Fridge Doesn't Run on Gas! Leisure Battery help

[on the hook]

Get shot of your current battery, replace with a new lithium. You can't really mix battery chemistrys safely. a 105Ah AGM is only drawable by 50% so it's 50Ah in reality, where a 100Ah lithium you can take down to 5%, so 100Ah.

Personally I'd swap for a 200Ah lithium, and increase your solar on roof -> that should give you about 4 days off grid with no sun, and if you in summer, a 100Ah would do you plenty. 200Ah lithium is in reality equivalent to 4 of your AGM batterys and will probably be the same weight and size roughly (you do need to order a battery to suit the size of your leisure battery compartment).

You will probbaly want to add a B2B charger, and if not comfortable doing yourself, Off Grid Power (advertise here) and Vanbitz would both do this.

And it's not Baileys faullt -> most of their vans are not really built for off-grid - most motorhoming for Baileys is EHU socket to another EHU site. We have had to suppliement our own Bailey to allow off gridding but the positive is the sites are MILES cheaper (as in £10 - 20 max a night) if you want a campsite (wihtout any electric), or free if you use a parkup.

Thanks, I see it makes sense what you say about not off grid Mhoming for Bailey, the other thing that got me was the water fill was direct to tap only, no pump for the Aquaroll! I have one and so it’s ok.
Baileys are cheaper to buy vans but I never realised these little short falls, anyway it’s all good and I am happy to be back in a van even if it’s not like my Kontiki 675 but it was 40k cheaper I suppose.
Thanks again.

 

[Jabstatt]

I suggest you save the cost of calls to Bailey.

They won’t tell you anything other than to go to a dealer!

Tony

 

[PlacidoD]

Get shot of your current battery, replace with a new lithium. You can't really mix battery chemistrys safely. a 105Ah AGM is only drawable by 50% so it's 50Ah in reality, where a 100Ah lithium you can take down to 5%, so 100Ah.

Just wanted to correct the record re the above:
Hymer, Dethleffs and a few other manufacturers combine AGM and lithium together as standard or add-on packages. I cannot immediately find a link to the set up but read that it works well even if a little expensive.
And autorouter has already commented that you can take AGM down to 20% discharge. He has way more experience than me so I would not wish to disagree!!

 

[on the hook]

So I have asked 3 different companies for quotes to convert my van to Lithium, I am not sure I feel so comfortable to do it myself as it seems very involved looking at the list of parts that need to be supplied, so far supply and fit is looking £2200 from Van Junkies, still waiting for another 2 quotes but these guys feel comfortable so once again thank you all for all the advice.

 

[Ingwe]

So I have asked 3 different companies for quotes to convert my van to Lithium, I am not sure I feel so comfortable to do it myself as it seems very involved looking at the list of parts that need to be supplied, so far supply and fit is looking £2200 from Van Junkies, still waiting for another 2 quotes but these guys feel comfortable so once again thank you all for all the advice.

Oak Tree fitted our lithium batteries, and associated Victron gear to our 2013 Bailey. Given the fall in lithium battery prices, it would cost us less now! They were very good too with explanations and post-fitting support.
Here is a link to Ecotree and their fitters. Should be something near you.

Our Suppliers

Great resource of Installers and System Designers which specialise in Lithium LiFePO4 battery systems and supporting electronics.

ecotreelithium.co.uk

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[Richard n Ann]

So I have asked 3 different companies for quotes to convert my van to Lithium, I am not sure I feel so comfortable to do it myself as it seems very involved looking at the list of parts that need to be supplied, so far supply and fit is looking £2200 from Van Junkies, still waiting for another 2 quotes but these guys feel comfortable so once again thank you all for all the advice.

Thanks for this, I feel better about my purchases now, currently at £415.
Making my own crimps out of air conditioning copper pipe will save another bill...

