Leisure Battery whilst Wild Camping

[Birdy67]

Hi All

Tomorrow will be my first experience of effectively wild camping, as we've only been hooked up on campsites since buying our van. There are 4 of us going away for a couple of nights. The fridge will be on gas so not a concern but we intend to try and watch a couple of football matches if possible (assuming a decent mobile signal) as well as using the lights, water pump, playing some music etc. The motorhome is brand new, as is the battery of course, so should we have enough power for a couple of days and is there anything I should look out for in terms of the battery getting too low? There is a solar panel on the roof too, although I've just read that they're basically useless according to dawsey

 

[LesW]

You should be OK, the TV may an issue, ignore the nay sayers.

 

[suavecarve]

How much battery and what type ?
How much solar and are you parking in sunlight ?
12 volt or 240 volt tv ?

These will help with educated guesses

 

[Lenny HB]

Will be fine at this time of year.

 

[DavidG58]

Reminds me of my early fears, I am confident you will be fine, we were

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[Birdy67]

How much battery and what type ?
How much solar and are you parking in sunlight ?
12 volt or 240 volt tv ?

These will help with educated guesses

12v tv with a firestick attached being charged via a USB cable from the TV. The current leisure battery charge is 12.5V. There is only one. There's one solar panel on the roof although I'm not entirely sure of it's size but seem to recall previously reading it was 120 watt.

The intention is to park in sunlight yes. It's just a field in Crowborough.

 

[suavecarve]

12v tv with a firestick attached being charged via a USB cable from the TV. The current leisure battery charge is 12.5V. There is only one. There's one solar panel on the roof although I'm not entirely sure of it's size but seem to recall previously reading it was 120 watt.

The intention is to park in sunlight yes. It's just a field in Crowborough.

Presuming that is 100 or so ah of gel you ll be fine, but I d be tempted to ensure it had a full charge (which it probably will after travel)

100 ah of lead acid with 100 watts of solar on a 240 v tv would just about get 2 films (with all other ancillary stuff) (A number of years ago)

Forecast is semi reasonable so that will help.

I d be tempted to use as much as you could (so that you ran out) to get an idea of your capacity for your usage and then work out if 2nd battery or lithium or extra solar would be of benefit or not. Aim to run out and see it as a benefit !

 

[Birdy67]

Presuming that is 100 or so ah of gel you ll be fine, but I d be tempted to ensure it had a full charge (which it probably will after travel)

100 ah of lead acid with 100 watts of solar on a 240 v tv would just about get 2 films (with all other ancillary stuff) (A number of years ago)

Forecast is semi reasonable so that will help.

I d be tempted to use as much as you could (so that you ran out) to get an idea of your capacity for your usage and then work out if 2nd battery or lithium or extra solar would be of benefit or not. Aim to run out and see it as a benefit !

Thanks for the detailed reply. Am I correct in thinking that if the battery drops to around 12v then it's effectively run out? Stupidly I had previously assumed that running it down to zero meant it would have run out of charge but have since read some stuff suggesting you shouldn't allow a battery to go below 10v ever?

 

[The Old Man]

Solo traveller who Freedom Camps.

With a full freshwater tank.
An empty grey tank.
An empty cassette.
Fully charged 120A Hab battery.
No solar.

I can last three days off grid with limited TV.

Your fridge and hob ignitors need 12V to be there.

You probably have a battery charge indicator on your control panel, monitor it carefully. If you use too mch power you will damage the Hab battery.

Do ensure that all 12v demands are off, including TV standby.

After breakfast a drive to a coffee shop will give you a little back.

 

[suavecarve]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Am I correct in thinking that if the battery drops to around 12v then it's effectively run out? Stupidly I had previously assumed that running it down to zero meant it would have run out of charge but have since read some stuff suggesting you shouldn't allow a battery to go below 10v ever?

Without getting technical, cos I m not technical, I would start to be seriously concerned at running out at 12 volt. I start getting normally concerned under 12.7 volt (dependant upon what extra use I envisage)

But we all have a little concern at different levels, thats why I would try to run out and look at is a positive. If your partner is with you and you run out out of electricity it gives you so much more freedom to upgrade, and so what if you run out, its all fun

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[pappajohn]

The current leisure battery charge is 12.5V.

