General advice

[Coco]

Hey folks, just joined up a few minutes ago and am posting a wee note to see if anybody has some advice for an amateur!
Being a newcomer to motorhoming, Me and the wife (her folks had a type 2 vw which sounded quality!) have always wanted to get away round europe and recently dived straight in and bought a converted transit. Spent a few nights away in it and loved it! we want to go to europe in a few months to meet up wi some pals and have bought the camperstop book so that we can stay in designated places. We have a leisure battery (zig meter too) and we have a fridge which seems to be a bit ropey, and I will be taking it to the original dealer to have a wee look at. Our problem is, is the wife is a photographer and has numerous electrical stuff to charge eg camera battery 7v, ordinary aa/aaa rechargeable batts, laptop, sat nav etc. Does anybody have any advice on what to do about spreading the load, and whether to get a charger (solar?) for the car batt too. Anythin would be much appreciated.
oh aye, we have a 300w inverter, and a couple of usb (5v) for the 12v socket. Cheers very much

 

[biggirafe]

Hey folks, just joined up a few minutes ago and am posting a wee note to see if anybody has some advice for an amateur!
Being a newcomer to motorhoming, Me and the wife (her folks had a type 2 vw which sounded quality!) have always wanted to get away round europe and recently dived straight in and bought a converted transit. Spent a few nights away in it and loved it! we want to go to europe in a few months to meet up wi some pals and have bought the camperstop book so that we can stay in designated places. We have a leisure battery (zig meter too) and we have a fridge which seems to be a bit ropey, and I will be taking it to the original dealer to have a wee look at. Our problem is, is the wife is a photographer and has numerous electrical stuff to charge eg camera battery 7v, ordinary aa/aaa rechargeable batts, laptop, sat nav etc. Does anybody have any advice on what to do about spreading the load, and whether to get a charger (solar?) for the car batt too. Anythin would be much appreciated.
oh aye, we have a 300w inverter, and a couple of usb (5v) for the 12v socket. Cheers very much

Hi and welcome

Same as you we have various bits n bobs. You've not been 100% clear on your current set-up so here goes

Most Motorhomes and purpose built touring vans come with a second battery (sometime more). This is called the leisure battery. This is intended for running your camping lights and using when you are not driving. The reason is simple you would not want to wake up and find your cranking / van battery is dead and you can't start the van

Ok so now you have 2 batterys, the best set up allows you to charge your leisure battery from the engine when its running, this is done by using a split charge relay. In short engine starts once power is up your van alternator charges both the cranking battery and the leisure battery.

After that you can add solar power to keep things topped up when parked but unless you have a lot of sun and a big solar panel this will only help. Some can live like this, I last about 4 - 5 days in summer but only 1 day in winter.

Personally I have a son and daughter both with DS's and IPods, sat nav, battery chargers, cameras etc etc. We have a 4 way fag lighter socket for as many things as possible when driving and then use the inverter for our laptop and the chargers that need to be plugged into the mains when we are parked up. We have a very small inverter to do this only 300 watt.

First off that second battery is the important thing then you have a level of security

 

[n8rbos]

hiya and welcome and if ya really wanna do thingz cheap look at the veg oil option on here

happy wilding

 

[bigboack]

Hi and welcome

Same as you we have various bits n bobs. You've not been 100% clear on your current set-up so here goes

Most Motorhomes and purpose built touring vans come with a second battery (sometime more). This is called the leisure battery. This is intended for running your camping lights and using when you are not driving. The reason is simple you would not want to wake up and find your cranking / van battery is dead and you can't start the van

Ok so now you have 2 batterys, the best set up allows you to charge your leisure battery from the engine when its running, this is done by using a split charge relay. In short engine starts once power is up your van alternator charges both the cranking battery and the leisure battery.

After that you can add solar power to keep things topped up when parked but unless you have a lot of sun and a big solar panel this will only help. Some can live like this, I last about 4 - 5 days in summer but only 1 day in winter.

Personally I have a son and daughter both with DS's and IPods, sat nav, battery chargers, cameras etc etc. We have a 4 way fag lighter socket for as many things as possible when driving and then use the inverter for our laptop and the chargers that need to be plugged into the mains when we are parked up. We have a very small inverter to do this only 300 watt.

First off that second battery is the important thing then you have a level of security

why have te kids got a sat nav each. has nic got one also, I always find one is more than enough. Sorry mark couldnt help myself,getting giddy..

Welcome to the site COCO

 

[Belgian]

Hi, and welcome
There are cheap invertors on the market to put into your 12V sigarette mains, inverting from 12V in steps up to 24V. Ideal to recharge a laptop, camera, GPS, etc. Have an extra connection from your leisure battery. Don' use it on your starter battery though !
A solar cell could help to keep your leisure battery full; you only need sun

 

[biggirafe]

why have te kids got a sat nav each. has nic got one also, I always find one is more than enough. Sorry mark couldnt help myself,getting giddy..

Welcome to the site COCO

Yes but you are the spawn of satan with a 'Generator' so you don't count as a truly hardened camper as you can run your curling tongs, I closed the curtains before typing that, you never know someone might have seen me

(BTW don't forget to make sure it works before AJ's bday bash)

 

[kangooroo]

For years I van-camped very simply without the luxury of a leisure battery and managed to keep my camera batteries (AAs and proprietary lithium) topped up by charging via the 12v socket whilst driving along while also running a powered coolbox, sat-nav and a few other small low-drain appliances. It's only in the last 2-3 years that I've had the benefit of a leisure battery too - but that's mostly for running my 12v microwave.

I'm not sure how you're proposing to power your fridge (gas? 12v leisure battery?) but for low-drain camera battery charging etc, you'll probably be fine just using your engine battery if you're driving daily. If you're planning to do more than charge camera batteries then a split-charger on your leisure battery would be the way to go.

I'd recommend carrying a volt meter to keep an eye on both...

 

[Coco]

Cheers for all your replies.
The fridge is 3 way, going to take it to the original dealer for a look cos its a bit ropey! Wont be using it for much, just milk and a bevvy! So if we stay at a site we'd use the hook up. We have a Zig meter for lights and water pump.

Oh aye, already looked into the veg oil, but unfortunately we had to change the fuel pump recently so we're no compatible!

Cheers