Hook up / charging questions

[SwissBob]

Translating (badly) from French the manual says to charge the leisure battery for 24 hours prior to a trip where the stay will be 12v only i.e. no hookup. Fair enough. Makes sense.

In the van there is a rocker switch 12v / 240v.

Question 1 is does this have to be in the 240v position for the onboard charger to work?

Question 2 is, what sort of power is required? I have no access to a power socket where the van is stored so I was thinking of something like this (just for trickle charging, not for any 240v appliance use). Battery would normally be well charged after a run when parking at the storage:

Would it be man enough or am I being ridiculous?

Cheers m'dears.

 

[MisterB]

Dear Doris, due to the absence of a photo or diagram, can you just imagine what someone is thinking ....... ( apologies to the OP, but for some of us viewing on a tablet there is no visible link)

 

[SwissBob]

Dear Doris, due to the absence of a photo or diagram, can you just imagine what someone is thinking .......

erm, there is a link to the thing on Amazon?

 

[funflair]

Or you can click the link to the items

The item linked seems to be just a battery that can be charged from solar, mains 240v at home, or when driving, so if you want 120ah of portable power to take to your van in storage I guess it will/could do the job, but the problem then is how to get the power from the portable to the habitation batteries, it has a 300w inverter but not sure that this would be man enough to run a trickle charge.

Martin

Edit yes I think it would run a small battery trickle charger

 

[BwB]

Is your storage under cover (inside) or outside. If outside then a solar panel setup might be your best option.

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[SwissBob]

....... it has a 300w inverter but not sure that this would be man enough to run a trickle charge.

Martin

I think you have spotted the real question. What is required to run the onboard charger? I know it is max 10 amps but works on 5 amp HU so possibly would also work on 1 or 2 amps.

 

[SwissBob]

Is your storage under cover (inside) or outside. If outside then a solar panel setup might be your best option.

We have a solar panel but storage is inside. I suppose one option could be to move it outside a couple of days before heading off.

 

[funflair]

Or would ask the question though, have you got solar on the van?

Martin

 

[SwissBob]

Any thoughts on Q1? My guess is this switch is just to activate the 240v sockets and the onboard charger would still work in the 12v position. I know I could check with a meter but the battery is inaccessible without completely removing her majesty's seat.

 

[autorouter]

I think you have spotted the real question. What is required to run the onboard charger? I know it is max 10 amps but works on 5 amp HU so possibly would also work on 1 or 2 amps.

The 10 amps for the charger is at 12 volts, so that's 10 x 12 = 120 watts. To get 120 watts from the mains hookup (240 volts) the hookup amps would be 120/240 = 0.5 amps. So allowing for a bit of inefficiency that's still a lot less than 1 amp.

I think this device holds 400 watt-hours, so that's equivalent to 33 amp-hours at 12 volts.

I have often used a 5 amp battery charger from a 150 watt inverter, so I'd guess that a 10 amp charger should work from a 300 watt inverter.

If you fully charged the device at home from 240 volts, you could probably get 30 amp-hours out of it, into the habitation batteries. That's about as much as you'd get from a 100 watt solar panel on an average summer day. That might well be enough to top them up, unless the batteries are big and they've somehow discharged a lot. You might have to repeat the process a few times.

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[funflair]

The 10 amps for the charger is at 12 volts, so that's 10 x 12 = 120 watts. To get 120 watts from the mains hookup (240 volts) the hookup amps would be 120/240 = 0.5 amps. So allowing for a bit of inefficiency that's still a lot less than 1 amp.

I think this device holds 400 watt-hours, so that's equivalent to 33 amp-hours at 12 volts.

I have often used a 5 amp battery charger from a 150 watt inverter, so I'd guess that a 10 amp charger should work from a 300 watt inverter.

If you fully charged the device at home from 240 volts, you could probably get 30 amp-hours out of it, into the habitation batteries. That's about as much as you'd get from a 100 watt solar panel on an average summer day. That might well be enough to top them up, unless the batteries are big and they've somehow discharged a lot. You might have to repeat the process a few times.

Good point about 400wh but doesn't the blurb say 120000ma/h, I didn't bother doing the maths?

Martin

 

[DBK]

You could try plugging your EHU into that magic box but I doubt it will have much impact on the leisure batteries as you can't run it down to less than 50% if you want it to last. What the actual capacity of it is remains a mystery. It says it is 400Wh but also 120Ah which doesn't make sense.

But if the batteries are fully charged when you park it up they should still be almost fully charged when you next use it. If they aren't there's something wrong.

I would just give it a go, not bothering to charge before you leave. Take candles and extra jumpers just in case!

Cant help on the switch but I think Barclaybasher has an Eriba.

 

[funflair]

We have a solar panel but storage is inside. I suppose one option could be to move it outside a couple of days before heading off.

Our van is stored inside as well and without power so I use an EFOY fuel cell to keep everything charged, OK not the cheapest option but it works.

Martin

 

[autorouter]

It says it is 400Wh but also 120Ah which doesn't make sense.

400 watt-hours is a definite amount of energy. 120 amp-hours (120000 milliamp-hours) depends on the voltage, which they don't specify.

 

[rod_vw]

The OP seems to be worried about the leisure battery and hasn't shown any concern for the engine battery. Surely his best solution is to go to the vehicle and run the engine for half an hour every month or so. If the vehicle is fitted with a decent Battery to Battery charge system everything should be ready for the first outing in the Spring including the engine. If he rolls the wheels each time he will be doing the tyres a favour as well.
PS Don't leave the handbrake on.

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[SwissBob]

Our van is stored inside as well and without power so I use an EFOY fuel cell to keep everything charged, OK not the cheapest option but it works.

Martin

Crikey. Out of my price range I think .

 

[funflair]

Crikey. Out of my price range I think .

I did warn you Christmas is coming though

Martin

 

[SwissBob]

The OP seems to be worried about the leisure battery and hasn't shown any concern for the engine battery. Surely his best solution is to go to the vehicle and run the engine for half an hour every month or so. If the vehicle is fitted with a decent Battery to Battery charge system everything should be ready for the first outing in the Spring including the engine. If he rolls the wheels each time he will be doing the tyres a favour as well.
PS Don't leave the handbrake on.

'tis an old van (2002). I've been looking at B2B chargers. I don't think I have one but more investigation required. There is a little box near the leisure battery that I think may be a thingy that passes charge to the starter battery when on EHU.

If there is no B2B charger then that looks like a good choice in terms of outlay. The van will get an outing at least once a week so maybe I'm imagining a problem that isn't there.

 

[SwissBob]

I did warn you Christmas is coming though

Martin

I have been a good boy but I haven't been that good .

 

[rod_vw]

'tis an old van (2002). I've been looking at B2B chargers. I don't think I have one but more investigation required. There is a little box near the leisure battery that I think may be a thingy that passes charge to the starter battery when on EHU.

If there is no B2B charger then that looks like a good choice in terms of outlay. The van will get an outing at least once a week so maybe I'm imagining a problem that isn't there.

SwissBob, the device that you have on an older camper will I suspect be a simple split charge relay which obviously does the job adequately in normal service. I simply mentioned a B to B unit as this is the way to go with modern 'smart alternators', your system will do the job well just perhaps not quite as efficiently as a B to B.

Actually running the vehicle for long enough to get the engine thoroughly warm and moving it if possible is the best thing that you can do to preserve it during its 'out of use' period.

Rod