Newbies from South Wales - Hoping to have some motorhome fun in our recently acquired Adria.

[Roger and Anne]

Aa an example, we have a 304Ah Fogstar lithium and a 3000W Renogy inverter. We rarely use gas and can stay 'off grid' at the same location for around four days with very little solar BUT extensive use of 240v for cooking etc

Other Funsters have bigger and better 'stuff', so do some research before committing

Hi again - thanks for the info. It's opened my eyes a bit. I hadn't realised you could that much out of a battery.

We'll have 240Ah with the new pair of batteries and a 300W inverter as a starter pack, which we plan to experiment with. Nothing like your setup, but hopefully it will give us a taste of off-grid life - which we're yet to try!

As an example, what we have in mind for one of our main trips next year is taking our time travelling down from the Chunnel to Portugal and then on to Southern Spain and back up though France, making use of the Aires, off-grid spots et al along the way for overnight stops - two nights max. So the off-grid would mainly consist of such stops, with not too arduous drives of 4 hours or so in between. Being retired, we'll be in no great hurry . There'd also be some stops at several campsites with EHU along the way, at points where we want to have a day or two looking around. In central Portugal and Southern Spain we'll be stopping for two or three weeks at predetermined campsites.

Use of the electrics off-grid would therefore be mainly overnight stops where we'd be using lighting, Satellite TV, Mifi, laptop, phones, water pump and alarm system (all 12v), and possibly using the 300w inverter to boil the kettle a few times for tea and coffee and to power our Alexa in the mornings - although we could use gas for the kettle and mobile phones for radio if needed. Obviously, most of this use would be after sunset, with just a few hours of daylight in both the afternoon and morning for the solar panels.

Obviously, I haven't done the maths yet and we have to do some experimenting off-grid to see how the new battery setup measures-up before we go; but given your experience, do you think it would be feasible on a 240Ah battery set with nominal solar input?

I'm yet to determine what output we're getting from the solar panels as I have no spec on them and have only just taken delivery of my Kaiweets KC604 clamp meter. I'm not going to be able to get any meaningful readings now until after the winter. However, last summer we mostly saw 1 - 3 amps on the control panel, albeit there wasn't a lot of sunshine and we later discovered that the leisure battery was way past its useful life and needed changing - with 'Defect' displayed on the control panel. I understand the spent battery would have contributed to the low readings.

Anyway, we really appreciate your help. Thanks a lot .

Roger & Anne

 

[Roger and Anne]

That's lithium for other devices (Li-ion), lithium batteries for vans have a different chemical composition (LiFePo4), much stable and safer.
Welcome

That's something learned yet again! Many thanks - I'll look into that.

 

[Roger and Anne]

NZ, I think, term for Wild Camping, sometimes referred to FLT, Free Loading Tossers, which, as you miight reason, camping is the 'Wild' quiet carparks, layby's or semi wild;

Camping

Brecon Beacons Wild Camping - Camping

www.breconbeaconswildcamping.co.uk

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FLT . I'm sure a lot see it that way. That's helpful though. I'll look at the links. R&A

 

[The Old Man]

FLT . I'm sure a lot see it that way. That's helpful though. I'll look at the links. R&A

Maybe see you in Brecon?

 

[MisterB]

Hi again - thanks for the info. It's opened my eyes a bit. I hadn't realised you could that much out of a battery.

We'll have 240Ah with the new pair of batteries and a 300W inverter as a starter pack, which we plan to experiment with. Nothing like your setup, but hopefully it will give us a taste of off-grid life - which we're yet to try!

As an example, what we have in mind for one of our main trips next year is taking our time travelling down from the Chunnel to Portugal and then on to Southern Spain and back up though France, making use of the Aires, off-grid spots et al along the way for overnight stops - two nights max. So the off-grid would mainly consist of such stops, with not too arduous drives of 4 hours or so in between. Being retired, we'll be in no great hurry . There'd also be some stops at several campsites with EHU along the way, at points where we want to have a day or two looking around. In central Portugal and Southern Spain we'll be stopping for two or three weeks at predetermined campsites.

Use of the electrics off-grid would therefore be mainly overnight stops where we'd be using lighting, Satellite TV, Mifi, laptop, phones, water pump and alarm system (all 12v), and possibly using the 300w inverter to boil the kettle a few times for tea and coffee and to power our Alexa in the mornings - although we could use gas for the kettle and mobile phones for radio if needed. Obviously, most of this use would be after sunset, with just a few hours of daylight in both the afternoon and morning for the solar panels.

Obviously, I haven't done the maths yet and we have to do some experimenting off-grid to see how the new battery setup measures-up before we go; but given your experience, do you think it would be feasible on a 240Ah battery set with nominal solar input?

I'm yet to determine what output we're getting from the solar panels as I have no spec on them and have only just taken delivery of my Kaiweets KC604 clamp meter. I'm not going to be able to get any meaningful readings now until after the winter. However, last summer we mostly saw 1 - 3 amps on the control panel, albeit there wasn't a lot of sunshine and we later discovered that the leisure battery was way past its useful life and needed changing - with 'Defect' displayed on the control panel. I understand the spent battery would have contributed to the low readings.

Anyway, we really appreciate your help. Thanks a lot .

