My 1979 LHD WESTY US Import

I got all the stuff needed as a package deal. i made the bracket out of a bit of ali strip i had and drilled a few holes, the only faff is making it look neat. which i think I have managed.

 

Very nice job. This is probably on next year's winter list for the tour of europe - not sure it would be of any benefit for this year's trek around Ireland though.

How's the steering holding up?

 

The steering is amazing

 

This was definitely a WANT rather than a NEED but we did a lot of events last year with PopTopKitchen and we realised that the leisure battery was 1. on its way out 2. going flat from the kids using TV and charging phones etc.

 

Only just seen this pkrboo. Nice job!
A masking tape x with the pencil dot in the middle makes drilling less stressful
On the subject of holes, bigger body/chassis holes are a doddle if you make a guide by drilling the hole through 18mm ply first, then run the hole saw/drill down through this 'template'. You can do it with your eyes closed then....go on I dare you.

 

I only need a few small holes as I am using these boaty bulkhead thingys.



The two 4mm wires will go through these and they will be under the poptop and also tiger sealed and also screwed on. (Belt and braces and all that!!)

 

Now you're just rubbing it in

 

Yep

 

Looking good. I may not have read this but what are the panels rated at?

 

50 watts each so 100 watt total when joined together (as obvious as that sounds)

 

ooh check you out. you've trumped my grommets

 

gotcha! does that equate to a potential (possible) 8 amps charge or am I missing some maths!

 

I was once like you - A split charge relay and a second car battery "just in case". Never needed it. Our camping electrics consisted of the rear interior light (on the main battery).

 

Ish.

I think you need to divide the 100w by the maximum power voltage (Vmp), not just 12v.

 

knew there would be some fiddle factor as 8 amps is high! @theBusmonkey will know.

 

I would estimate half that.

Still not bad though! It's what you get from a basic CTEK charger!

 

Then half it again because we're not on the equator.

 

Speak for yourself.

I'm in sunny Kent

 

It gets horrendously complicated (for a fool like me anyway) to accurately compute output. Manufacturers express output based on 'test' conditions. What are they?
Usually based on 25'c for a reason & that's because ambient temps also affect PV arrays. Start factoring in TkVoc & it can make quite a difference. However, these are on a bus not a house & who really cares anyway. All we want to do is give the battery a 'free' boost.
Experience suggests 100w will give 5 to 6 amps regularly, under optimum conditions.
The problem here in the UK is that those amps may only appear on the charge controller output screen for a few minutes an hour! The average is likely to be much closer to 2 to 4 amps continuous during summer season for 4 to 6 hours.

Unless, "if sea levels should rise, And Sheffield's on the coast line"

I'm sure pkrboo will delight us all with some serious calcs following this summers outings.