We have booked the bank holiday away, but we cant get electric with the pitch, so I was wondering if the battery will work everything,(apart from the gas cooker) especially the shower. I have only used the electricity supply up to now. The lights work and we got the fridge going, but the shower we couldnt try because the van is in storage.
thanks christina
Your battery will run your shower as it powers the 12 volt water pumps that feeds it
Before you go make sure you've fully charged your battery, I git a 75amp to last 4 days, now changed to a 110amp and if there's no hookup I take another as a spare
You will of course also need to run your water heater on gas if you want to use the shower. It took us a couple of months of using the hot water on electric in our van before we discovered the gas hot water didn't work!
Most water heaters have a plastic cover on the outside flue that needs to be removed before you run it on gas. Maybe check the instructions for your water heater (if you have them!) and familiarise yourself with the operation on gas before you leave.
Thank you all for that, I was thinking of taking the TV, but its from our bedroom, so dont think it will work. I dont have any instruction with the water heater, so maybe its trial and error then We havent used the battery since we bought it (in may) and I charge it up whilst towing, so I hope its still charged because I dont have a battery charger either
Water heating and fridge on gas. Use the gas cooker for boiling water. Try to avoid reckless use of the battery and it will be fine. I just booked a week with no EHU. If you get stuck, ask someone with electric to charge your battery.
You could run a 240v TV from a small inverter which you can pick up from about £15 but be careful. It's a very inefficient way of doing it and it will flatten the battery in a few hours.
Do make sure though you have a 12v charger (car charger) for devices such as mobile phones and cameras. These are dead cheap and can be left in the caravan instead of having to remember to bring a mains charger each time.
Quote: Originally posted by dogscenturion on 14/8/2012
... but I will get a charger when we return home.
Just a footnote, don't get a standard charger from (for example) Halfords. Leisure batteries ideally need a smart-charger, such as one of these recommended C-Tek examples from Amazon.
Your van (if its the one in your gallery pics) looks modern so surely it should have a built in charger ?
We did a few quite cold, & certainly very wet, days back in May & the 85Ahr battery in ours barely dropped at all. Just have to be prudent with anything that uses power. Leaving lights on for instance, We got into the habit of switching off the lights at the panel during the day, as the children were the biggest culprits. The shower worked fine, just try & use it liberally. Keep a 5ltr water tub handy to fill the kettle, washing up etc, just saves running the water pump so much.
The one time ours did run flat, (little one left lights on when we went out), I just plugged in the car & left it running for a bit.It put a good few hours of charge back in the battery.
Quote: Originally posted by dogscenturion on 14/8/2012... but I will get a charger when we return home.
Just a footnote, don't get a standard charger from (for example) Halfords. Leisure batteries ideally need a smart-charger, such as one of these recommended C-Tek examples from Amazon.
My husband's been looking at those chargers are they a good thing to have as i never know with him he just wants to buy anything and everything
Quote: Originally posted by JackieandSteve on 15/8/2012
Quote: Originally posted by G7ACU on 14/8/2012
Quote: Originally posted by dogscenturion on 14/8/2012... but I will get a charger when we return home.
Just a footnote, don't get a standard charger from (for example) Halfords. Leisure batteries ideally need a smart-charger, such as one of these recommended C-Tek examples from Amazon.
My husband's been looking at those chargers are they a good thing to have as i never know with him he just wants to buy anything and everything
They are good, but very expensive. Aldi and Lidl regularly do their own equivalent smart chargers for about £13-£15 - just keep an eye open for their offers
Quote: Originally posted by Francophile1947 on 15/8/2012
Quote: Originally posted by JackieandSteve on 15/8/2012
Quote: Originally posted by G7ACU on 14/8/2012
Quote: Originally posted by dogscenturion on 14/8/2012... but I will get a charger when we return home.
Just a footnote, don't get a standard charger from (for example) Halfords. Leisure batteries ideally need a smart-charger, such as one of these recommended C-Tek examples from Amazon.
My husband's been looking at those chargers are they a good thing to have as i never know with him he just wants to buy anything and everything
They are good, but very expensive. Aldi and Lidl regularly do their own equivalent smart chargers for about £13-£15 - just keep an eye open for their offers
Thank you for replying i will let him know because the one he's wanting i'm sure he said was £55.
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Topic: using the battery
We havent used the battery since we bought it (in may) and I charge it up whilst towing, so I hope its still charged because I dont have a battery charger either 
