Powering a Remoska (1 Viewer)

Aug 3, 2015
99
117
Shropshire
Funster No
37,458
MH
PVC
Exp
3 years campervan, many as a tugger
Help, I have purchased a 400W Remoska for use in our PVC and would like to be able to use it “off grid” using an inverter. The van has two new 120AH batteries which I think will give me enough power, the Remoska only being used for a maximum of 90 minutes (jacket spuds). The essential question is the size and type of inverter required and the cable size from the batteries to the inverter. You don’t get something for nothing- 240v & 400w comes out at around 1.8A so my calculation is that at 12v to feed in enough power for 400w i would need around 35A draw from the batteries. All the inverters I have looked at appear to have much smaller cable than 35A so where am I going wrong in my calculations? Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciate.
regards, Chris.
 
Sep 3, 2012
7,452
25,837
Cheshire
Funster No
22,759
MH
C Class Elddis 175
Exp
8+ years
90 mins is a long long time, a 700 watt microwave takes 5 mins a spud, but I wouldn't keep mine on that long, ie 10 miins for 2 spuds, 3x 115ah batteries, 200 Watts solar and 1500watt inverter.
 
Aug 11, 2018
105
223
Europe
Funster No
55,526
MH
€6 Peugeot Boxer van conv
Exp
50 years inc camping and caravanning (and I'm not much older than that)
I'm no expert, so if this doesn't help - sorry.

This is a link to a Victron 500w inverter instructions (the 12v 500w model), which states a 6-10mm cable (depending on cable length).

At the bottom of this page, is a calculator for cable size requirements. 1.8amps fits in with a 6mm cable.

So, I think you've overestimated draw and cable size requirement. Maybe someone else will correct me here, or add a bit more detail.

However, I think that 400 w for 90 mins through an inverter supported by your batteries is maybe asking too much.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Jun 10, 2010
8,421
20,056
Shrewsbury (sometimes)
Funster No
12,013
MH
N&B Clou Liner MAN
Exp
2006
We ve tried to so exactly this, but aborted it when the fan on the inverter was running virtually non-stop, Sterling 1000w inverter ( quasi sine wave)
 

DBK

LIFE MEMBER
Jan 9, 2013
17,969
47,804
Plympton, Devon
Funster No
24,219
MH
PVC, Murvi Morocco
Exp
2013
12 volt cables rated at 35 amps will be pretty thin.

But you will be hammering your batteries and will probably struggle to recharge them.

Go low carb and forget the spuds. Or buy a van with an oven. :)
 
Aug 11, 2018
105
223
Europe
Funster No
55,526
MH
€6 Peugeot Boxer van conv
Exp
50 years inc camping and caravanning (and I'm not much older than that)
4.5mm cable is rated at 35 amps, so again - 6mm cable specified by Victron is correct.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

pappajohn

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 26, 2007
43,207
48,810
Dark side of the moon
Funster No
172
Exp
Since 2005
For 90 minutes use you will draw a fraction under 50amps plus losses, call it 50 amps. (33 amps per hour)
But if memory serves the Ramoska is thermostatic so it isn't drawing current all the time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DBK

Minxy

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 22, 2007
32,489
66,013
E Yorks
Funster No
149
MH
Carthago Compactline
Exp
Since 1996, had Elddis/Swift/Rapido/Rimor/Chausson MHs. Autocruise/Globecar PVCs/Compactline i-138
Jacket spuds are the one thing that we don't bother with in the camper/MH, they just take too long to cook, even in a double skillet pan they take about 45 mins. 90 mins IMV is way too long to be using any electrical appliance with such a high draw (even though by comparison to some stuff it is small).
 
Apr 27, 2016
6,801
7,839
Manchester
Funster No
42,762
MH
A class Hymer
Exp
Since the 80s
Maybe you are confusing the two ways to size a cable. It is usually described by Cross Sectional Area (CSA), for example 6 millimetres squared, abbreviated to 6mm2.

The diameter of 6mm2 wire is 2.8mm. That's the copper core - the insulation will be on top of that.

