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Your Question about using a Home TV or a caravan 12 volt one in your caravan.

Well I am not trying to be a Smart 4rse but I do know a little about this subject.

First if you use a mains only TV in a caravan its OK if you are on a hook-up. But if you want to use it on a green campsite as in a field using only your 12 volts power then DO NOT run a mains TV through an Inverter. That’s a 12-volt up to 230-volt booster. The Inverter will dray power plus the TV will draw its power and if you look at the current drain in watts or amps on the back of a mains TV it could be 60 watts. Add the drain that the inverter is pulling...Call it 10 watts and your total will now be 70 watts.

If you get a dedicated 12-volt TV (The also run on the mains with the supplies transformer)  You will find that the current drain on those is from 16 watts to 20 and some are 22 watts. To convert watts to amps just divide the volts into the watts = amps. SO 12 volts into 20 watts... It’s less that 2 amps drain. Compare that to the 5 or 6 amps your mains TV running on an inverter is using.

To really make your battery last try changing your halogen light bulbs to LED ones.

Your average Halogen draws 10 watts and if you have 3 on that’s 30 watts add this to the 60 your TV uses and it adds up to 90 watts!!

I run a TV that pulls 20 watts and 3 LED lights pulling .4 watts each So by running x3 led bulbs it adds up to 3 x .4 = 12 watts and 12 volts goes into 12 watts once so I pull 1 amp per hour for the lights Add the 22 watts the TV uses and 12 goes in almost twice so my total current drain is UNDER 3 amps per hour... COMPARE this to your halogen bulbs and your mains TV at 90 watts = almost 8 amps.

Its easy to see that 3 amps per hour is better than 8 !

So work it out You have a 100 amp battery it flattens in one night (Try it and see) I get 3 nights if I do not connect my solar panel....SOLAR PANEL ??

Yes forget generators. I tried them and all you get is grief from your neighbours and not a lot of charge unless you run for hours. An 80-watt solar panel can put in 5 or 6 amps per hour. BUT from before you wake up (In the summer) its daylight and charging. It goes dark at 10 so in that 10 to 14 hours its putting in say 5 amps per hour and if you call it 10 hours sun that’s 10 X 5 amps = 50 amps gone back in.. Hence it replaces what you took out hence no flat battery..PROVIDING your night time drain is kept low. Remember not every hour is sunny SO the odd dull day will not matter so much IF you KEEP your drain down so there you have it LOOK for a low wattage drain 12 volt TV..

NOW as it happens I have a 16-inch NEW caravan TV for sale on the Pre loved web site. But don’t buy it....Get a 19 inch with better sound because though it’s cheap at 76 pounds (And it is in the box never used. But it is CHEAP. Spend more and get a better one if you are as fussy as we are??   This article  January 5th.

More info if you want call me on 0151 632 1960

Hello  ??   Link to the solar panel?? What do you mean? You can not run a TV or ant 12-volt item from a solar panel direct if that is what you mean. Because the panel pouts way over 12 volts out.

For those that don’t know. To charge a 12-volt battery your charger must put in MORE than 12 volts for it to flow. I/E the greater voltage will run into the lower one. The battery. That’s why your car battery is 12 volts but your alternator charges at 13.8. It gives it the Pressure to push it in and flow.

SO the 18 volts or so from the solar panel goes into the 12-volt battery and it may read 13 volts while charging but never the full 18 from the panel. Its safe to turn your 12 volt items even the TV on the battery while charging but you must really run a TV through a regulator / stabiliser. This is a small box like regulator that plugs into your 12 volt outlet socket THEN no matter what goes into this regulator only 12 comes out! It will arrest any spikes or fluctuations furthermore its not good to run a TV on LESS than 12 volts. I/E running till the battery is so low the TV switches off. This is harmful. But a regulator (about £16 to buy) will increase your low ...Say 11 volts back to 12 to keep the voltage stable.

