Basic Electric & Internet

[geebus]

I'm not sure if I've slept in the back with enduro bikes, but have certainly slept in the back with (road) race bikes plenty of times and it's been fine.
Can understand if there's some drips on the bike after riding, but should be fairly well sealed after that?
Cases where mine have had leaks has usually been either being tipped on the side loading, or stuck float bowels (which does tend to happen quite easily with all the muck flying around.)

You will likely be limited to 10a of charge from the cigarette lighter, but there will be losses etc on top of that from the thin wires.
I would definitely look either at a split charge relay, or just a manual switch - and some chunky wires to the main vehicle battery. This should make a decent difference to the charge they are getting and of course will mean they are charging at the same time as the laptop.

Note you can often either buy or bodge a charger to charge laptop batteries out of the laptop.
I have wondered about getting a 'hobby charger' and using it charge several at once while the generator is on if need be - however, for the cost, I'd probably be better off just getting another main battery for my system, even though there's lots of losses along the way from voltage jumping around going from AC to DC to AC.

If you are charging from the generator, it's worth getting a decently chunky charger, otherwise you're just wasting fuel. For 12v you can get proper three stage chargers giving out a decent wack fairly cheaply.
Normally the generators only provide 8.3a at 12v.

 

[Firefox]

Considering the above as a lot of people are basically suggesting a solar unit is going to give me next to nothing. Based on a few calculations, I'd be better just buying an extra battery/charger and using the generator/campsite hook up.

You don't get much from a 100w solar panel. Maybe 40w for 10 hours in summer on a good day

However it is free energy and it is fit and forget. That 400w hour will easily run your LED lights and small TV/ notebook through a long evening.

It will start charging your battery as soon as the sun gets back up and it will top up your battery constantly if you are using power in the day.

You'll find your batteries will last a lot longer if you keep them topped up. The kind of leisure/marine batteries you can buy for £90 are NOT "deep cycle" despite what it says on the label! They are slightly beefed up starter batteries or in some cases just rebadged starter batteries. They don't take kindly to being cycled and left discharged. As soon as you can put some charge back, the better for your battery and solar is ideal for this. If you cycle batteries heavily they'll last two years or less, whereas take good care of them, and they'll last a lot longer.

With the low price of solar panels now, they are a must have.

 

[gaz2676]

You don't say where you are but the fix it meet here in Ilfracombe next week will have loads of setups for you to look at. Think about coming.
Summertime no problem with solar, winter you will be down to milliamps most days, batteries will be damaged if you discharge lower than 50%. In general two or even three 110 amp/hour batteries and 160W of solar will suffice. In the winter you will need to run the van engine or a generator to keep topped up. A B2B charger though expencive works for most people. A 150W sinewave inverter is cheap and will run various chargers as required. A netbook has good battery life and a tablet even better.
For wifi you will need an antenna most of the time and a fon box at home for access to the system. A mifi or dongle for prepaid sims. Mifi if you have a tablet or use more than one device at a time.
You can also tether your phone if you have internet on it with unlimited data. Lots of ways around everything so come to the meet and discuss over a pint or three all aspects of your problems.

some stuff there id really like to listen in on where do we meet in the field??????... not near mine cos ang will find out the real price

 

[wildman]

200 Miles Away I'm Afraid...Sunny South Wales!

3.5 hrs to Lanelli so not that far really. lots of people coming from greater distances.

 

[wildman]

some stuff there id really like to listen in on where do we meet in the field??????... not near mine cos ang will find out the real price

There is a large marquee for meeting in and who knows you might even get a workshop tour they are always popular.


By the way I hope the musicians amongst you remember to bring your instruments. And if anyone has surplus fruit on their trees this year I'd love it or nothing to make wine/cider for next year.

 

[CGSR]

Ahh. Shame I missed it. I went to the World Motocross in Winchester and to see family and surf...in Devon as it happens! I've slept in the back, but it's certainly not a camper Realised it's actually fairly easy to get internet and a charge (I worked on the beachfront in an internet cafe until 2.30 for a couple of days), so the generator & a few batteries looks like a good bet as a backup. I already have the FON + the Moto WiFi ariel to tryout out as my internet back up.

Ok, so if a "deep cycle" isn't a deep cycle, what is a deep cycle? Is there some kind of spec I'm looking for that makes it a deep cycle?