All Electric camper

[Admin]

However the method is patented by one of the large fuel companies

Sorry Admin urban myth. Common misconception is that holding a patent keeps an idea secret, it does just the opposite. All patents can I believe viewed at the patents office. Holding a patent prevents anyone else from making commercial gain from your ideas, i don't think even making use of them for further experimentation or demonstration for educational use is prevented.
By the way cracking water is not that difficult, pass an electric current through acidic water the electrodes will gas oxygen on one and hydrogen on the other. I think that is how it's done but it is 35yrs since I did it in 3rd form chemistry. Problem is it takes much more power to "crack" it than you can get from it.

Regards Geoff.​

Your right, however it does prevent car companies from being able to commerically use the technology.

There are lots of ways of cracking water; search for "water engine patent" in google if you are interested.

 

[tresrikay]

I too can't understand this constant need for electric (230) type. Apart from kettles, toasters, I came to motorhoming from narrow boating which i did for 14 years, living full time on one for 10 of those and the stuff people were putting on them in the end was frightening. Washing machines, Dryers,Dishwashers etc,etc,and consequently were having to install such an amazing aray of equipment to generate the power, that on one boat i saw built, it had two engines one to push it through the water and another to generate the power plus extra alternators, smoothers, rectifiers, management systems, battery banks. The size of the room to keep all this in was about the size of the bedroom on my van. The poor chap spent more time laid up with problems with the system than he did sailing it. No keep the lot. Most entertainment stuff is available in 12v, everything else can be done by gas, so get some gaslow bottles (gas less than 1/2 calor price) a decent solar panel decent batteries and leave 230 at home with all the rest of the crap we are escaping from......... SOD IT, forgot about her hair dryer,oh well, anybody got any ideas about an all electric motorhome................!!!

 

[cipro]

If one looks at this from the energy requirement level we need to have the following power (my suggestions):

Fridge 100w for 12 hr =1200 Whr (more in summer less in winter)
Heating 1000w for 3hr =3000 Whr (less in summer)
Hot Water 1000w for 1/2hr =500 Whr
Cooking 1000w for 1/2hr =500 Whr
Lights / pump 100w for 1hr =100Whr

So a total daily requirement of around 5000Whrs.

If solar panels were used for 10 hours /day they would need to generate 500W per hour.
Batteries to store that amount over 400 ah

All the above assumes 100% efficiency in any conversion (inverter) and also with the batteries!!

So I would guess the only way forward might be a roof full of solar panels, a wind turbine feeding 4 110ah batteries, augmented by a 1KVa generator to charge the batteries and run some of the load.

Fair play to the above but the times crosswork seems easier to understand lol

All I tend to do is add up the power of my appliences so that i dont trip the TRIP when hooked up if you now what i mean.

 

[Admin]

I am glad we have explored this idea, what next ???

 

[walkers]

Fair play to the above but the times crosswork seems easier to understand lol

All I tend to do is add up the power of my appliences so that i dont trip the TRIP when hooked up if you now what i mean.

you hooking up to lamposts? what about when you are wilding?
seems as if it would be difficult without gas but think of the benefits no co2, less fire risk.

We would all like to think the insurance companies would bring premiums down with no gas equipment on board, or would that be going too far

 

[Deleted member 2636]

you hooking up to lamposts? what about when you are wilding?
:

I wondered when some one would mention that; unless you have a very big Generator it would be a bit tricky for a Wild Camper I would have thought.

 

[Geoff.W]

seems as if it would be difficult without gas but think of the benefits no co2, less fire risk.

I don't agree, the CO2 produced in charging the batteries would be much greater than that produced by the gas equipment. It would be difficult to prove either way but the fire risk from the high voltage electrical instalation would probably be greater than the risk from gas, just look at the number of house fires put down to electrical faults.

Another fact no one has used in thier calculations is that even good batteries are only about 75% efficient i.e. you need to put 4KWH in to get 3KWH out.