They sell these to truck drivers as well so that they can run their 12-volt TV on their 24-volt wagons! Yes the 24 volts goes into the regulator and 12 comes out nice and smooth and stable. Say you start a generator to charge your battery..The batteries voltage will be all over the place. So get a regulator. Back to your question about Solar panels. Is it easy to wire up. Yes is the answer. You could just put two crock clips on a panel and connect to a battery and it will charge it!! BUT the danger is that unlike a 4-amp mains home charger it will not reduce its charge as the battery fills up so as to prevent overcharging. Look at the needle on your home charger. Watch it fall from 4 amps to zero when the battery is full. BUT with a solar panel it keeps welling the charge in and will over charge and damage your battery.

SO you simply fit a CHARGE regulator (Different to a DC stabilise regulator)

The charge regulator will show a green light to show its charging But it goes to red and cuts off the charge when the battery is full. Then as the power is used and the voltage in the battery drops the charge regulator allows the charge current to flow in again. If you pay double for your regulator it will cost 29 pounds and will have a digital meter that actually shows you what AMPS are going in and what the voltage is in the battery. Its worth getting this type because at the press of a button I can see the meter in amps showing up to 5 amps going in with an 80 amp solar panel if its SUNNY!

You asked about fitting...OK fit the regulator either in the battery box to do its job without you seeing the red and green lights But if you prefer mount it in the caravan on the wall close to a corner so you can run the wires down the corner then under your seats and into the battery box. The wires go to a small socket in the battery box for the solar panel to plug into when you arrive on site.

So to place the panel out and point it to the sun. Plug it into the socket in the battery box. The power goes up to the regulator then if the battery NEEDS a charge the regulator will allow current to flow into the battery and show this rate on the meter IF you installed the Regulator on the wall inside the caravan or motor home.

Finally you said FIT....If you mean FIT the panel onto the roof of the caravan. YES you can. The difference is that on the roof its a fit and forget it. The regulator checks the charge rate. BUT it puts in a bigger charge IF you point the panel AT THE SUN.

See this yourself with a multi meter OR on a regulator that has a meter on it  IF you have a flat battery and if it will take a 5-amp charge ..Just point the panel to the sun and look at your meter! It will read big amps maybe 5 amps. NOW just turn the panel away from the sun and watch the charge current DROP. Perhaps down to 3 amps thus loosing 2 amps (Per hour). I see it this way if its mid summer there is over 10 hours of sun / daylight in a day and 10 times 2 amps is 20 amps thrown away by not pointing the panel at the sun! I turn my panel as the day goes on maybe up to 3 times to chase the sun IF my battery has had a hammering the night before. I will have my LOW current drain TV on for up to 5 hours....... But if your TV is a low wattage one say 20 watts. That’s under 2 amps per hour so I could use 10 amps of battery power Add the lights and the day time water pump usage and I can drain 15 to 20 amps per 24 hours day. But if I maximise my charge input by Chasing the sun I find I never run low! All I am saying is that a roof mounted panel will do the job BUT not a great a charge as if you point the panel AT THE SUN......However what I find id Most roof users simply fit a bigger panel I use an 80 BUT if I was going to roof mount it I would just fit a 100 watt panel!

For all you Generator people out there... I have a generator... I was a genny man till I went solar and boy is it better. My genny sits in my camper van's storage box and never gets used!!

OH one other thing.. Just to be sure I have a second battery under the seat inside the caravan and it has Reasonably heavy cables connecting it to the battery in the battery box. So you can double your stored power. PLUS if you remove just ONE lead from either battery and it becomes a single battery. WHY... Because say both batteries are flat. By disconnecting ONE the 200 amps now becomes 100 amps (One battery) Thus the solar panel will FILL IT faster and its better to have one full battery than two half full ones. Well it works for me.

If you have a motor home and if you flick the switch to USE your vehicle battery that’s fine BUT what if you drain it !!! SO here is my tip.. Make up a lead with crock clips on either end. It has to reach from your caravan battery box to your vehicle battery. The wire used is only carrying the charger current so the wire used can be light. Then the solars will also charge the vehicle battery. Again disconnect just ONE lead from the van battery and all the solar charge goes to the vehicle.

Never disconnect BOTH leads because just one will break the circuit and if you remove TWO and if they TOUCH each other then sparks will fly!

Sometimes it’s harder to understand info in text form so ring for a chat and stop me when or if you get lost?

