EFOY

[haganap]

any reviews from owners?

The good the bad and the indifferent.

Got one lined up, but getting some grief over the costs of use etc.

 

[eddie]

Hi Paul

We used to sell them, but we stopped as getting the fuel was hard, and getting it to our customers was even worse.

Only certain hauliers are have a licence to carry Methanol, and the ones that do (did) were commercial so would deliver to private addresses.

Also, I really suggest you check with you insurers and get in writing how much spare methanol they will allow you to carry.

Insurance was One of the main reasons we gave up the agency, as people were wanting to bulk buy the methanol from us to take with them, but we knew that most insurers had told us that they would accept the same amount as say Petrol, so five litres

People were collecting a couple of 4 x 10ltr boxes

Van Bitz in 2003 had the first EFOY in the Country at the Peterborough show so are /were big EFOY fans

 

[funflair]

Hi Paul

We have EFOY in the Flair and for what I wanted it for it's absolutely perfect so to elaborate a little I wanted to keep the batteries especially the starter battery charged while the van was stored under cover so no solar or EHU, I fitted a Vanbitz battery masters to keep the starter battery topped up at the expense of the habitation batteries, I then set the EFOY that was connected to the habitation to automatically switch on at 12.2v which would also mean 12.2v on the starter battery and I knew the van would start OK at that voltage.

Other than that I have used the EFOY very occasionally when we have been away and there has been no solar but to buy it for that would have been a waste of money for us.

PRO's

quiet (dont put it right under your wife's head in bed though), fully automatic, simple to install and set up your chosen parameters,

CON's

expensive to run,

We have had no problem with getting fuel I do get it delivered to a business but I believe they would be OK to home as long as they can confirm access for their truck, yes it's a hazardous delivery but that's what they do all day so no issues, likewise no issues with insurance.

Martin

 

[bobandjanie]

Many years ago, we put methanol in lorry braking systems to stop them freezing and would buy it in 25 litre drums, lorries then progressed to air dryers so not needed. ?
One guy falkes night the bonfire was wet, and after many attempts to light it, ? I said hang on a minute I have a drum of methanol in our stable that will get it going ................... ? Suffolk was almost removed from the map. ? Bob.

 

[jongood]

Have you solved your battery issue Paul?

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[Theonlysue]

Can you take the fuel onto the channel train??

 

[Theonlysue]

Sundowners didn't you have this??

 

[dulvil]

I agree with funflair, great bit of kit. Had one for about 8 years and no prob. With getting it delivered to a business address

 

[Pausim]

We are really pleased with our Efoy. We intend to pick the fuel up from Fuel Cells at Newbury where they keep it in stock but so far have used much less than we expected. They will ship it to your home but it adds to the cost. I raised the insurance issue with NFU and volunteered information about the fuel and how it was stored/attached. The NFU technical underwriters looked at it and came back with an ok.

 

[Red Dragon]

Hi Paul another thumbs up for Efoy but only as a back-up charging system, that most certainly comes into its own when on ski trips when no EHU but not as a general charging system to expensive and as funflair says fit and forget.

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[Mr Ed]

"Suffolk was almost removed from the map"

 

[Clarky]

"Suffolk was almost removed from the map"

Steady on there Mr Ed.

Richard.

 

[haganap]

Have you solved your battery issue Paul?

appears so....... I think the issue was as I suspected. The cab battery was being dragged down by the 2nd battery bank via the B2B... This could only occur due to the B2B being faulty as it shouldn't allow that to happen. I fully charged the batteries indoors and within 1 day one of the leisure batteries has gone from 14v to 11.9 without any load on it.

Interestingly though, something I found out whilst reading the N&B book....
The charging system is actually 70 amp rated from the engine. Therefore it throws more in than what the B2B does anyway.....

 

[busbuddy]

the methanol we have at work is delivered to us by fedex (i think), the methanol for my race car used to be delivered in bulk by haulier to my home
at last years drivers agm we were warned that they were trying to reclass methanol to an explosive rather than flammable/toxic, dont know what happened about it because i retired from racing

 

[Pausim]

The important factor with the Efoy system is that the tough fuel cartridges are tested and at no time does the user get exposed to the methanol. I guess this is part of the reason why it seems an expensive way to buy pure methanol.

Efoy uses methanol which is said to be less flammable than petrol or lpg. Basically they are all dangerous if wrongly handled but safe enough if used properly.

