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Coolers and batteries not a good combination .......

Obvious answer EHU

if not applicable then put your money on a three way fridge.

Quote: Originally posted by riddles on 25/6/2009

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Somewhere else on the site people were talking about just running the car for 5 minutes with croc clips on the car battery, which would out-perform most solar panels for a day!

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Not convinced on this one,

Need an auto electrician with facts, 

When you start vehicle you use battery power, this needs to be replaced before any charge available for second battery.  Will tick over be sufficient for charging two batteries and if so how long for two fully charged batteries.

Working on the principle that you using the car as a portable generator are you not going down that line, via a different route.

Expect running cars on site threads on par with generator threads.

For high usage EHU is the way to go, for low usage Solar. Split charging,or asking site to charge.

Ok I know EHU is the answer but was trying to go without on principle, as I am in a tent.

I was also trying desperately to fight getting a gas bottle as have petrol stove and lantern.

These 13w solar panels briefcases - would they really be able to recharge a leisure battery and if so how many hours are you looking at. I was lead to believe they were only good for topping up your battery if left for long periods

Thank you all for responding I am loving this forum for being helpful and friendly

just running a car on idle with a standard alternator, would take hours to charge two battery's, you couls upgrade your alternator but you still have the problem of running your car for some time annoying people aroung you.

solar panels are good but i think your using to much power for a cheapish panel to cope with,

i think a 3way fridge would be the best idea,

mike

Quote: Originally posted by ian117 on 25/6/2009

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These 13w solar panels briefcases - would they really be able to recharge a leisure battery and if so how many hours are you looking at. I was lead to believe they were only good for topping up your battery if left for long periods

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A 13w solar panel will give around 4AH per day in the UK in summer. An 85AH battery gives about 40Ah useable energy.

40/4 = 10 days!

A car alternator will not give the full rated amps in any sensible configuration unless you fit a sophisticated (and very expensive, 100s of £s) charge controller.

Most split charge relays are rated at around 10A - if you were getting the full charge you'd need some substantial wiring! The modern fitment voltage sensing ones will not kick in until the car battery is well charged. This is fine if you can load the battery in the boot and are doing a fair bit of driving each day - be sensible and it's an excellent way of keeping the battery charged.

If you just use jump leads car - leisure battery you will initially be taking juice from the car battery (it's got to come from somewhere at the end of the day). I believe you'd need to run for a lot longer than 5 minutes to get a sensible charge.

At the end of the day though things like fridges and heaters need mains 'leccy or gas.

Glen