Too low..... Fully charged it should be 12.7v.
If the solar has sun on it the voltage should show as 13.6v to 14.4v
Yours appears to be around 30% discharged or your meter is inaccurate.

 

[Birdy67]

Too low..... Fully charged it should be 12.7v.
If the solar has sun on it the voltage should show as 13.6v to 14.4v
Yours appears to be around 30% discharged or your meter is inaccurate.

It's parked in storage without any power connected. It's been there since Monday afternoon. Everything is switched off but I can easily get there and run the engine if this is likely to cause any damage?

 

[pappajohn]

Don't run the engine, it can cause damage.
As its in covered storage the charge may well be correct.

 

[Tombola]

It's parked in storage without any power connected. It's been there since Monday afternoon. Everything is switched off but I can easily get there and run the engine if this is likely to cause any damage?

should be fine is all swotched off and had a decent charge before hand.

also dont worry too much when taking readings if items are being or have been used recently and you get 12.2, 12.3 etc, you always get lower reading when battery is in use.
takes a while to float back up to the "real" reading when stopped being used.

 

[Cush]

How do you get your voltage reading? Is it from the control panel. These can indicate lower than you actually have. On mine, a Sargent panel from 20 years ago, it reliably shows 0.4 V less than the solar controller shows. The latter tallies exactly with what the multimeter shows at terminals. As gurus mentioned above, take a health warning with voltage readings while under load. They will always be lower. I went ehu free for the first time this year. Lights, device charging and 12v tv. Solar had my batteries at float by 11am. Enjoy your trip. You should be fine if your battery is Healthy.

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[Birdy67]

How do you get your voltage reading? Is it from the control panel. These can indicate lower than you actually have. On mine, a Sargent panel from 20 years ago, it reliably shows 0.4 V less than the solar controller shows. The latter tallies exactly with what the multimeter shows at terminals. As gurus mentioned above, take a health warning with voltage readings while under load. They will always be lower. I went ehu free for the first time this year. Lights, device charging and 12v tv. Solar had my batteries at float by 11am. Enjoy your trip. You should be fine if your battery is Healthy.

The Phantom Alarm that I had installed when we bought the new motorhome has an app and the current battery health shows on one of the pages of the app. Although I'm now starting to feel a little foolish wondering whether that meter is showing the engine battery charge rather than the leisure battery charge?

 

[Birdy67]

The Phantom Alarm that I had installed when we bought the new motorhome has an app and the current battery health shows on one of the pages of the app. Although I'm now starting to feel a little foolish wondering whether that meter is showing the engine battery charge rather than the leisure battery charge?

There's of course a control panel in the motorhome but I haven't looked at that since Monday when I parked it up.

 

[Cush]

The Phantom Alarm that I had installed when we bought the new motorhome has an app and the current battery health shows on one of the pages of the app. Although I'm now starting to feel a little foolish wondering whether that meter is showing the engine battery charge rather than the leisure battery charge?

My guess would be the vehicle battery if that’s what the phantom system is powered from. You can check by seeing if voltage on the app rises when vehicle is running

 

[Birdy67]

OK thanks all. So in summary I should keep an eye on the leisure battery level and if it gets down to12.7 V or less go for a little drive to bump it back up again? Although hopefully this won't actually be necessary.

 

[IRHP]

OK thanks all. So in summary I should keep an eye on the leisure battery level and if it gets down to12.7 V or less go for a little drive to bump it back up again? Although hopefully this won't actually be necessary.

Absolutely no need to go for a drive if it's 12.7v

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[suavecarve]

Absolutely no need to go for a drive if it's 12.7v

Agreed, that is what I quoted as my point of concern ! When I start to consider what have I got left to charge/watch tv etc and is the sun shining/when are we moving? Plenty life left at that point but just being aware and forward planning.

 

[Cush]

OK thanks all. So in summary I should keep an eye on the leisure battery level and if it gets down to12.7 V or less go for a little drive to bump it back up again? Although hopefully this won't actually be necessary.

