Autosleeper Trooper electrics problem

Montdog

Guest
I have bought a 2008 Autosleeper Trooper. There is a normal 3 pin socket which works fine when hooked up to outside electricity but does not seem to run off the leisure battery. Anyone know if this is normal or is it not working properly (or am I doing something stupid!)?

The manual that came with the vehicle makes no mention of this.

Many thanks to anyone who can help
 
Yes, the 230v mains sockets only work when you have a 230v mains supply from the hookup.

Your battery only supplies 12v, if you want 230v mains when you are not connected to a hookup you will need to get an inverter which converts 12v DC from the battery to 230v AC mains. However, mains appliances can use a lot of power and may flatten your battery pretty quickly.

AndyC
 
Well I am pleased it is not broken anyway!

How do people manage with things like re-charging mobiles when wild camping? Also, one of the reasons we got the van is that we are keen cyclists and followers of cycle racing. Many times we have met people camped up the top pf remote cols in France waiting for the Tour to come by and following the race on TV. Where does the power come for that? Sorry if I am asking basic questions but as you'll see I am a novice at this!
 
charging mobile phones

Am not a testnical person, However, get an incar charger for your mobile phone and use the cigarette lghter socket to plug it in to.. we usually recharge when we're on the move, as I think this is power sourced from the engine battery. A 12v telly will run off your leisure battery.. should be sockets inside your van. If it's a 240v telly you'll need an inverter. Look on the back of your telly to see what voltage it uses.

Remember no question is daft .. motorhoming is a steep learning experience!

I'm sure there'll be someone else comes along with more detailed info.
Happy travelling, Sue :)
 
Motorhome Electrical

Montdog said:
Well I am pleased it is not broken anyway!

How do people manage with things like re-charging mobiles when wild camping? Also, one of the reasons we got the van is that we are keen cyclists and followers of cycle racing. Many times we have met people camped up the top pf remote cols in France waiting for the Tour to come by and following the race on TV. Where does the power come for that? Sorry if I am asking basic questions but as you'll see I am a novice at this!
Click to expand...

Look up this link I hope it helps you to understand more

Motorhome Electrics

Alf 1
 
On our (sadly missed) Trooper we had an 80w solar panel on the roof and never ran out of power. (Anyone out there got our blue Trooper with roof rails?)
 
I am probably about to prove I haven't understood the link sent by Alf1 but here goes - please bear with me! We have a very small travel kettle, enough to boil water for 2 cuppas only. If I use a 2 pin shaving type adaptor on its 3 pin plug, will that work Ok off the 12 volt socket or will we spontaneously combust?
 
Mains Socket

Your travel kettle will be proberly be a 240v one.

Think about this.
Will a 240v AC appliance work if plugged into a 12v DC socket NO

240v socket only works when you have the hook up lead connected to a hook up point on a site.
The leisure battery provids the 12v supply to the lights and pump for your water also for the heating and hot water.
The 240v sockets work off hook up only.


I would suggest you get The Motorcaravan Manual by John Wickersham there is a new 2nd edition see this link it should help you understand motorcaravans

Product: The Motorcaravan Manual (2nd Edition)

Alf
 
If you're not on hook-up, it would be better to use the gas hob to boil a kettle as an electric kettle can flatten your habitation battery quite quickly.
 
If I'm correct, any sockets that are white (or brass) in your van will be 240 volt mains sockets for when you have a hook up. 12 volt sockets are a light brown colour.

There should be a switch somewhere to switch on your 12 volt system, and I would imagine a zig unit so that you can switch it to charge your leisure battery as you go along.

In terms of getting mains power out in the wild you can use an inverter as mentioned above, but running anything more than a mobile or notebook computer will VERY quickly drain your leisure battery as this is what an inverter is connected to. The easiest option is to buy a generator (preferably a silent one), or you can have a large bank of batteries charged by solar panels, but I think at this point in time that may be getting a bit complicated for you.

With a generator you simply start it up, run the mains lead into your hook up, switch on your mains and you're away. When we run ours (very frequently - it hardly uses any petrol) we always try to wait till people have gone, or if they're staying, make a point of going over and saying we're putting it on, but if the noise annoys them at all just come and knock and we'll turn it off. Not once has anyone said they could even hear it!
 
Not once has anyone said they could even hear it!


thats good news , i thought they were all noisy ! ...what make is yours please :D
 
ALLERDALECHEF said:
Not once has anyone said they could even hear it!


thats good news , i thought they were all noisy ! ...what make is yours please :D
Click to expand...

Clarke. That said I always place it sensiitively so as to minimise any noise / nuisance, sometimes involving a lengthy mains cable.

Our old one was embarassingly noisy to such an extent I would not use it. The Clarke cannot be defined as silent, but it's certainly not noisy and even when placed directly under the van, visitors have frequently commented that after a couple of minutes they are not even aware of the noise.
 
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