Guys I've a autotrail with a 85amp battery. We are always wild campers, never a campsite and the amount of money we've saved by our style is thousands We've suffered power anxiety also so we looked at what we needed and didn't. We also looked at the future of LPG and its availability. So we went down the portable power station route. It matters not what we have, but we have 2 in our van. We are charging them using roof solar at 360w. Now looking at yours you've likely got a 100w panel, also badly positioned to add more. Firstly check it's working and delivering power to your leisure battery, easily done using a multimeter. This may be the cause of your drop after 2 days Regarding internal lights, we've a pack of 4 remote controlled puk lights bought for £22 off Amazon. They are recharged every three days. The remote gives us total control from our bed. We have no power anxiety now, we have AC and DC power anytime anyplace, with our power stations. They are coming down in price and looking today our brand is down to £829 for a 2500w quick charge device. One of these will address your power needs but as LPG becomes less available it will easily power a induction hob and small kettle. A single lithium battery will help, but you will need additional costs to instal and if it's compatible with your current system. A power station can be used at home to power things and save on bills. We use 6 and our energy bills are low. If you want further explanation or discuss in detail, get in touch.
@@paulmills1605 Hi Paul, thanks for taking the time to cover all that. Yes lithium has definitely come down in price a lot. We had been considering getting a power station and we will more than likely pick one up at some point. We are keen to go down the lithium leisure battery route and a 230ah one that will fit inner the seat, will need a b2b charger but the MPPT and Power Supply Unit are both compatible with lithium, so says the manual for the van. Yep the solar panel is not great for adding to but we would likely be on site every 4-5 days to charge up. We've found somewhere fairly local thatcould do the work for us. We will speak to the dealer first as the van is going on for it's habitation check in November, although I'm not really expecting much from them. Thanks again 👍
Lithium definitely a good idea as even as a replacement for one you got will give you at least twice the amount of power before run out. As other have said need to confirm rest of your electrical system (solar charger/alternator etc) are compatible as may need to upgrade some of those as well. The other thing to consider is a bigger/more solar panels (Personally as much as you can afford/fit on the roof) especially if planning to go off grid in winter as at this time of year lucky to get much more than 10% of the capacity of the panel (and on a bad day less) and even if have more capacity in battery not much use if have nothing to charger it from
We switched to lithium last year and makes off-grid so much easier and gives us confidence in this setup. You need to make sure you can charge the lithium battery as this has a different charging profile to lead acid and that your AC, solar and engine charging systems can cope. You may be able to check this yourself and see if there's a setting for lithium on each of these, or the dealer will be able to help. Good luck!
@@davidmarek72 Thanks David, the manuals for the van say these are compatible with lithium so at least that's something, we will definitely be looking to move forward with it some time next year👍🐾💕
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot hi from Australia. We have a small teardrop camper and changed to a lithium battery. @davidmarek72 is correct about the different profile. We had a Victron dealer change the profile for us. One of the bonuses of a lithium is that they discharge very slowly when not in use. This eliminates the need to keep it on trickle charge when at home. The batteries are expensive but worth the money
We have fitted a clayton power system lithium 160 ah battery but unfortunately still not enough power as we have a two plate induction hob, microwave and airfryer. We've got it booked in to add an extension 280 ah battery to hopefully get a weekend out of it. It's expensive but among the best, I believe.
@@jimconnie9007 I suppose these electric items suck a lot of power, surely your extra 280 ah will do the trick. Like you say, expensive outlay but hopefully worth it👍
Looks like you had a merry old time 😂. We have a Wildax Pulsar Mk2 and have upgraded to 2 110ah batteries in parallel which has done us for 4 nights without any movement. We do have a solar panel but think we may up grade and have an extra one added. We have a compressor fridge 90l and I use a CPAP machine overnight. We have an Ecoflow 600w as a back up which I can use for 2 nights for my CPAP. We have talked about a lithium upgrade in a few years time. Hope Keira is ok with her paw and the ticks have gone. Take care Gill
That's us in the roller team on pitch 6! We did the walk to the castle on the Sunday, our Angus was covered in ticks as well 🤮..... love the videos, keep up the good work, Tom
@@TomLiddle Great spot eh? Hope the wee burgers didn't get their fangs into Angus. We gave Keira some tick treatment a few days later, its in our next vlog 👍💕🐾
@@n9ddy good on ye, the experimental range is the one to go for, the others are a lot more expensive, if ye see the lass on the video ye can let her she's the star on our video🤣👍💕🐾
That looked like a very jolly afternoon Mike! Tricia's turn next to be spoilt! Look forward to hearing your decision on battery selection etc. We have 2 x 100A AGM batteries (no solar), but don't go off grid at the moment.
Firstly I’m enjoying your travels. I’m going to go lithium next year but I did have a van that had lithium in the past. My system has the Sargent installed with a split charge relay hence that will need updating. I’m going to call them next week to find out what is possible. You can get a 280ah battery that will fit under your seat and replace you current battery. You will have to get a b to b charger. I guess you will be using around 60ah/day which means the 280ah will last just over 4 days with no solar input. With a 30amp b to b charger it will take 2 hours driving to recover each day’s usage. Get a battery with Bluetooth then you can see what’s available. These figures are just estimates but it should give you an overview of what to consider. Cheers Martin
@@martinph9052 Thanks Martin, that's very useful. Our battery is 80ah lead acid and we get say a day and a half, which is just not good enough for us. The van is going in for it's habitation check in Nov and we will be finding out from them if switching to lithium is straightforward for our setup.
Hi both, loving the videos. We have a 2024 Carrera 132 with 2 batteries, and manage about 3 days off grid. The solar panel is not powerful enough with UK sun. Lots of other owners have the same issue. We went down the additional power bank route, VTOMAN 1500 inn a sale. This gives about 3 full charges to the van, we also have the solar panels for it but they are a bit bulky so only take them if off grid for weeks. It also gives us mains when off grid if needed.
@@daveasavage hi Dave, thanks, so do you just run the hook-up cable from the VTOMAN to the external socket on the outside of the van? How do you route the cable? We have an underslung gas tank now so we could maybe have a power bank in the gas locker and route a short cable through the base of the gas locker.
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot Hi Mike, we just run the cable to the hook up outside at the moment. I looked at putting in a socket hook-up spur inside the first cupboard, to the charger, just have not got round to it yet. The power box fits nicely under the made up bed and with a small mains extension lead powers our Air fryer, etc if needed when not hooked up. Be aware to get a large enough one, as the Carrera charger on ours, draws around 30 Amps to start with before decreasing. I liked the VTOMAN as it charges in an hour to full and we have had no issues with it. They also have lots of sales ;). We tend to be static for a few days, so leave the bed up and also have a large Labrador who owns it. Personally I love this van, so easy to use, drive and suits us.
