What have done towards your prep?

[Straight Shooter]

The new inverter and charge controller arrived this morning .....I have ordered another 100w panel which will arrive this coming Sunday.....I have a leisure battery... deep cycle ....I bought last year......I will try that folder panel out over the weekend (the one half has been damaged but looks as if it still works...cracked panel ) ....BTW that's a great idea MB ! " Here's the progress " would work well for all .....crack on Pete !

[Pete Grey]

(4 January 2019, 18:55)Mortblanc Wrote: Hey Pete Grey!!!

Why don't you cut and paste all these snippets of life with the camper van into one large "here's the progress" thread in the vehicles section.

I can not keep up with your step by step progress and it seems to be moving right along.

You are always doing something new and different to the rig and it might make a good thread when all combined even if it is only a one post process from day to day.

Hi MB, i can’t take much credit for the camper as it is a professional conversion of a peugeot van.

It came complete with bed, gas fridge, gas heater, gas stove, shower and chemical toilet, so the hard work was already done.

For security i had it fitted with a top range alarm, locking wheel nuts, extra rear door locks and a battery isolating switch.

What i have done is tried to plan my preps, the vehicle is used for holidays and as such is always loaded with good BO basics, two to three weeks food, full water tank (not in winter), water filter, bedding an clothing appropriate to the season. So i have always have a good start.

The van is always parked with a full tank of fuel.

I’ve made thermal screens for all windows and have a good jack and tool kit onboard and some spares.

If i think things are deteriorating to a stage where we would not be safe and have to bug out most of our preps are in crates ready to load up.

Crates are canned food, dried foods, extra clothing, tools (axe, spade, bowsaw, tarps, rope, claw hammer, nails etc), two water jerrycans, fuel can, extra kitchen equipment, leasure battery, small inverter and now the folding solar panel.

That’s all i can think of at the moment.

[Pete Grey]

By the way fridge is 3 way gas/mains/12volt, but it’s wired so 12v can only be used with engine running to save it draining the battery, but on mains or gas it will keep stuff frozen.

The 12 volt thermostat-electric cold boxes you can get will at best drop the temp 15 - 18 degrees below ambient, these are also power hungry, small ones take more than 50 watts, i haven’t checked any other 12 v cooking devices.

[Straight Shooter]

The 100w solar panel just turned up (less than 24 hours of ordering it and a day early) ! …...I have dug out that folder panel (Topray Solar) …..looked it up on the net ….looks like its 13 volt job …..laptop ? when I opened it a blue light lit up so something is working ….there is a lead that wraps around some plastic discs to fold nice an neat into a channel pocket and there are two fold out plastic legs that hinge out...as a stand …….will try it out tomorrow I have a spare controller …..if it works ….happy days .

[Mortblanc]

(5 January 2019, 16:40)Pete Grey Wrote: By the way fridge is 3 way gas/mains/12volt, but it’s wired so 12v can only be used with engine running to save it draining the battery, but on mains or gas it will keep stuff frozen.

The 12 volt thermostat-electric cold boxes you can get will at best drop the temp 15 - 18 degrees below ambient, these are also power hungry, small ones take more than 50 watts, i haven’t checked any other 12 v cooking devices.

I was watching a review of cooling systems last night and realized much the same thing. They were testing a group of various cooling devices at 30 C and the standard 12v units only lowered the temp about 10-15 C degrees below ambient temp and pulled 50-60 amp hours current.

Not enough cold and way too much current draw. So those devices are just a good way to ruin food and drain your battery at the same time!

There is now a class of 12v fridge/freezer that will operate satisfactorily but the price range starts at $700 US or around 600 pounds UK. Those will freeze ice at 35c ambient in 30 minutes and draw only .5 amps/hr. They were running the thing in full sunlight on a little 20w panel and gaining battery power.

Strangely, a $20 Coleman ice chest started the 24 hour test with its contents at 2 degrees C and ended it with its contents at 4 C. That is well within the safe preservation zone and for the first 24 hours and out preformed the standard 12v chillers in the test.

I have car camped using ice chests for my entire life and have learned to plan my trips around the food cycle, either eating the fresh foods and quick to spoil delicacies while they are still good and moving on to foods that do not require cooling, or going out for ice daily.

