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After telling us all the bad news he sets about explaining the fixes - some simple and some a bit more expensive. This is all covered in excellent easy to understand detail in the book. We particularly liked the explanation given as to why a battery charged both by solar and the tow vehicle can get "confused" and NEVER become fully charged. The answer is glaringly obvious when you think about it. Alternators use the battery voltage as a "reference" when charging. The higher the latter the LESS charge delivered. When you have solar and an alternator simultaneously connected to the van battery, the alternator sees the solar panel voltage, thinks it's the battery and goes into trickle charge mode as the voltage coming from the solar is around 14.2 volts +. The battery of course could be almost totally flat, yet the alternator will contribute almost NOTHING towards recharging it as it "sees" 14.2 volts and goes into trickle charge mode. A sort of fix of course is to have a switch on your solar so that it turns off whilst the engine is running, but Collyn's suggestions are a bit more positive. This book absolutely excels in its total coverage of all things battery related. We would go so far as to say it is BETTER than any blurb put out by ANY manufacturer. We have been reading the diary of a motorhomer online and over the last two years he has had continual problems with batteries being flat and experiencing short life. It's a fascinating daily developing story. He has added more batteries and is now up to four solar panels yet he is STILL having problems. All he needs to do according to Collyn's book is to fit a three stage smart charger to his alternator - for a few hundred dollars, yet he has spent thousands and STILL having problems! According to Collyn's words of wisdom, had he done this when he first got the quite expensive RV ($150,000.00) possibly everything would have worked perfectly. We have more by luck than good judgment always kept our systems separated i.e. solar charges one battery set up and the car and inbuilt charger the other. We have never had a flat battery in any RV we have ever owned and get excellent life from batteries. Yet there are lots of tricks in Collyn's book we will be trying! Collyn's experience shows that batteries just loved to be worked but they will not tolerate continually being flattened. Collyn has drawn on his vast years of experience in engineering and publishing to put together a book which is simply a MUST HAVE for any caravanner or motorhomer - probably more so the males than the females being a fairly technical, but plain English book. But then again, maybe it is better for females to learn what not to do from Collyn than have a domestic with their husbands - just refer to the relevant subject, particularly the table showing which appliances draw what voltage. It just helps justify Chrissy's contention that ironing is a no go area when we are on the road, since it draws 1200 watts. Since we are constantly using our computer on the road, it was interesting to learn that our laptop only draws 20 to 30 watts as compared to a normal desktop model with 200 to 350 watts. And yes the bread maker is another stay at home item in your trusty A'van with up to 400 watts being consumed. We learnt that from 2003 some cars will begin to be produced with 42 volt alternators charging 36 volt batteries. This is because of the new hybrid cars in planning now. Collyn feels he will have to rewrite the book in 2012 as there will be all sorts of new systems. Now is that looking ahead or what! There are two ways of reading this book. If you don't want to go into the nitty gritty headache territory just skim it and you will find the answers fairly readily in easy to understand English. If you are a "Virgo" (a perfectionist), it goes right down to how molecules interact to conduct electricity. However, nothing on earth is perfect and a vital area only glossed over is TV antennas - we know how important this is to A'vanners by the amount of email we receive on this subject. There is information of a technical nature, but the section stops short of listing suggested options and more importantly brands and models/costs for best TV reception in the back blocks. Could this possibly be because Collyn doesn't rate TV to highly on his preferred list of activities when camping? We would like to see the chapter contents listed in the front and show every topic covered. At present if you know a bit about electrics you automatically know basically where to look. This isn't so for the "newbies". Collyn's explanation of why we all run into strife trying to find technicians to work on our RV's is spot on when you think about it - an auto electrician knows just about zero on solar and conserving energy when stationary and similarly a solar technician knows zilch about alternators. How true this is! If you are in a super hurry just turn to page 66 and thoroughly read "Suggested Solutions". This section really is the "guts" of the book as here Collyn gives answers to most problems with a particular emphasis on self sufficiency. No matter what manner of motorised transport
you have, caravan, campervan or motorhome, the information in this unique
publication is something you should keep handy. It could also assist sorting
out problems when they occur.
Collyn has just commissioned a new very detailed website at www.caravanandmotorhomebooks.com and it should be operational by the time you read this. The FAQ's whilst general in nature contain an extraordinary amount of information. A powerful incentive to buy this book is that the author will attempt to assist purchasers with related electrical problems that are not covered in the book. The book is A4, plastic cover, sturdily wire bound and runs to 102 glossy pages. You can buy the book directly from Collyn at PO Box 3634, Broome, WA, 3634 (there is a printable order form on the web) or on email collyn@caravanandmotorhomebooks.com - and yes you can buy with credit cards. CMCA members can order from the bookshop online. This book can DEFINITELY benefit camper and caravan owners not even thinking about moving up to motorhoming just yet, as it is virtually split 50/50 between motorhomes and caravans. We predict it will be a best seller and become the caravanner's electrical bible! Cost is $42.50 including post and packaging anywhere in Australia. Absolutely recommended. Bob Eustace with a little input from the female perspective from Chrissy. |
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