Nice opening drone out the mist at the start We moved to lithium 3 years ago We have managed 7 nights offgrid with our 105amp hour battery with careful management but we only have a fridge drawing 40-50 w - so depends what else you have on. We also have a portable 700w Bluetti as well so it works for us that helps You can now get a 300 amp hour for the same size as one we have now so technology moved on do definitely worth looking around Hate to say it Mike you look like you have an external cod piece on sitting in the whisky chair 😂😂😂 Hope Kiera is ok ….
Hi Both. We have an Auto Trail which came with 75 amp hour lead acid similar to yours. We eventually swapped it out for a lithium (Fogstar drift 105 amphour. We added a 40 amp battery to battery charger and inverter which takes away the battery apprehension. We slso have a 1kilowatt inverter. Fogstar have a black friday sale have a look too at the NEC show if you are going for potential discounts. I think you may be able to squeeze a 230 amp hour lithium under your seat , but check it out to be sure. All the best Mel. We have a 3 way fridge and an underslung gas tank. The fridge will run for about 20 days solid on the gas as it uses very little per hour. Although never tried it. 😊 It is easy to cable up and now means we can choose to go off grid for a four or five days easily. We also have a Jackery as bacup but dont really need it.
@@melg2857 Thanks Mel, that's really useful. I was looking at the 230ah EcoTree under seat lithium battery £949 but if we go with a local specialist to do the work we can get them to check what would be the best options for us. Sounds a good idea getting the inverter fitted too👍
The Fogstar Drift is a direct replacement for a lead acid set up and has its own battery management built in with an app that you can download on your phone. We went for Renogy b2b and Renogy inverter. Well made products that other TH-cam convertors use. Cheers Mel.
We have two 110 amp hour AGM normal batteries and a large roof top solar panel and a smart charger from a euro 6 alternator and we have no problems at all. If we did, we could use our ecoflow to feed into our external hook up by keeping the ecoflow in front of the passenger seats, in the space in front of the swivelled seats and feeding from a 3 pin to a commando connector, through a window with the wind guard fitted and then into the external van hook up using the normal hook up lead. We have a fridge, television, lights, diesel heater electrics but cook from gas off grid. Don't forget that once camped and you have used up your battery capacity, it is only the solar panel that dictates your electricity supply quantity. Maybe get another solar panel on the roof or a portable one from online, charging an ecoflow, that then can feed the hook up ? We have a 200 watt portable panel but have hardly used it.
@@FredFox-m9v Thanks, that's really useful. The van is going back to the dealer in November and we will find out from them what's possible with our setup. We are also thinking about an Ecoflow or similar, and since we now have an underslung gas tank, the gas locker under the seats could be used for the ecoflow and feed the cable through the base plate out to the van's charge point.
Love Glenfiddich single malt its a treat to myself, the tasting looked interesting, must put it on the bucket list. ps must get a co-driver. Drive safe
@@stephengraham8629 thanks, yes a good one for the bucket list. Quite pricey to do the tasting and the experimental range I went for was by far the cheapest, but still really good👍
Have you visited the distillery in Wick, old pulteney, '. The only thing that they buy in is the malting. Almost everything else is done as it was when first opened. Not a whiskey drinker myself but the tour is brilliant. I ended up buying a 12 year old that I sampled at the end of the tour. Cheers 🥃😄
@@bobbyedal2737 ah so if you bought the bottle they must have converted you from the dark side😉. Not been to that one, most distilleries don't do their own malting now.
Hope you get sorted with your batteries guys. I don't know the life of a leisure battery?, but my van is six years old now, and it's still going stong. 👍🐸
Hi Mike and Tricia and of course Keira, We enjoy all your U Tube. Glad you enjoyed that last Whisky, checked its price , fall on floor moment £314 per bottle, bit out of my league.😄
@@bottle7657 ouch that is so expensive, it's a good job that there are plenty of excellent malt whiskys at £30 -£40 a bottle and often bargains lower👍💕🐾🥃
I had 2 x 100Ah lead acid batteries which I swapped for a single Fogstar 280Ah Lithium. I have nothing to compare it with but it was reasonably priced and does everything I wanted. A Bluetooth app lets you monitor the state of the battery. I don't have a large fridge, but it is a compressor fridge. With the fridge and diesel heater running all night, the battery in the morning still has a high level of charge. One downside was the MPPT solar controller I had, had to be changed as it wasn't suitable to charge lithium. An added expense I hadn't bargained for.
@@davelee-00 Thanks Dave, I like the sound of that, and lithium has come down in price a lot. the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Lucky man! I'm no a lover of Glenfiddich, won't turn one down, but have other preferences. Balvenie goes down well. I prefer J&B in the blended whisky range, Jura 'Obsession' is my favourite malt at the moment. But as my father used to say, "there's no bad whisky, but some are better than others".
@@georgesmart5673 Aye that's a guid saying, and my father-in-law used to say there's only one thing you should ever put in your whisky......more whisky
Hi again, i liked your solution of putting the power cable under the passenger seat, but what have you done with the box with the jack and tow hitch in it?
Fred Fox idea ...2 x 110 amp batteries fridge power sure. Check out POWER Bank and use for appliances even USB powered torches just sure lighting. Lithium batteries , in Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia , banned from installation within the van installed outside ONLY for obvious reasons. Also a caring referral thought weight gain can play havoc with backs🙏 Totally enjoy everything about Scotland including you both especially Happy travels 🫂🫂 🐾🐾
@@elizabethlouisedurdin4666 thanks guys, yes checking out power bank options but just a bit niffed at the moment that they sold us a van with insufficient power 👍🐾💕
Power is always and issue when using park ups with no power hook ups. We don't even have any solar on our set up. We do have a generator but find it rude to run in a park up. With new vans really no reason for then not to put in lithium. We have a 2012 so we understand, but 2023 should be there. I bet you had fun at the tasting. Safe travels. Dave from Ohio.
@@ohioclassCcamper Hi Dave, thanks. The van is going back to the dealer in November and we will find out from them what's possible with our setup. I sure enjoyed the whisky tasting 😋
Oh Mike - I loved your tipsy little dance across the courtyard ! That tasting looked "tasty" - I didn't know Glenfiddich are now also using other liquor barrels for aging (like Glenmorangie) YUM YUM !! - which one was your favourite? I would think with Keira being black, it makes searching for ticks even harder. Loved the HaelanCoos - gentle giants 💙🦋
@@didevilliers1238 the ticks has little red bodies so they were quite easy to spot thankfully and we gave her some tick treatment a few days later, that's in our next vlog. The XX one was my favourite but they were all really good. Aye the heilan' coos look a bit scary but they are just big softies 👍💕🐾
Hi its old George. Even if you increase battery capacity. Your solar is no good in winter cloudy days etc. You will have to drive. So as well as better or additional batteries. You will need to upgrade your engine alternator to a higher capacity "more amps" This may require twin alternator belts. Less hours engine running. We have no experience ourselves. But from an engineers viewpoint. George. Ps we use campsites as we have a campervan no toilet etc. Ps ps. You may be able to have a second alternator fitted just for leisure battery as on some boats.
