12volt solar panel lead advice

[funflair]

When you are plugged into EHU you should have a battery charger that comes on and charges the leisure battery, if you can see the voltage of the leisure battery it should be higher when you are on EHU.

Martin

 

[patricia the newbie]

I'm going to Newbury at the end on May , I can see I'm going to need some advice from other funsters as I'm not understanding the questions never mind the answers lol.
Thankyou, all of you, for your help and I'll not to come to a halt before I meet you all

 

[funflair]

I'm going to Newbury at the end on May , I can see I'm going to need some advice from other funsters as I'm not understanding the questions never mind the answers lol.
Thankyou, all of you, for your help and I'll not to come to a halt before I meet you all

Do you have anything that shows the volts of you leisure battery.

Martin

 

[patricia the newbie]

No, afraid not, if I have, I don't know where it is , sorry, I'm not very techy, only thing I do have is the Avtex tv which has a gauge showing high, med and low battery level, quote useful, but that's it, I'm afraid

 

[patricia the newbie]

Quite useful, even predictive text plays me up lol

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[autorouter]

If it really is 5W it's really not worth plugging in.

Not contradicting all the above useful advice, but don't throw the 5W panel away. It is useful to keep a starter or leisure battery topped up when the van is in storage or not being used.

I have a couple of 2.4W panels. One keeps the starter battery charged even in the winter. The other keeps the leisure batteries charged, but can't give enough in the winter. I reckon a 5W panel would do the job, though.

Just to be clear, panels of this size are only powerful enough to counter the slow self-discharge of a battery that's not being used.

 

[Baycott]

No, afraid not, if I have, I don't know where it is , sorry, I'm not very techy, only thing I do have is the Avtex tv which has a gauge showing high, med and low battery level, quote useful, but that's it, I'm afraid

If you switch the Avtex on whilst on EHU, does the battery reading always show 'high'? If it does it would indicate that there is an on board, 240v charger powered by EHU.

 

[patricia the newbie]

I'll let you know of I ever get onto EHU, I don't think that's ever going to happen. One of my friends have just had a 100 watt solar panel fitted on the roof of their caravan for £300 including the fitting , I think that might be worth investigating.

 

[Cal54]

Patricia, I will be at Twin Lakes along with a bunch of female solo travellers. Whilst I don't have EHU (I'm first on the reserve list for it), one of our group does have an electric pitch and I'm sure would help you out with a bit of a charge as necessary.
I have a similar issue in so far as my fridge is a compressor version and therefore only runs on electric. It's a great fridge but I do need to keep an eye on my batteries. I have 2 solar panels on my roof and so far have not had any problems.
Also worth considering is a small power pack for charging phones and tablets. There are loads on the market, but some are rubbish. I would recommend the Anker ones as they will give you a few charges of phone etc. Also they are so small that a fellow camper will usually be more than happy to charge it up for you when necessary.

 

[patricia the newbie]

That's what I love about you on here, your so supportive and kind, I'm looking forward to meeting you, starting with Newbury very soon . I do have a couple of lights that
are able to quick charge phones etc, but, as you say, these lights themselves will need charging. It just shows you how we have become dependant on power

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[ukbill]

Is it not possible to put a panel on your roof as permanent?

 

[patricia the newbie]

I'm going to look into that, but, I must admit as I have a 12 year old diesel, I was waiting to see what the government have in mind for us as regards to punishments lol

 

[funflair]

I'm going to look into that, but, I must admit as I have a 12 year old diesel, I was waiting to see what the government have in mind for us as regards to punishments lol

Not enough to make you think of changing would be my guess, we have a 11 year old diesel and I certainly ain't scrapping it for any government.

Get a panel on the roof and make it "green"

Martin

 

[patricia the newbie]

I am going to look into that. The diesel question is a difficult one, if petrol or electric was practical, it would have been done by know I would imagine

 

[patricia the newbie]

Now !!!

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