This question may seem a bit thick, but we're confused. Please help.
We have a fairly small solar panel (5w I think). In our previous van there was a 12v socket next to the battery where we plugged in the panel when it was in storage - there was a cable from this socket directly to the battery and it all worked fine.
We've just changed our van and we've been told that we can just plug the panel into any 12v socket and the panel will trickle charge through there; and that we don't need an extra socket by the battery. Does anyone know if this is the case and will work?
I don't think anyone can really answer that one without an intimate knowledge of your new caravan.
If the caravan has a battery isolator then the isolator will be between any 12V socket in the caravan and the battery. If the battery is isolated, then plugging a solar panel into a 12V socket in the van will do nothing at all. On the other hand, if the battery is not isolated and your caravan is one of those that still consumes 100mA or more with everything switched off, then your 5w solar panel would not be big enough and the battery will still go flat (solar panels have very little output if it isn't in full sunlight).
My caravan is a Burstner S500TS. With everything switched off, nearly 130mA is still drawn from the battery. Just after I bought the caravan, I fitted a battery isolator (you can buy them on Fleabay) and a 5W solar panel. I connect the solar panel to the battery side of the isolator using crocodile clips - and it works fine.
My preference would be to install a socket for this purpose and also to wire in a solar regulator. This will turn off the power to the battery when its full. I've done this in my motorhome and use a 13w panel in the way that you describe.
Quote: Originally posted by AndrewK on 17/5/2010
I don't think anyone can really answer that one without an intimate knowledge of your new caravan.
If the caravan has a battery isolator then the isolator will be between any 12V socket in the caravan and the battery. If the battery is isolated, then plugging a solar panel into a 12V socket in the van will do nothing at all. On the other hand, if the battery is not isolated and your caravan is one of those that still consumes 100mA or more with everything switched off, then your 5w solar panel would not be big enough and the battery will still go flat (solar panels have very little output if it isn't in full sunlight).
My caravan is a Burstner S500TS. With everything switched off, nearly 130mA is still drawn from the battery. Just after I bought the caravan, I fitted a battery isolator (you can buy them on Fleabay) and a 5W solar panel. I connect the solar panel to the battery side of the isolator using crocodile clips - and it works fine.
Andrew
Sorry if this is steering slightly away from the subject of this post but I'd like to ask Andrew a question. Our Pageant series 7 flattens the 110amp battery in around 5 to 6 weeks with everything switched off & the van simply standing on the drive. I've been thinking about fitting an isolator but I can't work out where to fit it because the battery box is 100% full with the big battery in it on its own. Do I just break into positive battery the cable in the bed box as the cable enters the caravan??
Having the mechanical knowledge of a housebrick I don't understand how a caravan can drain a battery if everything in the van is switched off. I asked the dealer to check it out last week when it was serviced & it came back with no faults found.
Quote: Originally posted by Basilbrush on 18/5/2010
Do I just break into positive battery the cable in the bed box as the cable enters the caravan??
Yes, that is exactly what I did. Buy a 100amp battery isolator off Ebay and go to B&Q and buy a bit of bracket that you can use to fix the isolator to some local bit of batten Cut the red cable from the battery (positive), strip the ends and connect one to each terminal of the isolator.
I also stripped a short length of insulation (less than an inch) from the black cable too. I then connected one croc clip from the solar panel to the (now stripped) copper of the black cable and the other to the battery side isolator terminal.
Quote: Having the mechanical knowledge of a housebrick I don't understand how a caravan can drain a battery if everything in the van is switched off.
Some caravans must have a battery fitted to be able to use a EHU (mine for example - and possibly yours too). If your van does not have a battery isolator as standard, the battery will still be connected to the 12V power supply. The current draw (100mA ish) is about that for the coil current of a 12V relay, which might well be held closed by the battery - hence, if you've no battery, you get no lights.
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Topic: Trickle charge battery with solar panel