@@MakeDoAndMend1 Hi George, thanks, it may be that we have to go to a campsite periodically to charge up the batteries, a combination of that side driving and a weeeee bit of sum might be the answer👍💕🐾
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot Forgot to mention. If you change technology of batteries you may need to change settings on solar charger controller and your battery to battery charger BTB or upgrade that as well. George
@@MakeDoAndMend1 thanks George, the van is going back to the dealer in November for it's habitation check so we will be talking through the options with them👍
Yes charged my leisure battery for a lithuim 100 amp hour and also a 100 amp hour for a spare one that run my fridges and i charge the with 200 watt solar panel plenty of power in my little mazda bongo.
Hi I recall asking you in one of your earlier videos if you had two leisure batteries because I got my 144 in July and it has 2 batteries as standard.I have looked at getting lithium but at nearly £2k investment I decided to wait and see how the 2 std batteries fared. So far it’s been fine and not any problems but we’ll be using in December on a 10 day Scotland trip. Winter usage will be the real test and that will determine if the 2 standard batteries will be enough or if lithium upgrade is required. We usually have 3 days of grid and then a day at a campsite. It’s usually the toilet waste and lack of freshwater that’s been the limiting factors so far not the batteries.
@@2009kronos thanks that's useful feedback, I think that there is a lot more rewiring etc to convert to lithium but we will be looking into it more and will cover our findings in a future video. Thanks again 👍💕🐾
Hi guys, We got our 184 a couple of months before you got your 144 but can't bring myself to dump a good battery just yet. I'm also a bit worried about then having a lithium habitation battery and lead vehicle battery as the charging requirements are different. So not sure how that works with the split charging system that is set up for one or the other? I'll be interested in hearing what Brownhills say. I'm currently approaching this from the other direction. I've just bought a Victron smart solar controller to swap with the factory fit one. That is supposedly more efficient, and then i might look at adding another solar panel or replacing the existing one with a larger 200w or 300w panel of it will fit. Incidentally, we've just had our first hab check and all is well. You get an impressive report. Good luck.
@@mike142sl Hi Mike, from reading some of the other comments, we will need to get a b2b charger for the lithium leisure battery and I think that manages the power draw from the alternator. The easier and cheaper option may be to just get a second lead acid battery. Or even just get an Ecoflow or similar and use that to charge the van, that option is also in some other comments. Yes it will be good to get Brownhills opinion.
Definitely go for lithium it's a game changer. I swapped out my old lead acid one at the beginning of the year for a Eco Worthy 100ah LifePO4. I did need to change my split charge relay for a Victron B2B charger though so take that into account. I already have a 100w solar panel with Victron charge controller which was LifePO4 compatible. My EHU battery charger is compatible but won't fully charge the battery to full which I'm not worried about because my solar panel and B2B charger will. Not sure you got your facts right with lithium being four times as much power for the equivalent lead acid as they are in fact twice as powerful
@@adamsquibb2316 thanks that's really helpful, the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Hi both lithium is the way to go , I have a 200 AH (£700) in my SWB transit, which seems over kill really for my size van ,but I run a larger fridge and lights no issue and probably a future inverter . Thing is with lead you can only go down to 50% of the battery capacity but lithium it’s about 20% . Only thing is your DC to DC charging system for lithium may have to be updated possibly (£ 200+) . Also your mains charger , I have a Victron 25Amp mains charger (£165) with blue tooth so it gives me an idea how well the battery is charging. Vanolagy and gadget John (see his latest video) are installing these fogstar batteries more power smaller footprint it all comes down to money really because then you may want to think of more solar too ,and on it goes 😂😂 thank you for the great vlogs ,well done both and good luck👍👍👍🏴🏴🇬🇧🇨🇦🦢
@@welshieonwheels hi Micky, that's really useful, will have a look at what Gadget John is up to. Our van is in at the dealers for it's habitation check in November so we will be speaking to them about what would need to be done 👍💕🐾
I've not had a problem with running out of power even tho' I've been off grid for a week. My solar panel seemed to be enough even in dull weather. Think your fridge is quite big so lithium is probably the way to go. My Dad was a great whisky lover and looks like you are too and had a grand time sampling 😅
@@janeconnors1807 thanks Jane, yes it's very likely that we will go down the lithium route, we hadn't budgeted for it, but I suppose things are sprung on us sometimes and we just need to deal with them when we can👍💕🐾
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot it's a bit surprising that your van manufacturer was so behind the loop regarding lithium batteries. It's also interesting that the latest model has 2 batteries which would indicate that they knew the van they sold you was under powered. I'd be writing a letter to management and putting in a claim. Because of their error you are going to be out of pocket. Good luck
@@janeconnors1807 I think a lot of van manufacturers install the bate minimum and they certainly did with us. Adding a second lead acid battery still wouldn't be sufficient for what we need so we will be going down the lithium route.
Just a general query did you look at my map suggestion "Sygic" for the extra width or lorries and campervans. I will watch this space for your power solutions I have a 2 battery 122 carrera [2004] Thanks for your vids always joy from scotland !!
@@leather10uk Thanks, I had a look at Sygic and it looks good but parked it for now and will look again before he have another big trip which will probably be q4 next year. We will definitely need to do something on the power front👍💕🐾
I'm sure you've considered extra battery, even lithium, power bank and portable solar panels. I'm part of a MHome forum, Motorhome Fun, where I'm sure you'll get lots of advice but it may not be for you. Sorry to trouble you again. Cheers Tim
Lithium is not just a straight swap. You need to make sure your mains charger is compatible or buy a new one. Also, the normal split charge won't work so you'll need a b2b charger also.
@@markjamieson7901 thanks Mark, that's really helpful, the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Guys, the price of lithium batteries has plummeted this last year from around £1 per watt to around 60p per watt. So a 2kw battery used to cost £2000 is now at £600. You can also use the full depth of charge from 100% to 0% where as a led acid can only drop to 50%.
@@kinross24 thanks that's really helpful, we noticed that lithium power banks like Ecoflow etc have also dropped a lot in price. We will definitely be looking into it.
@@shaunmarston7168 yes I think it is Sargent but the existing Power Supply Unit and MPPU both can work with lithium ( i have been reading the manuals) so I think we will need a b2b and lithium battery and hopefully that will be most of 🤞
As I’m sure you are aware, it’s all about amp hours. Your fridge probably uses about 5 amps every hour but is probably only on for about 12 hours a day so that 72ah a day plus all your other items like likes and USB charging. You can only use about 50% of the lead acid capacity before you degrade the battery, so if you have one 100ah lead acid battery you’ll get less than a day of power without any driving or solar input. With lithium ion you can use nearly all the battery capacity.. Estimate your daily amp hour usage multiplied by how many days you want to stay off grid. Assuming you do most of your camping in Scotland with little daily driving you won’t get much top up. Let’s say you want on average to stay off grid for four days before plugging in or doing a long drive and you use about 90 ah per 24 hours you’ll need about 320 ah battery round it up a bit to say 400 ah of lithium as you should run them completely flat.
