Two Choices....

mark e

Guest
Will be going to Scotland for 2 weeks in august, wildcamping on the way up from Wales to Scotland, then looking for sites etc for 7 - 10 days, then wildcamping, back to Wales.

Have up to £500 to spend on motorhome, and at the moment have one 85ah battery, with 600 watt inverter....

Should I....
upgrade to 2, 110ah batterys and a small solar panel 25-40 watt
or
buy a genny, yellow kipor 2kw and keep the 85 amp battery ???????????
 
buy a genie mate,:eek: they r great,saying that i've hardly used mine,im just carefull how i use the power..:D:D
 
Geny

Just like Hilly.
I would buy the Geny and I hardly ever use mine as I also am careful with the battery power, but the geny is piece of mind:cool:
 
mark e said:
Will be going to Scotland for 2 weeks in august, wildcamping on the way up from Wales to Scotland, then looking for sites etc for 7 - 10 days, then wildcamping, back to Wales.

Have up to £500 to spend on motorhome, and at the moment have one 85ah battery, with 600 watt inverter....

Should I....
upgrade to 2, 110ah batterys and a small solar panel 25-40 watt
or
buy a genny, yellow kipor 2kw and keep the 85 amp battery ???????????
Click to expand...
the gennie would give you more flexibility the solar might recharge your battery from using 12v stuff but me thinkds if you use 240 stuff through that inverter it would struggle
 
buy a genny mark!!
i got mine from this guy on ebay...its never let me down and its so quiet you wouldnt believe it!!.....see pete on ebay here
hope this helps...samm :cool:
 
Get a solar panel and one 110 battery, cos you won' want to watch telly in Scotland, there is no way it could compete with the views. Plus you don't need to carry around a hazardous fuel.... where L.P.G and flames and electrics are all sitting together ready to cause trouble, plus me being this Forums eco warrior, The panel will last forever, does not pollute, is silent and will keep your batteries topped up even when you are nowhere near your van and all through the winter too. Its the best thing I ever bought for my van.:p:);)
 
tresrikay said:
Get a solar panel and one 110 battery, cos you won' want to watch telly in Scotland, there is no way it could compete with the views. Plus you don't need to carry around a hazardous fuel.... where L.P.G and flames and electrics are all sitting together ready to cause trouble, plus me being this Forums eco warrior, The panel will last forever, does not pollute, is silent and will keep your batteries topped up even when you are nowhere near your van and all through the winter too. Its the best thing I ever bought for my van.:p:);)
Click to expand...
This is the best advice ever. Tresrikay is so right. Solarcells are the best thing you can get. (OK; not cheap to buy but then no costs anymore). Take 50W panels. Change your bulbs for LED's. TV, laptop...
Most operate on 18V. (my laptop does) Don't ask me why:eek: Just check out what the input V is needed.
If you use a converter 12V>240V (you loose power) then you have to tranfso it back 240V>18V (second loose of power). Futher more this is 'flattened' direct voltage. You have a double amount of 'fluctuations' and instability. There are very cheap converters on the market 12V>18V; no risc of variations or fluctuations. This was an advice of my retailer; and it works.
Please, don't buy a smelly grumpy genny :confused:
Belgian
 
I'd get a second battery and a panel. You've probably already got an emergency genny (it's called a van engine and alternator!). Seriously though, for the space it takes up, how much will you use a generator? Whereas a second battery can go under the floor and the solar panel on the roof so you aren't losing any storage space in the van. I'd go for a bigger panel though like 75W. 25W is nothing; only really useful for trickle charge when the van is laid up.
 
"and its so quiet you wouldnt believe it!!"

You are right - I wouldn't believe it.
Best person to ask about that is the poor bugger camping next to you.

Before spending money on an imitation Honda, check whether you can get service on it.

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Solar panels are great but I feel that a single 45watt panel would be hardly worth the messing around. An 80W starts to get useful if you are frugal with power and two 80W panels make life away from full hook-ups a lot more comfortable.
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Belgium said - "If you use a converter 12V>240V (you loose power) then you have to tranfso it back 240V>18V (second loose of power). Futher more this is 'flattened' direct voltage. You have a double amount of 'fluctuations' and instability."

Sorry Belgium, this is just not true if you use a decent true sinewave inverter and anyway, all mains power supplies for laptops are designed to deliver stable output for any AC voltage between about 90V and 260V so they can handle these mythical 'fluctuations and instability" because that is exactly what they are intended to do. They will even work reliably from any of the fake sinewave inverters as well. The other thing to watch is that all computers do not run on 18volts either. Use of a generic 12V to 18V (or whatever the proper voltage is for your laptop) DC -DC converter may put your computer at risk and will certainly invalidate any warranty.

