A couple of months ago I had a dead car battery (thro lack of use). I do have jump leads in the MH somewhere but couldn't find them - still can't!
I'm wondering about buying something like the NOCO Boost HD GB70 battery pack, which I think might deal with a small anxiety I have regarding batteries.
I stay off-grid a lot and sometimes the batteries (2x95 with a 130 solar panel) aren't as charged as I'd like. But that may just be because the difference between a fully-chatted battery (12.6v) and a soon-to-be-knackered one (under 12v) seems miniscule to me.
So I'm thinking this NOCO GB70 would not only be backup for a dead vehicle battery and a power source for tanking up various electronics, but I could also use it to pump up my leisure batteries if my worst fears were ever realised and I'd no power for heating, say.
Am I right in thinking it could be used for this? Are there any problems using it on a 2-battery system? Would it have to be connected to the red of one battery n the black of the other? - that might be a problem as the leads appear to be quite short.
There's also the GB50 which is cheaper and lighter... My engine is the 2.3 ducato
It will charge the batteries in small items Jean. Phones and the like.
It is not really a substitute for a leisure battery even for a very short time. What it will do is give a quick burst of power sufficient to turn you engine over even if that battery is pretty flat. They say it will power a tyre inflator, it may do but not for more than a few minutes. At a glance I don't see the capacity of the battery in it but with that info it won't be hard to work out what it can do. I'll have another look.
It has very limited storage, as the physical size indicates, but it is capable of giving a short burst of high power. It wouldn't crank a reluctant engine for very long. I can't say how long but you could ask the question.
I can't see it's storage capacity even on the data sheet. 40 jump stars is quite a claim. Maybe I'm misjudging it. It's a bit expensive to take the chance on. I'd ask some questions.
Yes. I always carried leads long enough and heavy enough to reach from the leisure batteries to the engine battery, and have used them a few times.
Not required now for that job since RV are well equipped and have a button on the dash to divert the leisure power to the engine battery. My boats all had that too. Very useful.
Don't knock it 'till you've tried it. I bought a 'jumping jack' , similar to what jean is talking about , when they first came out a few years ago . i didn't get a chance to try it on the MH as it never whet 'flat' but I did start a completely flat 2.5 litre car with it . It had been lying up for some time so the battery wouldn't even light up the dash but that little pack easily turned it over and got it started . ( The scrap man was coming to collect it ) I have also used it twice to start our Mitsibushi Grandis , the kids use this big wagon for the band gear but they have a habit of leaving the interior light on after unloading it. I am guessing that the one Jean has her eye on is even more powerful, I would guess it'll do the job, but hey, it's very expensive .
The GB50 has a 35Watt-hour battery so about 3Ah at 12 volts. The GB70 has a 56 Watt-hour battery. While it may operate as a jump starter it will be of little use as a source of power to replace your hab batteries.
Thanks for the input folks. The reviews I'd read of the GB70 seemed to confirm what you say Alan (Gretchibald) but if it wouldn't be of much use to tank up low leisure batteries (I wasn't intending to use it AS a leisure battery) then it just becomes rather expensive jump leads!
You know, all this modern stuff is ok but a little 1k Honda generator is still hard to beat . Very quiet , once it's been running a while you would hardly notice it . I know Jean likes to stay in Park4nite places and it would be perfectly acceptable in most of those.
We can also get into the mechanics of transfer of amps here. Using a pair of jump leads will enable one to start a car with a fairly dead battery. I say usually as often getting a good solid connection from all four crock clips is more luck than judgement. Often just one lead not making a really good connection will limit the transfer of amps just when you need them. In this event one can often feel each clip to detect the offending one which will like as not be hotter than the others. Then making sure that warm one has a better connection might just be the difference between starting and just grinding over.
Also as and when all four clips are making a good contact, running the donor vehicles engine will transfer some amps into the 'dead' car battery and after 15 or 20 minutes can replenish the 'dead' battery with sufficient amps to enable starting again.
