Ours is sitting in the front yard at present all forlorn and lonely...
We keep the batteries topped up by plugging in for a day or 2 monthly, otherwise, with everything turned off, it just sits. With a new van, I'd be testing out the solar panels... is the fridge 12/240v? If so, see if the solar panels run it, check the batteries while its running etc.
You might also want to fill the water tanks, test the pump, taste the water, flush if needed.
Play with your new toy! Sleep in it overnight in your drive, its amazing how much you learn about your van that way. (Also amazing what you learn about your neighbors!)
Enjoy.
-- Edited by Gerty Dancer on Friday 12th of April 2013 11:34:04 AM
Grams said
06:21 PM Apr 12, 2013
Hi,
Les and I got our van about 3 weeks ago, it is sitting in our driveway atm until we go out in it. We connected the electricity to it, as we wanted to checkout the fridge to see it was working, but we also have solar and batteries....
So our question is:
Should we leave it connected, or leave it alone?
We have never had a van with batteries, solar plus the electric, so we are unsure what to do....
Thanks
Happywanderer said
06:25 PM Apr 12, 2013
Having solar I think you should be ok in keeping the batteries charged. Unless there is another reason to keep plugged into power.
My son explained to me when I was down in Geelong if I kept the C-Tek charger connected to the power and the batteries it would trickle charge and keep them full. Thats when I get the C-Tek charger and the fact I don't have permanent solar panels out there yet.
Not sure if that helps but my give you some ideas.
Grams said
06:46 PM Apr 12, 2013
Thanks HW and Gerty,
Yes the fridge is a 3 way, so gas, electric and battery. Didn't think of testing the solar, so we will do that. We are waiting for our youngest to sleep over at friends so we can test out the van. We have tested the pump, but not tasted the water yet.
Thanks for that.
Yuglamron said
06:58 PM Apr 12, 2013
Re the suggestion about tasting your water.
I personally use the baby bottle sterilising fluid Milton. I recently two thirds filled my fresh water tank,added a bottle of Milton fluid and drove around for ten mins.
I then disposed of the water and refilled the tank.Not a bit of an aftertaste and the water was as good as the house water.
Reason I use Milton is they consider it safe for cleaning babies bottles and teats so harmless.
Cheers
Trevor
Happywanderer said
08:09 PM Apr 12, 2013
I use Bicarb of Soda in my water tank, which reminds me, better check it out before I head off to Wuruma.
buffy61 said
08:29 PM Apr 12, 2013
How much bicarb do you put in the water tanks? And do you dissolve it first??
Big Gorilla said
11:15 PM Apr 12, 2013
To get long life from your house batteries, you should keep them fully charged. When not in use I keep 240 volts connected and I have solar. Being fully charged, the batteries get warm and the water evaporates slowly. Whether using my MH or it's sitting in the yard, I check the batteries weekly and top up with water if required. Use distilled water, not tap water which contains minerals and is harmful to the internal plates.
Happywanderer said
12:11 AM Apr 13, 2013
I don't have an amount for the Bicarb sorry. Just what I think will do the trick, its drinkable so theres no problem. Dissolve in water then add.
msg said
12:33 AM Apr 13, 2013
Well at least it should help tummy upsets. Bi Carb is the main ingrediant in Alko Seltsa.
ogre said
06:34 AM Apr 23, 2013
I find it is always wise to test new equipment before you leave home and I also make sure that everything in the van is working properly it save a lot of hassles when you hit the road ,,, cheers
Delta18 said
11:42 PM Apr 23, 2013
Hi Grams,
If you find you need to run your 240v charger while sitting at home then I would take the opportunity to get someone to look at your solar system as it is not working well.
If you were Free Camping you would be running lights, tv, sat decoder, water pump etc etc and the battery should be on Float (fully charged) after 2 - 4 hours sunshine so, if at home with nothing running you should NEVER need to run your 240v charger. The Solar Controller should look after the trickle charge. Ovserve the battery condition, try to never let it get below 12.2 volts while camping.
When we got our last (current) new van we went on a short, week long trip away to sort out any bugs & discover what we had forgotten to pack. Well, we found many things, the first of which was a notebook & pen to write stuff down.
Ours is sitting in the front yard at present all forlorn and lonely...
We keep the batteries topped up by plugging in for a day or 2 monthly, otherwise, with everything turned off, it just sits. With a new van, I'd be testing out the solar panels... is the fridge 12/240v? If so, see if the solar panels run it, check the batteries while its running etc.
You might also want to fill the water tanks, test the pump, taste the water, flush if needed.
Play with your new toy! Sleep in it overnight in your drive, its amazing how much you learn about your van that way. (Also amazing what you learn about your neighbors!)
Enjoy.
-- Edited by Gerty Dancer on Friday 12th of April 2013 11:34:04 AM
Hi,
Les and I got our van about 3 weeks ago, it is sitting in our driveway atm until we go out in it. We connected the electricity to it, as we wanted to checkout the fridge to see it was working, but we also have solar and batteries....
So our question is:
Should we leave it connected, or leave it alone?
We have never had a van with batteries, solar plus the electric, so we are unsure what to do....
Thanks
My son explained to me when I was down in Geelong if I kept the C-Tek charger connected to the power and the batteries it would trickle charge and keep them full. Thats when I get the C-Tek charger and the fact I don't have permanent solar panels out there yet.
Not sure if that helps but my give you some ideas.
Yes the fridge is a 3 way, so gas, electric and battery. Didn't think of testing the solar, so we will do that. We are waiting for our youngest to sleep over at friends so we can test out the van. We have tested the pump, but not tasted the water yet.
Thanks for that.
Re the suggestion about tasting your water.
I personally use the baby bottle sterilising fluid Milton. I recently two thirds filled my fresh water tank,added a bottle of Milton fluid and drove around for ten mins.
I then disposed of the water and refilled the tank.Not a bit of an aftertaste and the water was as good as the house water.
Reason I use Milton is they consider it safe for cleaning babies bottles and teats so harmless.
Cheers
Trevor
How much bicarb do you put in the water tanks? And do you dissolve it first??
To get long life from your house batteries, you should keep them fully charged. When not in use I keep 240 volts connected and I have solar. Being fully charged, the batteries get warm and the water evaporates slowly. Whether using my MH or it's sitting in the yard, I check the batteries weekly and top up with water if required. Use distilled water, not tap water which contains minerals and is harmful to the internal plates.
Hi Grams,
If you find you need to run your 240v charger while sitting at home then I would take the opportunity to get someone to look at your solar system as it is not working well.
If you were Free Camping you would be running lights, tv, sat decoder, water pump etc etc and the battery should be on Float (fully charged) after 2 - 4 hours sunshine so, if at home with nothing running you should NEVER need to run your 240v charger. The Solar Controller should look after the trickle charge. Ovserve the battery condition, try to never let it get below 12.2 volts while camping.
When we got our last (current) new van we went on a short, week long trip away to sort out any bugs & discover what we had forgotten to pack. Well, we found many things, the first of which was a notebook & pen to write stuff down.
Regards
Neil