From a convenience point of view, a decent inverter can be more economical because you can use it for several things by powering the various mains adaptors you already have rather than buying special DC-DC converters for each appliance.
 
in answer

Hi, Well for get the solar panel, they are a total waste of money for the price, If you are wild camping go for two batteries, and gen back up. I must say thoe that I carted a gen all over italy one year and the only time I used it, it cost more in petrol then just turning the main engine on.
I run with 2 85ah batteries and do watch a bit of TV, have no solar panel and get on ok, mind you we move after 4 days unless on a site which is not all that offen.
terry
 
Tony Lee said:
"and its so quiet you wouldnt believe it!!"
You are right - I wouldn't believe it.
Best person to ask about that is the poor bugger camping next to you.
Click to expand...

well i'm not that inconsiderate & wouldnt use it next to someone camping...!!
& with regards to being quiet...well compared to most gennies its extremely quiet...obviously honda are the kings in genny world...but i couldnt afford 1 of those at the time & seeing as im completely happy with my genny i would recommend to others!
i use mine to charge up the battery,use my hairdryer,and a whole load of other things...and seeing as im in my van 99.9% of the time i use it a lot....so am i satisfied with my genny.....you bet i am!!..samm:cool:
 
Tony Lee said:
Best person to ask about that is the poor bugger camping next to you.

Before spending money on an imitation Honda, check whether you can get service on it.
Click to expand...

Hi Tony

This makes the very poor assumption and a not very nice accusation that Samm (we) would use the genny inconsiderately, not true.

If anyone requires service and doesnt have the basic knowledge required to service the genny themselves, any garage worth its salt could do it, otherwise peak generators offer full sales, parts and service for kipor generators. http://www.peakgenerators.co.uk/

Other than the above inacuracurate observasitions your post is very well thought out.

George

PS Even if the imitation did last less years than a Honda, would it be three times less? I would bet on 3 Kipors lasting longer myself.....
 
I think it is a matter of personel choice i myself prefer a large sola panel as they are the greener, no noise, no polution, but they are expensive sadly.
I did have a Honda silent running suitcase generator and they are one of the most quiet i would say but really they arn't exactly totally silent as no generator could be.
 
mark e said:
I hate these forums ! LOL

I thought id made my mind up, genny, solar, genny, solar, genny, solar, genny, solar, AARRRGGGGGG
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Stake the Genny............ Go Solar...........Stake the Genny........... Go Solar........ They are certainly not a waste of time, when you have lugged that genny in and out of your locker a few times and listened to its insideous drone, wafted the exhaust fumes as they find any open door or window as bonfire smoke does, then you spill some petrol as you are filling it up, then you find you didn't screw the top back on the petrol carrier or forgot to fill it, then the bl***y thing won't start and your arm starts aching and where is the plug spanner............. you will find yourself gazing over at that van with a panel on its roof and say...............%$^?~}""1
 
One problem I have with going SOLAR is drilling the roof :eek:

My idea is to attach it on top of my luggage rack, as i wont use it !
So i dont have to drill the roof :)

I also want to be able to leave it connected, but put on the ground, so i'm able to put it where i want to and also be able to angle it if nessesary to make the most of it.

What's you'r view on this ???
 
mark e said:
One problem I have with going SOLAR is drilling the roof :eek:

My idea is to attach it on top of my luggage rack, as i wont use it !
So i dont have to drill the roof :)

I also want to be able to leave it connected, but put on the ground, so i'm able to put it where i want to and also be able to angle it if nessesary to make the most of it.

What's you'r view on this ???
Click to expand...

I don't think that you have to drill the roof Mark i am sure there is a compound sort of stuff that you can use but i can not remember what it is called but its realy good stuff i did read about it somewhere a long time ago.
A sola pannel is probably best left fitted to the roof less chance of damage moving it about, i do know when you fit them there has to be a gap between the pannel and the roof.
 
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mark e said:
One problem I have with going SOLAR is drilling the roof :eek:

My idea is to attach it on top of my luggage rack, as i wont use it !
So i dont have to drill the roof :)

I also want to be able to leave it connected, but put on the ground, so i'm able to put it where i want to and also be able to angle it if nessesary to make the most of it.

What's you'r view on this ???
Click to expand...

You can actually Sikaflex ( a sealing compound for motorhomes) straight to the roof, or buy the corner brackets that fix to the roof. as long as you choose where to drill the roof, Have a look inside your lockers nearest to your leisure batts and check same position outside for obstructions ( roof bars flues etc) then drill a small pilot from inside out, then a hole just a bit bigger than the cable you are linking to the batteries and after all cable is through sikaflex liberally around the cable where it enters first inside up and then outside. this should be totally waterproof but keep checking in the locker after rain, also avoid any places on the roof where water pools as this will eventually penetrate. don't forget you will need to purchase a voltage regulator with your panel to stop overcharging............. or you could get it all fitted by a dealer. If you did attach it to your roof rack you could have a waterproof cable joint at the panel and another cable as an extension for when you wanted to use it off the roof which would go between the joint to extend it.
 
For us the way to go is the Solar Panel 85 watt and a invertor, away for 4 months last year, charged electric bikes, ran lap-top no trouble, and no messing about lugging a genney around, you pays your money and takes your choice.:rolleyes:
 
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