How to thrive on a non 240v site!
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We are currently without 240V in our 6 month old Lunar Delta. So any advice would be appreciated. We have a 100W Solar Panel and that's charging at 0.2 - 0.3 A
Pretty certain we were showing 14V on the screen at about 5.30, but seems to be now dropping quite a lot and is now 12.1
Fridge is running on gas, as is the water heater. Other than running some taps to fill a sink, I'm not sure why we have had the drop.
So any advice you can give would be appreciated, if for no other reason to keep us here until Monday and to not have to abandon an expensive holiday.
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Catherine, 12.1v on your battery is about 50% discharged, which sounds a bit low if you havent really used it much.
the 14v you saw at tea time wpuld have been the input charge level from the SP, this is needed to drag the battery up to its peak level of 12.6/12.7v.
tomorrow morning, the SP should be putting charge back into the battery from 9 o clock ish....
keep an eye on things.
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Cath, are you sure there are no feeds on your battery? If not, you either have a battery that's playing up or less likely the SP isn't charging as it should- what's the weather like? Overcast or bright? 100w to one battery should be plenty taking into account what you are using it for. We have just had 3 weeks with a 135w SP feeding 2 x 110ah batteries and everything was sweet. Like BB says, keep a close eye on it.
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The battery is showing 12.7 right now. It was 12.5 when we woke up this morning.
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Weather today has mainly been overcast.
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- So I've just checked now and we are at 12.5V. In terms of what's on in the van, it has an alarm and a tracker. The control panel is on and the taps and lightening are enabled. We will have flushed the loo and used the LED lighting for a little bit.
The solar panel is currently showing about 0.5 and it's overcast again.
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That sounds ok to me. The current from the charger is dependant on 2 factors firstly. The amount of sunlight obviously, but also if the controller senses the battery is fully charged then the amounts of amps it puts into the battery reduces. Yesterday I noticed that if I switched on a few things on the charge went from arround 0.2 amps to 1.7 amps for a short time then reducing again as everything is switched off.
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Thanks Boff, as this is a new 1st time experience this is all new to us. Whilst it's not perfect I guess it helps us learn even more about our caravan. If you'd have asked me last week I'd have not known a fully charged battery was 12.6/12.7.
The firidge/freezer is absolutely amazing running on gas, the freezer is so cold we get ice cold vapour coming out of it. I've actually turned it down a notch.
Going forward I'm looking at Safefill especially with the demise of the calorlite.
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Cath, there are a few of these charts arpund on the net, but this one will give you the idea...
many beginners thing that a 12v battery is full when it reads 12v..its less than half full (and as low as you should go) at that level.
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Next question then chaps. Should I worry when I'm seeing over 13 V on screen?
Also am I correct in reading that the Alde pump is low power consumption and there is no reason for not having the heating on if it's cold like it was on Saturday.
The good news is we are hoping the dealer is sending someone later today/tomorrow and we hope it's just a loose connection at the back of the psu.
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A quick question on Safefill. We have a calorlite fitted at the moment. Will our regulator fit or do we need something different?
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Should you worry about 13v no. Some chargers will actually overcharge at 15v or so occasionally to desuphate the battery plates. 13v is a surface charge and if you disconnect the battery from the charger it will over a few hours drop to 12.6-12.7 volts.
A comment; don't get to hung up about exact voltages. If yours settles down at 12.5 volts or 12.8v don't worry about it. If it is 11v or 17v then obviously worry.
Re the Alde heating, if you are cold then switch it on that's what it's there for. Of course like the fridge it will work better on gas than electric. Going off ehu isn't about roughing it in my book.
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Boff, as Cath is currently without 240v (i believe this is correct), the 13v may be the charge voltage from her solar panel....nice sunny day here.
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Thank you to everyone for their thoughts, I've found it quite fascinating. The caravan dealer sent out an engineer this lunchtime and 240V has been restored.
It took him about 7 minutes to dismantle the cover surrounding the PSU and 7 seconds to fix the problem. In a nutshell there was an orange cable with a white connector that was completely out of the back of the PSU.
The suspicion is that as the motor mover was fitted after the PDI was done, that the cable had been disturbed or even perhaps removed and not put back in securely.
