Hook-up, solar, timer.

[ShiftZZ]

Have 2 solar 100w, 2 x 100 amp batteries. I may have enough to keep topped up.

Then I was wondering if I hook up the van to the mains using a 7 day timer, for power say 1 hr a day, would that be enough, also would the hookup override the solar.


Thoughts

 

[Two on Tour]

We have 250 watts of solar via a MPPT controller and 210 AH of lead acid batteries.
I have no need to hook up under normal circumstances and I think the solar controller is kinder to the batteries than the standard 240 charger that most vans are fitted with.

 

[scotjimland]

if I hook up the van to the mains using a 7 day timer, for power say 1 hr a day, would that be enough, also would the hookup override the solar.

most modern vans now have a 3 stage charger, that being the case, that would be a bad idea.. the three stages, Bulk, Absorption and Float may never be completed.. each time the power was applied, it would revert back to Bulk, and in only an hour not reaching the other two stages. This is bad for the batteries.

A better plan is to have it charging for 24 or 48hrs each fortnight or monthly.. that's what I do..

The mains charger and solar sort themselves out.. they don't interfere with each other .. and in any case, during winter, if there is poor weather, low level of sun and little of it, the solar won't be doing much charging..

I think the solar controller is kinder to the batteries than the standard 240 charger that most vans are fitted with.

most vans are fitted with modern multi stage chargers.. not standard ones

 

[Lenny HB]

most modern vans now have a 3 stage charger, that being the case, that would be a bad idea.. the three stages, Bulk, Absorption and Float may never be completed.. each time the power was applied, it would revert back to Bulk, and in only an hour not reaching the other two stages. This is bad for the batteries.

Same will happen with only the solar everytime the sun comes up but it will only do the bulk stage for a short time if the batteries are already charged so unlikely to do any harm.
What you are suggesting would need the solar disconnecting most people wouldn't want to do that and there is a chance they would forget to reconnect before a trip.

Going back to OP, 200 watts is more than enough to keep the batteries fully charged.
If you do turn the mains charger on the charger with the highest voltage output will take priority, which will probably be the mains one.

 

[ShiftZZ]

I should say, the Rapido mains thingy is not working on 12v so I have a krge CTEK charging the batteries from the mains.

I may keep an eye on it, I have a Bluetooth connection to the Victron..

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[Lenny HB]

I should say, the Rapido mains thingy is not working on 12v so I have a krge CTEK charging the batteries from the mains.

I may keep an eye on it, I have a Bluetooth connection to the Victron..

As I said with the solar I wouldn't bother switching I on the mains I never do.

 

[Richard n Ann]

If you're leaving it for 2 or more weeks make sure there are no drains on it.

Even the solar regulator uses power, different ones use different amounts. One of the reasons I chose our Votronic one is because it uses very little

 

[scotjimland]

What you are suggesting

is what I was advised to do by Udo Lang at Schaudt during winter lay up ..

My Hymer had 150 watt solar, with LR1218 solar regulator. but my engine battery went flat last winter, probably due to very poor weather and the constant drain of the Strike-Back alarm .. hence asking Udo for best charging practice when layed up.

I pass this on in good faith..


Dear James,

thank you for your mail.

I would charge with a timer once a month for 24 hours or each couple of weeks for 24 hours to keep the battery on level over 12V.

To stay longer than 3 weeks on the mains when the camper is not in usage, may create a kind of memory effect on the leisure battery.



With Best Regards,

i. o. Udo Lang.

________________________________________________

Udo Lang, technical support
Schaudt GmbH Elektrotechnik & Apparatebau
Planckstr. 8 - 88677 Markdorf - Germany
email: udo.lang@schaudt.gmbh
www.schaudt.gmbh


Tel. +49 7544 9577-70 Fax +49 - 7544 - 9577-29

 

[Richard n Ann]

If you've got a smart charger you can leave it connected continuously. The only small risk with that is that if there's a cell problem the battery might overheat. I leave my Optimate 2 charger on all the time but it can only deliver 800ma so won't heat up anything.

 

[Lenny HB]

is what I was advised to do by Udo Lang at Schaudt during winter lay up ..

My Hymer had 150 watt solar, with LR1218 solar regulator. but my engine battery went flat last winter, probably due to very poor weather and the constant drain of the Strike-Back alarm .. hence asking Udo for best charging practice when layed up.

I pass this on in good faith..

The LR1218 is a very old design single stage charger. Once the batteries up up to 14.2v it just maintains them at that voltage. Fine on Gel batteries I wouldn't want to use it in any other type of battery. My first Hymer had a LR1218 the Gel batteries were still like new after nearly 6 years when we sold it.

The modern decent solar regulators are 3 stage chargers which can be set to different types of battery giving the the optimum bulk, absorption & float voltages & times.

I'm currently using a Votronic MPP350 but as the starter battery charging is only 1amp I don't use that output but a CBE solar split charge relay.

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[scotjimland]

The LR1218 is a very old design single stage charger. Once the batteries up up to 14.2v it just maintains them at that voltage. Fine on Gel batteries I wouldn't want to use it in any other type of battery. My first Hymer had a LR1218 the Gel batteries were still likenew after nearly 6 years when we sold it.

I fitted two brand new 85ah Exide GELs. the ones I replaced were still working, they were the original GELs fitted by Hymer.. in 2001 !!

but during the winter it was the engine battery that went flat.. , hence my asking Udo for best practice using mains charging to keep all healthy.

but this is all 'by the way' ..

back to Dave's question..

"if I hook up the van to the mains using a 7 day timer, for power say 1 hr a day, would that be enough, also would the hookup override the solar."

