Electric power (1 Viewer)

[Darthnog]

Hi my name is Stephen, I'm 60 and I have just purchased my first motorhome, a 21plate mclouis fusion 360. My first question is about off grid power. The motorhome has a small basic solar set up from factory and instead of beefing it up with larger panels, inverter and batteries that would have to stay with the van, I have been looking at the bluetti ac200L as my off grid power source. Could anyone give advice about how this would plug into the motorhome to act as hook up. I am struggling to find information about how it is done and weather it works this way. I know it has a 30amp socket, but does this enable it to become the power source for everything on the motorhome. Sorry for such a long winded question, I hope it makes sense.

 

[Reallyretired]

Power packs like bluetti and ecoflow can be useful but you still need a way to recharge them and their capacity is limited. Incidentally the ecoflows can be charged much faster than bluettis.
Best not to plug your power pack into the mains inlet on your van as much energy will be wasted charging your onboard batteries and possibly running a 3 way fridge. Best just use it for specific mains needs plugged directly into the power-pack.

 

[MisterB]

Portable power packs have their uses, but I would spend the money on 'beefing up' your installed system. How you do that depends on what you want to power and how long off grid.

As an example, we have a 304ah lithium, 200w of solar on the roof and 120w foldable panel, a 3kw inverter, 60 A B2B. We can stay off grid for around 4 days static or virtually forever if driving BUT during that off grid period we use 240v kettle, microwave, air fryer etc. if you don't want to use those sorts of appliances you might not need to upgrade anything ...... Try it out. If you can last 2 or 3 days on what you have, then you might only need a B2B to quickly top up your battery if your moving locations every couple of days.


Always try what you have before spending because you will find that a piece of string can be long or very long .....there seems to be very few short pieces of string when it comes to adding 'stuff' and spending money on a motorhome.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Best to upgrade to lithium batteries rather than a power bank as thats what they are basically but inside a box with an inverter and sockets, and then see how you get on. You can take the lithium with you if you change vans

 

[f6c]

Welcome aboard

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[ambulancekidd]

 

[oldiesontour]

Another option would be foldable solar panels(with a built in controller.Regardless of batteries size or type they need to have the power used replaced.The bigger capacity will lengthen the time before they have to be charged but that's all.
Foldable can be plugged in to the van only when needed and easily taken from van to van .
Depending on if van has an inverter and if you need 240v off grid this would be another addition (beware 240v appliances running on 12 v tend to be heavy draw.)

 

[starquake]

We got an ecoflow and foldable solar panels. We run fridge on gas, not electric as thats a HUGE draw when on hookup via the ecoflow but the ecoflow units can be used to charge the leisure battery just fine.

The neat thing as mentioned with the ecoflow units is they charge VERY fast, unlike all the rivals (except Anker I think) -> looking at 1 hour for a full recharge of a ecoflow, compared with 4-5 hours for a equivelent blueetti etc, means you can easily take a unit to a friend with a gennie or hookup to recharge to extend off grid time if the solar panels not generating enough for a recharge.

Our ecoflow unit also takes 400w of solar and was very cheap (£600 ish) in amazon sale, the solar controller + inverter (full sine wave at 2.5kw) when you price them up alone as as much as the ecoflow so it was quite economical. It sits behind our TV and runs all our domestic loads other than water pump and heating + lighting which we run off the leisure batterys.

To answer how we plug the van into it, we just use a 13A socket to 16A commando socket, about £9 on amazon, and plug in as we would to a normal campsite socket (the converter turns a 13A domestic socket into a plug socket like on a campsite).

 

[Lenny HB]

Those power banks are OK if you have use for them outside the van but if your intention is just to use it in the van you would be better to upgrade the vans electrics.

 

[TerryL]

Hi and

First advice is don't buy anything - yet! As has already been said try out your existing setup first and then decide what you need later.

There are many solutions but to some extent choosing what you want is all dependant upon how you use your m/h. Are you going to use campsites, and thus have access to electric hookup, in which case your existing system is all you need. Or are you intending to use smaller/wildcamping pitches? Then how long are you going to stay in any one place and what electrical uses do you foresee?

