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Topic: Expected battery life on rally?
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10/7/2013 at 9:32pm
Location: None Entered Outfit: Coachman Pastiche
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I never really gave the water pump much thought, although I tend to turn ours off at night and if we go out, in case there was a leak, I don't want to return to find the aqua roll has been pumped across the floor, run dry and burnt the pump out for good measure. I have had to adjust the pressure switch occasionally though.
The LED lights (I converted ours from halogen when we changed the caravan) and the solar panel were a great investment. We have never flattened a battery since, though a 13 watt solar brief case from Maplins and two fluorescent strip lights would cope with a long weekend easily with a little bit of thought. (Eg turning the toilet light off after the kids who think switches only turn on)
However, the 50 watt panel copes well, even if we get power hungry and watch TV all evening, by the following lunch time it has recovered. If you are fairly DIY competent, you can buy the panel and regulator on eBay for half the cost of the kits and make the roof brackets from an off cut of aluminium angle which a metal fabricator would let you have for a few pounds, rather than the cost of a proper bracket. Ours is bolted to the sides of the panel and stuck to the roof with Sikaflex. I also have a plastic moulding, left over from a new bathroom to stop air getting under the front of the panel while travelling which is recommended, though it seems illogical. It cost me £88 in total, though I have since fitted a better regulator which enables me to simultaneously charge two batteries and monitor the batteries and solar panel. It's also much bigger than it needs to be giving me the option of fitting an additional panel in the future. Had I got that originally instead of the cheap regulator it would have cost about £110 all in, and a couple of hours to fit.
Panels have gone up a little bit in price since then, but are still very good value if you compare them against the cost of staying on a site with EHU and a site without, it can pay for itself in a few weeks. I would definately recommend it.
I would suggest one of these, depending on your available roof space as they are different dimensions.
960 x 540 x 28 mm
or
820 x 820 x 35 mm
with a regulator like this
Apparently, the solar panel and charge regulator are also good for desulphating a leisure battery and can be used to recover an ailing battery.
Post last edited on 10/07/2013 21:45:03
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