Getting new Globestar - limits on max battery capacity, and heater frost protection

[chthon]

We're picking up a new Globestar 600L in December and wondering what to do about battery capacity. On our old van we put a 220Ah in a locker and it was brilliant at running the diesel heater for a couple of weeks no hook-up and only minor journeys - had gas fridge. The Globestar is something like 95 - 110Ah and dealer wants over 400quid to add a second of the same ilk. Given it has a compressor fridge, we'd really like to bump it up to more like 400a/h. I don't know the model or spec of the charger under the passenger seat (anyone know?) but I doubt it'll cope. Is there any way we can do this and how?...

We live in northern Scotland, and most (95%) of our usage will be up here so we don't think solar will be much use especially in winter.

I understand the boiler has a frost protection dump valve, is it easy to get to and disable?

 

[pappajohn]

I understand the boiler has a frost protection dump valve, is it easy to get to and disable?

It should be near the boiler and a cloths peg will disable but WHY?
It's to protect the boiler if it may freeze.... A new boiler costs a hell of a lot of money and is very easily destroyed by freezing. .

Oh, I would tell the dealer to jog on.... £400, he's having a laugh. A gel battery may cost £130 and a regular lead acid around £100..

 

[chthon]

I've never frozen the boiler in the current one, and it'd be a right pain if I got back from a day on the hill to find there's no water in the van.

 

[Lenny HB]

It should be near the boiler and a cloths peg will disable .

No chance they have not fitted that type of valve for over 10 years.
Although on the later valves it is possible to hold the button in it's not easy and depends where the the valve is fitted.

 

[pappajohn]

There's a first time for everything, but it's your choice of course.

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[pappajohn]

No chance they have not fitted that type of valve for over 10 years.

Thought they were still fitted. My drain valve is on the end of my arms, never had an auto one so drain manually.

 

[Blue Knight]

We're picking up a new Globestar 600L in December and wondering what to do about battery capacity. On our old van we put a 220Ah in a locker and it was brilliant at running the diesel heater for a couple of weeks no hook-up and only minor journeys - had gas fridge. The Globestar is something like 95 - 110Ah and dealer wants over 400quid to add a second of the same ilk. Given it has a compressor fridge, we'd really like to bump it up to more like 400a/h. I don't know the model or spec of the charger under the passenger seat (anyone know?) but I doubt it'll cope. Is there any way we can do this and how?...

We live in northern Scotland, and most (95%) of our usage will be up here so we don't think solar will be much use especially in winter.

I understand the boiler has a frost protection dump valve, is it easy to get to and disable?

Hi there, A big welcome to the forum and well done for joining us lot in the Globecar fraternity

You'll get a Schaudt 18A charger accompanied by a Varta LA95 AGM battery which, in all honesty, is as much good as tits on a fish when it comes to wild camping with a compressor fridge.

You'll have space for two batteries under your seat and if you know a few basic things then you can buy a second battery for a fraction of the cost of tje dealer and do it yourself.

The big issue with a compressor fridge (we have one in our Globie) is how to replenish the power which you use when off-grid so lots of solar, as much battery oomph as possible and an available connection to the mains will help you maintain a moderate off-grid lifestyle in the cold periods up in Scotland (solar in winter = not much).My calculations suggest that we need about 26-30 Amp hours to run a compressor fridge per 24-hour cycle.

I have 2 x 100Ah Varta L36 EFB wets under the seat and I run a seperate Varta LA95AGM for the telly and other power needs. The LA95 came with the van when new but I relocated it to the rear of my Globie and it now runs on a seperate circuit.

Ask as many questions as you want and we'll hopefully be able to answer them.

All the best,

Andrew

 

[Lenny HB]

The standard battery will be a 95a/h AGM, best thrown in the bin.
Gels would be a better option as you can discharge them lower an 80a/h Gel will give more useable power than a 95,/h AGM. 80a/h Gel around £160 at the moment.
If you don't mind spending a few Bob Lithium is the way to go but could cost a grand or two.

 

[Blue Knight]

No chance they have not fitted that type of valve for over 10 years.
Although on the later valves it is possible to hold the button in it's not easy and depends where the the valve is fitted.

Yes, agreed Lenny, we would have to properly clamp ours if we wanted it to remain in the housing.

 

[Lenny HB]

Thought they were still fitted. My drain valve is on the end of my arms, never had an auto one so drain manually.

This is the current type they started fitting with C4 & C6 boilers which came out in 2008.

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[DBK]

An alternative approach would be to change to a lithium battery and a suitable battery to battery charger* which will recharge the lithium battery in double quick time. You could get the same effect with a lead acid battery but lithium would be better because of more useable capacity and quicker charging.

It's a new van, spoil yourself.

*Check first one isn't already fitted.

