Hank the Tanks Dodgy battery and solar system

barryd said:
Back briefly. I have another issue now. Well it's been ongoing for a couple of days. The only 12v socket on this van which is I think the one Swift fitted keeps blowing fuse 6 on the panel. It's fine with just the TV and the Freeview sat box plugged in and it was fine with the little 300w inverter for phone charging but the inverter threw up a fault yesterday and I heard the double adaptor spark. Fuse blew so I replaced it. Not used the inverter since but I just plugged a single usb adapter in (off the sat nav I think just now and it blew again. Replaced it and it's working through TV and Freeview box ok now. Not that we can watch it for long.

I can't decide if there is a fault with the double adaptor cable, the original socket or the control box. What it has brought to light though is how dependent we are on just one 12v outlet. I really need a couple more coming straight off the battery with an inline fuse.View attachment 133416
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I have had similar problems in the past.

In my case it was a poor quality cigarette lighter plug that caused the fuse to blow. I don't recommend this as a long term solution but you may find that pushing the suspect plug in very quickly will allow you to use that plug and the fuse won't blow.

These plugs are unreliable if attached to a cheap Chinese made product. I have a small Bestek pure sine wave inverter and the plug on that is excellent and totally reliable. A stark contrast!
 
 
barryd said:
Thanks. I might see if I can get a new double adaptor but I noticed last night that my laptop adaptor only works in one of those trailing sockets in the photo so maybe one is dodgy.

I also think I want two of these wired directly to the battery. This would be ideal as I can just retrieve them as and when from the cupboard above the battery directly below my seat.

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I only have one 12v socket in the back too, so I have fitted a fixed one about a foot above floor level and one like the Amazon one piggy backed off that as a loose one direct via a 3 amp fuse to the LB

Why are you charging the phone from the inverter though, I know it has two USB sockets but not very effective on saving the 12v.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I only have one 12v socket in the back too, so I have fitted a fixed one about a foot above floor level and one like the Amazon one piggy backed off that as a loose one direct via a 3 amp fuse to the LB

Why are you charging the phone from the inverter though, I know it has two USB sockets but not very effective on saving the 12v.
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I use the inverter (or did) as my phone has a 25w charger (240v) which means it can go from flat to full charge in an hour. Takes hours on usb. Jury is out on whether the inverter is knackered or not. I don't want to plug it in and test it until I get a new socket.

Still need to decide on an actual battery today. This seems to fit the dimension but should I be going for a known brand and supplier? I would use Alpha but their 130s are all AGM

Snappy 130AH Type Leisure Battery Advanced Calcium Technology

Snappy 130AH Leisure Battery Advanced Calcium Technology 4 Year Warranty at the lowest prices. Order online before 2pm for same day dispatch and free next day delivery.
snappystartbatteries.co.uk snappystartbatteries.co.uk
 
wildebus said:
How.much height have you got available?
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18.5 cm narrowest point
79 cm length
24 cm Max height

I would rather be a cm less than these measurements as they were hard to take. The height is determined by the battery box cover but I think it has a slight raised delve in it which might help and I don't suppose it matters if it's not screwed down tight. Most of the ones I've looked at are within those limits though.
 
barryd said:
I use the inverter (or did) as my phone has a 25w charger (240v) which means it can go from flat to full charge in an hour. Takes hours on usb. Jury is out on whether the inverter is knackered or not. I don't want to plug it in and test it until I get a new socket.

Still need to decide on an actual battery today. This seems to fit the dimension but should I be going for a known brand and supplier? I would use Alpha but their 130s are all AGM

Snappy 130AH Type Leisure Battery Advanced Calcium Technology

Snappy 130AH Leisure Battery Advanced Calcium Technology 4 Year Warranty at the lowest prices. Order online before 2pm for same day dispatch and free next day delivery.
snappystartbatteries.co.uk snappystartbatteries.co.uk
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I think that isn't helping the situation, I just use a USB charger for as much as possible as not in a rush and not even sure it's good to charge a phone that fast it gets hot enough on USB, even the scooter is charged via 12v the Vacuum charges on the Bestex as does the laptop but only when needed I don't top them up.

I bought a spare Bestex for the France trip as I knew I needed to use the laptop for a few things.
 
barryd said:
I use the inverter (or did) as my phone has a 25w charger (240v) which means it can go from flat to full charge in an hour. Takes hours on usb. Jury is out on whether the inverter is knackered or not. I don't want to plug it in and test it until I get a new socket.

