Powering up van before trips?

[ozwrangler]

Arrgh!

We've moved and cannot get the van down to our house.
Driveway is shared and waaay too long for any extension cord, as well as no parking up there.
No power available where we're storing the van.

Husband thought to buy a generator, so we can power up caravan, get battery charged, fridge cool etc. before any trips away.
Trips most likely only 2-3 days atm.

Any thoughts?
Practical advice much appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Burnsy]

That's a tough one, you would need to leave the genny on overnight for the fridge to get cold or there is gas option but I wouldn't be keen to leave gas on in storage and that won't charge batteries either, unless you take batteries out and charge at home first. Other than that I can't suggest anything....I like your choice of van and tug though!

Cheers.

 

[ROnEM]

Ozwrangler,

Tough one!

If you get a generator, it will have to have a large enough fuel tank to allow 12 to 16 hours of running time and most likely a silenced unit as the storage facility might have an issue with the noise. They may also have an issue with the safety of a running generator left unattended.

Have you looked at, or are you able to put external solar panels secured with a cable & padlock on the van when it is in storage?

If you are, this will always keep your battery fully charged and a few days before you go away, you can put the fridge on 12V and have it draw on your 12v battery (or batteries) and the solar panels will recharge your battery during the day.

This will bring the fridge temp down, not as well as gas or 240V, but will start to get it cooling.

What size fridge do you have? This will dictate the size battery/batteries you will need and the solar panels.

Cheers,

Rohan

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Stumbled across this the other day http://www.goalzero.com/yeti1250.html haven't really done that much research on it but it may be a solution

 

[mfexpanda]

What about running fridge on gas and batteries and solar for everything else

 

[17triton]

only other thing i can think of is run a engle or weaco in the back of the paj with your essentials then use it as the beer fridge when the van gets cold.

 

[zerosecta]

This ones easy ,,, rather than buying a generator. Just buy a solar panel to keep the batteries charged and ruyet the fridge on gas for a couple of hours to cool it.... They cool much quicker on gas thaThanet do on 240 anyway

 

[ROnEM]

Stumbled across this the other day http://www.goalzero.com/yeti1250.html haven't really done that much research on it but it may be a solution

For $1,499, I would rather look at a new 100AH Lithium Ion battery that is half the weight of a similar lead acid/gel deep cycle battery and does not suffer from the same issues if fully discharged, and the Lithium Ion batteries take less time to return to a full charge.

Just my rambling thoughts

 

[Capt. Gadget]

For $1,499, I would rather look at a new 100AH Lithium Ion battery that is half the weight of a similar lead acid/gel deep cycle battery and does not suffer from the same issues if fully discharged, and the Lithium Ion batteries take less time to return to a full charge.

Just my rambling thoughts

Yeah I agree Ro

 

[Burnsy]

For $1,499, I would rather look at a new 100AH Lithium Ion battery that is half the weight of a similar lead acid/gel deep cycle battery and does not suffer from the same issues if fully discharged, and the Lithium Ion batteries take less time to return to a full charge.

Just my rambling thoughts

Don't the lithium batteries have a habit of catching on fire?

 

[ROnEM]

Only if you Expanda was made by Boeing, Dell or Apple!

 

[Burnsy]

Alot of radio control stuff have lithium batteries these days and they state "do not charge battery in model or leave unattended". I'd be a bit paranoid having one in my van unless they improve re.heat while charging!

 

[mfexpanda]

go to an electrical outlet like middys and get an industrial length extension cord we have a 80m length which goes from one end of the house to the shed

 

[Meridith Davies]

If you have solar panels, just switch the fridge to 12V and run off that, then switch to gas when you get to your destination

 

[Xpandafan]

Actually stuck fridge on gas while we stopped for break at lunchtime today. Needed to boil a kettle for a coffee with lunch anyway. One hour boost works wonders.