery and how much is going to the fridge.

DC clamp meters like this are very handy to have 😊

 
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Hello and Welcome.

We’ve got 130w solar panel and two 110 leisure batteries. Not tested them fully but for more help I think you’ll need to tell more about your system. (y)
 
Expensive but seems the answer is to replace the fridge with a three way fridge.
sell the other fridge off. Gas works very well for off grid camping.

but it will for sure have to be fitted by a dealer or workshop as there may only be an electric supply and not gas ect.

i personally can’t see any other option. Apart from not using the fridge.. another battery fitted will not extend the fridges use by more than another day. As you have said.
 
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Excuse me stating the obvious but your solar and battery are undersized for the demand.
It might help if you give details of the solar panel size/output, the capacity and type of your leisure battery, plus the model number of your fridge.

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100 solar 110 battery 3.3 per hour for the fridge. Yes I agree it is underpowered but what I find so strange that Adria put such a set up on the van if it doesn’t work… apart from this the van is perfect. It looks like I will have to get back to the company we purchased it from as we were assured it was set up for a week of off grid use. Thank you for your replies.
 
sally.jeffrey said:
100 solar 110 battery 3.3 per hour for the fridge. Yes I agree it is underpowered but what I find so strange that Adria put such a set up on the van if it doesn’t work… apart from this the van is perfect. It looks like I will have to get back to the company we purchased it from as we were assured it was set up for a week of off grid use. Thank you for your replies.
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When the sun gets higher it will be a lot better. We had a compressor coolbox in Benidorm with a 150w panel and 100ah battery and managed ok in September.
 
If you have a 110 amp battery, you really only have 55 amps available without damaging the battery, thats from a brand new fully charged battery.
 
sally.jeffrey said:
100 solar 110 battery 3.3 per hour for the fridge. Yes I agree it is underpowered but what I find so strange that Adria put such a set up on the van if it doesn’t work… apart from this the van is perfect. It looks like I will have to get back to the company we purchased it from as we were assured it was set up for a week of off grid use. Thank you for your replies.
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Manufacturers expect you to use sites and plug in as that's what a lot of their customers do.

You need to at least double your battery capacity and fit another 200 watts of solar then you should be OK.

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It might sound daft try turning up the fridge temp, so the compressor doesn’t have to work so hard.
 
sally.jeffrey said:
Hello, we are having endless problems with our leisure battery being unable to run our electric fridge for more than one day off grid even in the full sunshine in Spain. We have had the battery replaced and the whole system checked but it just doesn’t work… I wis the van had been fitted with a duel fuel fridge but electric ones appear to be the way forward in most vans. Any advice or ideas would be wonderful.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Sadly they are not the way forward, fitted to cut costs and installation time! Developed and used originally where gas isn't favoured, smaller boats and yachts

The sad thing is in hotter climes where solar would be more efficient the harder the fridge is working in the higher ambient temperature
 
Thank you to everyone, I feel I understand our situation so much better now. I will have a look into all the suggestions. Also has anyone used a lithium battery?
S
 
sally.jeffrey said:
Thank you🤞
Click to expand...

Do a search on here and you’ll find great information. Before buying our van (which is our first), most of the extras bolted on were as a result of information on here. (y)

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sally.jeffrey said:
Thank you to everyone, I feel I understand our situation so much better now. I will have a look into all the suggestions. Also has anyone used a lithium battery?
S
Click to expand...
The bloke who answered you above fits them. Vanbitz. (y)
 
With any battery you can only get out what you put in. Lithium score in if you have the means to charge them they can be charged up very quickly and will give out a constant voltage till they are almost flat. Little things that may help you at the moment, try parking the van with the fridge away from the sun, only open the windows on the side away from the sun and if you can put the blinds down on any window facing the sun
 
We also have an Adria Compact SC but we haven’t had it long enough to know how long the leisure battery will last.
I will however be fitting a second battery within the next few weeks as I have anticipated that this will be an issue.
Also note that Adria are now fitting two leisure batteries to the 2022 models. As others have already said, you need to increase your battery/solar capacity.

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