Still need to decide on an actual battery today. This seems to fit the dimension but should I be going for a known brand and supplier? I would use Alpha but their 130s are all AGM

Snappy 130AH Type Leisure Battery Advanced Calcium Technology

Snappy 130AH Leisure Battery Advanced Calcium Technology 4 Year Warranty at the lowest prices. Order online before 2pm for same day dispatch and free next day delivery.
snappystartbatteries.co.uk snappystartbatteries.co.uk
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Because this battery purchase is simply a stop gap until you get your full lithium install done then I'd go for cheap and cheerful, ultimately it's going to be scrapped soon enough so no point paying for long term reliability, trying to recycle it into the cab or another car eventually would probably mean it'll just end up on your garage shelf dying from sitting idle, you'll also have put quite a few deep cycles through it so it'll be way past it's best when you get home anyway.
Don't worry about AGM or FLA or whatever, they'll all work for a couple of months, just get a cheapie. (All just my opinion of course)
 
merl said:
Because this battery purchase is simply a stop gap until you get your full lithium install done then I'd go for cheap and cheerful, ultimately it's going to be scrapped soon enough so no point paying for long term reliability, trying to recycle it into the cab or another car eventually would probably mean it'll just end up on your garage shelf dying from sitting idle, you'll also have put quite a few deep cycles through it so it'll be way past it's best when you get home anyway.
Don't worry about AGM or FLA or whatever, they'll all work for a couple of months, just get a cheapie. (All just my opinion of course)
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Another option would be to get a £200 lead carbon. After your lithium install you could sell it to recoup the difference in cost. Probably works out similar to the above overall cost wise.
 
Thanks. You really couldnt make this up. Arrived on the new CL got everything sorted and went to check the internet. Absolutely hopeless. Hardly works at all. I even checked it online with the vodafone coverage checker and it should be good. Absolutely nothing on the iBoost wifi either. There is a wifi connection here for the farm security so I texted the owner who is away and he doesnt know the password. So this might have to be a one nighter. Dont know. Usually if anyone can wangle the internet, I can but not so far! Its taken five minutes just to load this thread.
 
You could have dropped a new battery in last week and been enjoying yourself while you sort out what you want lol

Have you established that the current system isn’t enough yet? Hard to do with a duff battery
 
Nabsim said:
You could have dropped a new battery in last week and been enjoying yourself while you sort out what you want lol

Have you established that the current system isn’t enough yet? Hard to do with a duff battery
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No idea. The general opinion on here is its the battery thats duff but it could of course be the panel or the controller. Seems unlikely. Or it could be that there is a power draw in the van we dont know about. Cant see what though. Its hard for me at least to sort stuff like this on the fly in a new van that is totally unfamiliar to me. Our last van was from the last century and pretty easy to suss stuff out on. This one might be once I get my head around it all.
 
barryd said:
No idea. The general opinion on here is its the battery thats duff but it could of course be the panel or the controller. Seems unlikely. Or it could be that there is a power draw in the van we dont know about. Cant see what though. Its hard for me at least to sort stuff like this on the fly in a new van that is totally unfamiliar to me. Our last van was from the last century and pretty easy to suss stuff out on. This one might be once I get my head around it all.
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Get your meter out and test the panel, then turn everything off including the hab control panel and test the battery, you can do all that at the controller.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Get your meter out and test the panel, then turn everything off including the hab control panel and test the battery, you can do all that at the controller.
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How would you test the panel? my meters fubared. The ends have come off Ive just discovered. The battery I suspect will show full. I think the issue is it dont stay full for long. Maybe only working 30% capacity as suggested. If the same thing happens with another battery then I guess ill just have to tour about or go on hookup for a bit. Julian (@yeoblade) does have a spare MPPT Controller but we both thought it might be best to leave mine in place as it is topping up the engine battery which by the way is absolutely fine. Been stopped and started a few times today so I am confident after using it for power now and again the past ten days that side is working.
 
Get the victron smart shunt fitted first . No more gesso work you'll know.

Keep your battery's there a £10 each when returned / scrapped if your worried about a score
 
barryd said:
How would you test the panel? my meters fubared. The ends have come off Ive just discovered. The battery I suspect will show full. I think the issue is it dont stay full for long. Maybe only working 30% capacity as suggested. If the same thing happens with another battery then I guess ill just have to tour about or go on hookup for a bit. Julian (@yeoblade) does have a spare MPPT Controller but we both thought it might be best to leave mine in place as it is topping up the engine battery which by the way is absolutely fine. Been stopped and started a few times today so I am confident after using it for power now and again the past ten days that side is working.
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just put the probes in where the cable comes in for the panel, usually the left pair, the battery next to them and load to the right.
 
barryd said:
I think I might go for this. I spoke to Alpha batteries just now and they reckon for off grid the expedition plus is better than the cheaper Xplorer battery. There is £20 difference in it. Not sure why its better but for the sake of £20 may as well get it. Do we have a discount code with them?

Opinions?

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