Some help and advice needed :-S (1 Viewer)

[Nick Rigg]

Hi there, we bought our first motorhome back in the Spring with the aim to give everything up in a year or so and travel Europe with our children.
Budget wise we decided to keep spending low and am now in the process of planning out a conversion/modernisation.
I'm ok with the mechanical and fixtures/fittings side of things, but need some electrical advice, as I don't want to end up running out of juice, but also want to use the solar panel that is already installed.
So some questions;
1. There are 2 leisure batteries, 1 under each cab seat. 1 is a 12v 86Ah Numax XV24MF. The other is similar spec. Does this sound like a reasonable set-up?
2. There is an inverter, but when should this be used?
3. There is a solar panel on the roof, but no details of the spec etc. How can I find/work this out, and if it is up to scratch?
4. Finally heating wise we may end up going off in the Autumn/Winter and I'd like to hear from anyone who has put a log burning stove in a motorhome and what they fitted and how?

Thanks in advance for your feedback. From my look around the site, it looks a busy forum with loads of great advice, so apologies of these 'stupud' questions are answered elsewhere.

Cheers, Nick

 

[funflair]

Hi Nick

Welcome to FUN, I feel that you are going to have a few more questions before you are on the road so you will need to be a paid up "funster" once you have used your free 5 posts.

Batteries? well 86 ah times two is not a whole lot of power so you would have to be careful with your usage, the inverter would hammer them in no time unless the engine was running or you had plenty of solar coming in. Measure you solar panel and compare the size to stuff online to get an idea of its wattage.

Martin

 

[wigster]

Nick. This a brilliant forum well worth the 15 quid to be a full member , you only get 5 posts otherwise.

You will save 15 quid many times over with the advice and help given , i have.

Its more than a forum though .

Thats my advice , good luck with your plans go for it i say

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[jollyrodger]

Good luck on your conversion and your travels

 

[EX51SSS]

 

[DBK]

The solar panel should be fairly easy to identify, in terms of capacity. You should measure it then have a look on line for something the same size and see what power it is supposed to generate. For example, a typical 100W panel might be 1200mm by 540mm. But as a rough measure half a square metre (length times breadth) will be about 80W.
The leisure batteries sound OK but typically these days folk tend to use ones around 110AH but of more importance is are they actually still working at full spec? If they have been badly treated they could be goosed. You could try getting them tested but it might be easier just to try them and see how they hold their charge and last.
If you want electrickery all year round I suspect you might want to have something like 200W and a good MPPT controller plus plenty of battery capacity. Of course it is easy to make up a shopping list and costs will rise as a result. I suggest go with what you have and see how you get on.
An inverter will give you 240v from the 12v batteries. Fine for running say a TV if you don't have a 12v one but it will hammer your batteries if you say try running a hair dryer. It's wattage should be written on it somewhere and this will give you an idea what you can run. They are not essential.

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[DanielFord]

I'll give it a go, as best I can

1. There are 2 leisure batteries, 1 under each cab seat. 1 is a 12v 86Ah Numax XV24MF. The other is similar spec. Does this sound like a reasonable set-up?

We have 2 110ah batteries, and we have killed them within a year. We spend a lot of time with no hookup, hence the big battery usage.

2. There is an inverter, but when should this be used?

You use it when you want a 240v power supply but your aren't hooked up to the mains. Beware though, certain items put a huge drain on your batteries. Charging phones, running laptops etc. is all fine. running a kettle, not so much!

3. There is a solar panel on the roof, but no details of the spec etc. How can I find/work this out, and if it is up to scratch?

You need the size, then you can work it out

4. Finally heating wise we may end up going off in the Autumn/Winter and I'd like to hear from anyone who has put a log burning stove in a motorhome and what they fitted and how?

I've never heard of this, and frankly it would scare me. The blown air heating system in most motorhomes will keep them toasty warm in most weather conditions. Plus the system that is installed will run on gas or electric depending on your hookup status at the time.

