How To With Batteries (1 Viewer)

[stringa]

Nah then.
I m not sure what to do on this, if I was to go away for a few days or weeks and gunna leave say on Wednesday, do I turn my fridge on the night before with my leccy cable at home, and disconnect it in the morning ......if so ...wheres my power coming from ( engine battery or leasure battery).when im driving..........then when I get there which battery do I use and when do I turn on my gas.......is the gas for hot water and fridge only, if theres no hook up do I just use the battery, if so which one, and how long will it last. and if my leasure battery dies on me what do I do.....I know these sound like stupid questions as ive been away before but I was on hook up right from the start.


cheers
stringa

 

[TheDentons]

Hookup when available gas when not battery when traveling
Simples

 

[wingman]

There's never any 'stupid' questions on here Stringa. Only stupid when we DON'T ask them!

It's always a good idea to have the fridge on before you go, especially in hot weather. It gives the fridge a chance to start the cooling process.

As the post above says, use hook-up when you can. As most fridges only run on 12v when the engine's running, you will have to use gas when camping if there's no hook up.

Don't worry about killing the leisure batt' it's very unlikely to be wired to the fridge.

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[TUCANO]

A lot depends on what system you have in your van, if you have a modern van then the fridge will have an AES system, automatic energy selection, which will select the system it requires so when travelling it will use the vehicle battery, when wilding it will use gas and when on hook up it will use the sites electricity. My own van being oldish has no such luxury and I have to manually select what I require which is only a little pain when it is raining and I want gas.
You will need to establish what your heating /water system consists of but it should /may have both gas and electric and what you use is up to you.
Connect the van to your home mains before travelling to get the fridge cold, pre-frozen freezer blocks will speed things up, just remember to disconnect before driving away.
Stating your van make and model will help people to help you.
Take care,
Norman.

 

[rosalan]

Personally we put the fridge on the night before travelling, throwing in the contents of our home fridge on the day we travel. This way the van fridge has a good cool start before switching to the alternator power (battery) when we start to travel. The gas comes on when we park up, unless we are on power hook-up. There is no right way, only the best you can think up for your particular system.
I once wondered why my fridge would not work on gas or mains, then discovered the 12v must be switched on for it to work at all.
Alan

 

[stringa]

ok .....im getting there.....slowly......so when I arrive I take it I turn on my gas for the hot water and the fridge if I can get the pilot light on....then the batt on leisure for my lights its an old 98 wayfarer 1900cc turbo by the way

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[pappajohn]

12v wont cool your fridge, at best it will maintain the current temperature inside.
cool beforehand on mains or gas to get the temp down and the 12v will keep it cool.

Engine and leisure batteries....self explanitory.
engine for the vehicle electrics
leisure for the habitation electrics........except the fridge 12v which runs when the engine is running.

 

[stringa]

got it .....many thanks