DEEP CYCLE

Grisly replied:

Hi,

Depends on how long you will need to be self sufficient. A fridge can drain a battery in as little as a few days so a 110 AH battery will be req'd for longer trips.
Another consideration is the type of battery, will you be travelling on corrugation's? as these will kill a normal lead acid battery in as little as 12 months.
Good Luck on your trip.

Grisly
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Trev&Ness B replied:

gday.

I have a swan and i run my fridge on gas, its more efficient and the fridge will suck the power from you bats supper quick. I have 2 100ah bats and i run my lights and 12v tv and can last up to a week with no probs. I also run a 120w cheap solar panel and i never drop below 99%. You should also never run your bats below 80% as this will shorten the life off the bats.

cheers
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The Bantam replied:

The question is what sort of lighst how many and what sort and what size of fridge..and how long do you want it to stand up without a charge.


The simple answer is.......BIGGER than you think.

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Member - John and Val replied:

Hi,

Depends on "standard lights and fridge etc".

If it's a 3 way fridge - don't run it from the battery at all. It can be run from the vehicle alternator while the engine is running, after that use gas or 240V.

If it's a compressor type fridge such as Engel or Waeco, a 100 Ah deep cycle battery should run it for a couple of days without fully discharging the battery. Batteries should not be discharged more than about 2/3 of their capacity if they are to live long and should be fully recharged asap.

Suggest do an energy budget - determine just what current each of the "standard lights and fridge etc" draws, multiply by the hours per day that each is drawing it. This will give you your demand per day. Assess your charging capability; assume that (unless you have special stuff fitted like a dc-dc charger) your charging from the vehicle averages 5 - 10 amps. Multiply by by engine hours to get a rough idea of what you are putting in. Then you can determine, roughly, your net energy consumption per day, hence how long it will take to use 2/3 of your battery capacity, or how big your battery needs to be to meet the demand.

For a better idea of all that's involved, suggest read Electricity for Camping. The search facility (top right of this screen) will also give lots of good stuff.

Cheers

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lesterb replied:

I haven't been caravaning for long but I've learnt a lot from this forum since I started. As a result I have come up with some rules for myself that suit my circumstances.

1. The forum search facility is your friend.
2. Never connect the fridge to the van battery.
3. Always connect the load (led lights, water pump & TV) to the van battery via a low voltage disconnect device which can be a stand alone device or be incorporated in a solar regulator or other charging device and is capable of handling the maximum load current.
4. Replace all incandescent light globes with LEDs.
5. Use an LCD LED TV for lowest current draw.
6. Run the fridge on gas when not travelling or connected to 240v.

By following these rules I hope to complete a trip round the block this year staying in a combination of powered sites and free camping without battery problems.

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