If you're moving about a lot a B2B is IMO the first thing you need as it will charge your batteries as you're going along. (While I'm on the subject don't consider letting the motor idle for long periods to charge as that is very bad, for the engine and of course for the environment - but you weren't gong to do that anyway were you?) With that a second leisure battery or, if you are happy to spend the money, replace with a lithium, bearing in mind you may need to change other things like your battery charger if it doesn't support lithium. Yes, pretty well most of this would stay with the van if/when you sold it but the cost is only a tiny proportion of the other costs you'll inevitably encounter in m/h life!

Personally I'd stay away from inverters; to have one big enough to be a practical asset you'll definitely need to upgrade pretty well everything else. But if your other half insists on hairdryer etc. well......... I only ever use my (small) inverter to charge the laptop, which could be done with a 12v adapter anyway. Most everything else can be charged from a USB port, so make sure you have enough of them, cheap and easy to install.

Got a friend who bought a power pack as he needed reliable 240v power for medical equipment - it was fine for that but pretty useless for anything else. And it still needed a means to recharge it.

And finally PLEASE FORGET portable generators for any number of reasons!

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[Darthnog]

Thank you very much everyone for your help and advice, lots to ponder.

Welcome aboard

Thank you

 

[Darthnog]

Hi and

First advice is don't buy anything - yet! As has already been said try out your existing setup first and then decide what you need later.

There are many solutions but to some extent choosing what you want is all dependant upon how you use your m/h. Are you going to use campsites, and thus have access to electric hookup, in which case your existing system is all you need. Or are you intending to use smaller/wildcamping pitches? Then how long are you going to stay in any one place and what electrical uses do you foresee?

If you're moving about a lot a B2B is IMO the first thing you need as it will charge your batteries as you're going along. (While I'm on the subject don't consider letting the motor idle for long periods to charge as that is very bad, for the engine and of course for the environment - but you weren't gong to do that anyway were you?) With that a second leisure battery or, if you are happy to spend the money, replace with a lithium, bearing in mind you may need to change other things like your battery charger if it doesn't support lithium. Yes, pretty well most of this would stay with the van if/when you sold it but the cost is only a tiny proportion of the other costs you'll inevitably encounter in m/h life!

Personally I'd stay away from inverters; to have one big enough to be a practical asset you'll definitely need to upgrade pretty well everything else. But if your other half insists on hairdryer etc. well......... I only ever use my (small) inverter to charge the laptop, which could be done with a 12v adapter anyway. Most everything else can be charged from a USB port, so make sure you have enough of them, cheap and easy to install.

Got a friend who bought a power pack as he needed reliable 240v power for medical equipment - it was fine for that but pretty useless for anything else. And it still needed a means to recharge it.

And finally PLEASE FORGET portable generators for any number of reasons!

Thanks . It would probably only be for the odd night in between campsites. Laptop, air fryer microwave and kettle are the only things I can think of that will need power, the things I liked about the new bluetti is it has multiple ways of charging, solar and ac at the same time, 12v from van whist driving, 240v and fast charging 80% in 45 mins. And I get to keep it when I get my next van. Although I like the convenience of it all fitted in. Someone mentioned that I could take the lithium with me with is a thought. I don't know . I think I will spend a night or two on the drive and see how things last. I really appreciate the advice.

 

[oldiesontour]

The heating appliances you mention M wave circa 1000w-@ 12v is 135ah.Air fryer 1500w @ 12v is around 200 ah travel kettle 800w @ 12v is 66ah,all very big demands and plus inefficiencies.work out how many ah you will be using ( IE 200ah for 15 minutes =50ah used) the total you come up with should give you an idea of what you need.Bear in mind you should only use max of 50% of your lead acid battery or Upto around 80%if lithium

 

[WillH]

As Terry stated above, go away and try the van, you may find, as we did, your set-up is fine for your needs. You don't really have to have air-fryer, microwave etc every night.

 

[starquake]

Should add we find the inverter battery we have VERY good for runnign the toaster off grid. It's only n for 10 minutes and toast for both of us uses about 10% of the 1kw in our Ecoflow...

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[Lenny HB]

Laptop can be charged with a 12v charger, if only for the odd night not worth the expense. Kettles work fine on gas so is most other cooking.
IMO Microwaves are a waste of time in a van, heavy, use a lot of power & crap at cooking food.
Airfryer is worthwhile if you don't have an oven.

 

[starquake]

Laptop can be charged with a 12v charger, if only for the odd night not worth the expense. Kettles work fine on gas so is most other cooking.
IMO Microwaves are a waste of time in a van, heavy, use a lot of power & crap at cooking food.
Airfryer is worthwhile if you don't have an oven.

