Solar setup

I second the reading of associated concepts and components. It is hard to explain the intricaciesof things if the concept isn't initially understood to any depth.

Yes I'm aware of this but I meant In perhaps a remote location thanks

Solar will do everything except AC. Could do it for short burst but thats it

Would you need a dual battery or will a single battery do ?

If the fridge is being carried in the tug I recommend powering it from its own large battery. You can charge that with a dual battery set up if you move every day or second day. If you are going to camp for more than 2 days then you will need enough solar panel capacity to be self contained.

If you are going to carry the fridge in the camper and power it from a battery in the camper then the same principles apply.

Just a question nomadic as I don't have a caravan and I don't understand these things ,is the solar power always charging while you are on the move to power the fridge or is that run off the gas?

If you have solar panels mounted on the roof of your trailer they will charge when the sun shines. The problem with the charging whilst on the move is that you frequently pass through shade from the roadside trees. The charging ceases whilst you are in that shadow.

What fridge are you intending to use? If it is a gas/electric type (absorption fridge) you do not run those off a battery. The 12 V power input to them is only meant to be used from the alternator of the tug. If you are going to run an absorption fridge from the alternator and also charge the house battery from the alternator then it is safest to run separate leads right through for the two jobs. Unless you use an extremely heavy cable to do both jobs you will find that the house battery will be discharged during the trip as there is too much voltage drop between the alternator and the battery. The following diagram is the way Dometic recommend that their fridges be used when on the run.

It would probably be a gas electric not a large one either we want to buy a jayco swan which doesn't run a large fridge

Aahh, now you have supplied some info. The Jayco has a gas/electric fridge, so battery power while at camp only needs to run a couple of lights and maybe charge a phone or two.
One battery and one solar panel will get you out of trouble most of the time.
A proper setup to run the fridge while driving ( on 12V ) ........like some decent size cable (16mm2 ) and a means to isolate the supply while parked (can be as simple as pulling the anderson by hand ) and you are set .

Oh, and forget the air con, unless the van comes with it, and then only use it at a caravan park where there is 240V.

The OP needs to understand a little about energy out and energy in, ie, usage rates of amp hours and charging and solar limitations before he will understand some of the given info by replies.
At the moment he is struggling with conceptual stuff.

Just giving a circuit will mean little if the diagrams aren't recognized.

No your right rmd I don't understand much about these things I guess I would need to ask the dealer how this is Supposed to work when I buy it buying a second hand camper without a guide as to how to work this stuff would be hard i guess it comes down to trial and error.

Check out this website, Johnnykluger, belonging to Collin Rivers.

He has a number of books available that would give you some grounding in this subject, as well as suggestions for upgrading your potential camper purchase. I have a couple of his books and they're easy to read and well illustrated.

Bob

You don't really have to understand much at all mate. A dealer MAY give you some info, but if you are armed with a few simple questions beforehand, it will be pretty easy.
Has it got a battery ? Has it got a charger to charge the battery ( when at home or a van park )..Is the camper setup to charge the battery AND run the fridge while driving ?
Most won't have a solar panel attached, but a few may.....all the better.

You'll find most used campers like the Jaycos will be setup with most or all of the above and as long as the car is wired to suit, understanding electricity needs to be almost zero.

Thanks for the info guys I'll check it all out

Most users under-cater esp when they get into warmer climates. And undercharging the aux battery/batteries used to be the norm.

In addition to Bob's reading suggestion:
http://12voltblog.com.au/intro-page/

and another source of Rivers' wisdom: https://www.exploroz.com/Vehicle/Electrics/Solar.aspx

Check carefully that the gas/electric fridge you're considering will actually cool to say 4 degrees when the ambient is 40. Many won't.

Johnnykluger "is the solar power always charging while you are on the move to power the fridge? "

You can have it hooked up through some suitable connection to be charging as long as there is some light, but best to have the 2nd batter(ies) hooked up to charge from the vehicle when driving, the output from the vehicle alternator far exceeds what you'd get via solar (in a typical setup).

The fridge would be always running from the 2nd battery, the solar or vehicle charging keeps the battery up.

You can run vehicle charge form the car alternator via a VSR (voltage sensitive relay) for a very simple method, this suits me, or others with higher needs may us DC-DC type charging, or other newer / better tech.

So les would you recommend having dual battles in the engine bay? At the moment I have a kluger to tow the swan I intend to buy should I have it set up that way so the second battery would keep the fridge powered?

Mate I've never had a camper, from what I've read you would ( if fridge in camper) probably be better with some sort of school m- do charger ?
Others can advise better.

I have second battery in an arkpak case in the cabin set up as described.
If in the engine bay you need to look at how far a second battery is from heat sources, and / or good ventilation to keep tabs cool as possible.
Heat kills batteries, especially the AGM types commonly used for 2nd battery.

Damn auto correct.

Better with dc-dc charger.