@@richardayres2949 thanks Richard that's really helpful 👍. We have one 80ah lead acid battery and it's totally inadequate. We will need to find out if our setup can easily switch to lithium or if it's a lot of cost then a power bank may be the way to go👍💕🐾
Hi there - your power problem is a common issue and there's lots of advice on the web. Firstly, a day and half of use with little or no solar is not unusual. Your compressor fridge will use about 25amps a day and a 80ah battery in real life is only good for 40ah (i.e. 50% discharge for AGM). Add in TV, device recharging, water pump, no solar etc you begin to see the issue. Plus SWIFT (like many other manufacturers) only fit the bare minimum by way of batteries, chargers, solar etc. Things to consider are: adding a second battery (doubling your capacity, though ideally the batteries should be the same age and type), checking your solar controller is mppt rather than the less efficient pwm, doubling your solar (though in winter this will have minimal effect not helped if SWIFT have fitted a less efficient flexible panel), adding a DC to DC secondary charger/booster - scandalously swift didn't fit these to their vans despite it being essential for any van with a EU6/smart alternator. Lithium is the usual solution (at a cost) but you need to be sure you have the necessary charging infrastructure, i.e. solar controller and charger profiles for lithium. I think SWIFT fit sargent chargers which can be a mixed bag. Without the correct charging the cost of fitting lithium can quickly escalate, though there are many who simply drop in lithium without any changes with mixed results. Finally, good luck with your dealer as in my experience many either don't want to touch the electrical side or don't have the expertise. Better going with a specialist of which there are many. Good luck.
@@tonyjohnson7094 Hi Tony, that's very helpful, thanks. We will be speaking to the dealer just to see what they say but unlikely we would get them to do the work. From what I gather from reading the manuals, the MPPT is OK for Lithium and the PSU (Power Supply Unit) is configured to work with standard lead acid leisure batteries, and AGM and Lithium batteries. We will need a b2b fitted. I'm a bit confused about the difference between Lithium and LiFePO4 batteries and if they are basically the same but a specialised company would advise us of the best option for us. A 230ah EcoTree for under seat is coming in at £950 so i am hoping that a budget of £2k might cover it.
don't know your set-up, but before you do anything, first confirm that your battery charging system will support Lithium (as a very recent van I assume that it does). If it doesn't you will then probably need to bypass your stock van charging system and install a special Battery-to-battery charger that supports Lithium. I have a 2020 van were the standard battery charger does not support Lithium, so that's why I (think) I know what I need to do when I go to Lithium, when my stock batteries die. My stock ones are actually AGM Batteries ( improvement over basic lead) and I actually assume your battery is also AGM and not basic lead! Hope this helps and doesn't further confuse!
@@brianmcclure8012 thanks, yes it does help, I think that our van will support lithium but we will be asking the dealer when we get the habitation check and we can then consider things further, thanks again mate👍💕🐾
@@lorigill-hj2ni Thanks, the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Really interested in you battery issues , I have similar van, but we have two 95Ah batteries under the driver seat, we also have that Fridge. I am a bit surprised that your battery only lasted 2 nights, do you know what the battery voltage was when the Fridge pinged. Is it possible that the door was open as that will cause the Fridge to ping. You do have a simple option to add a second battery under the seat.
@@patchthefish it's just an 80ah battery and a day and a half is really all we are getting. the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot My Solar panel has a accurate voltage readout which helps me estimate how much is in the battery, my concern is the Diesel Heater which is also using electric power, a bit like you I don’t have confidence in winter to go off grid.
@@patchthefish I guess the electric will be running the fan for your diesel heater. We will not be doing much off grid this winter unless we solve our problem but we hadn't budgeted for this so it may have to wait.
Hari OM Ahhh, well... I'm sitting on 64kW of power, but if not in an EV, then converting to lithium leisure batteries seems like a worthwhile move. Beats me why more distilleries don't cater for folk to park up overnight when they've been imbibing the product! Poor Keira getting tic'd... I hope you check yourselves regularly, too. Lymd Disease is no park picnic.... jus' sayin'... YAM xx
It’s a wonder the Lithium battery manufacturers haven’t given you one to review I watch some Narrowboat TH-cam channels with less subscribers than you that have reviewed lithium batteries We have 5 lead acid leisure batteries on our boat I’m thinking next time they need changing I’ll look at lithium as they are getting more cost effective
@@davidpearson243 hi David, we have been asked to review some lithium power stations like Ecoflow but we don't do sponsored videos, we want to keep this as our channel and not for advertising products.
When not using EHU, IMHO it's best to switch to gas, happy to discuss further, cheers Tim
@@TimSmith-c2x thanks, we can use gas for cooking and heating but the fridge is electric only and that's what is eating the power.
Guys I've a autotrail with a 85amp battery. We are always wild campers, never a campsite and the amount of money we've saved by our style is thousands
We've suffered power anxiety also so we looked at what we needed and didn't. We also looked at the future of LPG and its availability. So we went down the portable power station route. It matters not what we have, but we have 2 in our van. We are charging them using roof solar at 360w. Now looking at yours you've likely got a 100w panel, also badly positioned to add more. Firstly check it's working and delivering power to your leisure battery, easily done using a multimeter. This may be the cause of your drop after 2 days
Regarding internal lights, we've a pack of 4 remote controlled puk lights bought for £22 off Amazon. They are recharged every three days. The remote gives us total control from our bed. We have no power anxiety now, we have AC and DC power anytime anyplace, with our power stations. They are coming down in price and looking today our brand is down to £829 for a 2500w quick charge device. One of these will address your power needs but as LPG becomes less available it will easily power a induction hob and small kettle.
A single lithium battery will help, but you will need additional costs to instal and if it's compatible with your current system. A power station can be used at home to power things and save on bills. We use 6 and our energy bills are low.
If you want further explanation or discuss in detail, get in touch.
@@paulmills1605 Hi Paul, thanks for taking the time to cover all that. Yes lithium has definitely come down in price a lot. We had been considering getting a power station and we will more than likely pick one up at some point. We are keen to go down the lithium leisure battery route and a 230ah one that will fit inner the seat, will need a b2b charger but the MPPT and Power Supply Unit are both compatible with lithium, so says the manual for the van. Yep the solar panel is not great for adding to but we would likely be on site every 4-5 days to charge up. We've found somewhere fairly local thatcould do the work for us. We will speak to the dealer first as the van is going on for it's habitation check in November, although I'm not really expecting much from them. Thanks again 👍
You made me giggle after the distillery, hubby always used to walk twice as far on the way home if we went out and drank in the evening lol
@@angdrumm ha ha, that sounds about right 🤣👍💕🐾
Lithium definitely a good idea as even as a replacement for one you got will give you at least twice the amount of power before run out. As other have said need to confirm rest of your electrical system (solar charger/alternator etc) are compatible as may need to upgrade some of those as well. The other thing to consider is a bigger/more solar panels (Personally as much as you can afford/fit on the roof) especially if planning to go off grid in winter as at this time of year lucky to get much more than 10% of the capacity of the panel (and on a bad day less) and even if have more capacity in battery not much use if have nothing to charger it from
@@garrybox1495 Thanks, we will need to see what additional panels we can fit on our roof...a lot of the space is taken up already.