 

[68c]

...................I understand the boiler has a frost protection dump valve, is it easy to get to and disable?
[/QUOTE]

I foolishly tinkered with my leisure battery while on a campsite, disconnected the battery, cleaned the clamps and reconnected. Then turned on the Truma 6002 240v water heating, later ran the pump for hot water to wash up. No water at first, just gurgling and a lot of air then cold water. I have not sorted it out yet as the heater not that accessible, my theory is that unknown to me disconnecting the battery opened the frost valve then with no water in the tank the heating element burned out. If I had used a clothes peg I think I could have avoided that.

 

[Lenny HB]

...................I understand the boiler has a frost protection dump valve, is it easy to get to and disable?

I foolishly tinkered with my leisure battery while on a campsite, disconnected the battery, cleaned the clamps and reconnected. Then turned on the Truma 6002 240v water heating, later ran the pump for hot water to wash up. No water at first, just gurgling and a lot of air then cold water. I have not sorted it out yet as the heater not that accessible, my theory is that unknown to me disconnecting the battery opened the frost valve then with no water in the tank the heating element burned out. If I had used a clothes peg I think I could have avoided that.
[/QUOTE]
Irrelevant on newer vans they have not used that valve for 10 years modern ones are mechanical.

 

[chthon]

Hi there, A big welcome to the forum and well done for joining us lot in the Globecar fraternity

You'll get a Schaudt 18A charger accompanied by a Varta LA95 AGM battery which, in all honesty, is as much good as tits on a fish when it comes to wild camping with a compressor fridge.

You'll have space for two batteries under your seat and if you know a few basic things then you can buy a second battery for a fraction of the cost of tje dealer and do it yourself.

The big issue with a compressor fridge (we have one in our Globie) is how to replenish the power which you use when off-grid so lots of solar, as much battery oomph as possible and an available connection to the mains will help you maintain a moderate off-grid lifestyle in the cold periods up in Scotland (solar in winter = not much).My calculations suggest that we need about 26-30 Amp hours to run a compressor fridge per 24-hour cycle.

I have 2 x 100Ah Varta L36 EFB wets under the seat and I run a seperate Varta LA95AGM for the telly and other power needs. The LA95 came with the van when new but I relocated it to the rear of my Globie and it now runs on a seperate circuit.

Ask as many questions as you want and we'll hopefully be able to answer them.

All the best,

Andrew

Thanks for the welcome. I looked under the drivers seat but couldn't read the numbers but it does look like the Varta. Hmm. Never really heard good things about AGM in general. "Dual purpose" in the description also doesn't fill me with joy.

I've read about the gel / wet switch on the electronics under the passanger seat. Is it easy to get to without taking that seat out as well?

I read your thread on your setup earlier. Is leaving the 3rd battery separate because the charger won't cope with all 3?

 

[68c]

Bit off topic but are there more vans under ten years old than older ones?

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[Blue Knight]

Thanks for the welcome. I looked under the drivers seat but couldn't read the numbers but it does look like the Varta. Hmm. Never really heard good things about AGM in general. "Dual purpose" in the description also doesn't fill me with joy.

I've read about the gel / wet switch on the electronics under the passanger seat. Is it easy to get to without taking that seat out as well?

I read your thread on your setup earlier. Is leaving the 3rd battery separate because the charger won't cope with all 3?

Yes, it'll be an LA95 alright and since I didn't want to use AGMs I swapped it out for the 2 x L36 batteries which in all honesty have proved to be invaluable to our off-grid lifestyle. I can achieve about 20-hours of TV on the LA95 while I use a standalone CTEK MX5.0 to recharge it when we access EHU mains. It keeps things simple while diverting the Tv's power consumption away from the main hab system and the compressor fridge.

Lenny Lenny HB and a few others are way more qualified to comment on battery charging than me but having two heavy going AGMs to require charging via a single 18A charger/B2B charging system etc is tough going for off-grid work.

Also, the three batteries cannot be connected on the same system as the LA95s need 14.7v to charge properly while the EFB wets are 14.4v but have the caveat of being able to accept a higher voltage of 14.6-/7 when required.

I'm not certain where your Schaudt system is located on your Globecar since my Summit 640 is derived from a different Globecar factory to yours and as such they have completely different electrical systems and components. My standard CBE charger is only rated at 16A so not as good as yours.

The switch to changeover your charger settings will be accessible for sure but you'll need to remove your seat for any actual battery work.

 

[Lenny HB]

Bit off topic but are there more vans under ten years old than older ones?

But OP is buying a new van hence my comments.

 

[Lenny HB]

Lenny @Lenny HB and a few others are way more qualified to comment on battery charging than me but having two heavy going AGMs to require charging via a single 18A charger/B2B charging system etc is tough going for off-grid work.

