Leasure Battery Life

[Minxy]

Thank You All
Some really useful advice, all very much appreciated. I will purchase a couple of good quality batteries when we get back home (any recommendations on make model please) I'd rather pay a reasonable price once than a cheaper option twice. Expensive this Motorhome lark isn't it.

Having said that, we both wish we'd swapped from caravanning years ago rather than waiting until we retired.

What type of batteries you can use will depend on what your camper charger can charge ... have a shuftie to find out the make/model of it and/or it has little switches for different battery types.

 

[DerryW]

Am I right to assume the "A" symbol on the front of the FF equals AES ?

 

[Jasz]

I imagine that the previous posts saying that your batteries have had it are correct, but it would be interesting to see how long they hold the charge if you run the fridge on gas and not on hook up, before you change them.

 

[Minxy]

Am I right to assume the "A" symbol on the front of the FF equals AES ?

Pretty sure it means 'automatic' short for automatic energy selection.

 

[Lenny HB]

Oh what I'd give to have a 3-way fridge instead of the all-electric one I've got ...

Should have bought a Malibu they have a 3 way fridge option.

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[Minxy]

Should have bought a Malibu they have a 3 way fridge option.

Ah but then I wouldn't have my lovely 'Mr Jinx' Globecar!

 

[Jasz]

Further to my last post, my battery went down to 9V over a year ago when the heater fan was left on after a habitation service. The Sergeant controller on ours switches off at 9V to protect the battery - it is still working fine over a year later

 

[Stroppy Bird]

Oh what I'd give to have a 3-way fridge instead of the all-electric one I've got ...

Just when I'd convinced myself that we would be able to manage with a compressor instead of 3 way fridge you go and post this.

 

[autorouter]

AES means Automatic Energy Selection. The switch has an A position, for fully automatic mode. If you want to override that, switch to one of the manual positions - 230V, 12V or Gas.

In automatic mode, it switches to 12V when the engine is running. When the engine stops, there is a delay of about 15 minutes, for safety if you stop for fuel. Then it switches on the gas.

If you plug in the EHU, it detects it and switches over to 230V mode automatically. If the EHU goes off, it switches back to Gas.

Most people rarely use 12V when the engine isn't running. You have to switch off the gas on ferries and in the Channel Tunnel, so you can use 12V in that situation if you want.

 

[DerryW]

@autorouter thanks for the very comprehensive reply and simple explanation. So in essence I should leave the FF on "A" and forget about it?

One thing that @Jasz mentions would make perfect sense. When the FF was purely running on 12v and the status of the battery changed very quickly from 13.2v to 8.9v (see start of thread) there was a distinct click from under the seat where the leisure batteries and inverter are fitted. could this be the "Sargent Controller" whatever that is? and if so, the batteries may well be okay after all. We've always shirred away from travelling with the gas turned on for safety reason, however we will now change that practice. I assume the FF would consume quite a lot of gas if let on overnight, before switching to either 12v (when engine running) or EHU.

Thanks again. just shows the power of being a member of this forum. its got to be the best £15 (I think that is what I paid) I've spent since purchasing the MoHo

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[Lenny HB]

Further to my last post, my battery went down to 9V over a year ago when the heater fan was left on after a habitation service. The Sergeant controller on ours switches off at 9V to protect the battery - it is still working fine over a year later

But how much capacity does still have, you would need to run a controlled discharge test to find out.
9v is far too low to allow a battery to go down to even under load, most chargers switch off at 10.5 or 11 v.

 

[Lenny HB]

We've always shirred away from travelling with the gas turned on for safety reason,

It is fine if you have a Secumotion regulator (it has crash protection) and anti-rupture hoses ( shut the gas off at the bottle if the hose splits).
If you don't, carry on turning the gas off when travelling for your own and everyone elses safety.

 

[DerryW]

@LennyHB

Attached are photos of the bottles and filler cap. on each bottle it says "Gaslow R67"

 

[autorouter]

Lucky you. You have 'refillable' gas bottles. You go to a garage that sells LPG (GPL in France) from a pump. Attach the hose to the filler point. You may need an adaptor to fit, in different countries. Gaslow sell a set of them, but the chances are they are already there in some obscure corner of a cupboard.

One advantage of refillables is you can top up any time you like, no need to wait until they are empty.

 

[Sandancers]

Oh what I'd give to have a 3-way fridge instead of the all-electric one I've got ...

Why do you say that ? A friend of ours who has an all-electric says it's great. It's only a small fridge tho, with a very small freezer.

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[Minxy]

We've always shirred away from travelling with the gas turned on for safety reason, however we will now change that practice. I assume the FF would consume quite a lot of gas if let on overnight, before switching to either 12v (when engine running) or EHU.

You should still have the FF set to 12v when travelling, no point in wasting gas (even if it was safe to drive with it running the FF) as the 12v costs you nothing as the engine provides the power.

So:

• Use mains electric when on site (unless it is expensive in which case use gas)
• Use gas when not on hook-up (ie when not on a site or if the electric is expensive)
• Use 12v when travelling

 

[Minxy]

Just when I'd convinced myself that we would be able to manage with a compressor instead of 3 way fridge you go and post this.

Why do you say that ? A friend of ours who has an all-electric says it's great. It's only a small fridge tho, with a very small freezer.