We switched to lithium last year and makes off-grid so much easier and gives us confidence in this setup. You need to make sure you can charge the lithium battery as this has a different charging profile to lead acid and that your AC, solar and engine charging systems can cope. You may be able to check this yourself and see if there's a setting for lithium on each of these, or the dealer will be able to help. Good luck!
@@davidmarek72 Thanks David, the manuals for the van say these are compatible with lithium so at least that's something, we will definitely be looking to move forward with it some time next year👍🐾💕
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot hi from Australia. We have a small teardrop camper and changed to a lithium battery. @davidmarek72 is correct about the different profile. We had a Victron dealer change the profile for us. One of the bonuses of a lithium is that they discharge very slowly when not in use. This eliminates the need to keep it on trickle charge when at home. The batteries are expensive but worth the money
@@helenhall3705 Thanks Helen, yes makes sense, and the price of lithium batteries has come down a lot 👍🐾🙄
Brilliant, loved your tipsy dance down the car park, we are off to the NEC next week as we are on the look out for our first van. Safe travels. Sue
@@slimmingbedlington1200 You must be really excited about the prospect of finding the right van, hope you enjoy the show👍💕🐾
Lithium is well worth the money 👍 You certainly look like you enjoyed that whiskey tasting 😄
@@LifeistooshortCK thanks, I will need to look into converting to lithium if we are to have more wild camps👍🐾💕
We have fitted a clayton power system lithium 160 ah battery but unfortunately still not enough power as we have a two plate induction hob, microwave and airfryer. We've got it booked in to add an extension 280 ah battery to hopefully get a weekend out of it. It's expensive but among the best, I believe.
@@jimconnie9007 I suppose these electric items suck a lot of power, surely your extra 280 ah will do the trick. Like you say, expensive outlay but hopefully worth it👍
Looks like you had a merry old time 😂. We have a Wildax Pulsar Mk2 and have upgraded to 2 110ah batteries in parallel which has done us for 4 nights without any movement. We do have a solar panel but think we may up grade and have an extra one added. We have a compressor fridge 90l and I use a CPAP machine overnight. We have an Ecoflow 600w as a back up which I can use for 2 nights for my CPAP. We have talked about a lithium upgrade in a few years time. Hope Keira is ok with her paw and the ticks have gone. Take care Gill
That's us in the roller team on pitch 6! We did the walk to the castle on the Sunday, our Angus was covered in ticks as well 🤮..... love the videos, keep up the good work, Tom
@@TomLiddle Great spot eh? Hope the wee burgers didn't get their fangs into Angus. We gave Keira some tick treatment a few days later, its in our next vlog 👍💕🐾
Braw day at the distillery, you've got us heading there now🤣
@@n9ddy good on ye, the experimental range is the one to go for, the others are a lot more expensive, if ye see the lass on the video ye can let her she's the star on our video🤣👍💕🐾
That looked like a very jolly afternoon Mike! Tricia's turn next to be spoilt! Look forward to hearing your decision on battery selection etc. We have 2 x 100A AGM batteries (no solar), but don't go off grid at the moment.
@@nigel8712 Thanks, hey Tricia is spoiled every day......she has me🤣
Firstly I’m enjoying your travels. I’m going to go lithium next year but I did have a van that had lithium in the past. My system has the Sargent installed with a split charge relay hence that will need updating. I’m going to call them next week to find out what is possible. You can get a 280ah battery that will fit under your seat and replace you current battery. You will have to get a b to b charger. I guess you will be using around 60ah/day which means the 280ah will last just over 4 days with no solar input. With a 30amp b to b charger it will take 2 hours driving to recover each day’s usage. Get a battery with Bluetooth then you can see what’s available. These figures are just estimates but it should give you an overview of what to consider.
Cheers
Martin
@@martinph9052 Thanks Martin, that's very useful. Our battery is 80ah lead acid and we get say a day and a half, which is just not good enough for us. The van is going in for it's habitation check in Nov and we will be finding out from them if switching to lithium is straightforward for our setup.
We've been using Britstops, although a little sparse in Scotland there are still some fantastic free stopovers
@@martinraethorn6181 we've used a few of them too in the past, it always ends up costing us more because we go in and have a slap up dinner🤣👍🐾💕
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot - Can't argue with you there...😂
Was telling hubby what drams you were having and he's tried a few of them....good drams he said😃
@@jacqg3777 thanks, he's a man of fine taste 🥃👍
@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot haha, he does like his single malts....he says if your over our way you def need to go to Glendronach distillery!
@@jacqg3777 ooh not been to that one, cheers 🥃
Great wee vlog guy's, you look like the picture that was behind you when you were sampling the drams mike 😁👍👍🥃
@@Garyandfiona ha ha, thanks, the Lord of the glen and happy as Larry 🤣
Hi both, loving the videos. We have a 2024 Carrera 132 with 2 batteries, and manage about 3 days off grid. The solar panel is not powerful enough with UK sun. Lots of other owners have the same issue. We went down the additional power bank route, VTOMAN 1500 inn a sale. This gives about 3 full charges to the van, we also have the solar panels for it but they are a bit bulky so only take them if off grid for weeks. It also gives us mains when off grid if needed.
@@daveasavage hi Dave, thanks, so do you just run the hook-up cable from the VTOMAN to the external socket on the outside of the van? How do you route the cable? We have an underslung gas tank now so we could maybe have a power bank in the gas locker and route a short cable through the base of the gas locker.
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot Hi Mike, we just run the cable to the hook up outside at the moment. I looked at putting in a socket hook-up spur inside the first cupboard, to the charger, just have not got round to it yet. The power box fits nicely under the made up bed and with a small mains extension lead powers our Air fryer, etc if needed when not hooked up. Be aware to get a large enough one, as the Carrera charger on ours, draws around 30 Amps to start with before decreasing. I liked the VTOMAN as it charges in an hour to full and we have had no issues with it. They also have lots of sales ;). We tend to be static for a few days, so leave the bed up and also have a large Labrador who owns it. Personally I love this van, so easy to use, drive and suits us.