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Things are looking good for Safefill cylinders. Got this off Safefill Facebook page, they have been very active. Hope the link works, press continue then read page 6 at the end.
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Well done Cath. Looking at the thread it would appear that everything is working OK and your non EHU adventure is good to go- and your idea about Safefill is extremely sound. I hope you are aware of the excitement surrounding Safefill at the moment. There is a thread ' A milestone is reached' in Caravan and Motorhome Chat. The one thing that stood out for me is when Boff said non EHU isn't about roughing it! We have just had 3 weeks with 4 adults and two small children and we were very comfortable thank you very much! Safefill and the SP working together looked after us admirably and not an orange cable in sight or on site!!
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Further to the above, Site fees for 3 weeks £105, gas for Safefill, £10.19 - 4 adults and 2 kids had a great holiday and we wanted for nothing. Value for money or what? Even comparing against an EHU CL at say £15 a night - £210 saved - Calor gas in 6kg Cylinders I would have had to have bought 2. - £48 - another £38 to spend on our holiday. If I was making a comparison against a club site I could double the savings! Modern technologies really do work and really do save money.
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Well our first non EHU went all OK, I may have been a little more paranoid than I should have been (any reason that other light is on when we are all sitting in the front playing cards......) but battery held up OK I did not bother to check voltage (left meter at home) but battery stayed in green on the swift built in meter.
As we was only away for a couple of days did not really get to put it to any great test, but fridge works OK on gas and never needed the heating, so still got plenty of gas in the calorlite bottles. Will speak with our local Autogas station when we start to get low and allowing for the red book info to filter through as to if we go the Gassafe route, no good if we can't get it filled!
Merve, sounds like a bargain, where did you stay?
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Hi Karl, Site number 525 (LYNCH Farm) in the book. Couple of miles to the sea at West Bay, some lovely countryside, quaint villages and fishing on the Chesil! Been there before but they have put it up one whole pound! Can you believe it! Seriously though, Nice lady, nice site non EHU site. Really pleased your first non EHU adventure went well. Do you have an SP?
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Hi,
Yes did post about it earlier in the thread although that's got a big long now so hard to navigate.
Got a 150 fixed and a new MPPT controller that I may fit this weekend when we go away again (another non EHU site for just shy of a week so will really see how it goes now.
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Merve, hope you got to try Hive Beach Cafe, we love it down Burton Bradstock way....
weve been looking for a new CL to try in that area (when the THS sites arent around) and this looks great. thanks for sharing.
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Merve, just checking out this site, i couldnt make the directions match the location of the site (lynch farm, Icen Lane....).
the directions say turn right at the crossroads in Shipton Gorge (after Port Lane) but this will take you into Markets Lane. it says the site is on the right, but if heading for Icen Lane from Shipton, it will be on the left.
i am assuming the CL is actually at Lynch Farm and not down Markets Lane...The postcode and GPS both point to Lynch farm in Icen Lane.
bit confused....not the thing to be on those timy roads
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My pleasure BB. It would be brilliant to meet up. Perhaps one day it will happen. Yes, the Burton Bradstock area is lovely and we have now been there twice. Yes, the directions are a bit weird but as you turn right off the A35 after Bridport and sign posted Shipton Gorge, if you follow the direction in the book you will end up going down the hill to the site. No, the site is away from the farmhouse- you can see the Farmhouse from the site. When you turn left into Port LaneHave faith😂😂 and then right - you go to the Xroads you then turn sharp right and you'll be heading down a hill- you'll find the site on the right and the gateway will be right for you coming from that direction.
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ah yes, got it now, cheers Merve....
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Seems as though you've found a gem there Merve and at only £5 per night. I'm the bearer of some news that you may be interested in. You may have seen that next years 'National' is due to be held at Sledmere House in East Yorkshire which is just a couple of miles from Wetwang, where I live. After all the controvesy surrounding the SP using members having to pay for EHU at this years national despite not needing it. (Personally I find it outrageous....to me it is akin to being charged for wifi regardless of whether or not you require it) I can provide you with details of a CL site which is 16 miles from Sledmere House. Highfield Lodge is just £2.50 per night. A proper Yorkshire welcome awaits.
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