Lots of questions

[Teejay]

Hi everyone.

I've just been thinking about our Expanda and I have lots of questions that I hope someone can help me with. My darling husband is not the handy type so doesn't really know anymore than I do with how things work.
1: When our expanda is hooked up to the car - does the car charge up the battery in the van? I know it runs the fridge but I don't know about the battery.

2: We have one 100amp ( I think that's what it is called) battery and we plan on doing some free camping. My husband doesn't think we need to the change the lights to LEDs and thinks the battery will run lights and water pump for a few days.Do you think we'd get 3 days out of the battery for just that? We have the 16:49-3 ob is that makes a difference.

3: I also don't understand the water tank and HWS. I know the pump (when your not on mains water) draws it up from what ever tank your using but what if that tank runs out - would it cause your HWS to burn out (or whatever it does). Is it worth getting a guage and is that something Jayco service can do ( going in for warranty work soon)?

4: Do you need to drain you HWS between trips? My Father in Law told my husband he should be doing this.

5: I read somewhere that you should turn one tap to hot and make sure water comes out before either turning your HWS on or lighting the gas if not on power. Does this make sure there is water in there? If you weren't on mains would the pump fill it once it was turned on?

I think that is all for now and I do apologize for all the dumb questions but if I don't ask I'll never know.

Thanks in advance if you can help me out.

 

[cruza driver]

With your battery and no solar or generator you should be able to get 3 days, we do but that is usually the limit. We dont have LED's but will when i get around to it. You have to remember to that the water pump uses a bit of power to so to conserve power maybe limit your use of the pump, for eg if your just washing your hands use the hand pump (thats what we do anyway) and then that saves the battery for showers and dishes so the HWS can be taken advantage of.

We dont drain our HWS between trips but we use our van a fair bit so haven't really thought about it. I guess you have to make sure the holding tank gets refilled if you drain it and fire the HWS up. As for turning the HWS on we dont run any taps we just switch it on although we have generally already had the tap running anyway.

I would look at getting a water tank gauge as it takes the guess work out of whats left. The Jayco RV control panel also has a built in battery monitor although basic does the job.

Enjoy your trip

 

[Teejay]

Thanks so much for that - I appreciate it. Another quick question - How does the holding tank on the HWS get refilled if we have drained it?

 

[Coastrunner]

Hi Teejay.

I think you`ll be able to live off battery power for a few days if you`re careful.

Just conserve power when you can. Don`t leave lights on when not in use. In the past i`d only have 1 of the interior lights on most of the time at night.

From memory one of the interior lights still uses less than 2 amps per hour, so you`re going to get a lot of light out of a 100amp hour battery.

keep in mind that if you have all your lights on, the power usage increases to just under 20 amps per hour.

So generally speaking if you use 1 light most of the time, you wont use any more than 2 amps per hour. Typically you`ll use a night light for around 5 hours each night, so overall around 10 amps per night. Thats 30 amps over 3 nights. Double the lights up and you`ll double the power. Throw in a bit of water pump usage and you`ll use a bit more.

So to sum it up, 3 nights away should be ok if you`re careful and conserve power when you can.

When towing my car charges the battery at around 1 amp per hour.

Like Cruza says, put LED lights on your to do list. Even if you just change the ones in your main interior lights. You`ll drop power usage by around 90%.

Enjoy your holidays!

 

[Burnsy]

Hi teejay,

Power is the easy one, as said above conserve it and to recharge, that just takes a bit of money spent eg solar. The standard set up in your van won't charge your battery much from your car, there are some good threads on here about that and alternatives. The biggie is water depending on where your going and for how long.I to am interested on how 2 tanks are set up (individual or in line filling etc) as my next van will have 2.

Enjoy
Burnsy.

 

[Coastrunner]

Hi Burnsy.

My van has two tanks.

My tanks are connected together with a T-piece connection. I have the choice to run both tank supplies together or turn the t piece to have one tank open and the other closed.

I have one tank in front of the axel, and the other behind.

I hope this helps.

 

[Coastrunner]

HI Teejay.

I know you said your husband wasn't overly handy but thought I'd show you the led lights and how they connect.
In both cases, you just unplug the existing globe and plug in the new led lights. Then just stick them to the light bracket and enjoy using 90% less power.
See the pics and description in the adds below.


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261011780399?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1163wt_1141

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261011784835?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1124wt_1176