@@daveasavage thanks Dave, an hour to charge it up is very good, that's definitely a key consideration👍
Nice opening drone out the mist at the start
We moved to lithium 3 years ago
We have managed 7 nights offgrid with our 105amp hour battery with careful management but we only have a fridge drawing 40-50 w - so depends what else you have on. We also have a portable 700w Bluetti as well so it works for us that helps
You can now get a 300 amp hour for the same size as one we have now so technology moved on do definitely worth looking around
Hate to say it Mike you look like you have an external cod piece on sitting in the whisky chair 😂😂😂
Hope Kiera is ok ….
@@getawaygeese Do you remember a pop star in the 80's called Cameo? Well I put his cod piece to shame 🤣
Hi Both.
We have an Auto Trail which came with 75 amp hour lead acid similar to yours. We eventually swapped it out for a lithium (Fogstar drift 105 amphour. We added a 40 amp battery to battery charger and inverter which takes away the battery apprehension. We slso have a 1kilowatt inverter. Fogstar have a black friday sale have a look too at the NEC show if you are going for potential discounts. I think you may be able to squeeze a 230 amp hour lithium under your seat , but check it out to be sure. All the best Mel.
We have a 3 way fridge and an underslung gas tank. The fridge will run for about 20 days solid on the gas as it uses very little per hour. Although never tried it. 😊
It is easy to cable up and now means we can choose to go off grid for a four or five days easily. We also have a Jackery as bacup but dont really need it.
@@melg2857 Thanks Mel, that's really useful. I was looking at the 230ah EcoTree under seat lithium battery £949 but if we go with a local specialist to do the work we can get them to check what would be the best options for us. Sounds a good idea getting the inverter fitted too👍
The Fogstar Drift is a direct replacement for a lead acid set up and has its own battery management built in with an app that you can download on your phone. We went for Renogy b2b and Renogy inverter. Well made products that other TH-cam convertors use. Cheers Mel.
@@melg2857 thanks again Mel, I have taken note of that👍
good seew you got vlog on travels keep up thr great vlogs on travels thanks lee
@@anfieldroadlayoutintheloft5204 thanks mate, hope the loft is looking good👍💕🐾
We have two 110 amp hour AGM normal batteries and a large roof top solar panel and a smart charger from a euro 6 alternator and we have no problems at all. If we did, we could use our ecoflow to feed into our external hook up by keeping the ecoflow in front of the passenger seats, in the space in front of the swivelled seats and feeding from a 3 pin to a commando connector, through a window with the wind guard fitted and then into the external van hook up using the normal hook up lead. We have a fridge, television, lights, diesel heater electrics but cook from gas off grid. Don't forget that once camped and you have used up your battery capacity, it is only the solar panel that dictates your electricity supply quantity. Maybe get another solar panel on the roof or a portable one from online, charging an ecoflow, that then can feed the hook up ? We have a 200 watt portable panel but have hardly used it.
@@FredFox-m9v Thanks, that's really useful. The van is going back to the dealer in November and we will find out from them what's possible with our setup. We are also thinking about an Ecoflow or similar, and since we now have an underslung gas tank, the gas locker under the seats could be used for the ecoflow and feed the cable through the base plate out to the van's charge point.
Love Glenfiddich single malt its a treat to myself, the tasting looked interesting, must put it on the bucket list. ps must get a co-driver. Drive safe
@@stephengraham8629 thanks, yes a good one for the bucket list. Quite pricey to do the tasting and the experimental range I went for was by far the cheapest, but still really good👍
Have you visited the distillery in Wick, old pulteney, '. The only thing that they buy in is the malting. Almost everything else is done as it was when first opened. Not a whiskey drinker myself but the tour is brilliant. I ended up buying a 12 year old that I sampled at the end of the tour. Cheers 🥃😄
@@bobbyedal2737 ah so if you bought the bottle they must have converted you from the dark side😉. Not been to that one, most distilleries don't do their own malting now.
Hope you get sorted with your batteries guys. I don't know the life of a leisure battery?, but my van is six years old now, and it's still going stong. 👍🐸
@@Kermit-Si thanks guys, we just want a bit more oomph from our battery 👍💕🐾
Hi Mike and Tricia and of course Keira, We enjoy all your U Tube. Glad you enjoyed that last Whisky, checked its price , fall on floor moment £314 per bottle, bit out of my league.😄
@@bottle7657 ouch that is so expensive, it's a good job that there are plenty of excellent malt whiskys at £30 -£40 a bottle and often bargains lower👍💕🐾🥃
I had 2 x 100Ah lead acid batteries which I swapped for a single Fogstar 280Ah Lithium. I have nothing to compare it with but it was reasonably priced and does everything I wanted. A Bluetooth app lets you monitor the state of the battery. I don't have a large fridge, but it is a compressor fridge. With the fridge and diesel heater running all night, the battery in the morning still has a high level of charge. One downside was the MPPT solar controller I had, had to be changed as it wasn't suitable to charge lithium. An added expense I hadn't bargained for.
@@davelee-00 Thanks Dave, I like the sound of that, and lithium has come down in price a lot. the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Lucky man! I'm no a lover of Glenfiddich, won't turn one down, but have other preferences. Balvenie goes down well. I prefer J&B in the blended whisky range, Jura 'Obsession' is my favourite malt at the moment. But as my father used to say, "there's no bad whisky, but some are better than others".
@@georgesmart5673 Aye that's a guid saying, and my father-in-law used to say there's only one thing you should ever put in your whisky......more whisky
Hi again, i liked your solution of putting the power cable under the passenger seat, but what have you done with the box with the jack and tow hitch in it?
@@mike142sl Hi Mike, we have just put it in the passenger door, it's got a good deep storage bit so we just use that.
Fred Fox idea ...2 x 110 amp batteries fridge power sure.
Check out POWER Bank and use for appliances even
USB powered torches just sure lighting.
Lithium batteries , in Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia , banned from installation within the van installed outside ONLY for obvious reasons.
Also a caring referral thought weight gain can play havoc with backs🙏
Totally enjoy everything about Scotland including you both especially
Happy travels 🫂🫂 🐾🐾
@@elizabethlouisedurdin4666 thanks guys, yes checking out power bank options but just a bit niffed at the moment that they sold us a van with insufficient power 👍🐾💕
Power is always and issue when using park ups with no power hook ups. We don't even have any solar on our set up. We do have a generator but find it rude to run in a park up. With new vans really no reason for then not to put in lithium. We have a 2012 so we understand, but 2023 should be there.
I bet you had fun at the tasting. Safe travels. Dave from Ohio.
