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Just had the Battery Master fitted by an auto electrics chap who came out to our house to do it. He confirmed that over time the immobiliser, Radio Memory and alarm all take juice from the engine battery and that the Battery Master is a great idea-especially if you can leave the vehicle on EHU most of the time. He also confirmed that (with modern vehicles) if the rocker switch is left on "vehicle" setting , this takes juice even if no lights etc are on -something to do with the relay I think, Had a good demo when he swtitched the 12 volt lights on and the red light on Batt Master came on to show the engine battery was getring extra charge. He now suggests a Soalr Panel to finish things off for when I'm not on EHU!

Thanks for all advice and, as I say, to Caz for initial posting!

Hi Terry

Glad to hear the fitting went ok.  2004 was my first summer with my Avantgarde and I found that a solar panel does work well with the BM - particularly when wild camping. I bought a 15 watt model which I have found just about adequate for my needs. I would'nt go smaller and of course it all depends on what home comforts you take along. To keep things simple and flexible I prop it up in the windscreen or even outside depending on sun angle.

I'm thinking about a leisurely 3 week trip to Italy in the Spring so I guess that should show up any problems.

David 

Thanks David-I thought you had to have  Solar Panels  fitted in the roof !! .I think our vehicles are from the same "stable" and roughly the same size (85 ah leisure battery?) so interested to hear that you seem to think the smaller ones are suitable. Been browsing other threads and there';s a school of thought that the smaller ones are not much use-tho I would think the need of the Full Timers would be much greater than those of us who (unfortunately) still have to work (not for long I hope!). Any commenmts on this? Also-where did you get yours from-and where do you plug it in?? Thanks

Terry

Hi Terry

Yes, I believe our vans are probably similar but yours may well be more up-market! 

I found many differing views about the merits of panels - in the end I did what seemed right to me and jumped in.  I'm no expert but here's my contribution to the subject based on your points:

Location: No, they dont have to be on the roof - there are pros and cons. I'm not too keen on drilling holes through the roof for the sake of a piece of kit that may not last as long as the van and I like to be able to have access for maintenance/cleaning etc. The performance of a panel significantly reduces if it is not regularly cleaned. This is difficult on a van roof. Roof mounted panels are generally mounted at a tilt to provide water run-off for limited self cleaning purposes but that may mean the panel is not tilted to the sun. My conclusion on location is that to get the best out of a panel you should be able to keep it clean and have it tracking the sun. 

Outputs/cost: I think that the best type of panel is called photovoltaic (more advanced technology) but more expensive than the older type. Its hard to be objective without getting into science (I cant) or calculating to the nth degree what you need for your lifestyle. I reckon that have to accept that you cannot ever hope to be energy self-sufficient in practical terms and you must always be aware of how much you are taking out of the battery's reserve. My leisure battery is 100 ah and the panel is 15 watts and shoves enough in to keep me out of trouble.  It has proved to be certainly more than enough to keep my battery topped up when idle and provides a worthwhile charge contribution to what I take out but it is a compromise of output versus cost/size/convenience.  It is still manageble size-wise and if it breaks I won't lose too much sleep and have no worry over the van roof.  

Actual size: About 2'6" x 1'6". It stores behind the driver's seat.   My conclusion was that no such thing as true free energy. You can buy the biggest ever solar panel with the highest output but you still have to buy the thing(s) more money - transport the thing(s) - more money clean and maintain the thing(s) more time. There comes a point when you may as well just buy bigger batteries or use EHU more often or simply minimise your demands!

Connection: The output lead must be sufficiently heavy and short so as to minimise resistance. Mine is rigged so that it plugs into an interior or exterior socket depending where the panel is being used. The cable from the socket to the battery must also be of minimal length and maximum size possible.

Cost: I got mine from a company called P.D.Q. £90.00 (about the cost of a good leisure battery I think)

You may be interested in hearing the comments of others on this subject rather than be influenced by my subjective conclusions - possibly on a new thread as I think we have hijacked this one!

David

Once again many thanks for your comprehensive & useful comments. The subject has been discussed in other threads but I agree with your suggestion that a new one may be appropriate! So-just one more query on this one! re the connection-you seem to iundicate that it plugs into 240vmains-but then you wouldnt need the Panel if you are on EHU?..would you? I've seen some on Ebay which (a) plug into cig socket(but then my socket switches off when the ignition is off) or with clips directly onto leisure battery (which I wouldnt have thought was too safe)

Terry

My panel came with croc clips but there is no reason why they should not be removed and a 12 volt accessory plug fitted instead - this is what I have done. I can then plug into one of two accessory sockets I have fitted in the van that connect direct to the leisure battery. On our Boxers, the accessory sockets in the cab are connected to the engine battery only and are only "live" when the ignition is on. The set-up I use in my van provides for solar panel charging to the leisure battery (12 volt only). The panel must not be connected to the mains 220 volt circuit.

I fitted my accessory sockets so as to provide the shortest possible runs to the leisure battery so as to minimise any voltage drop to the panel's charge - see previous post. The sockets do also provide the means to run any 12 volt accessories such as the vacuum cleaner or portable dvd and are worth fitting anyway if you do not already have anything suitable.

Sorry for any confusion.

Many thanks again-I had 12 volt sockets on the 1996 caravan I had previous to the Autoquest but none on the m/home. Another little job I need to get done! Thanks

Terry