Hi everyone belated happy new year.
I am looking to electify my "Townace Extra"I spend a lot of time camping in Scotland[3/4weeks at a time]most wild but occasionaly on sites.Now ideally I would like to fit a small mains electric unit in my van so when on site I could [a] charge a leisure battery up & [b] maybe run a small fan heater for those chilly nights one gets around October/November time.Has anyone tried this or could some bright spark give me some ideas.It would have to be fairley small due to space,but large enough to run a battery charger at the very least.All suggestions gratefully received,possible by E/M.
Thanks Steuart.
- (#15001) Steuart, 19 Jan 05 09:02
if you want 230v ac mains then look at invertors at www.maplin.co.uk. i use a 300w one with a portable tv, vcr and playstation.
but remember that each 100w drawn by your mains appliances takes 10amps or so from your battery. so for serious power such as for a fan heater, or for charging batteries, you should be thinking of a small generator.
1kw fan heater would in theory use up all the energy in your battery in less than an hour if the battery, the dc wiring and the invertor could cope with the power transfer. for heat why make electricity? producing your heat directly from burning fuel - paraffin, gas, wood?
- (#15001) Dave Mason (Sussex), 19 Jan 05 11:40
I toyed with the idea of putting a small pc in the van, and bought a leisure battery from a caravan place and an inverter from maplins, but never got around to fitting it all as had too much else to do and the stumbling block was figuring out how to fit a 15" monitor in there as well. If you want to buy my battery/inverter e-mail me and I`ll find out the details of them.
- (#15001) Storm, 21 Jan 05 10:04
Do a search for 'towsure'..they do a smartcom voltage sensing split charge relay (item W28). If you get one insist they send you the orange one...not a cheaper alternative.
0970 60 900 70 for catalogue or online.
Also do search for 'sbmcc' (self build motor caravan club) Good source of info, inspiration and advice.
I got a new 'Ring' 1kw inverter from e-bay for under £100 and a leisure battery from the local caravan/camping place. Runs a microwave ok.
Getting a small 'eberspacher' fitted in the van would be a good way (the best way) of getting dry heat.(espar website) Pricey though (£600 ish), and even on e-bay a used one is still pricey at half the new price.
Problem with portable gas or parrafin heaters in a van is co poisioning and moisture.
For current draw its watts divided by 12(volts) = amps per hr used.....but if you want the leisure battery to last don't discharge more than 50% of its capacity.
Inverters also draw amperage themselves and are only 80-90% efficient.
2 types of inverter, modified sine and pure sine.
The cheaper modified sine is what most have...the pure sine is a bit more cost but gives true voltage like your mains. The modified sine I have is ok...but a bit noisy if attached to a fan (motor pulses)...and some interferance with a tv vid...though ok with a plain tv.
You could also look at solar panels for charging.
Good luck
- (#15001) chris turner, 21 Jan 05 12:04
Sorry, Towsures number starts 0870.
Also a search of the 'sterling' website is handy for good inverters and 'inteligent charging' systems
- (#15001) chris turner, 21 Jan 05 16:27
Thank you gentlemen for your sugestions,have printed them of to study in more detail.If you will exscuse a couple of silly questions,just how does an inverto operate,does one plug into a cigarete lighter?if so will it not run the main battery down? if one clips to a leisure battery how do you recharge the leisure one up do you need to fit a split relay.Sorry to be a bit thick old age you know.
- (#15001) Steuart, 22 Jan 05 18:49
Inverters...the lower wattage ones can be plugged into the cigarette lighter...and yes they may run your main battery down if you over use them.
I originally got a 150 watt one...but it would not run a tv (considerably less than 100 watt).
One thing to be aware of is that some items..ie: tv, microwave, fridges may appear to fit into the rating of your inverter....but they have a lot of start up/surge current...especially fridges and tvs...after which it drops to the nomimal current on the back of the appliance.
So some inverters may have sufficient current to run an item...but not enough to turn it on...
The way inverters are rated is misleading too. Some may be rated at 150 watts, but will only maintain this for 30 mins..whilst others rated the same will supply this current continously.
Also their 'peak' stated current is often misleading
So if you were to get one... do the reasearch and get one that appears overspecified current wise.
The higher rated inverters connect up to the battery supply with very thick (h/d jump lead type) cables...if they were connected to a cig lighter they would pop the fuses/burn out the wires as they draw more amps.
Regarding charging....anyway you like...split charge relay, solar, battery charger, inteligent chargers....bit of 'horses for courses'...need to tailor it to your intended actual usage...the leisure battery will also need to hold enough amperage for your intended usage between charges.
My own use is very minimal recreational...so I just have a leisure battery behind the rear seat and charge it up at home as required. I have a 12v socket 'stuck' to the side of the inverter too....so effectively its 12v/240v available from the inverter box.
Can't say I have used mine as much as I'd imagined pre-purchase....but summers coming again....well in a few months....
There are many websites with loads of mind boggling info, but I suggest checking the 'sbmcc', 'towsure' and 'sterling' sites as starters
- (#15001) chrisandhiace, 23 Jan 05 12:01