@@ohioclassCcamper Hi Dave, thanks. The van is going back to the dealer in November and we will find out from them what's possible with our setup. I sure enjoyed the whisky tasting 😋
Mike I think you were in your version of heaven 😂
@@jameswarnock3125 was it that obvious? Yes I absolutely loved it, slept well that night🤣🥃
Oh Mike - I loved your tipsy little dance across the courtyard ! That tasting looked "tasty" - I didn't know Glenfiddich are now also using other liquor barrels for aging (like Glenmorangie) YUM YUM !! - which one was your favourite? I would think with Keira being black, it makes searching for ticks even harder. Loved the HaelanCoos - gentle giants 💙🦋
@@didevilliers1238 the ticks has little red bodies so they were quite easy to spot thankfully and we gave her some tick treatment a few days later, that's in our next vlog. The XX one was my favourite but they were all really good. Aye the heilan' coos look a bit scary but they are just big softies 👍💕🐾
Terrific viewing.. R
@@RichardDavis-ti8fp thanks R, appreciate that👍
Hi its old George. Even if you increase battery capacity. Your solar is no good in winter cloudy days etc. You will have to drive. So as well as better or additional batteries. You will need to upgrade your engine alternator to a higher capacity "more amps" This may require twin alternator belts. Less hours engine running. We have no experience ourselves. But from an engineers viewpoint. George. Ps we use campsites as we have a campervan no toilet etc. Ps ps. You may be able to have a second alternator fitted just for leisure battery as on some boats.
@@MakeDoAndMend1 Hi George, thanks, it may be that we have to go to a campsite periodically to charge up the batteries, a combination of that side driving and a weeeee bit of sum might be the answer👍💕🐾
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot Forgot to mention. If you change technology of batteries you may need to change settings on solar charger controller and your battery to battery charger BTB or upgrade that as well. George
@@MakeDoAndMend1 thanks George, the van is going back to the dealer in November for it's habitation check so we will be talking through the options with them👍
Those little flea and tick collars do a good job.pick a good one not the cheapest
@@geecee8864 thanks, we gave her some tick treatment a few days later, we show that on our next video on Friday 👍💕🐾
Yes charged my leisure battery for a lithuim 100 amp hour and also a 100 amp hour for a spare one that run my fridges and i charge the with 200 watt solar panel plenty of power in my little mazda bongo.
@@DouglasNewson sounds good, The van is going back to the dealer in November and we will find out from them what's possible with our setup.
Hi I recall asking you in one of your earlier videos if you had two leisure batteries because I got my 144 in July and it has 2 batteries as standard.I have looked at getting lithium but at nearly £2k investment I decided to wait and see how the 2 std batteries fared. So far it’s been fine and not any problems but we’ll be using in December on a 10 day Scotland trip. Winter usage will be the real test and that will determine if the 2 standard batteries will be enough or if lithium upgrade is required. We usually have 3 days of grid and then a day at a campsite. It’s usually the toilet waste and lack of freshwater that’s been the limiting factors so far not the batteries.
@@2009kronos thanks that's useful feedback, I think that there is a lot more rewiring etc to convert to lithium but we will be looking into it more and will cover our findings in a future video. Thanks again 👍💕🐾
Hi guys,
We got our 184 a couple of months before you got your 144 but can't bring myself to dump a good battery just yet. I'm also a bit worried about then having a lithium habitation battery and lead vehicle battery as the charging requirements are different. So not sure how that works with the split charging system that is set up for one or the other? I'll be interested in hearing what Brownhills say.
I'm currently approaching this from the other direction. I've just bought a Victron smart solar controller to swap with the factory fit one. That is supposedly more efficient, and then i might look at adding another solar panel or replacing the existing one with a larger 200w or 300w panel of it will fit.
Incidentally, we've just had our first hab check and all is well. You get an impressive report.
Good luck.
@@mike142sl Hi Mike, from reading some of the other comments, we will need to get a b2b charger for the lithium leisure battery and I think that manages the power draw from the alternator. The easier and cheaper option may be to just get a second lead acid battery. Or even just get an Ecoflow or similar and use that to charge the van, that option is also in some other comments. Yes it will be good to get Brownhills opinion.
Definitely go for lithium it's a game changer. I swapped out my old lead acid one at the beginning of the year for a Eco Worthy 100ah LifePO4. I did need to change my split charge relay for a Victron B2B charger though so take that into account. I already have a 100w solar panel with Victron charge controller which was LifePO4 compatible. My EHU battery charger is compatible but won't fully charge the battery to full which I'm not worried about because my solar panel and B2B charger will. Not sure you got your facts right with lithium being four times as much power for the equivalent lead acid as they are in fact twice as powerful
@@adamsquibb2316 thanks that's really helpful, the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Hi both lithium is the way to go , I have a 200 AH (£700) in my SWB transit, which seems over kill really for my size van ,but I run a larger fridge and lights no issue and probably a future inverter . Thing is with lead you can only go down to 50% of the battery capacity but lithium it’s about 20% . Only thing is your DC to DC charging system for lithium may have to be updated possibly (£ 200+) . Also your mains charger , I have a Victron 25Amp mains charger (£165) with blue tooth so it gives me an idea how well the battery is charging. Vanolagy and gadget John (see his latest video) are installing these fogstar batteries more power smaller footprint it all comes down to money really because then you may want to think of more solar too ,and on it goes 😂😂 thank you for the great vlogs ,well done both and good luck👍👍👍🏴🏴🇬🇧🇨🇦🦢
@@welshieonwheels hi Micky, that's really useful, will have a look at what Gadget John is up to. Our van is in at the dealers for it's habitation check in November so we will be speaking to them about what would need to be done 👍💕🐾
I've not had a problem with running out of power even tho' I've been off grid for a week. My solar panel seemed to be enough even in dull weather. Think your fridge is quite big so lithium is probably the way to go. My Dad was a great whisky lover and looks like you are too and had a grand time sampling 😅
@@janeconnors1807 thanks Jane, yes it's very likely that we will go down the lithium route, we hadn't budgeted for it, but I suppose things are sprung on us sometimes and we just need to deal with them when we can👍💕🐾
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot it's a bit surprising that your van manufacturer was so behind the loop regarding lithium batteries. It's also interesting that the latest model has 2 batteries which would indicate that they knew the van they sold you was under powered. I'd be writing a letter to management and putting in a claim. Because of their error you are going to be out of pocket. Good luck
@@janeconnors1807 I think a lot of van manufacturers install the bate minimum and they certainly did with us. Adding a second lead acid battery still wouldn't be sufficient for what we need so we will be going down the lithium route.
Just a general query did you look at my map suggestion "Sygic" for the extra width or lorries and campervans. I will watch this space for your power solutions I have a 2 battery 122 carrera [2004] Thanks for your vids always joy from scotland !!
@@leather10uk Thanks, I had a look at Sygic and it looks good but parked it for now and will look again before he have another big trip which will probably be q4 next year. We will definitely need to do something on the power front👍💕🐾
I'm sure you've considered extra battery, even lithium, power bank and portable solar panels.
I'm part of a MHome forum, Motorhome Fun, where I'm sure you'll get lots of advice but it may not be for you.
Sorry to trouble you again. Cheers Tim
Now there is one happy happy man! And sweet wife! And curious pup. But what did you buy?!
