Winter storage. (1 Viewer)

[Norm]

This year we have had to put the Van into storage and all we could find is a secure field with no facilities such as power. I was in two minds whether to fit the winter cover but having visited the site last week the van was looking very sad with green and black streaks I felt I had to give it a thorough clean and once dry fit the cover. Problem is that the solar panel is now covered and we have alarm and tracker fitted which will take power, albeit at a trickle, from the batteries and I don't know how long they will last without a charge.
Does anyone have an answer or remedy for this? Is there some sort of temporary solar panel I can install? if I have to go down regularly to run engine to charge batteries how often will I have to go and for how long will engine have to run to get batteries back?
Probably all sounds a bit basic but any advice would be appreciated.
Answer if I could find it, is better storage provision In and around Surrey/Hampshire!
Norm

 

[Lenny HB]

Don't go down and run the engine to charge the batteries, running a diesel on tick over from cold is a good way of wrecking the CAT & the DPF also can cause glazing of the bores. Best to take it for a good drive of 20 - 30 miles every 3 weeks, that should be enough to top the batteries up.
Also you could get the sewing machine out and fit a clear panel where the solar panel is, probably better to clean the van more often rather than fit a cover.

 

[Norm]

Thanks Lenny. Cover takes and hour + to get on and almost the same to get off. Hell of a job to get Van out for a 30 mile warm up!
Looks like I will just have to take it off permanent and as you say, wash more regularly!!

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[autorouter]

Problem is that the solar panel is now covered and we have alarm and tracker fitted which will take power, albeit at a trickle, from the batteries and I don't know how long they will last without a charge.
Does anyone have an answer or remedy for this? Is there some sort of temporary solar panel I can install?

I've used two different methods.

Two small solar panels, for the Hab and Cab batteries. The ones I used were 2.4 watts each, and were fixed by suckers to the inside of the windscreen. But in your case presumably sunlight through the screen is blocked by the cover, so they would need to be outside, and therefore weatherproof. Low wattage panels, less than say 10 to 15 watts, would not need a control unit and can be attached directly to the battery.

This second method I used before I got the solar panels. I used a charged spare battery, 150 watt pure sine wave inverter and CTEK MXS5.0 charger to charge the batteries. The obvious downsides are transporting a heavy spare battery from home to Van, and the several hours to charge up the battery. If it's easy to visit the van you can start off the charging, let it charge overnight. Then come back to retrieve the spare battery and charger, take it home and charge it ready for next time.

I found that each battery needed charging about every 4 weeks or so. I would visit the van every 2 weeks to charge the batteries alternately. If you check the voltages you may find you can leave it longer between charges.

 

[Norm]

Thanks. I had been thinking that the only real answer is to have a solar panel external to the cover but the problem is fixing it.
I think I need to have a perspex window in the cover to let daylight through to the existing panel.
Thanks for sharing thoughts
Norm