Am now at Yellow Pinch Dam 627 Camps6 between Bega and Eden just an overnight stay.
Have added another battery a 115 AH Exide Industrial deep cycle. The other is an Overlander 105 AH deep cycle but was not keeping up with the fridge even when the solar was connected. Hopefully that will fix the problem, I have had to turn off the fridge overnight to maintain the battery.
John
billeeeeeee said
07:39 PM Sep 9, 2011
Howdyeee young fella,, getting a bit cold..???/heheh ,Im in a free camp between Shepparton and Benalla...might stay here a couple of days, hehehe or I might not ,Bugger this is a hard life ,,,all the discissions U gotta make in a day ,,,,Billeeeee P.S,lots of Yellow flowers on the side of the road ,,, thought about going and smelling them ,, still looking for my femnine side,,hehehe
those yellow flowers are canola, should start dropping the flowers soon, then it will get swathed ready to harvest november.
Elle on Wheels said
10:17 PM Sep 9, 2011
Hey John you're in nice country and travelling at a fair clip. Would like to hear updates on how your batteries go.
jules47 said
08:40 AM Sep 10, 2011
Hey guys - sounds like you might have solved your problem there "y" - .....and Billeeeee - while int he area of shepparton make a visit to the SPC outlet - near K Mart - lots of good bargains (Norma thinks it is Corio Street- she is making hand directions, can't interpret them onto here) - good bargains to be had - canned goods but lots of other stuff as well. Campbells are also there - on the old benalla road we think - good place to stock up on lots of essentials. Check out the cows in all the parks in Shep - they do gliding at Benalla - and a rose garden, just to help get your feminine side in order!!!!!! Enjoy - we will be in Vic mid October - c ya then!!!
yeoeleven said
06:11 PM Sep 10, 2011
Elle on Wheels wrote:
Hey John you're in nice country and travelling at a fair clip. Would like to hear updates on how your batteries go.
Hi Elle,
The batteries held out well the first night and after leaving the fridge on they read 12 volts this morning.
Slowed the pace today and only travelled 50kms looked around Merimbula and Pambula before doing some shopping in Eden and finishing off here in Scrubby Creek Forest Reserve 633 Camps6.
Will see what happens tomorrow!!!!
John
billeeeeeee said
06:34 PM Sep 10, 2011
yeoeleven wrote:
Elle on Wheels wrote:
Hey John you're in nice country and travelling at a fair clip. Would like to hear updates on how your batteries go.
Hi Elle,
The batteries held out well the first night and after leaving the fridge on they read 12 volts this morning.
Slowed the pace today and only travelled 50kms looked around Merimbula and Pambula before doing some shopping in Eden and finishing off here in Scrubby Creek Forest Reserve 633 Camps6.
Will see what happens tomorrow!!!!
John
Howdyeee John , good to c the batteries r holding up,,,Billeeeeeee
Good to see the batteries are doing well. I love the region you are in - it's been 10 yrs or so since I was there - how time flies. It must be a bit chilly though. It sounds like you are having a fantastic time.
Shogun said
10:56 AM Sep 12, 2011
Hi John, I was wondering how big your solar is? I have just got my motorhome and I had a 120kw solar installed on it and have 1 house battery but will be getting an extra one installed before I head off.
As I'm new at all this I would appreciate any advice from you all :)
Cheers
Brett
beiffe said
08:44 AM Sep 30, 2011
Brett you have to work out your load and then consider your needs compared to what the results are. Check your items they should have recommended power usage on the label.
Wet cells give around 20% of their capacity where AGM's give about 50%. eg 100Ah AGM will allow a draw of 50AHrs as long as the drain is reasonably low. There are other types but have kept to the normally used types
Solar depends on where you travel and what you use and how long between charges that you plan for.
If you want to bush camp for three days then you should allow for 3 days of NO sun to be safe.
This is the ideal but then we often don't have it. I have spent a lot on solar and batteries as I bush camp all the time but then that's my choice.
Check under your solar panel and it should display the maximum AH's expected. Remember MAXIMUM so will never get that but perhaps 80% could be expected for the effective solar hours available. 5 hours summer 3 for winter on average.
So if 8 Ah on panel work on say 6Ah x 5hours will give you 30 AH into your battery if it can accept this charge.
if you have portable panel then you will get more if you follow the sun. I found I could get nearly 50% more if I followed the sun every few hours. You start a lot earlier to gather power and get full power all day and stay getting power till later in the day.