Roger & Anne

STOP !! If you haven't yet got the additional AGM, then really consider a lithium battery as a priority along with a much bigger inverter than 300w.
If you intend keeping your motorhome, it's prob one of the best improvements to how you use it you can make, so don't spend money on something you might decide to replace later.
An inverter of a minimum of 2000w will let you use most 240v appliances off grid, we wanted to use microwave and kettle at the same time, so went for a 3000w inverter.

The biggest consideration is how to replace any 'used' battery power, irrespective of whatever battery you have and irrespective of what you use that power for. Travelling for four hours every other day should do that, but you need to know the output of your alternator to be sure. If you're not using 240v, then your set up should be ok and the solar (given where you're going) should more than match the daily usage.

Do you have a refillable gas supply or do you use replacement cylinders? Gas use for the fridge will increase quite considerably the hotter the weather.... A couple of 12v fans will certainly help (check out fridge fans) and are an easy DIY fix.

Lots of people do exactly as you want to do without all the bells and whistles, so don't panic or worry, just adapt to the way you want to travel and everything will be great. You will love travelling through France, can't comment on Spain or Portugal (until late April when we come back from a similar travel schedule that you've set yourselves!)

Best wishes and enjoy

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[Roger and Anne]

STOP !! If you haven't yet got the additional AGM, then really consider a lithium battery as a priority along with a much bigger inverter than 300w.
If you intend keeping your motorhome, it's prob one of the best improvements to how you use it you can make, so don't spend money on something you might decide to replace later.
An inverter of a minimum of 2000w will let you use most 240v appliances off grid, we wanted to use microwave and kettle at the same time, so went for a 3000w inverter.

The biggest consideration is how to replace any 'used' battery power, irrespective of whatever battery you have and irrespective of what you use that power for. Travelling for four hours every other day should do that, but you need to know the output of your alternator to be sure. If you're not using 240v, then your set up should be ok and the solar (given where you're going) should more than match the daily usage.

Do you have a refillable gas supply or do you use replacement cylinders? Gas use for the fridge will increase quite considerably the hotter the weather.... A couple of 12v fans will certainly help (check out fridge fans) and are an easy DIY fix.

Lots of people do exactly as you want to do without all the bells and whistles, so don't panic or worry, just adapt to the way you want to travel and everything will be great. You will love travelling through France, can't comment on Spain or Portugal (until late April when we come back from a similar travel schedule that you've set yourselves!)

Best wishes and enjoy

Thanks MrB. That's really helpful. Unfortunately, it's too late to abandon the VRLA AGMs, they were delivered yesterday. I'm resigned to the fact that I'm not ready to make the leap to Litium yet as the Electrobloc only has options for Lead/Acid or Gel and I'm not yet confident enough to change the Electrobloc et al for Lithium friendly alternatives. I think it would be prudent to live with the Vision as she is for the time being so I can get used to her and get to grips with what she's capable of as built. That's why I've stuck to VRLA AGMs for the time being. I appreciate your advice though and haven't ruled out Lithium for the future - just a newbie taking baby steps.

You've given me a lot more confidence though and I feel a lot happier about being able to make our way down to Spain with off-grid overnight stops. Whether we can boil a 230V kettle though we'll have to see. If we can't, we'll stick to 12V off-grid and use gas.

At the moment we just have two Calor Gas bottles with manual rather than auto switching. I've been looking at one or two refillable bottles for Europe but it's early days.

 

[MisterB]

Thanks MrB. That's really helpful. Unfortunately, it's too late to abandon the VRLA AGMs, they were delivered yesterday. I'm resigned to the fact that I'm not ready to make the leap to Litium yet as the Electrobloc only has options for Lead/Acid or Gel and I'm not yet confident enough to change the Electrobloc et al for Lithium friendly alternatives. I think it would be prudent to live with the Vision as she is for the time being so I can get used to her and get to grips with what she's capable of as built. That's why I've stuck to VRLA AGMs for the time being. I appreciate your advice though and haven't ruled out Lithium for the future - just a newbie taking baby steps.

You've given me a lot more confidence though and I feel a lot happier about being able to make our way down to Spain with off-grid overnight stops. Whether we can boil a 230V kettle though we'll have to see. If we can't, we'll stick to 12V off-grid and use gas.

At the moment we just have two Calor Gas bottles with manual rather than auto switching. I've been looking at one or two refillable bottles for Europe but it's early days.

You only need to set your charger to the lead acid setting. That's how mine is set ...... It just means mine will only charge to 99% and I assume yours will be similar. Have you asked re returning them? Fogstar offer discount to forum members on lithium batteries....

 

[Roger and Anne]

Hi again. I appreciate your advice but I'm going to stick with them now they're here. I wouldn't be comfortable with using the lead/acid setting and want to see what the VRLA deep cycle model has to offer in any case. It might be a newbie mistake, but it seems the safer option for now and part of a learning process. It's not cost a lot. Next season I'll look into Lithium a lot more closely with the benefit of having the system looked at and checked out while the Vision is in for service. I'll ask them about using the Lead/Acid setting along with any other advice they may offer. After all, if we go down the Lithium route, I'd want to have the changes to the electrical system carried out by a qualified service centre. The detailed inner workings of batteries, chargers and controllers are not really my forte.