Any advise please?

[1 Cup]

We carry a hot pump flask 3ltr just poor rest of kettel back into it To.fill kettal in morning ., takes less time to boil.
cold water takes more energy ! Plus it's drinking water only

 

[trevskoda]

I boil water about every half hr, mind you its not nice to drink I'm told.

 

[JonSue]

Just a few comments ref your setup (other ones already made on the thread, but worth recapping)

200Ah of Batteries - can you use with an inverter? Yes, for a short period. With a Battery Bank that size, you should be able to use a kettle without a problem. If you got say a 800W Travel Kettle, you would be drawing around 80A from the battery while running. Kettle that size with 2 mugs worth of water will take upto 6 minutes to boil, taking out around 8Ah from the battery - well within the usable capacity of the battery.
Whether that is a good use of battery power rather than using a gas hob is a decision only you can make, not others (FWIW, I use battery power to boil a kettle and run a microwave, as well as heating my shower water, so I am certainly not saying it is automatically a bad idea).

So why are you not able to do it? two possibilities....
1) Batteries have had it. That would explain it. You would also see a drop in the voltage in general use. How long do the batteries last generally in day to day non-inverter use?
2) Cabling from Battery to Inverter inadequate. If the cable is too light, you will get a large voltage drop and the inverter will complain as you see.
What size cables have you and how long are they. Check the voltage at the battery terminals before you put the kettle and and keep monitoring as the kettle switches on and the inverter starts to beep - what is the voltage just before the beeping starts?

An interesting read is this book from Victron - https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Book-Energy-Unlimited-EN.pdf
It is useful to read generally, and section 6.6 covers a real life analysis of power use when cooking an entire meal via Battery Power.

Thank you very much for your helpful reply . On my other van I have 2 batteries and a 1000 w inverter and it does boil the 600w kettle but does start to beep, so I think my problem is a/ The battery ,I am booked in to have another one fitted on Monday. Can't do it myself as there is only space for one on this Escape. and b/ I need to upgrade my inverter from 1000 to 15000 . Fingers crossed then x

 

[JonSue]

First thing i'd check is the power requirements of the kettle. If its exceeding the output of the inverter that will cause an alarm. Next i'd check size of the cables from battery to inverter. Volt drop is a real problem on 12v(power being used to warm cables), particularly at higher currents, you may find even though volts are high leaving battery, they arrive low enough at inverter to cause a low voltage trip. I run a similar rig with 1400w draw microwave and need at least 25mm tails and feeds from split charge main alternator to carry the 116 amp (1400/12) required, and thats splitting the power from main , aux batts & alternator & solar input, and assuming I can keep voltage from dipping below 12v. Also most pure leisure batteries are not designed to supply high currents, they have higher internal resistances therefore also suffer from volt drop. Check voltage at inverter input when under load. I get over this by always running the engine when microwave is on. Be real careful with running such high loads, the currents at 12v are so massive , fire is a real risk due to stuff melting. Make sure all cables and accessories are properly specced for the current and everything is super tight, appropriately fused and regularly inspected for overheating. If in any doubt about cable design consult a decent electrical engineer. Refillable gas bottle might be the way forward, or as others suggested a far lower powered kettle. Or even a twig stove/kelly kettle for emergencies. More batteries would also combat the leisure battery internal resistance issue but gets heavy & expensive. Hybrid batteries could help if not already fitted

Thank youvery much for your helpful reply x

 

[Helzie]

If you are not fitted with a pace-maker, then I would suggest you also consider an Induction Hob rather than a kettle.

You will be able to boil a kettle of water on an induction hob as fast as with a kettle of the same power. A stove-top kettle that works on an induction hob will work on a gas hob just as well (I use the same collapsible kettle on both), and you will also have a device that givess you much more flexibility.
I actually carry a pair of 500W Portable ones and can take them outside to use under the awning as well as inside the Motorhome.

Something to be aware of though ... almost all induction hobs work by cycling through full power and off to average the power selected. so if you get a 1000W hob and set it to 500W, you will still need an inverter capable of delivering 1000W. (my 500W ones are a maximum of 500W)

Can I ask which 500W portable induction hob you have?

 

[Deleted member 76493]

I have 2 100 amp batteries connected and 1 2000 watt inverter but I can't boil a small kettle for a cup of tea. The inverter just starts Beeping after about a minute and the kettle is just tepid. Testing both batteries show 12.8 v Help

I have 4 x 110amp leisure batteries connected to a 5kW/Hr inverter. My system is overkill, even for wild camping.
`My guess is that your kettle pulls too much power for your inverter ... resistive loads like kettles, need a real whack up the backside to get started, so look for a 750 or 800 watt kettle and that should work. Heating water on the gas is perhaps a better option and save your electrical power for items/tasks which are electric only.
I have a small single ring gas camping stove for emergencies and for cooking smelly food outside ... it uses (expensive) cans a bit bigger than aerosol cans ... if you are a bit technical, you can refill them ... dangerous if you don't know how ! Can be handy if I run out og LPG in the middle of nowhere.
People often have all the manufacturer's hook-up installation and then connect their inverter as though it is shore power. That is a very bad idea, because you will be powering all of that electronic panel ... it feeds the fridge, water heater, water pump, etc. and even the battery charger. Effectly reducing dramatically what is available from the inverter.
I should also mention that the inverter labelled as 1200watts, uses about 10% of its rated power just running itself. So, it is probably worth more like 980 watts, unless the maker has accounted for losses and deducted those from the output ratings. My 5kW inverter costs 500 watts switched on and doing nothing, so it is reserved mostly for the microwave ... I have several smaller inverters and try to use the size most suited to the task !

Hope some of that is helpful.

P.S. 1. Look up how the make an alcohol burner from a drinks can ... YouTube is your friend for that.
2. In an absolute emergency, it is possible to boil water using a tealight candle, although it does take a long time.

 

[Deleted member 86180]

I thought the op made it clear that shortage of gas was the main issue and the reason for exploring electrical alternatives? I totally get this and although we have a 200ah lifepo4 leisure battery onboard it can run short during the poor solar months! I put together a 200ah lifepo4 battery connected to a 1500w pure sine wave inverter with a short hook up lead. All we use it for in winter is to hook up and run the onboard 40ah lithium charger to replenish the onboard leisure battery as we don’t travel far enough in winter for the b to b to earn its keep. Efficiency isn’t an issue because of it’s available cycles, so we use a low watt kettle, toaster and microwave routinely, then top up before going home.

During the ‘solar months’ we can use the ‘home made’ for other gas saving things like cooking as well as the usual stuff. This induction hob below doesn’t cycle through it’s maximum power setting and can be started off on the lowest setting, we can’t use its maximum power setting with the ‘home made’ and 1500w but we don’t ever need to. It’s great for outside cooking.

I get that lpg is becoming scarce but other countries can be more tricky, try getting it in Finland!

 

[JonSue]

Thank you everyone for your help.It is really appreciated

 

[merl]

Thank you everyone for your help.It is really appreciated

Hi, Just looked back thru this and noticed you'd replied and asked for my help but I failed to reply! Really sorry! Have you got the issue sorted? I'm guessing swapping the battery did the trick?
Merl