I am just building a day van / camper. I have a Aferiy 2048wh battery pack that I intent to use instead of built in battery as I can take it out an use at home.
Now we only stay on a camp site a couple of times a year and have hook up mainly to use stuff in the awning. Now I though I would not bother with a 240 hook up on the van but when we go away use one of those tent 240 hookup kits. The battery packs always say don't charge on an extension lead which seems a tab confusing as they draw about 1100 watts and a extension can usually handle 2300.
My intention is that is we did need to charge the battery pack I would just move the Tent hookup in the van and plug that in to do a quick charge. I take it this would be ok as it's designed I think for 16amp campsite hookup.
Just trying to out less holes in the van if I don't really need them
Probably a general warning as extension leads will overheat if left coiled up. A good quality extension lead should be ok, never leave unattended and check for overheating.
No question is a silly question if unsure or unaware of the answer, and certainly not if safety is the issue!
Can't really see any good reason it shouldn't be recharged via a SUITABLE extension lead. The warning not to may be because extension leads vary, are not necessarily to any standards and are beyond the control of the Battery Pack manufacturer, and indeed MAY be a risk under some circumstances such as underrated cable/breaker or unneeded length left tightly coiled in use!
A proper 'tent' extension lead 'should' be 10A rated (that's the MCB trip rating), the cable 'should' be 16A rated but may only be 10A rated, but still more than capable of supplying the 4.6A (1100W) load. I don't see that type of equipment normally having a huge start up overload that would be damaging to the extension.
Usual provisos of ALL of the extension cable MUST be uncoiled and given good ventilation to prevent it overheating.
The (up to) 16A rating of EHU points really only applies to fully fitted out caravans/campers/MHs where the electric equipment COMBINED, can reach those loads, the normal mains sockets fitted are still limited to a 10A (2.4kW) (individual/combined over multiple sockets) load because they are protected by a 10A circuit breaker, but things like battery chargers, heating, lighting etc are run in parallel and protected by other circuit breakers, so can push demand to the max. Tent extension leads on the other hand can only EVER draw 10A, as ALL loads attached are protected by a single 10A circuit breaker.
A friend had a home van conversion. No leisure battery. They put the tent hookup cable through the side window. They had no 3-pin or 12v sockets in the vehicle, so the gang socket on the tent EHU was their phone charging, kettle, oil filled radiator etc. As you’ll know already, only use one heating gadget at a time or you risk popping the hookup & being very unpopular with the site manager.
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Topic: Battery Pack Charging
via mobile 16/12/2024 at 11:07am