It depends on how you use the camper, we wild camp all the time though and never have EHU andwe found last year when away for 2 months over winter in France/Portugal/Spain the batteries (2 x 95ah gels) and solar (2 x 100w) didn't keep it at a good state of charge, when we stopped in one place for a few days this is when it became most noticeable.

For now we've bought a genny to use as a back-up if the need arises, but just going on a campsite for a night once a week, along with travelling, would probably have been sufficient.

I do like the fact that we don't have to remember to turn the fridge from gas to electric etc, there are no draughty vents in the side of the camper, no worrying about putting on winter vents etc, so there are definite bonuses.

Don't let my comments put you off - after having a 3-way fridge before we didn't really have to be overly concerned about power usage but now have to think a bit more about it due to how we use the camper however for most people having an all electric fridge be fine.

 

[Lenny HB]

@LennyHB

Attached are photos of the bottles and filler cap. on each bottle it says "Gaslow R67"

The R67 bottles have a built in anti-rupture valve & you have a Secumotion regulator so it's safe to drive with the gas on.

 

[funflair]

It depends on how you use the camper, we wild camp all the time though and never have EHU andwe found last year when away for 2 months over winter in France/Portugal/Spain the batteries (2 x 95ah gels) and solar (2 x 100w) didn't keep it at a good state of charge, when we stopped in one place for a few days this is when it became most noticeable.

For now we've bought a genny to use as a back-up if the need arises, but just going on a campsite for a night once a week, along with travelling, would probably have been sufficient.

I do like the fact that we don't have to remember to turn the fridge from gas to electric etc, there are no draughty vents in the side of the camper, no worrying about putting on winter vents etc, so there are definite bonuses.

Don't let my comments put you off - after having a 3-way fridge before we didn't really have to be overly concerned about power usage but now have to think a bit more about it due to how we use the camper however for most people having an all electric fridge be fine.

Why didn’t you just leave your 3 way fridge on “auto” seems like you complicated things switching sources all the time.

Martin

 

[Minxy]

Why didn’t you just leave your 3 way fridge on “auto” seems like you complicated things switching sources all the time.

Martin

We only have an electric fridge now so no other option, in the last camper the 3-way fridge was a manual one so no AES function, hence the need to change the power input depending on if we were driving, on EHU or wild camping.

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[DerryW]

@funflair. That's exactly what we're going to do after all the advice and knowledge gained via this thread.

 

[Jasz]

But how much capacity does still have, you would need to run a controlled discharge test to find out.
9v is far too low to allow a battery to go down to even under load, most chargers switch off at 10.5 or 11 v.

We lasted 4 nights without topping it up at all (long story). Lights, some TV and some heater fan running + charging of phones etc (all on a 75Ah battery), before we noticed it went down of any note (2 LEDs instead of 3 - no flash voltage display on ours, I have to check voltage with a separate voltmeter!)

 

[Lenny HB]

We lasted 4 nights without topping it up at all (long story). Lights, some TV and some heater fan running + charging of phones etc (all on a 75Ah battery), before we noticed it went down of any note (2 LEDs instead of 3 - no flash voltage display on ours, I have to check voltage with a separate voltmeter!)

Looks like you got away with it, very lucky.
Very few of the modern vans have a decent display anymore that's why a lot of us fit battery monitors like the BVM 700.

 

[John Innings]

I have 2 KS Energy lithium batteries model is KS-100 and can run the fridge in my Swift for 24 Hours without an issues, this is a god send when low on LPG and miles from the nearest filling station. It sounds as though your batteries are old and tired.

 

[Reallyretired]

Our fridge is on auto all the time except when going on the tunnel/ferries. As the gas has to be turned off and the fridge will automatically switch to gas 15mins after stopping the engine, it will be sparking away, and will probably light for a bit.
The fire detection on the tunnel is very sensitive. I once went through and had a minute oil leak in my car engine, evacuation alarms going, had to move to a different carriage while it was inspected.
The thing I've never understood is why you're supposed to use their loo (miles away and rather unpleasant) and not you're own because its a fire risk apparently. I always use ours.

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[peterc10]

A
Most people rarely use 12V when the engine isn't running. You have to switch off the gas on ferries and in the Channel Tunnel, so you can use 12V in that situation if you want.

Most people can't use 12V when the engine is not running. Most fridges are wired such that 12v can only be used when the engine is running, and, if they are not using 12V on a 3 way fridge without some form of charging soon runs down the battery.

 

[peterc10]

The thing I've never understood is why you're supposed to use their loo (miles away and rather unpleasant) and not you're own because its a fire risk apparently. I always use ours.

We use the tunnel often and have never heard that. The announcements tell you where the toilets are (because most of the vehicles on the train do not have a built in bog!) but I have never heard them say that you can't use your own if you have got one. And nobody has ever old us that we can't use our own toilet.

 

[Lenny HB]

Most people can't use 12V when the engine is not running. Most fridges are wired such that 12v can only be used when the engine is running,

Unless they have a German van.

 

[TheCaller]

Unless they have a German van.

.... and then only some German vans.

My 2013 Globecar Campscout has neither AES nor is it wired to run the fridge from any 12V supply other than when the engine is running.

 

[bfb]

I have a Hymer BM640. The 3 way fridge instructions state that the 12 volt should only be used when the engine is running. When not running the fridge will flatten the batteries very quickly so use gas or ehu. Mines not automatic so don't use 12 volt as I will forget to switch over.

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