16' Series Loïc

[Loïc duchet]

Hi all,
We are new to caravaning, new to four wheel driving and new to this forum, thanks in advance for all your help along our way
We have an expanda outback and a Nissan Pathfinder
I am wondering if when the van is plug in to 240 volt and as it charges the two internal batteries of it, it would also recharge the car crank battery if both car and van are still connected via an Anderson plug?
We just bought both after selling our house and touring for 6 months around Oz.
I forgot to unplug last night for our first night and had a flat battery which only recharged to 12.7 volt after 3 hours drive.
We are staying in a park for 3 days now.
Thanks guys.
L

 

[chartrock]

Welcome to the forum @Loïc duchet, I'm sure you will get a lot of help here. I think you have flattened tour car battery because, by leaving it connected to your tug, the fridge has drained the battery. The fridge should be switched to gas and disconnected if you are stopping for more than an hour as it uses one hell of a lot of battery juice. Also, plugging in to 240V at a caravan park will not send any charge to your car battery, the Setec unit in the van does not charge the car battery as it is diode blocked.

Good luck on your around Oz trip.

 

[Drover]

:welcome:.....................................if you leave your van plugged into your car when the engine is turned off then the fridge will most certainly kill the battery in a very short time, many have fitted a device called a Fridge Switch which will disconnect the power from car to van when stopped, there are other versions and ideas for doing this but the Fridge Switch is the easiest and least complicated to fit. Until then just pull the plug when you stop and never drive with the gas turned on.
Enjoy your travels.

 

[Loïc duchet]

Thanks guys for the infos, i am learning everyday. I will certainly follow advice to not get stuck again.
Hopefully my turn will come when I can also help someone on this forum
Take care
Loïc

 

[Tricky]

Welcome to the forum @Loïc duchet, Agree with all the previous comments. Good luck on your trip.

 

[bigcol]

:welcome: to the forum @Loïc duchet

lots of great people with a passion for their Vans, Camping and 4WDs

never be afraid to ask questions, however remotely they sound

 

[Duncanblake36]

I have a ctek d250s DC to DC charger inline with my Anderson plug from the hilux. Does two things. Works as a battery isolator when the engine is off (so it doesn't flatten the battery) and it's a smart charger so it charges the batteries much better than the alternator off the engine and will make the batteries in your van hold charge for longer.

Highly recommend it.

 

[Drover]

Solar panel on roof keeps it charged up so why go to the trouble and expense of setting up to charge from the tug ?????

 

[Akil]

Solar panel on roof keeps it charged up so why go to the trouble and expense of setting up to charge from the tug ?????

Agreed. The 200w on our van keeps the battery topped up quite well though I would like more.

The DCDC would be good for long periods of bad weather where the solar isn't able to keep up but to make the most of it the charger should be mounted as close to the battery as possible.


As mentioned by Drover the easiest option would be to install a 'Fridge Switch' a quick Google will give you a few options on where to buy. The other option would be to install a VSR (Voltage Sensitive Relay) between the battery and the plug on the back of your car. If you have an Anderson plug on your car I would personally go down the path of installing a VSR. It'll stop the fridge in the van and anything else you decide you use off the plug (lights, air compressor etc.) from draining the battery.

- Ian

 

[Drover]

I would rather shut it down soon as engine stopped than wait for the battery to drain down.

 

[Duncanblake36]

I have duel 100amp hour batteries and this is how I deal with fridge power.
Home
When we are about to leave I have the mains power plugged in and the fridge on AC.

Driving to Destination
When I'm travelling I set the fridge to DC and have an Anderson plug in the back of my Hilux that plugs into the van. This plug goes into a Ctek DC to DC charger that sits next to the duel batteries and charges at a rate of 20a per hour Plus what ever the solar panel on the roof is charging at. The DC charger only draws from the Hilux battery when the engine is running. When the engine stops then the DC charger isolates the circuit (built in feature).

When we stop to have lunch or give the dog a run the solar on the roof kicks in.

At Destination (Off Grid)
When we pull up we disconnect the Van and put the fridge on Gas.
More than likely we have parked the Van in a shady spot so the solar panel on the roof is not that efficient but we carry a second portable 200w fold out panel that we follow the sun with that chargers the batteries. We have external Anderson plugs on the Van for this purpose.

Here is our power usage in Jan where we were off Grid Camping.

We ran a 40ltr Engel as a freezer which used the most power. Ran the fans overnight when hot and charged iphones, ipads, etc. As you can see the power didn't even get below 90%.

For your battery to go flat over night you have either left your fridge on DC power which will kill a battery in about 5 hours or there is something else that is draining your batteries.