Best way to power a Four Wheel Camper?

[jigandren]

Hi Guys, first post so excuse the ignorance!

We are shortly to buy a 2006 Defender 110 Pickup with FWC Eagle camper. It currently has one leisure battery in the camper & no way to charge it (excluding pitching up at a powered campsite which defeats the purpose IMO!).

Power requirements are minimal: internal/external camper lighting/fittings, charging personal electronics. I'm pretty sure the fridge runs on propane. What power setups would you guys recommend?

I used to have a Hilux with an electric fridge, various lights etc. I set it up with a DC to DC from the crank battery & had solar panels as backup (which we never needed as we were driving most days). Given that we now have a propane fridge (which seemed to be the main power draw) I'm weighing up the pros & cons of a solar only setup:

Pros
1) Likely simpler (not having to run wiring from front to back, prev solar units I've seen also have inbuilt regulators & just needed plugging in to the leisure bat)
2) Will continue to charge even when FWC is detached from truck (vs just using a DC to DC)
3) Cheaper than a dual setup (gonna be so broke after buying the truck/camper so aiming to keep costs LOW)


Cons
1) Enough juice? Trips will be in Europe so variable sunshine.
2) Hard to mount on a FWC (I've read here the flexible ones are less durable & its better to mount a proper unit properly)



Thanks in advance! Read so much of this forum already and you seem like a great bunch!
James

 

[craig333]

Definitely go with solar. Mounting is relatively simple. While I can charge from the truck I never need to.

 

[knoxswift]

2x solar. Works very well. I am a bit of a power hog so I went with a dual battery and solar and even on 3+ week trips never ran out of power.

 

[outdoornate65]

Welcome.

Agree with above. Solar and decent house bank of batteries.

Really nice set-up you guys are getting into.

 

[billiebob]

That is a massive flat roof. How hard can it be to mount a solar panel? You only need to be inventive routing the cable.

But you really only need solar if you drop the camper. If you still travel most days, why not just charge off the truck thru a battery isolator?

and a gorgeous unit.

 

[tacollie]

Call FWC. The camper may be wired for solar already. If it is go solar!

I did the single cab!

 

[Lovetheworld]

So you are not going to run the fridge on your batteries right? (because it is a propane one)
Then all you have is some lights and charging phones etc?
Do you camp for long times or is it every day or every few days driving?

Because if you're not camping for weeks and use very little power, then DC-DC charing could be more practical. Or solar only will also be fine and just get a 50W panel or something.

Another alternative: Throw out both batteries, and put in an Optima YellowTop (cranking and leasure in one battery). This will just get charged by the engine, and will have enough energy for your small users like lights and charging phones and perhaps a water pump.
Just relay the wires from leasure battery directly to Optima battery.

We finished a trip last year with only one Optima YellowTop. This made it the most simple and also the lightest option.

 

[jigandren]

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. We will be driving at least every couple of days so should have no problem charging from the engine.

Looking around online most basic solar setups & dc to dc systems cost about £300 to £350 so the decision will probably come down to which is easier to set up. If its already set up for solar (thanks tacollie) then that probably makes the most sense.

With an isolator switch/optima yellowtop is there not a risk of running the crank battery dead if you forget to flip the switch/you don't keep an eye on your power usage?