Regards Geoff.​

 

[Geoff.W]

Further to my previous post one or two may find this interesting

http://xtronics.com/reference/batterap.htm

Battery Efficiency
Energy efficiency is calculated on the amount of power used from the battery while discharging divided by the amount of power delivered to the batter while charging, multiplied by 100 to yield percent. Pout x 100 /Pin . A lead-acid battery has an efficiency of only 75-85%. The energy lost appears as heat and warms the battery. Keeping the charge and discharge rate of a battery low, helps keep a battery cool and improves the battery life.

The above losses don't include losses in the charging circuit which may have an efficiency of anywhere from 60% to 80% - thus the overall- total efficiency is the product of these efficiencies and ends up being 45 to 68%. (To further this example and to show why physics and not some corporate conspiracy is the reason we don't have electric cars - suppose the controls and motors on a car were 85% - the over all efficiency is now only 38 - 58%. You can see that an electric car would use about twice the energy than a conventional car - not to mention the great cost of the regular replacement of batteries. This is why batteries are best used where only intermittent, or very low power use is required.)

To further explain - If the electricity is generated from a gasoline engine - and that energy is converted to electricity, and then sent through power line transformers and power lines, and then converted to DC, and then converted to chemical energy, and then converted back to electrical energy, and then converted to rotary mechanical energy - it is clear that many losses have occurred. If the same gasoline motor was providing the rotary energy directly to the drive train it is much more efficient

Does highlight some of the difficulties particularly for wild camping.

Regards Geoff.​

 

[David & Ann]

Further to my previous post one or two may find this interesting

http://xtronics.com/reference/batterap.htm

Battery Efficiency
Energy efficiency is calculated on the amount of power used from the battery while discharging divided by the amount of power delivered to the batter while charging, multiplied by 100 to yield percent. Pout x 100 /Pin . A lead-acid battery has an efficiency of only 75-85%. The energy lost appears as heat and warms the battery. Keeping the charge and discharge rate of a battery low, helps keep a battery cool and improves the battery life.

The above losses don't include losses in the charging circuit which may have an efficiency of anywhere from 60% to 80% - thus the overall- total efficiency is the product of these efficiencies and ends up being 45 to 68%. (To further this example and to show why physics and not some corporate conspiracy is the reason we don't have electric cars - suppose the controls and motors on a car were 85% - the over all efficiency is now only 38 - 58%. You can see that an electric car would use about twice the energy than a conventional car - not to mention the great cost of the regular replacement of batteries. This is why batteries are best used where only intermittent, or very low power use is required.)

To further explain - If the electricity is generated from a gasoline engine - and that energy is converted to electricity, and then sent through power line transformers and power lines, and then converted to DC, and then converted to chemical energy, and then converted back to electrical energy, and then converted to rotary mechanical energy - it is clear that many losses have occurred. If the same gasoline motor was providing the rotary energy directly to the drive train it is much more efficient

Does highlight some of the difficulties particularly for wild camping.

Regards Geoff.​

Geoff, explain that again in layman's english

 

[andy&bea]

elecrtic cycle

Your right Lenny, you are not an electrical engineer, be great if it did work your way though. regards Andy&bea

 

[Geoff.W]

Geoff, explain that again in layman's english

Eer! yes I take your point, sorry, Is a bit techy (tecky?). Basicly the point it makes is that, in the terms of this thread, it would take 2 - 21/2 times more power (when measured at input point) to boil an egg using battery power than using gas.

 

[David & Ann]

Eer! yes I take your point, sorry, Is a bit techy (tecky?). Basicly the point it makes is that, in the terms of this thread, it would take 2 - 21/2 times more power (when measured at input point) to boil an egg using battery power than using gas.

Got it Buddy

 

[walkers]

I don't agree, the CO2 produced in charging the batteries would be much greater than that produced by the gas equipment.

inside the vehicle?

 

[artc]

All electric, mine is

I have an all Electric van, it's a Toyota Hiace 4WD(fulltime)LWB, Auto 3.4 2002 with overdrive. Everything is electric, fridge, microwave, interior lights,electric bed,, I also have a generator. It drives like a dream, came in from Japan, a really smart looking van ( we do carry a 2 burner picnic in a case) which wev'e used about twice.