Finally

 

[TheBig1]

log burner in a motorhome? surefire way to kill your family with carbon monoxide

 

[Jo662]

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[Riverbankannie]

Our friend has installed a log burner in his Hymer. Of course it is properly ventilated . Chimney is also properly sealed to roof and with use of fire retardant material etc. It is lovely and toasty inside his camper and only requires a small amount of scavenged wood. The log burner itself is very tiny. Wouldn't recommend with children though as may be too confined a space to prevent accidental touching. I have been looking for a good photo I have taken when snowed into a campsite in Switzerland, woodsmoke gently rising from the chimney.! I cannot find it at present.

 

[Kingham]

log burner in a motorhome? surefire way to kill your family with carbon monoxide

As strange an idea as it sounds, as long as it is fitted and ventilated correctly, there should be little risk of CO poisoning.

When I was much much much younger, my parents had a Pemberton static caravan that had a coal fired stove and gas mantle lighting. We all lived to tell the tale and I have fond memories of collecting sea coal from the beach, with my dad.

I don't think a log burner is something I would personally consider for any of my vans, but it's top of the list for my home improvement.

 

[TheBig1]

there is a difference between a log burner or coal fire in a static caravan and a road vehicle where the installation gets shaken about

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[Kingham]

there is a difference between a log burner or coal fire in a static caravan and a road vehicle where the installation gets shaken about

Very true, but does that make the gas appliances fitted to our road vehicles any more dangerous than our home gas appliances, or those fitted to static caravans.

 

[Hollyberry]

Would the weight of a log burner work in a motorhome? I had one fitted in my house a couple of years ago, it's really small and was very heavy.

You'll have a lot of preparation, knowledge gathering and so on for your big adventure. But it'll be worth it.

 

[wigster]

Fair point wolf .

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[TheBig1]

Very true, but does that make the gas appliances fitted to our road vehicles any more dangerous than our home gas appliances, or those fitted to static caravans.

modern gas motorhome appliances have safety systems built in, like flame failure etc. gas connections are made with compression fittings using jointing compound. but most important is most heaters draw oxygen for the flame from outside the living space
people die every year from older gas appliances in caravans and that is a fact

 

[Kingham]

That's a good point and I certainly hadn't considered that someone could actually travel with the log burner lit

 

[Kingham]

Nick. This a brilliant forum well worth the 15 quid to be a full member , you only get 5 posts otherwise.

You will save 15 quid many times over with the advice and help given , i have.

Its more than a forum though .

Thats my advice , good luck with your plans go for it i say

Agreed.... I've only been here a month and I've already had my 15 quid's worth !

Liking this forum much

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[gus-lopez]

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

Have seen, and used, a number of French pizza vans which have wood fired ovens so it's certainly possible though I would think gas would be more convenient all round.

 

[shawn&emma]

I spent a lot of time researching having a stove in our van. Only thing that stopped me in the end was finding someone that would insure us. Could get insurance if it was a selfbuild but not putting one in an existing motorhome.
Search online and you will find plenty of links to stoves in selfbuilds and also boats.
There's no regulations available for fitting in a motorhome but there are regulations for fitting in a boat. So the requirements on fitting in a small space would be a good guide.
Other thing would be weight, we would have had the Morso Squirrel, very small but still weighs in at 70kg without all the extra heat boards, flues and hearth required. Other thing would be carrying fuel. You really need to be burning dry timber or pellets of some sort which you also would have to carry around with you or find whenever you parked up.

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[EX51SSS]

Have seen, and used, a number of French pizza vans which have wood fired ovens so it's certainly possible though I would think gas would be more convenient all round.

Isn't 'wood fired' pizza's a selling point rather than convenience?
I don't think 'gas' or 'electric' cooked pizza's be a selling point.
Just saying

 

[shawn&emma]

Differant stove but here's one in a touring caravan.

http://salamanderstoves.com/portfolio/small-stoves-for-caravans/

 

[BusyBuilder]

I've seen lots of 'Travellers' caravans with wood stoves fitted.

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[jockaneezer]

You could fuel it with the whittling's from your clothes pegs

 

[buttons]

Hi and Welcome..

 

[hilldweller]

4. Finally heating wise we may end up going off in the Autumn/Winter and I'd like to hear from anyone who has put a log burning stove in a motorhome and what they fitted and how?
Cheers, Nick

If you do a bit of searching in here you will find a picture of such a stove fitted by @Terry. But be warned, weight is the enemy of the MH, adding weight is a bad move.