I'm going to solder them on

 

[sedge]

Just one comment since nobody else has mentioned it so far on the hook mentioned he 'didn't know how far up the fridge was turned when Bailey did their calculations.'

Well - thing is, certainly the 3 way fridge/freezers should only be run on a setting of an average of 2, set it much higher and this leads to problems. (Fairly obviously we had those probs, only previously being accustomed to the operation of the 'gas only' fridges in our elderly caravans and freestanding camping ones!) But of course, never having had a compressor fridge, optimum setting level might well be different.

 

[CAB96]

So I have asked 3 different companies for quotes to convert my van to Lithium, I am not sure I feel so comfortable to do it myself as it seems very involved looking at the list of parts that need to be supplied, so far supply and fit is looking £2200 from Van Junkies, still waiting for another 2 quotes but these guys feel comfortable so once again thank you all for all the advice.

Have you tried Offgrid Power Solutions? Recommended by many on here.

Offgrid Power Solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions We are specialists in LiFePO4 batteries & Victron Energy systems. We’re here to help build the best offgrid electrical systems so you can focus on your adventure without stressing about how much power you have left! Get in touch with us about how we can help

offgridpower.solutions

 

[CAB96]

Following as we're in the same situation... Though previous owner already fried the LA batteries (probably using the fridge ) so we have to change regardless. PVC with 3 rooflights, so solar real-estate is our biggest issue. Any recommendations for solar/LiFePo installers between East Midlands and W London much appreciated.

As above, well reviewed and based near Wantage.

Offgrid Power Solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions We are specialists in LiFePO4 batteries & Victron Energy systems. We’re here to help build the best offgrid electrical systems so you can focus on your adventure without stressing about how much power you have left! Get in touch with us about how we can help

offgridpower.solutions

 

[autorouter]

My Battery is under the passenger seat, I doubt if room for another battery to strap together but if there is it might give me a longer life I guess, i could also bolt the second 110 battery under my rear lounge seat and connect the two, if someone could advise me please the best way to do this, the distance between the two batteries would be approx between 80cm and 120cm maybe a bit less run of cables. ? Just literally connect pos to pos neg to neg with fuses on both sides for safety?

Connecting two batteries together in parallel (pos to pos,neg to neg) is fine. Because they are not right next to each other, it's a good idea to have a fuse on both ends of the positive link wire, and make sure the wire is thick enough. If you're not using an inverter for 240V use, you can use maybe 16mm² wire. It may be convenient to use MRBF fuses like these, which go very near the battery terminals.

Blue Sea Systems MRBF Terminal Fuses

Space saving MRBF fuses for high current circuits such as main battery feed, inverter, windlass, bow thruster, etc. 30-300A ratings & high interrupt capacity.

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

with a fuse holder that is a battery terminal,maybe one of these:

Battery Terminal (Cube) Fuses | 12 Volt Planet

Cube fuses with ceramic insulator that fit directly to your battery post using a special terminal clamp - maximum protection for your auto/marine circuits.

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

The terminal fuses can be quite substantial, they are only there to protect in case the battery link wires are shorted, so maybe 50A fuses.

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[Conniedriving]

Mines a 240 domestic fridge
Runs on two ordinary batteries with a 1200 inverter and a solar panel
Spent 8 weeks in Spain with no issues

 

[carolyn]

So I have asked 3 different companies for quotes to convert my van to Lithium, I am not sure I feel so comfortable to do it myself as it seems very involved looking at the list of parts that need to be supplied, so far supply and fit is looking £2200 from Van Junkies, still waiting for another 2 quotes but these guys feel comfortable so once again thank you all for all the advice.

Have you asked Offgrid, they give Funsters a 10% discount. Lots of us have used them. They are lovely people. I bet they will get back to you quickly. It’s a father and son plus their assistant Sam. They upgraded our system and then added bits so that we can monitor when we’re away in Winter not in the van.

I’ve never heard anyone mention Vanjunkies on here and we talk about Lithium etc an awful lot