Ensure you have regulator between panel and battery.
If you don't have the solar / charging capacity then an extra battery is just extra weight unless you are prepared to charge from the alternator and then when it is gone then it has to wait. Just don't drop it too low or you will kill it very quickly
Hope that may help
Regards Brian
yeoeleven said
09:35 AM Sep 30, 2011
Shogun wrote:
Hi John, I was wondering how big your solar is? I have just got my motorhome and I had a 120kw solar installed on it and have 1 house battery but will be getting an extra one installed before I head off.
As I'm new at all this I would appreciate any advice from you all :)
Cheers
Brett
Hi Brett,
to let you know what my set up is,I have a 120 watt folding solar panel plus 2 Deep cycle batteries in parallel I still need more charging capacity and am considering getting a smart charger to boost from the generator.
Read the Deep Cycling thread on the Techies forum where I got advice on the subject. beiffe has some sound advice for you here also,
Am now at Yellow Pinch Dam 627 Camps6 between Bega and Eden just an overnight stay.
Have added another battery a 115 AH Exide Industrial deep cycle. The other is an Overlander 105 AH deep cycle but was not keeping up with the fridge even when the solar was connected. Hopefully that will fix the problem, I have had to turn off the fridge overnight to maintain the battery.
John
Howdyeee young fella,, getting a bit cold..???/heheh ,Im in a free camp between Shepparton and Benalla...might stay here a couple of days, hehehe or I might not ,Bugger this is a hard life ,,,all the discissions U gotta make in a day ,,,,Billeeeee P.S,lots of Yellow flowers on the side of the road ,,, thought about going and smelling them ,, still looking for my femnine side,,hehehe
.....and Billeeeee - while int he area of shepparton make a visit to the SPC outlet - near K Mart - lots of good bargains (Norma thinks it is Corio Street- she is making hand directions, can't interpret them onto here) - good bargains to be had - canned goods but lots of other stuff as well. Campbells are also there - on the old benalla road we think - good place to stock up on lots of essentials. Check out the cows in all the parks in Shep - they do gliding at Benalla - and a rose garden, just to help get your feminine side in order!!!!!!
Enjoy - we will be in Vic mid October - c ya then!!!
Hi Elle,
The batteries held out well the first night and after leaving the fridge on they read 12 volts this morning.
Slowed the pace today and only travelled 50kms looked around Merimbula and Pambula before doing some shopping in Eden and finishing off here in Scrubby Creek Forest Reserve 633 Camps6.
Will see what happens tomorrow!!!!
John
Howdyeee John , good to c the batteries r holding up,,,Billeeeeeee
As I'm new at all this I would appreciate any advice from you all :)
Cheers
Brett
Wet cells give around 20% of their capacity where AGM's give about 50%. eg 100Ah AGM will allow a draw of 50AHrs as long as the drain is reasonably low. There are other types but have kept to the normally used types
Solar depends on where you travel and what you use and how long between charges that you plan for.
If you want to bush camp for three days then you should allow for 3 days of NO sun to be safe.
This is the ideal but then we often don't have it. I have spent a lot on solar and batteries as I bush camp all the time but then that's my choice.
Check under your solar panel and it should display the maximum AH's expected. Remember MAXIMUM so will never get that but perhaps 80% could be expected for the effective solar hours available. 5 hours summer 3 for winter on average.
So if 8 Ah on panel work on say 6Ah x 5hours will give you 30 AH into your battery if it can accept this charge.
if you have portable panel then you will get more if you follow the sun. I found I could get nearly 50% more if I followed the sun every few hours. You start a lot earlier to gather power and get full power all day and stay getting power till later in the day.
Ensure you have regulator between panel and battery.
If you don't have the solar / charging capacity then an extra battery is just extra weight unless you are prepared to charge from the alternator and then when it is gone then it has to wait. Just don't drop it too low or you will kill it very quickly
Hope that may help
Regards
Brian
Hi Brett,
to let you know what my set up is,I have a 120 watt folding solar panel plus 2 Deep cycle batteries in parallel I still need more charging capacity and am considering getting a smart charger to boost from the generator.
Read the Deep Cycling thread on the Techies forum where I got advice on the subject. beiffe has some sound advice for you here also,
John