Converters & Schaudt (Elektroblock manufacturer) recommend fitting the auxiliary 18amp charger giving a charging capacity of 36 amps when fitting a second leisure battery.
They also say you need to take into account the starter battery.

My own view is you don't need to worry about the starter battery as it only gets a 2 amp trickle charge from the EBL.
I also believe the standard EBL will only be overload if you were constantly charging two or more leisure batteries from a low state of charge on a regular basis.

I have 3 x 80a/h Gels for the leisure side and only the standard 18amp EBL, 90-95% of my charging is done via solar or driving so never much load on the EBL.

 

[Blue Knight]

I also believe the standard EBL will only be overload if you were constantly charging two or more leisure batteries from a low state of charge on a regular basis.

Yes, that's the bit Lenny...........which Alan from A&N Caravans advised me on regarding the change from AGM to the L36 EFBs.

 

[Joie de vivre]

Hello Blue Knight and Lenny HB

We are new to this forum and are hopefully shortly going to acquire our first campervan and have chosen the Globestar 640dk. We've read with great interest the threads about your trip to Shetland - were there kayaking a couple of years ago - and your off grid camping and battery set up/ issues. This is precisely what is concerning me given the fridge is a 12v compressor. We have been told that adding a second leisure battery and 120w solar will do the job fine! We primarily want to be off grid and not dependent on sites every 3 days. We live up in the Highlands too!
This will be our first van so want to get it right and don't have any prior experience or much knowledge about these different batteries and their set up. You say you've moved the original 95Ah to a back locker and put it on a different circuit. Was it easy to slot in your two L36's or do you have to change other components too? How did you rig up the independent circuit? Instructions for dummies would be gratefully received!!
PS do you do a lot of kayaking? We're after advice about your loading system too!

Thanks
Carolyn

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[Lenny HB]

If you don't mind spending a bit of cash Lithium batteries would be the way to go a 100 a/h Lithium will give you around 80% of the power of 200a/h of lead acid batteries. With the compressor fridge you would be better with 200a/h of Lithium.
Being a new van it should have a B2B but you may need to change it for a more powerful one. Also it would be best to change the mains charger. Probably looking at 1-2 grand if doing it yourself.

If you don't want to spend that much I would ditch the 95a/h AMG battery and fit a couple of 80a/h Gel batteries, a 80a/h Gel will give you more useable power than a 95a/h AGM and far more reliable and they will last many years.

Would be advisable to fit as much solar as you can on the roof as possible with a good quality MPPT solar regulator.

 

[Joie de vivre]

Thanks for that. Don't think we could afford lithiums. Any make of gels better than others?

 

[f6c]

Exide Gel Batteries are good

 

[Garfields]

You should have room for two Gels under the seat
Would agree re the Exide as decent

 

[Joie de vivre]

thanks. Will there be a charging unit i need to get changed as well? Is this easy to do yourself? Just wondering if i should therefore cancel the order for the extra leisure battery and just leave in the standard one supplied and sort it later. What would you advise? Would warranties be affected?

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[Lenny HB]

Thanks for that. Don't think we could afford lithiums. Any make of gels better than others?

Exide or Sonnenschine, Sonnenschine make the Exide Gels.

 

[mikebeaches]

Hello Blue Knight and Lenny HB

We are new to this forum and are hopefully shortly going to acquire our first campervan and have chosen the Globestar 640dk. We've read with great interest the threads about your trip to Shetland - were there kayaking a couple of years ago - and your off grid camping and battery set up/ issues. This is precisely what is concerning me given the fridge is a 12v compressor. We have been told that adding a second leisure battery and 120w solar will do the job fine! We primarily want to be off grid and not dependent on sites every 3 days. We live up in the Highlands too!
This will be our first van so want to get it right and don't have any prior experience or much knowledge about these different batteries and their set up. You say you've moved the original 95Ah to a back locker and put it on a different circuit. Was it easy to slot in your two L36's or do you have to change other components too? How did you rig up the independent circuit? Instructions for dummies would be gratefully received!!
PS do you do a lot of kayaking? We're after advice about your loading system too!

Thanks
Carolyn

Could you save yourself all the stress of obtaining and maintaining sufficient energy for operating a compressor fridge in the Highlands in winter by choosing a van with a 3-way absorption fridge which will run on gas when wilding off-grid.

The Rapido range all have large (133 litres) AES (Automatic Energy Selection) fridge / freezers that run on gas.

Motorhomes RAPIDO, Vans Vans, RAPIDO United Kingdom

www.rapido-motorhome.co.uk

I know ours is a godsend and a significant factor in our choice of van.

 

[Garfields]

Never had any issues with the built in charger
I think you are over thinking things
Personally I would see how you get on with the van and then decide if you want to splash more cash

 

[Joie de vivre]

Thanks Garfields. You may be right.