Bongo Fury

I would back up what DaveAber says - went camping last weekend and my leisure battery isnt in the best state of health (Yes I know I should change it ), On saturday afternoon, the red light came on my PMS unit, and I left the van tick over for 20 mins or so. This was enough to keep the battery indicator in the green until sunday afternoon. Not scientific, but the answer is, it will work OK. Also, do it sooner rather than later, so you keep the battery topped up, rather than trying to revive a very flat battery.

Thanks again everyone for the extra info,
A bit of conflicting info, but good all the same.
I will go with the quote from missfixit70 'how longs a piece of string'
I am going to have a few test runs on how fast I can load the fridge with warm beers and how quickly I can unload chilled beers into the coolbox, so not letting the fridge door stay open for long
Suitcase generator has always been in the back of my mind, but a big expense considering some campsites don't allow them or for only certain times in the day.
I suppose this will be a good test run for me and will keep the multi meter handy, and try a bit of engine ticking over if needed.
thanks again

madmile wrote: Also, do it sooner rather than later, so you keep the battery topped up, rather than trying to revive a very flat battery.

Good advice, especially if the LB has run right down, depending on your charging system, you may end up blowing the fuses on the charging side, if in doubt, stick a jump lead from SB positive to LB positive when you start up to bypass the surge.

Iwannabongo wrote:Thanks again everyone for the extra info,
A bit of conflicting info, but good all the same.
I will go with the quote from missfixit70 'how longs a piece of string'
I am going to have a few test runs on how fast I can load the fridge with warm beers and how quickly I can unload chilled beers into the coolbox, so not letting the fridge door stay open for long
Suitcase generator has always been in the back of my mind, but a big expense considering some campsites don't allow them or for only certain times in the day.
I suppose this will be a good test run for me and will keep the multi meter handy, and try a bit of engine ticking over if needed.
thanks again

If you are on a pukka campsite can't you just get a lecky hook up, for our last Freda we had a lead with an inline RCD and 4 sockets, our present bongo had a built in RCD and sockets to which I have added a Lidl charger which should keep up with my fridge, just.

missfixit70 wrote:

madmile wrote: Also, do it sooner rather than later, so you keep the battery topped up, rather than trying to revive a very flat battery.

Good advice, especially if the LB has run right down, depending on your charging system, you may end up blowing the fuses on the charging side, if in doubt, stick a jump lead from SB positive to LB positive when you start up to bypass the surge.

Good Tip I am forever learning stuff on here. I do always carry loads of spare fuses, but I presume if it blows one of the charging fuses I wont know until its too late,
thanks again

[/quote]If you are on a pukka campsite can't you just get a lecky hook up, for our last Freda we had a lead with an inline RCD and 4 sockets, our present bongo had a built in RCD and sockets to which I have added a Lidl charger which should keep up with my fridge, just.[/quote]
I normally try and use hook up at campsites, but I am going to Silverstone grand prix for 5 days and there won't be any available. I also will not be able to drive off anywhere to give it a charge.

I had similar problems last year in glastonbury. I tried the 30 min ticking over bit but the engine was beginning to get very hot so I panicked and only did 15 mins. I had cold beer for 5 days, thats another story.... my van battery was flat on the Monday. My fault as I had the switches all wrong on the zig unit.

A quick update on the L/B performance this weekend.

Parked up on the Friday by 10a.m., after a decent drive - so both batteries well topped up and the fridge nice & cold.

I'd also stuck 4 freezer packs in the ice box bit, to help with the staying cold if the battery went flat.

The L/B finally gave up on the Sunday night around 11pm - but I was using the radio and just let it run down (I know, I shouldn't have)

Over the 3 days it managed to chill 48 cans of Stella Cidre, 18 cans of Strongbow, 18 cans of Carling and 2 cans of Red Bull. That was a lot of cold cans coming out and warmer cans going in, however it wasn't a particularly hot weekend apart from Saturday.

Worryingly, when I woke up on Monday morning the L/B was reading 5.8v. Hopefully I haven't killed it. The Willinton kit recharged it on the way home with no fuss or fuse blowing antics as might have been the case with a lesser system.

If I had got through that lot, I would be happy to even wake up on Monday And having survived the binge would care not a jot how the leisure battery was feeling.... You really must stop all that solo drinking Dave, people will start to talk

dave_aber wrote:A quick update on the L/B performance this weekend.

Parked up on the Friday by 10a.m., after a decent drive - so both batteries well topped up and the fridge nice & cold.

I'd also stuck 4 freezer packs in the ice box bit, to help with the staying cold if the battery went flat.

The L/B finally gave up on the Sunday night around 11pm - but I was using the radio and just let it run down (I know, I shouldn't have)

Over the 3 days it managed to chill 48 cans of Stella Cidre, 18 cans of Strongbow, 18 cans of Carling and 2 cans of Red Bull. That was a lot of cold cans coming out and warmer cans going in, however it wasn't a particularly hot weekend apart from Saturday.

Worryingly, when I woke up on Monday morning the L/B was reading 5.8v. Hopefully I haven't killed it. The Willinton kit recharged it on the way home with no fuss or fuse blowing antics as might have been the case with a lesser system.

I presume you were at Download again? Hope you had a good time and weather wasn't too rubbish.
It's great info for me as I will be taking similar quantity of beers to chill.
I only have a 100amp LB, so I might take another spare with me to connect up as I will be going on a Thursday morning and wan't it too last until Sunday night.
I like your idea of freezer packs in the fridge. Do these stay frozen until the LB runs out?
Did you leave fridge on continuously through the night?
thanks again

Yup, annual trip to Donington. Weather was showers on Friday, scorchio on Saturday and wet on Sunday. Not as wet or muddy as I thought it would be though. Good time was had by all.

The blue ice packs were still frozen on Monday morning - the fridge is still pretty cold inside today, and it's been switched off since Sunday night. Until then it had been switched on all the time, but as it's on a stat it won't be doing much at night onca you've stopped swapping beer in and out of it.

If I had got through that lot, I would be happy to even wake up on Monday And having survived the binge would care not a jot how the leisure battery was feeling.... You really must stop all that solo drinking Dave, people will start to talk

I know, terrible really. Next year I might take some mates (if they bring their own fridge!)

Don't forget the bag of ice cubes trick. If the battery runs out and you can't get it charged, pop into a supermarket and buy a bag of ice cubes. You'd be amazed how long they will keep the fridge cool. Seems to work better than ice packs too.