Comment: Electricity for Camping

Great article....so nice to read one that I agree with..!!
I have a Carry-Me Slide on Camper on the Cruiser tray, with a 49Litre Engel (50th Anniversary Edition) & LED lighting.
There is a 400W Sine wave Inverter that gets minimal use charging my shaver, & occasional 240V only devices when required....its there if its needed.
I run a Redarc BCDC-1220 to charge the 100 A/hr AGM deep cycle Aux Battery under the bonnet,
and another to look after the 180 A/Hr AGM in the camper on the ute tray...
Since the BCDC-1220 for the camper is in the camper it takes care of any voltage drop between the engine bay and the camper.
All wiring is in 8mm (core) fine stranded dual core sheathed copper cable.. with lots of protection against rubbing.....!!!
All main cables also have circuit breakers or fuses both ends....

Redarc also do a Dual Smart Solenoid - this allows the engine to charge an aux battery....and a solar setup on the Aux battery to top up the starting battery once the Aux battery is charged.

I went with a Honda 900 Watt silenced generator & a 25Amp 4 Stage Charger - my setup has no space for fixed panels (Rooftop Tent) and I have suffered broken panels in the past due to loads shifting on rough tracks.
Also the 25Amp Mains Charger can be used on the starting battery (night or day) if that is ever required.

So far (touch wood) its been a great system.

Great artical, well written & not even a hint of Black Magic or wichcraft in sight...!!! :-)
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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Wednesday, Mar 04, 2015 at 00:52

Wednesday, Mar 04, 2015 at 00:52
Thank you for your kind remarks Rob. As you've read, I have a strong preference for avoiding 240V and relying on only 12V. Yours sounds a good flexible system though, covering any 240V needs (including mains charging) as well as comprehensively handling 12V.

No solar? Everyone's travel patterns are different, and the slow and steady facility offered by solar doesn't suit everyone. We look on it as a free and quiet battery charger, but also, when we go remote and all the wheels fall off the expedition, the sun will still shine to power communication gear (plus of course the essentials - charging cameras, laptops, etc etc and running the fridge!). You use a 240V generator for this purpose, perhaps a less bulky, less fragile, solution!

Cheers

John
J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein

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