Of course in a survival situation ice would be unknown and the person that had a way to make it would rule the world. No one likes hot beer! But folks lived without cooling capabilities until the mid-20th century before we suddenly realized a fridge was a survival necessity!

my present situation is such that any foods or liquids I place on the back porch will be a frozen mass in short order so cooling things is not a present priority.

[Mortblanc]

SS is that crack in the solar panel going to lead to eventual shut down or is it just a crack in a benign place that a little 2 part epoxy will cure?

[Straight Shooter]

It's had a fair hit MB …..looks like a laminate glass though ...I can make out some film plus its holding together sure enough , I doubt I could put real trust in it , but I will test in the morning to see what it generates , it cost nothing but I cannot use false hope either …..I have plenty of epoxy …..but this is way past that mate ….maybe I should have said Looks like a smash …..I really will have to learn how to post pics on here !.

[Pete Grey]

(5 January 2019, 18:42)Mortblanc Wrote:

(5 January 2019, 16:40)Pete Grey Wrote: By the way fridge is 3 way gas/mains/12volt, but it’s wired so 12v can only be used with engine running to save it draining the battery, but on mains or gas it will keep stuff frozen.

The 12 volt thermostat-electric cold boxes you can get will at best drop the temp 15 - 18 degrees below ambient, these are also power hungry, small ones take more than 50 watts, i haven’t checked any other 12 v cooking devices.

I was watching a review of cooling systems last night and realized much the same thing. They were testing a group of various cooling devices at 30 C and the standard 12v units only lowered the temp about 10-15 C degrees below ambient temp and pulled 50-60 amp hours current.

Not enough cold and way too much current draw. So those devices are just a good way to ruin food and drain your battery at the same time!

There is now a class of 12v fridge/freezer that will operate satisfactorily but the price range starts at $700 US or around 600 pounds UK. Those will freeze ice at 35c ambient in 30 minutes and draw only .5 amps/hr. They were running the thing in full sunlight on a little 20w panel and gaining battery power.

Strangely, a $20 Coleman ice chest started the 24 hour test with its contents at 2 degrees C and ended it with its contents at 4 C. That is well within the safe preservation zone and for the first 24 hours and out preformed the standard 12v chillers in the test.

I have car camped using ice chests for my entire life and have learned to plan my trips around the food cycle, either eating the fresh foods and quick to spoil delicacies while they are still good and moving on to foods that do not require cooling, or going out for ice daily.

Of course in a survival situation ice would be unknown and the person that had a way to make it would rule the world. No one likes hot beer! But folks lived without cooling capabilities until the mid-20th century before we suddenly realized a fridge was a survival necessity!

my present situation is such that any foods or liquids I place on the back porch will be a frozen mass in short order so cooling things is not a present priority.

I know this is off point but.......

For cooling foods down to keep them fresh there is always evaporative cooling, could be as simple as a lidded container inside a porous terracotta pot with water inside.

Like when we kept beer cool by wrapping it in a wet towel. Youtube have videos of a 5 gallon bucket swamp cooler, using a 12volt fan. Endless possibilities for experimenting.

When needs must we can always improvise .

[Skean Dhude]

MB,

Where was that review you watched? I'd be interested in watching it myself. I'm interested in a decent 12v fridge that would run off a solar panel.

SD

(5 January 2019, 18:42)Mortblanc Wrote: I was watching a review of cooling systems last night and realized much the same thing. They were testing a group of various cooling devices at 30 C and the standard 12v units only lowered the temp about 10-15 C degrees below ambient temp and pulled 50-60 amp hours current.

Not enough cold and way too much current draw. So those devices are just a good way to ruin food and drain your battery at the same time!

There is now a class of 12v fridge/freezer that will operate satisfactorily but the price range starts at $700 US or around 600 pounds UK. Those will freeze ice at 35c ambient in 30 minutes and draw only .5 amps/hr. They were running the thing in full sunlight on a little 20w panel and gaining battery power.

[Straight Shooter]

What about the fridge/freezers they use in caravans ….the three way ones ….12 volt ..lpg….and 240 volt mains ?