In easy terms I frequently go caravanning using the battery only, the van battery is a 110amp and I get 5 days usage from it and at that time it would do more but I choose to recharge. My usage of it is up to 4 hours lighting a day ( if it needs more I try to find a hookup, pumping water, and 2 or three hours with the TV on each evening, and sundry sall battery charging using the inverter unless I can find a dedicated 12v charging lead. .Since I carry 2 similar batteries I then swap over and put the discharged one in the boot of the car and over the next 5 days charge it whenever we are travelling, then swap again. This way I can stay out for an almost unlimited time without needing any access to the mains.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
Obviously you don't have a wife who requires a hairdryer every morning??
She would like one but when we are away without EHU she lets it dry naturally and it does not pose a problem, but then again when we grew up hairdryers were not common household items.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
Obviously you don't have a wife who requires a hairdryer every morning??
She would like one but when we are away without EHU she lets it dry naturally and it does not pose a problem, but then again when we grew up hairdryers were not common household items.
She must be very accommodating! Not a hope with my other half. No hairdryer no caravanning!!!!!!
Never worked why because it looks just the same with or without.
I have an LCD TV (20" mains-only) and decided to test how long the TV + a separate Freeview box would run before taking it on an ehu-less site. At home I connected up an 85ah leisure battery (fully charged) to a 300W inverter with a double adapter and left the TV with the Freeview box both running. They lasted for 5 hours before I got the dreaded loud warning whistle from the inverter. Consequently I will be trying it 'live' this weekend.
be careful not to damage your battery, alot of inverters only cut out/give warning when the battery gets to 11.9V, or less.
at 11.9V your leisure battery is near as dammit completely flat, with nothing left for "normal stuff"
I had to tent it a few months back so took spare 85 amp battery 150w invertor and hooked it all up to my laptop (notebook) watched freeview on that or netplayer for about 15 hrs and hardly touched the battery at all.
------------- If its not broke, dont fix it, and stop nagging
Its quite interesting looking at the different outcomes of inverters. I am looking at purchasing an inverter primarily for led 22" TV, but it worries me being stuck out in the wop wops with a flat one. I use a 105 ah leisure and can go a week just on lights and water. What would you recommend invertor size?
------------- "Time fly's like the wind, but fruit flies like bananas" :)
It depends on the wattage of your tv and how much you are prepared to pay for efficiency of the inverter. Unless you only want it for a couple of nights or have an alternative method of charging battery I personally would avoid using a high consumption device such as a 22in tv. While batteries have a marked Ah rating it is not good for the battery life to discharge it to a low level. Guys I know who have off grid PV systems reckon that they aim to keep above 50% charge in their batteries. Working on this and assuming a 110Ah battery and a TV drawing 45-50W a 100% efficient inverter would give you about 10 - 12 hours viewing. In reality it is going to be less than this due to the consumption of power by other items such as lights, pump etc. My own feeling is to allow for about 6 hours viewing and then recharge the battery.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
I have an LCD TV (20" mains-only) and decided to test how long the TV + a separate Freeview box would run before taking it on an ehu-less site. At home I connected up an 85ah leisure battery (fully charged) to a 300W inverter with a double adapter and left the TV with the Freeview box both running. They lasted for 5 hours before I got the dreaded loud warning whistle from the inverter. Consequently I will be trying it 'live' this weekend.
Hope this helps.
I am also considering getting an inverter that will run an LCD tv for wife and kids! Was the one you used modified sin wave or pure? As they vary in price quite a lot apparently. Of course i will buy the cheaqper option but want to be sure the TV will work first.
Quote: Originally posted by janus on 18/5/2010
Have a look at the TV input lead and see if it has a 12v transformer on it, if it has ( quite likely ) then get a lead that has the right plug on the end and plug it directly into the TV, this is much more efficient than using an inverter.
wasnt there a thread on here about this before advising about not using the tv on 12v like you have just suggested, Not sure but something comes to mind, I apologise if I am incorrect.
You are quite right. The current isn't steady enough to run the TV off if it actually runs of a transformer even though it says 12 volts. There are TV's that will run off 12 volts but they are expensive.
We have run our £110 15" lcd direct from the 12v socket in the van for the last 3 yrs without a problem, if the back of the telly says 12v or the transformer says 12v output you should be ok, you can get the telly plugs from maplin, the 12v van plugs from a camping shop and a bit of wire from anywhere!
Just remember that it will suck the life from your battery! but will suck even more using an inverter.