Pay from 80 pounds for an 80-watt solar panel and 15 to 30 for a regulator and if you want extra charge lead wire go to B&Q ..It is heavy enough but its twin and both are the same colour...However this is not a problem when all plugged up! Get White so it can be seen trailing in the grass for safety's sake.. From Paul

RIGHT.... The think where I got my panel from was 2 years ago  solar something But I paid the price 2 years ago. I said in my last mail you can get one for 80 pounds and the exact link I do not have but could find it again was on E-Bay. I told my mate and he bought one! And it was the same as mine not cheap. What surprised me is it INCLUDED CABLE. But I hated the cables they were two separate black and THICK cables!!  I like the lighter yet with a thicker core cables. Not the expensive red and black ones I got the loose stuff and bought 15 feet of white twin cable but be sure you do get a heavy cable to pass the current.

Think of it this way... Imagine it was Hose pipe not Wire. The amount of water you can get down a thin pipe will be less. But with power if you go to light it can warm the wire as well as not pass the current so get your cable thickness right.

Just search E-Bay for a panel and be sure it is fitted with one-way diodes. If it is not then when the sun goes down the power runs back from the battery to the panel and the panel gets warm and discharges the battery!! If it had diodes fitted in the panel you have no worries. Call me if you want more info or if you wish me to search for or with you.. From Paul always willing to help.

PS If you want all the info on power saving with powerful LED bulb just ask but in a nutshell I burn three LED bulbs with a drain o, .4 watts each so all three add up to 12 watts and divide the volts into the watts it goes once so all three burn one amp per hour. If I left it with 3 times 10-watt halogens that’s 30 watts drain! Compare that to my 12 watts drain! That is why my battery lasts.... Paul

Hi Again..Just a bit more about Power for all us green campers that do not want the concrete slab and hook-up.  I love being in an open fields along with other campers with nothing but my gas bottle and my 12-volt batteries.

It reminds me of my sea going cruising days. You drop anchor and stay the night with no hook-up all alone bobbing about off shore with no hook-up yet we have heating and TV and lights!!!

So on to the best battery power to have... First I will tell you that I bought a battery from a caravan dealer thinking they would know the best ones to buy. BUT no they get cheap for some reason and I had the problem of it being dead as a doe doe after one night. Then a friend loaned me his Awning battery? He said for me to flatten it because it does a battery good to CYCLE it instead of topping up all the time. So I borrowed it and to flatten it in one night (Because it was going home day the next day) I had on extra lights and TV all night But at midnight the needle was still in the green!!! Next morning I had to get it flat before 2PM cos the friend was de camping at this time. SO I ran all the lights and the TV and my neighbour’s thought I was mad!!

BUT guess what. The battery would not die. I found out what later. It was a battery with Calcium technology. It had Glass fibre separators between the plates and not cardboard and being a calcium battery it was the Duracell of caravan batteries. OK there are more expensive batteries out there BUT try a calcium battery Try a Lucas one Look for Alpha Batteries or Lucas batteries on line and get one. Alpha batteries offer a 2 or 3-year guarantee of a replacement if your battery dies! The best thing is the price. It’s no more than a caravan dealer battery! 72 pounds for 100 amps Perhaps 82 delivered to your door! NOW If you want to pay extra to get a 115 amp then go ahead BUT it’s BIGGER and heavy!!  You are better off with a 100 amp single handle  and perhaps buy two? I know you can get a calcium battery that’s is 88 amps for 56 pounds! So Two will be a similar price to a 115 amp BUT LOOK... 2 times 88 is a total of 186 amps for only two times 56 pounds....You get more amps for your money. BUT make sure you buy calcium technology. 

I sold my lower duration BUT working perfectly batteries on line and only got half what I paid But another 12 months would have seen then fit for 30 minuets use because it harms a battery to totally flatten it. The plates can buckle. The GRP separators and calcium technology means that those batteries run as well year after year. They also keep the full voltage to the end THEN curve down suddenly. I knew that my six-month-old standard battery would be useless after 18 months to 2 years of totally flattening it so it was good economy to get the longer lasting Lucas Calcium type. Read up on Calcium batteries on line Google it and read up!!   i ...was once my e-mail address. I now have an address that reads gonecamping at live.co.uk so I guess you can see I am into camping but in an RV....From Paul.