Unfortunately some people abbreviate too much, calling it 6mm cable, which can be confusing.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Mar 11, 2013
48
65
England
Funster No
25,049
MH
A Class
Exp
since 1990
You can buy ready-cooked frozen jacket potatoes and they take only 20 min in the Remoska or 5 min in a microwave.
 

Don Quixote

Free Member
Jul 29, 2012
2,966
5,257
Lost in La Mancha, Spain
Funster No
22,171
MH
VW T6 Campervan
Exp
Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
The simple answer is NO it won't work. I'm not going to go into quility of wiring from batteries to inverter or how hot things are going to get.......
Firstly you will need a very large bank of batteries then there is the charging of batteries after you have taken out around 50/70/80 amps continuously Then there is the other items drawing power for the remainder of that day/night from your "two new 120AH batteries" Taking out 50+ amps is nearly discharging your batteries to near critical point and if off grid will distroy them as solar will not recharge them, which they will need if you don't want to replace them.
 
Apr 27, 2016
6,801
7,839
Manchester
Funster No
42,762
MH
A class Hymer
Exp
Since the 80s
The simple answer is NO it won't work. I'm not going to go into quility of wiring from batteries to inverter or how hot things are going to get.......
Firstly you will need a very large bank of batteries then there is the charging of batteries after you have taken out around 50/70/80 amps continuously Then there is the other items drawing power for the remainder of that day/night from your "two new 120AH batteries" Taking out 50+ amps is nearly discharging your batteries to near critical point and if off grid will distroy them as solar will not recharge them, which they will need if you don't want to replace them.
I don't think it's really as bad as that. 400 watts uses about 35 amps, so for 90 minutes (1.5 hours) it will use 35 x 1.5 = 53 amp-hours, which is about what pappajohn said.

Your two 120 amp-hour batteries will provide 120 amp-hours while discharging from full to 50%. So 53Ah is a sizeable chunk of the 120Ah of available energy, but not enough to be a big problem.

You then have to think of refilling the batteries. A single 100 watt solar panel on a long sunny summer day will struggle to give you 50 amp-hours. But with 200 or even 300 watts, you would probably do it on an average summer day.

Is it worth it, just for a baked potato? Only you can be the judge of that.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
  • Nice One!
Reactions: DBK

Don Quixote

Free Member
Jul 29, 2012
2,966
5,257
Lost in La Mancha, Spain
Funster No
22,171
MH
VW T6 Campervan
Exp
Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
I don't think it's really as bad as that. 400 watts uses about 35 amps, so for 90 minutes (1.5 hours) it will use 35 x 1.5 = 53 amp-hours, which is about what pappajohn said.

Your two 120 amp-hour batteries will provide 120 amp-hours while discharging from full to 50%. So 53Ah is a sizeable chunk of the 120Ah of available energy, but not enough to be a big problem.

You then have to think of refilling the batteries. A single 100 watt solar panel on a long sunny summer day will struggle to give you 50 amp-hours. But with 200 or even 300 watts, you would probably do it on an average summer day.

Is it worth it, just for a baked potato? Only you can be the judge of that.
It is as bad as that..........

Even a 300watt solar panel WILL NOT charge the batteries back to fully charged in 1 UK sunny day. There is no way a 100watt panel will give you more that 8amps with the sun directly over the panel (never happens in the UK) so at best 8amps for 1 hour then downwards from there or 300watts of solar 20+ for 1 hour then at best 6amps perhaps. Thats providing there is not a cloud in the sky................... Then there is the fact that the batteries are still supplying power to whatever is being used in the MH.......

The problem is 90% of MH owners fail to understand how the solar system works.

If you have nothing at all taking power ie: TV, Sat system, Computer, Chanrging phones, Shower, running water, fans, heating system etc etc etc etc then yes a 100watt or 300watt panel will do the job, but who these days has none of the above drawing the power out of the batteries..........
 