I gave my answer and I stick with it.. as advised by Udo

 

[tacr2man]

If I found that the solar alone wasn't coping too well (ie batteries going too deep) , then simplest answer if you have mains would be to set timer so that batteries get the fast charge before the sun rises and solar starts on bulk stage , as the mppt controller would just sense the less drained batteries , and initiate its bulk stage to suit .
Unless someone can point out a problem with that logic
@ShiftZZ

 

[keithchesterfield2]

I have an 80W Solar panel, two 110 amp Leisure batteries and a cheap B2B (around £20) between the Leisure batteries and Starter battery.

The MH has not been on hook up at home for years and the five year old batteries seem to be happy with the set-up.

Whatever 'sunlight' or 'daylight' the Solar panel gets even in deepest Winter keeps the batteries charged without me having to check or run the engine on a regular basis – the Alarm system must drain a bit but it certainly isn't sufficient to run the batteries down.

I have a couple of LED digital battery meters (a couple of pounds each) that display the voltage of the batteries and a glance at them occasionally is enough to confirm the battery status.

Unless you're running something constantly in the MH I can't see why you would have a problem.

 

[two]

If you need to charge the batteries so regularly, it could be that they're 'shot'.

 

[DCnHH]

I have an 80W Solar panel, two 110 amp Leisure batteries and a cheap B2B (around £20) between the Leisure batteries and Starter battery.

I've been reading the threads on Generators and Solar and Winter camping. We have a new Pilote with 120W solar and 2 Leisure bats. We intend to spend our winter wandering around the French Alps and are investigating installing an extra solar panel and/or generator. Then I saw a thread on Battery to Battery Charging (which I can't find again - doh) and as you have one I wanted to ask if you feel it would work in the Alps where we don't have a 240V hookup and despite being told there is normally a 'gennie happy hour' each evening we are worried about noise and etc. Would a 2nd 120W panel make enough difference to keep the batteries sufficiently charged.

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[keithchesterfield2]

I've always advocated having as much Solar panel power as possible, if roof area and cost are acceptable, and a second panel will certainly help but may not be the complete answer.

The B2B unit on my MH allows the Leisure batteries, once they are charged by the Solar panel, to trickle charge the Starter battery when the vehicle is stood for any length of time and this avoids any of the batteries going 'flat'.

The B2B won't help you if you are away for a long time and are, presumably, moving around from Aire to Aire or camp to camp as driving the MH will charge the batteries without the need for hook-up.

If you are stood on a Site for any length of time without hook up then the minimal sunlight in Winter, and the longer nights, will soon deplete your batteries whatever size of Solar panel you have.

I dislike generators and have never used one with a Motorhome but if you intend staying on non hook-up sites and/or wild camping then you may find a gennie worth having as back up for power.

Hope this helps.

What type of Pilote do you have ?

Over five years with mine and virtually nothing gone wrong (touch wood !)

Picture - B2B

 

[vin0114]

Have 2 solar 100w, 2 x 100 amp batteries. I may have enough to keep topped up.

Then I was wondering if I hook up the van to the mains using a 7 day timer, for power say 1 hr a day, would that be enough, also would the hookup override the solar.


Thoughts

Good setup - same as mine, just make sure that your engine/starter bat gets a feed from your leisure bats when excess allows. Shortening daylight days as you well know usually need a kick now and then from some help from hookup.

 

[Lenny HB]

I've always advocated having as much Solar panel power as possible, if roof area and cost are acceptable, and a second panel will certainly help but may not be the complete answer.

The B2B unit on my MH allows the Leisure batteries, once they are charged by the Solar panel, to trickle charge the Starter battery when the vehicle is stood for any length of time and this avoids any of the batteries going 'flat'.

The B2B won't help you if you are away for a long time and are, presumably, moving around from Aire to Aire or camp to camp as driving the MH will charge the batteries without the need for hook-up.

If you are stood on a Site for any length of time without hook up then the minimal sunlight in Winter, and the longer nights, will soon deplete your batteries whatever size of Solar panel you have.

I dislike generators and have never used one with a Motorhome but if you intend staying on non hook-up sites and/or wild camping then you may find a gennie worth having as back up for power.

Hope this helps.

What type of Pilote do you have ?

Over five years with mine and virtually nothing gone wrong (touch wood !)

Picture - B2B

View attachment 264041

Getting yourself confused Keith. A B2B delivers a high charge rate to the lesiure batteries when the enginge is running. What you have is a CBE solar split charge relay which does a similar job to a Battery Master.

 

[DCnHH]

Thanks Keith (its a P740c), Lenny, Do you know if the B2B provides a quicker charge to the Leisure batteries and stops trickel loss back to the van battery and a short run of the motor will bring the charge up quicker? I wonder if the later model Pilote already has something like that and the Sterling B2B would not be possible/necessary?

 

[Lenny HB]

The B2B just provides a higher charge rate to the leisure batteries. Various models available upto 120 amp most people fit the 60 amp version.

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[Pausim]

If you have a Schaudt EBL the Votronic 1212-45 B2B is designed to work through it with optional output settings to stay within the limits. It also has optional settings to limit input current to 49 amps to remain within existing 50 amp fuse/wiring limits. Very useful for people like me who don’t mind doing some self installation but prefer not to do too much.

 

[ShiftZZ]

Good setup - same as mine, just make sure that your engine/starter bat gets a feed from your leisure bats when excess allows. Shortening daylight days as you well know usually need a kick now and then from some help from hookup.

Yes the solar maintains the main van Barrett, this was confirmed by Vanbitz.

 

[ShiftZZ]

Just checked the data from the van

We have been onsite for a few days, but the rest of the time,, solar only...

Not being a techie, I haveno idea as to how good or bad these numbers are...