@@debh4190 Thanks, I resisted buying a bottle, very expensive in the distillery shop👍💕🐾
Lithium is not just a straight swap. You need to make sure your mains charger is compatible or buy a new one. Also, the normal split charge won't work so you'll need a b2b charger also.
@@markjamieson7901 thanks Mark, that's really helpful, the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Guys, the price of lithium batteries has plummeted this last year from around £1 per watt to around 60p per watt. So a 2kw battery used to cost £2000 is now at £600. You can also use the full depth of charge from 100% to 0% where as a led acid can only drop to 50%.
@@kinross24 thanks that's really helpful, we noticed that lithium power banks like Ecoflow etc have also dropped a lot in price. We will definitely be looking into it.
I am not sure but if it’s a Sargent system they only charge to 13.7 volts and lithium needs more to top them up but check for yourself
@@shaunmarston7168 yes I think it is Sargent but the existing Power Supply Unit and MPPU both can work with lithium ( i have been reading the manuals) so I think we will need a b2b and lithium battery and hopefully that will be most of 🤞
As I’m sure you are aware, it’s all about amp hours. Your fridge probably uses about 5 amps every hour but is probably only on for about 12 hours a day so that 72ah a day plus all your other items like likes and USB charging. You can only use about 50% of the lead acid capacity before you degrade the battery, so if you have one 100ah lead acid battery you’ll get less than a day of power without any driving or solar input. With lithium ion you can use nearly all the battery capacity.. Estimate your daily amp hour usage multiplied by how many days you want to stay off grid. Assuming you do most of your camping in Scotland with little daily driving you won’t get much top up. Let’s say you want on average to stay off grid for four days before plugging in or doing a long drive and you use about 90 ah per 24 hours you’ll need about 320 ah battery round it up a bit to say 400 ah of lithium as you should run them completely flat.
@@richardayres2949 thanks Richard that's really helpful 👍. We have one 80ah lead acid battery and it's totally inadequate. We will need to find out if our setup can easily switch to lithium or if it's a lot of cost then a power bank may be the way to go👍💕🐾
Hi there - your power problem is a common issue and there's lots of advice on the web. Firstly, a day and half of use with little or no solar is not unusual. Your compressor fridge will use about 25amps a day and a 80ah battery in real life is only good for 40ah (i.e. 50% discharge for AGM). Add in TV, device recharging, water pump, no solar etc you begin to see the issue. Plus SWIFT (like many other manufacturers) only fit the bare minimum by way of batteries, chargers, solar etc. Things to consider are: adding a second battery (doubling your capacity, though ideally the batteries should be the same age and type), checking your solar controller is mppt rather than the less efficient pwm, doubling your solar (though in winter this will have minimal effect not helped if SWIFT have fitted a less efficient flexible panel), adding a DC to DC secondary charger/booster - scandalously swift didn't fit these to their vans despite it being essential for any van with a EU6/smart alternator. Lithium is the usual solution (at a cost) but you need to be sure you have the necessary charging infrastructure, i.e. solar controller and charger profiles for lithium. I think SWIFT fit sargent chargers which can be a mixed bag. Without the correct charging the cost of fitting lithium can quickly escalate, though there are many who simply drop in lithium without any changes with mixed results. Finally, good luck with your dealer as in my experience many either don't want to touch the electrical side or don't have the expertise. Better going with a specialist of which there are many. Good luck.
@@tonyjohnson7094 Hi Tony, that's very helpful, thanks. We will be speaking to the dealer just to see what they say but unlikely we would get them to do the work. From what I gather from reading the manuals, the MPPT is OK for Lithium and the PSU (Power Supply Unit) is configured to work with standard lead acid leisure batteries, and AGM and Lithium batteries. We will need a b2b fitted. I'm a bit confused about the difference between Lithium and LiFePO4 batteries and if they are basically the same but a specialised company would advise us of the best option for us. A 230ah EcoTree for under seat is coming in at £950 so i am hoping that a budget of £2k might cover it.
don't know your set-up, but before you do anything, first confirm that your battery charging system will support Lithium (as a very recent van I assume that it does). If it doesn't you will then probably need to bypass your stock van charging system and install a special Battery-to-battery charger that supports Lithium.
I have a 2020 van were the standard battery charger does not support Lithium, so that's why I (think) I know what I need to do when I go to Lithium, when my stock batteries die. My stock ones are actually AGM Batteries ( improvement over basic lead) and I actually assume your battery is also AGM and not basic lead!
Hope this helps and doesn't further confuse!
@@brianmcclure8012 thanks, yes it does help, I think that our van will support lithium but we will be asking the dealer when we get the habitation check and we can then consider things further, thanks again mate👍💕🐾
I changed to lithium and it's so much better. You will not regret It and most lithium batteries have a 10 year guarantee.
@@lorigill-hj2ni Thanks, the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
Sorry to ask but don’t you have gas to run the fridge
@@carolburton5983unfortunately no, the fridge will run off electric hookup or leisure battery but not the gas
We have a SuperB battyri 150 ah its great. Love you, greet
Really interested in you battery issues , I have similar van, but we have two 95Ah batteries under the driver seat, we also have that Fridge. I am a bit surprised that your battery only lasted 2 nights, do you know what the battery voltage was when the Fridge pinged. Is it possible that the door was open as that will cause the Fridge to ping. You do have a simple option to add a second battery under the seat.
@@patchthefish it's just an 80ah battery and a day and a half is really all we are getting. the van is going into the dealer for it's habitation check in November and we will find out what's possible with our setup 👍🐾💕
@@MikeandTriciaOotnAboot My Solar panel has a accurate voltage readout which helps me estimate how much is in the battery, my concern is the Diesel Heater which is also using electric power, a bit like you I don’t have confidence in winter to go off grid.
@@patchthefish I guess the electric will be running the fan for your diesel heater. We will not be doing much off grid this winter unless we solve our problem but we hadn't budgeted for this so it may have to wait.
Hari OM
Ahhh, well... I'm sitting on 64kW of power, but if not in an EV, then converting to lithium leisure batteries seems like a worthwhile move. Beats me why more distilleries don't cater for folk to park up overnight when they've been imbibing the product! Poor Keira getting tic'd... I hope you check yourselves regularly, too. Lymd Disease is no park picnic.... jus' sayin'... YAM xx
@@yaminthegrey thanks YAM, yes checked myself all over for ticks, it's why I will not wear shorts on walks like that 👍💕🐾
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
@@JanelleVocate-Ames YO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
👍👍🥃
@@Garyandfiona Cheers! 🥃🍻
It’s a wonder the Lithium battery manufacturers haven’t given you one to review I watch some Narrowboat TH-cam channels with less subscribers than you that have reviewed lithium batteries We have 5 lead acid leisure batteries on our boat I’m thinking next time they need changing I’ll look at lithium as they are getting more cost effective
@@davidpearson243 hi David, we have been asked to review some lithium power stations like Ecoflow but we don't do sponsored videos, we want to keep this as our channel and not for advertising products.