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[Gaston aires]

"Suffolk was almost removed from the map"

Do I infer from this some kind of rivalry between the two counties ?
Never knew that ! Oo ahrrr.
Phil

 

[Mel]

Hi Paul
We had it new on the last two Motorhomes.
For me it was great.
Here in Belgium most good camping shops stock it

Mel

 

[Mr Ed]

Do I infer from this some kind of rivalry between the two counties ?
Never knew that ! Oo ahrrr.
Phil

Nooooooooooooo!!!!

 

[ChrisL]

Efoy uses methanol which is said to be less flammable than petrol or lpg. Basically they are all dangerous if wrongly handled but safe enough if used properly.

I think the most dangerous aspect of methanol is it's almost impossible to see that it's on fire in daylight, the first you will know about it is if you're actually being burnt or it has already set alight to something else, check out the link to see what I mean.



For more information on Methanol see this link

 

[george w menzies]

i used methanol when i raced grass track sidecars its a slow burn you could drop a match in it and it will go out it burns cold it worst trait is when it burns you can't really see a flame in day light.
we had no problem with insurance transporting it.

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[Pausim]

Perhaps that is why Efoy use sealed cartridges that keep you away from the methanol.

 

[Mr Mousy]

We’ve had Efoy on both of our vans. It’s a great system and has worked well for us. No problem buying the sealed methanol bottles, although it’s slightly annoying that our installation will only fit the smaller cassette.

 

[Littlewheels]

I have it and wouldn’t be without it for all the positive reasons stated in the above posts,however,it’s worth noting that it’s not good to nurse the use of the Methanol as some might do because of it being expensive as it degenerates over time which reduces its capabilities and damages the Efoy unit itself.

 

[Jaws]

Everyone keeps mentioning it is expensive, and a search on line just brings up 'ring for details'
Is it a secret or can someone tell what the actual cost of the fuel is and how long it lasts ( litres per hour ? )

 

[ChrisL]

If my memory serves me correctly it is around £100 for two 10 litre cartridges and around £70 ish for two 5 litre ones, someone who actually has one may be able to correct me on that. Regarding consumption that would depend on how flat your batteries get over a period of time how often you're on hook up, whether you have solar as well etc. but I think if your van is laid up over winter on the frost control setting where it turns it's self on when the temperature drops below a predefined limit and there is no other load on the batteries and they are healthy, one cartridge would last around 5 months, I believe that's what I read when I was looking at possibly getting one, I don't know the consumption in terms of volume over time but I would think it would be measured in ml/hour.

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[olley]

Fuel Cell Systems

Shop high-quality methanol fuel for EFOY fuel cells. Available in various sizes, ensuring reliable and clean power for your off-grid applications.

www.fuelcellsystems.co.uk

Shipping is £50 to UK address

 

[tonyidle]

Interestingly though, something I found out whilst reading the N&B book....
The charging system is actually 70 amp rated from the engine. Therefore it throws more in than what the B2B does anyway.....

You'll still get more using the B2B. Most alternators these days are capable of more than 70A but the charge tapers off as the starter battery voltage rises. The B2B ignores that rise in much the same way as a smart charger does and continues a high charge long enough to ensure the hab battery is fully charged.

 

[funflair]

You'll still get more using the B2B. Most alternators these days are capable of more than 70A but the charge tapers off as the starter battery voltage rises. The B2B ignores that rise in much the same way as a smart charger does and continues a high charge long enough to ensure the hab battery is fully charged.

Completely different option.

Martin

 

[tonyidle]

Completely different option.

Martin

I'm aware of that. I quoted and was responding to haganap s post.

 

[Pausim]

Everyone keeps mentioning it is expensive, and a search on line just brings up 'ring for details'
Is it a secret or can someone tell what the actual cost of the fuel is and how long it lasts ( litres per hour ? )

2x10l (20 litres) £98.40 if you pick it up from Fuel Cell Systems but more if you have it delivered. Fuel consumption is 0.9 litres per kilowatt hour, which equates to 77Ah at 13V. I generally use between 30 Ah and 40Ah per day for general running including running my CPAP all night. I use about 0.5l each day to keep the battery fully charged when off grid, this fits with the calculations above. In cost terms this is about £2.50 a day which is probably less than a site ehu costs.

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