Am I a dinosaur?

Reading motorhome forums, it seems that everyone is changing to Lithium leisure batteries. AND they have installed a roof full of solar panels a few years ago. 20A or more  chargers seem to be an absolute necessity.

We are still operating with a flooded lead acid battery, but we have fitted a small 40W solar panel under the skylight. We connect up our 5A battery charger if we think we may be having a hook up.

Lithium batteries come with a long guarantee, typically 10 years so they must last much longer than a standard lead acid battery.  I find that lead acids last 3-4 years before there capacity drops to lower than our requirements,  although they would probably last a further 2-3 years if we used EHU on a regular basis. So I am shelling out around £100 every 3-4 years. A lithium battery would cost me around £5-600 maybe every 10 - 12 years, although no one has had one for that length of time yet. 

Lithium batteries have a much higher capacity  than lead acids. A Lithium battery typically is 2-300 Ah and can be discharged by 85%. Lead acids are around 100Ah and should not be discharged more than 50%. We use around 7Ah per day but the 40W solar panel provides 50-100% of that. We don't need more capacity, or more solar power.

Our 5Ah battery charger would easily top up the battery overnight even if we had run it down to 50% somehow.

Problems with newer "more advanced" vans seem to arise from:-

• the dissimilar batteries used for the vehicle battery and the leisure battery and the ensuing charging problems. This is usually addressed by fitting a step up dc-dc converter at around £150
  
• the complex power management systems used
• the complex solar power controllers used
  
• the power taken from the battery to run the gas heating
• the power taken from the battery to run the fridge
• the reliance on inverters to run mains powered items.

Our van is spared the issues of heating and the fridge by Autosleepers choice of items. I see no reason to change them.

The original power management system is another matter. It was horrible. False modesty aside, my simple system is much better, and I suspect better than the commercial offerings.

Our little solar panel charges the similar (currently identical) vehicle and leisure battery with no controller at all in the winter,  and a very basic controller in the summer. 

We don't tend to use mains powered items. Our phones, tablets  and computer use 12v usb car adaptors

As an engineer I find the discussions quite interesting and educational. But I am not tempted to change.

So maybe I am a dinosaur, but a happy one. 

Wipers and Cracked Windscreen

 While the van was in the garage for its MOT, Ian, the mechanic, said that he had seen the same intermittent behaviour from the wipers.  I was glad. So often intermittent faults "go away" when the vehicle is in to get repaired, and come back again when it comes out.

So a new motor and washer were fitted.

I went to pick up the van at the garage but Ian explained apologetically that he had managed to crack my windscreen. It was a crack about a foot long.  He immediately said that he would pay the excess for the insurance repair.

I informed my insurance company who told me to book it in with Autoglass. Four days later, they came to the garage and replaced it.

Wipers and washers now working fine.  I have removed the fuse from the solar controller so the batteries will get a boost every time the sun shines - not often this time of the year.

Wipers and batteries

Windscreen wipers

These are driving me around the twist.  Sometimes when we are driving they won't switch on immediately.  I can be driving with very limited visibility for two or three minutes and then they start.

When I put the van in storage I spent an hour or so checking fuses, connections etc, but I could not make them start.  I assumed it was the wiper motor, which is a pig to get out. So I decided to leave it to the garage when he does the MOT. So I went to get the Van this morning:-

• The windscreen wipers started immediately - not sure if this is good news or not as the garage may not be able to find the fault. Intermittent faults are the worst.
• The washers did not work - I tracked it to a defective washer motor/pump.
• The engine would not start - this is bad news.

Starting

During the winter of 2022 I thought the van was struggling a bit to start.  I was not sure it was going to be reliable over the next winter, so in November I fitted a new starter battery.  I decided upon a Yuasa L36-EFB which is recommended for use as both a leisure battery and a starter battery.

But when I went to pick up the van today it would not start.  It seemed to turn OK but it would not fire. After trying quite a few times, I decided to try a jump start from the leisure battery (also a Yuasa L36-EFB).  It's a bitt fiddly, I had to get access to both batteries then use my heavy duty jumper cables.  It started immediately.  

So, what am I doing wrong?

• Have I bought the wrong starter battery?
• The van has been left unattended for three months, and I have been relying on the the solar panel to keep the batteries charged, (this technique has worked for years)  and the voltage was 12.9V this morning before I started. The solar panel controller allows the voltage to rise to 13.8V before it switches out. then it come in again when the battery drops to 13.1.  During the winter I usually disconnect the controller so the battery voltage can get higher during the events when the sun is shining brightly. Maybe I should have disconnected the controller earlier.
  

The Van is in for its MOT just now.  When I get it back I will store it with the controller switched off but be prepared to jump start it again.  If I have to do that, then it will be a new starter battery and I will have a spare leisure battery.  If so I will use the simple timed charger technique to keep it in good nick till I need it.

I will also tweak my controller so it cuts of at 14.4V instead of 13.8. In normal operation this is what the car alternator does. It will not be constant, only when the sun shines.  In the winter, with the fuse disconnected the battery will get a conditioning charge every time the sun is bright enough - 

Changing R2 from 120R to 270R should take the drop out voltage to 14.4 Volts and the pick up voltage to 13.7V.