Don’t get leisure battery anxiety. Use it, if it goes off you’ll know the limit. Solar should cover your demand during daytime and give you enough for the evening. best case scenario would be to have it fully charged when you pitch up. Driving will give you some charge, depending on whether you have a b2b charger or a simpler relay, but solar is your best friend. Best upgrade was maxing the roof area with panels. I don’t have anyway of actually telling how full my old-school lead acid batteries are other than using accurate voltages to see if it’s is in float mode (indicating it’s full). Enjoy your weekend

 

[Langtoftlad]

Budget electrics here - 2x lead acid batteries so 100ahr usable
1x 120w solar with an inefficient PWM controller. No fancy B2B just a split relay.
UK use
Just done Pickering, Hereford, Drax, Lyndon Top and Callow End... no EHU 4or5 days each location
What I used battery wise was topped up by the time I got up.
2-3 hrs telly, led lights, echo dot, mifi, and phone/chromebook recharging.

 

[VXman]

OK thanks all. So in summary I should keep an eye on the leisure battery level and if it gets down to12.7 V or less go for a little drive to bump it back up again? Although hopefully this won't actually be necessary.

It really depends how accurate your dispaly is. My Burstner dispaly reads 0.2 below the actual voltage of the battery. I know this as I check the battery level with a multimeter. Might be worth getting one. You are OK down to 50% of battery capacity which is generally about 12 volts. (varies according to battery type. You can look up some charts on the internet but this is an example.

Don't forget - display will read lower when in use. You can only tell the true state of the battery after an hour of no use. When solar is charging it will read higher than actual. Telling the actual state of the battery at a single point in time is quite difficult. 4am is a good time to check it (assuming you haven't used it the the prior hours or 2)

 

[autorouter]

One thing to be careful of is that if the solar panel is active, the voltage of the leisure battery is definitely not an indication of the state of charge of the battery. A battery with no loads, and not being charged, will have a voltage from about 12.0V (fairly flat) to about 12.7V (full). However when it is being charged, the charger forces the voltage up to over 13V, probably to around 14.5V.

If the battery is very flat, the charger forces the voltage up to over 13.5V straightaway, so you can see that the battery voltage when charging is very misleading. You need to switch off the solar and wait a while, or wait until it's dark, to see the battery 'resting voltage', which is more of an indication of charge level. Quite a few people seem to think that when the sun comes up and the battery gets to 13V it's fully charged. But it takes several hours to recharge a flat battery.

When solar is charging, if the voltage gets to about 14.5V for some time, then drops to about 13.5V, then that is the best indication that the battery is fully charged.

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[herald_400rl]

We have a 90-ish Ah Lead acid and we did 3 nights "off-grid" with the battery meter showing 3/4 full.
We don't have solar, the battery powers the water pump, igniter for the fridge and water heater and the lights.

 

[headlight]

Presuming that is 100 or so ah of gel you ll be fine, but I d be tempted to ensure it had a full charge (which it probably will after travel)

100 ah of lead acid with 100 watts of solar on a 240 v tv would just about get 2 films (with all other ancillary stuff) (A number of years ago)

Forecast is semi reasonable so that will help.

I d be tempted to use as much as you could (so that you ran out) to get an idea of your capacity for your usage and then work out if 2nd battery or lithium or extra solar would be of benefit or not. Aim to run out and see it as a benefit !

My 32 inch 240v TV run from an inverter, Status signal booster and Firestick combined take 2.6 amps per hour, according to my Victron smart shunt.

 

[Birdy67]

Thanks to everyone that replied putting my mind at ease. Turns out the leisure battery performed very well throughout the weekend. I watched two football matches on the firestick, we had plenty of power throughout the stay using the lights and playing music and I'm now convinced that just the two of us will be able to survive for a night or two without any concerns about not having EHU. Heading to France for our first overseas trip in a couple of weeks but now headed there with a lot more confidence. Cheers all!

 

[autorouter]

If it's your first trip over the channel, don't forget to take an adapter for a continental socket to round blue socket. Quite a lot of sites and aires have standard domestic sockets, not the round blue ones. You can get one in a camping shop over here, or in a big DIY store over there (Leroy Merlin for example)

 

[berni109]

Glad to see you are full of confidence and rearing to go.
What's the worst that could have happened?
A bottle of water and a torch would have taken care of all your short term needs.

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