Jan 19, 2014
9,322
24,578
Derbyshire
Funster No
29,757
MH
Elddis Accordo 105
Exp
since 2014
Boil the potato in a saucepan for 10 minutes then bake in the gas oven ??
Times vary depending on size of course but boiling them first speeds up cooking a lot.

Absolutely no need to be faffing about with electric at all ?

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Apr 27, 2016
6,801
7,839
Manchester
Funster No
42,762
MH
A class Hymer
Exp
Since the 80s
There is no way a 100watt panel will give you more that 8amps with the sun directly over the panel (never happens in the UK) so at best 8amps for 1 hour then downwards from there
On a long summer day, the sun will shine for maybe 15 hours. From a 100 watt panel, that's 6A for 3 hr, 5A for 2 hr, 4A for 2 hr, 3A for 2 hr, 2A for 2 hr, 1A for 2 hr, and we'll neglect the other 2 hours of sunshine.

That's 18Ah + 8Ah + 6Ah + 4 Ah + 2Ah = 38Ah

These figures are a bit pessimistic, but realistically they are quite possible. That's the reason I said 200 watts or 300 watts would be better if you wanted to replace 53Ah of energy.
 

Don Quixote

Free Member
Jul 29, 2012
2,966
5,257
Lost in La Mancha, Spain
Funster No
22,171
MH
VW T6 Campervan
Exp
Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
On a long summer day, the sun will shine for maybe 15 hours. From a 100 watt panel, that's 6A for 3 hr, 5A for 2 hr, 4A for 2 hr, 3A for 2 hr, 2A for 2 hr, 1A for 2 hr, and we'll neglect the other 2 hours of sunshine.

That's 18Ah + 8Ah + 6Ah + 4 Ah + 2Ah = 38Ah

These figures are a bit pessimistic, but realistically they are quite possible. That's the reason I said 200 watts or 300 watts would be better if you wanted to replace 53Ah of energy.
Again not realistically possable with a solar panel locked down flat on a MH roof in the UK. Perhaps in Spain were cloud cover is very rare and the sun is higher (over head, not at an angle to panel) in the sky over the FLAT panel.
I'm tired of explaining this over the years and as so many MH owners replace they batteries regularly clearly shows they don't know how to look after their batteries thinking that solar panels will FULLY recharge their batteries whilst off EHU or running engine charging system for 4 yours or more NOT 1hr run out to next stop over.............................
 
Jan 3, 2008
3,329
5,340
Pakefield, Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK
Funster No
1,118
MH
Looking
Exp
35
Help, I have purchased a 400W Remoska for use in our PVC and would like to be able to use it “off grid” using an inverter. The van has two new 120AH batteries which I think will give me enough power, the Remoska only being used for a maximum of 90 minutes (jacket spuds). The essential question is the size and type of inverter required and the cable size from the batteries to the inverter. You don’t get something for nothing- 240v & 400w comes out at around 1.8A so my calculation is that at 12v to feed in enough power for 400w i would need around 35A draw from the batteries. All the inverters I have looked at appear to have much smaller cable than 35A so where am I going wrong in my calculations? Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciate.
regards, Chris.

From experience I wouldn't bother unless you have an oven or even better a barbecue with a lid like a Webber go anywhere or a Cobb, they are the best jackets for me.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Shrimp

Funster
May 27, 2015
3,962
32,908
Bedfordshire, UK
Funster No
36,573
MH
Hymer B584
Exp
Long time
I don’t think the Remoska has a thermostat. It has an on/off switch & that’s it!
You could run the Remoska whilst travelling, would have to be well wedged this, the lid gets very, very hot enough to burn thru it’s cable.
 
Jan 3, 2008
3,329
5,340
Pakefield, Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK
Funster No
1,118
MH
Looking
Exp
35
I wasn't referring to a user adjustable thermostat in my post but a fixed temperature stat.
Apologies if I'm wrong, but the interior would get extremely hot if the element was constant.

I dont think your wrong, if there was no internal fixed thermostat it would simply keep heating until the element melted and failed.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Funsters who are viewing this thread

Back
Top