Agree on microwaves and airfryer.

The thing we've found is the gas oven is better than our home electric oven, so we prefer that for most cooking. The issue we have limiting our 120A battery (Lead acid so 60A usable) is that the tech can use half of that in a single night with laptop and ipad charging. If it's a cold winters night, we found we were close enough without the additional battery to potentially not have enough to run the truma.

The true test is as everyone says here, try it. The real usecase for us that necessitated an upgrade/ecoflow type solution was offgridding for a weekend in winter.

 

[Lenny HB]

The thing we've found is the gas oven is better than our home electric oven

Blimey you were lucky, not the usual story.

Our new van is due in the next month or two, we decided not to have an oven and have budgeted £3.5k to upgrade the electrics, that's a DIY price just for the bits. We don't do sites so we are off grid most of the time.

 

[Darthnog]

We got an ecoflow and foldable solar panels. We run fridge on gas, not electric as thats a HUGE draw when on hookup via the ecoflow but the ecoflow units can be used to charge the leisure battery just fine.

The neat thing as mentioned with the ecoflow units is they charge VERY fast, unlike all the rivals (except Anker I think) -> looking at 1 hour for a full recharge of a ecoflow, compared with 4-5 hours for a equivelent blueetti etc, means you can easily take a unit to a friend with a gennie or hookup to recharge to extend off grid time if the solar panels not generating enough for a recharge.

Our ecoflow unit also takes 400w of solar and was very cheap (£600 ish) in amazon sale, the solar controller + inverter (full sine wave at 2.5kw) when you price them up alone as as much as the ecoflow so it was quite economical. It sits behind our TV and runs all our domestic loads other than water pump and heating + lighting which we run off the leisure batterys.

To answer how we plug the van into it, we just use a 13A socket to 16A commando socket, about £9 on amazon, and plug in as we would to a normal campsite socket (the converter turns a 13A domestic socket into a plug socket like on a campsite).

Hi, could you please let me have a link or just a picture of the converter lead. Many thanks Steve

 

[starquake]

Hi, could you please let me have a link or just a picture of the converter lead. Many thanks Steve

Powermaster 818738 13A-16A Fly... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003IJI4G2/?tag=mhf04-21

That’s what you need. Connects to a 13a socket and provides a standard hookup socket for your normal hookup connnection cable.


Be warned you should not use your heating at over 2kw on this !

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[Lenny HB]

Powermaster 818738 13A-16A Fly... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003IJI4G2/?tag=mhf04-21

That’s what you need. Connects to a 13a socket and provides a standard hookup socket for your normal hookup connnection cable.


Be warned you should not use your heating at over 2kw on this !

13 amps is 3kw.

 

[starquake]

13 amps is 3kw.

Yes, but as I think we both know a 13A socket isn't rated for a 13A continuous load, things tend to melt as many EV plug chargers have, which is why plugin socket EV chargers are limited to 10A default (or about 2.4kw) max.

And the reason for suggesting not using the heating on 2kw when on a plug is similarly on my van at least the fridge + 12V battery charger when charging are about 400w together, meaning you are beyond 10A continous if you also have the heat on at 2kw.

I mean for us, thats not an issue, as we use a 16A socket in our case, so it's same as hookup at a campsite, but if we were plugging into our Ecoflow we limit our use to 1kw max, as after all the battery only lasts an hour at that demand anyhow!

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes, but as I think we both know a 13A socket isn't rated for a 13A continuous

If it is made to the correct standard it should be.

 

[Bessy765]

We have 700 watts of solar, Victron 12/2000/80 inverter charger and 2 x 100 amp Transporter batteries. We do not have a B2B. This is a Burstner IEXO 736 on a Fiat heavy chassis 2.3150 Comformatic. Since fitted in 2020 we have not used EHU. We have a Dometic CX 35 freezer box running on 12 volt, use a Tassimo Coffee machine and a 700 watt microwave. The Tassimo will draw up to 160 amps but just for a couple of mins, we have it set so we can run the Dometic Fridge/Freezer from the inverter so on ferry crossings we can leave the fridge on (medicine to be kept cold) also a Dometic 2200 freshjet hab air con. We have been motorhoming for over 40 years and pushed the boat out with this one. But the best advice is use it several times to see what you do and don’t need. Motorhomes can be like a boat with a hole in you just keep chucking money at it with possibly no real gain.