Leisure electrics runtime
- Thread starter Mike23864
- Start date
Do you have solar?
Depends oh the size / type of leisure battery. Also the current drawn by the fridge and LEDs. As well as if you have solar or not. You need to tell us a lot more info if you want any meaningful answer.
Thanks for the replies.
I don’t have solar.
My fridge has the following
Input voltage (AC) 100-240 V
Input voltage (DC) 12/24 V
Rated input current (AC) 1.14 A
Rated input current (DC) 5 A
Rated input power (AC) 40 W
Input frequency 50/60 Hz
The Leisure battery is 110AH
The LED’s are 2w and there’s 6 of them
Thanks
I don’t have solar.
My fridge has the following
Input voltage (AC) 100-240 V
Input voltage (DC) 12/24 V
Rated input current (AC) 1.14 A
Rated input current (DC) 5 A
Rated input power (AC) 40 W
Input frequency 50/60 Hz
The Leisure battery is 110AH
The LED’s are 2w and there’s 6 of them
Thanks
Perhaps you could charge it with the diesel generator that also propels the van?
P
Phil_G
Guest
Once down to temperature, a fridge cycles on & off so the 5amp rating might average between 1 & 2A over several cycles, depending on its settings.
Your six 2W lamps draw 1A and might be on for say four hours in the evenings?
So worst case, a typical day might be 24hours x 2A for the fridge, which is 48Ah, and 4Ah for the lights, total 52Ah.
A 110Ah battery shouldnt be discharged below 50% so its useful capacity is about 55Ah, so as you can see,
without solar you're only talking 24 hours (worst case). You can extend this by not opening the fridge door unnecessarily and by raising its thermostat temperature slightly, in which case you might make a weekend from it. And what to do if it goes flat? Hook-up, or a daily drive around will top it up but you should never allow it to fall below 50% capacity as over-discharge causes permanent damage to the battery.
Cheers
Phil
Your six 2W lamps draw 1A and might be on for say four hours in the evenings?
So worst case, a typical day might be 24hours x 2A for the fridge, which is 48Ah, and 4Ah for the lights, total 52Ah.
A 110Ah battery shouldnt be discharged below 50% so its useful capacity is about 55Ah, so as you can see,
without solar you're only talking 24 hours (worst case). You can extend this by not opening the fridge door unnecessarily and by raising its thermostat temperature slightly, in which case you might make a weekend from it. And what to do if it goes flat? Hook-up, or a daily drive around will top it up but you should never allow it to fall below 50% capacity as over-discharge causes permanent damage to the battery.
Cheers
Phil
Last edited by a moderator:
Phil, surely 'never' allowing it to fall below 50% is hugely conservative? You have to flatten modern leisure batteries way more harshly than that to suffer permanent damage? In my post below, I use the data sheet of an example AGM battery to show that the much-quoted 50% number isn't actually anything like the hard cutoff it's implied to be. I'm not saying it's not possible to damage an AGM by flattening it, it clearly is, but I think you have to hammer it way harder than 50% to do it.
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P
Phil_G
Guest
Hi Tombo, you're right, it is conservative - It was more as response to the O/P's question "what do we do if the battery goes flat?" to which the literal answer is "buy a new battery" 
P
Phil_G
Guest
All excellent reading but bear in mind that solar can be done on a budget, it doesnt have to be Victron and Photonic Universe
P
Phil_G
Guest
If you can afford the big names then go for it, just saying that for those on a budget, it can be done. There are loads of options on ebay and amazon but last year for example I fitted one of these to my lads T5 camper: 100w Flexible solar panel
and minimal PWM controllers can be had for a fiver: Cheap controller so you can be off grid for as little as £100.
Some will say PWM is a waste of money but its a fiver, and a controller is really easy to upgrade later when funds permit.
and minimal PWM controllers can be had for a fiver: Cheap controller so you can be off grid for as little as £100.
Some will say PWM is a waste of money but its a fiver, and a controller is really easy to upgrade later when funds permit.
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