Ha ha , yes they used to be about £1000 , now around £800 but now and then they come up 2nd hand . Do not be tempted by the cheaper makes . Last time we used ours we were in Gavarnie and parked beside a French man . I went across to him and did my best to explain that we needed to run the genie for a bit and would he be ok with the little noise it made. He seemed to understand and he nodded his head in approval, however about ten minutes later he arrived at the door carrying his full toolbox to fix the gennie for me - so much for my French.
...and fairplay to a good Samaritan French neighbour.
I still have and use our 21 year old Kawasaki GA 550A, the first "Accessory" bought when we picked up our first motorhome, a Hymer 544 in February 1993. It travelled with us for 16 years before we had to call it a day and, I must add, never let us down. Although only 560W it would run everything in the vehicle including an Avtex TV with a satellite dish, when added, all evening.
Give me a small generator every time 100% better than any Solar Panel.
I don't think I'd ever consider a generator instead of a solar panel. No matter how little noise they make they're still a lot noisier than a solar panel! And some people are more aware of noise than others.
We have a Honda 1.0 generator, bought off the Classified section on here for around £500 about 13 years ago.
We have used it ONCE in anger, parked in total isolation beside a river with a leisure battery that was on its last legs.... two new ones fitted the following week AND two solar panels.....
It has NEVER been used since except once in the garden.......
We no longer even carry it with us so probably ought to get rid of it, but......
Back in 2011 we had 3ft. of snow dump itself over this area. Power off for 4+ days and toasting things on open fire. After I claimed on the insurance €200 for spoilt frozen food and immediately bought a €200 electric start 3.500kw generator just in case.
I have run it every year for 10 mins just to check it still works but never in anger since. Anyone want to buy a genny?
I've decided to go for something like the NOCO Boost HD GB70 or the micro start XP 10 - not just for the MH but for the car, which has a much smaller battery and is getting virtually no use.
I looked under the bonnet of the MH (actually I have to remove it completely and set it on my toes) to check if the leads of such a booster would be long enough. Couldn't see the battery at all!
Not surprising as it's under the floor in front of the driver's seat. And the booster would be attached to 2 points under (behind) the bonnet. I took a video cos I had no idea what I was looking at.
However, I'm not able to upload (or even find) a compressed video or take screenshots of the relevant bits. But I found video online, and I think the relatively short leads would reach OK. I'll try again tomorrow, weather permitting - now that I know what I'm looking for!
The previous owner of my old Hobby Jean had fitted a C-Tec charger under the passenger seat that immediately charged the chassis battery when EHU was plugged in. It worked for him and me.
For most of last year we hardly used our 'main' car the Tiguan and and I have a small C-Tec type charger topping up it's battery all the time. Lidl often sell similar at about £15 fit and forget.
I discovered that, although I'd asked for an MPPT solar charger and, I think, a B2B charger when I bought this MH (as I'd had installed in the TEC) I have neither. Which might explain why the system doesn't seem to do as well as the old one.
I'm assuming that with an ordinary sar charger (Schaudt LR1218) and no B2B then performance will be reduced? Why else would I have changed the solar charger and installed the B2B in the TEC?
The dealer says an MPPT wouldn't make much difference ATM, more so on longer brighter days but my understanding was that it amplified whatever was generated and therefore would be more useful when the basic production of solar energy was low anyway.
I'd welcome comments.
But how does the C-TEC in the car get charged itself Ray?
I also have a C- Tec charger semi permanently wired in . One end has two crocodile clips that are clipped on to some fibreglass mouldings near the battery , the other end has a 13amp plug fitted . The idea being that if it didn't start on a site that i would just, connect the croc clips, plug it in and wait a while . Don't think it was a great idea and I've I've never needed it , keep meaning to take it out and use it for something else ,like the scooter.
I checked the distance between the auxiliary points for jump starting under the bonnet. It might be too much of a stretch for the battery jump starters I'm looking at. Is there any reason why I couldn't just jump start the battery directly? It lives under the floor in front of the driver's seat.
That's probably a really dumb question but, as regards MH electrics.... I'm really dumb!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Motorhome Facts Forum
1.6M posts
111.8K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to campers and Motorhome owners and enthusiasts based in the UK. Come join the discussion about camping, RV models, gear, repairs, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!