have just bought a converted bus and getting to know what makes everything tick.it has a dc-dc inverter for house batterys im not sure if this is going to do the job ,can anyone recomend a good worry free set up. i am new to all this having not caravaned before,but am in no hurry to get things organised for my first trip.
regards keith
jimricho said
08:18 PM Jun 22, 2011
There's a lot of comments on inverters on the forum. If you click on search in the bar along the top just under where you log in you should find some posts on this topic.
There are some comments re inverters under the topic "generators" that is very current and still being contributed to as I type this.
Not quite sure what you're referring to when you say DC-DC inverters but if you're referring to a DC-DC battery charger, i.e. a battery charger that is powered from the vehicle's main battery and charges the house battery this system is quite a new way of doing this and would I think be a significant improvement on the traditional dual battery system. (I don't have "hands on" experience with these chargers however.)
PS: You may care to check the brand and model type as this will give some more specific information
-- Edited by jimricho on Wednesday 22nd of June 2011 10:12:49 PM
oldtrack123 said
08:40 PM Jun 22, 2011
Hi Keith
I assume you are referring to dc to dc battery charger
How this will meet your needs is not just a simple yes or no
Factors to be considered are
[1]alternator capacity [amps]
[2]Charger output [amps]
[3]House battery capacity[amphrs]
[4]Your type of camping time
[a] expected time spent in one spot with out driving
expected average daily use of battery power amphrs
[5]when you do break camp how long do you expect to drive for before next stopover
[6] do you have alternative means of charging
[7]Are both bus & house system same voltage .[12v or 24v]
Lots of questions, but All need to be considered before anyone can give you a realy satisfactory answer
Peter
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Wednesday 22nd of June 2011 08:40:44 PM
hammer said
09:49 PM Jun 23, 2011
Hi keith,
Check out the CMCA web site, also there is a book by Collyn Rivers called Motorhome Electrics lots of info in it about battery set ups.
jimricho said
06:23 AM Jun 24, 2011
hammer wrote:
Hi keith,
Check out the CMCA web site, also there is a book by Collyn Rivers called Motorhome Electrics lots of info in it about battery set ups.
I can endorse that recommendation, it's a very informative book and covers many of the "frequently asked questions" we get on this forum. It's also available from Jaycar Electronics, there may be a store near you.
I'd like to clear the air whether we're talking about an inverter or a battery charger here, they are two quite different devices doing very different tasks.
An inverter is a device that takes the 12v DC from the battery and supplies 240v AC to power devices that normally plug into the power points at home.
A battery charger does what the name implies... it charges batteries (normally) from the household 240v power, however there are now types intended for charging "house" batteries from the vehicle's 12v electrical system and I suspect that's what we are looking at here.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but it is difficult to provide a clear answer to a question if the question itself is not clear. I mention this as a general comment as it does occur from time to time on this forum.
-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 24th of June 2011 06:36:38 AM
BobnBev said
07:35 PM Jun 25, 2011
K B, That would be a DC-DC converter..24 to 12 volts. they need to be protected with a "crow bar" its a triack with zenadiod set as the trigger to make it a dead short if the volts go to high.. Think trucks use them to run CBs on 12 volts???
jimricho said
08:15 PM Jun 25, 2011
BobnBev wrote:
K B, That would be a DC-DC converter..24 to 12 volts. they need to be protected with a "crow bar" its a triack with zenadiod set as the trigger to make it a dead short if the volts go to high.. Think trucks use them to run CBs on 12 volts???
I would have thought that the crowbar protection would have been built in and of no concern to the user. A non-technical person would be unlikely to be familiar with zener diodes, SCRs or triacs and doesn't need to be.
We need K & B to clear the air here... Is the vehicles electrical system 24v or 12v? Are we talking about a DC to DC battery charger, a DC to DC converter (24v to 12v) or an inverter (12v or 24v DC to 240v AC). Unless we know this we are unable to provide any meaningful help.
PeterD said
12:14 AM Jun 29, 2011
Keith, see if you can read any info from the case of your device and post as much of it as you can and we will have a better idea.
have just bought a converted bus and getting to know what makes everything tick.it has a dc-dc inverter for house batterys im not sure if this is going to do the job ,can anyone recomend a good worry free set up. i am new to all this having not caravaned before,but am in no hurry to get things organised for my first trip.
regards keith
There's a lot of comments on inverters on the forum. If you click on search in the bar along the top just under where you log in you should find some posts on this topic.
There are some comments re inverters under the topic "generators" that is very current and still being contributed to as I type this.
Not quite sure what you're referring to when you say DC-DC inverters but if you're referring to a DC-DC battery charger, i.e. a battery charger that is powered from the vehicle's main battery and charges the house battery this system is quite a new way of doing this and would I think be a significant improvement on the traditional dual battery system. (I don't have "hands on" experience with these chargers however.)
PS: You may care to check the brand and model type as this will give some more specific information
-- Edited by jimricho on Wednesday 22nd of June 2011 10:12:49 PM
Hi Keith
I assume you are referring to dc to dc battery charger
How this will meet your needs is not just a simple yes or no
Factors to be considered are
[1]alternator capacity [amps]
[2]Charger output [amps]
[3]House battery capacity[amphrs]
[4]Your type of camping time
[a] expected time spent in one spot with out driving
expected average daily use of battery power amphrs
[5]when you do break camp how long do you expect to drive for before next stopover
[6] do you have alternative means of charging
[7]Are both bus & house system same voltage .[12v or 24v]
Lots of questions, but All need to be considered before anyone can give you a realy satisfactory answer
Peter
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Wednesday 22nd of June 2011 08:40:44 PM
Hi keith,
Check out the CMCA web site, also there is a book by Collyn Rivers called Motorhome Electrics lots of info in it about battery set ups.
I can endorse that recommendation, it's a very informative book and covers many of the "frequently asked questions" we get on this forum. It's also available from Jaycar Electronics, there may be a store near you.
CMCA site: https://www.cmca.net.au/secure/TradingItemsNonMembers.htm
Motorhome Books site: http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/books/index.htm
I'd like to clear the air whether we're talking about an inverter or a battery charger here, they are two quite different devices doing very different tasks.
An inverter is a device that takes the 12v DC from the battery and supplies 240v AC to power devices that normally plug into the power points at home.
A battery charger does what the name implies... it charges batteries (normally) from the household 240v power, however there are now types intended for charging "house" batteries from the vehicle's 12v electrical system and I suspect that's what we are looking at here.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but it is difficult to provide a clear answer to a question if the question itself is not clear. I mention this as a general comment as it does occur from time to time on this forum.
-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 24th of June 2011 06:36:38 AM
I would have thought that the crowbar protection would have been built in and of no concern to the user. A non-technical person would be unlikely to be familiar with zener diodes, SCRs or triacs and doesn't need to be.
We need K & B to clear the air here... Is the vehicles electrical system 24v or 12v? Are we talking about a DC to DC battery charger, a DC to DC converter (24v to 12v) or an inverter (12v or 24v DC to 240v AC). Unless we know this we are unable to provide any meaningful help.