Charging from another battery ?

[Adam H]

So I've got a camper with a Clayton power unit with 100ah battery ( think its the 2500 model ) , 160w solor, two fridges and load of LED lights. For the most part it works perfectly and for a few days its spot on, however the longer you are away, especially if there is a cloudy or rainy day it struggles to get back up to 100% before evening sets in and by morning your pushing the 20% mark. So normally on the 3rd day I have to really budget the lights we have on and turn off the console fridge between the seats ( its a compressor one, alpicool ). It's probably about right i guess that the more days it goes, the more likely you need to either drive to charge it, or put it on hook up for a while to get back to full power.

Obviously with Clayton having an expansion battery now, its expensive but also fairly big and with already limited space its not an option.

Soooooo, I've got a second van we now plan on taking on most camping trips at at the same time, If I was to put a 300ah lithium battery in it, with inverter. With this van it has minimal stuff to power, maybe the odd water pump or airfryer but for the most part the camper is doing the hard work. Would it be ok to then plug the 240v hook up lead into a socket in the second van, powered by the 300ah lithium to then give the clayton a quick hour or so top up every now and then ?

In my head i can't see why it wouldnt work, but at the same time im not an auto sparky so could be leading myself up the wrong path lol.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Have I understood this correctly? You are taking 2 vans camping, one with the Clayton and another with a beast of a lithium that you want to use to top up the Clayton, is that right?
It’ll work in theory, but you are still only using stored power, you aren’t inputting any power into the system. All it means is that you will have longer between having to recharge both batteries, and when you do, it will be a bigger task. Also you’re on diminishing returns, every time you move power from one place to another, there’s waste due to efficiency. So running the inverter from the lithium-running the Clayton charger-using the Clayton all involve losses in the system. So yes it will work….for a time. 300Ah is a huge amount of Lithium to buy & house. I’d have less battery and more solar.

 

[Drive Wayne]

Without a doubt, more solar required! I have 270watts on the roof keeping a 230Ah LB happy in the van, and a 220watt suitcase panel keeping a 90Ah Bluetti happy in the awning. Nearly 500 watts of solar and I wouldn't (but the wife would) say no to more! I'm very jealous of you @Adam H having a second van to carry extra lithium and a collection of extra solar, but that doubles the cost of your excursions... very diminished returns.

 

[Dellmassive]

Um

 

[Adam H]

Have I understood this correctly? You are taking 2 vans camping, one with the Clayton and another with a beast of a lithium that you want to use to top up the Clayton, is that right?
It’ll work in theory, but you are still only using stored power, you aren’t inputting any power into the system. All it means is that you will have longer between having to recharge both batteries, and when you do, it will be a bigger task. Also you’re on diminishing returns, every time you move power from one place to another, there’s waste due to efficiency. So running the inverter from the lithium-running the Clayton charger-using the Clayton all involve losses in the system. So yes it will work….for a time. 300Ah is a huge amount of Lithium to buy & house. I’d have less battery and more solar.

Yeah kind of, so the second van with the 300ah lifepo would basically just be a storage/backup battery as it won't be using much power its self, and wouldnt have solar etc, would just be charged while driving and on hook up once we were home.

So would only be used if needed on cloudy days ( low UV days ) when we've been away for more than a few days and the clayton looks like it needs a boost, instead of running the engine for a bit etc.

Most of the time the clayton is fine if its reasonable UV, it can go from 20% to 100% by around 1pm on good days, but like this weekend where there was little direct sun, it can struggle to get back to 100%.

When my current solar panel gives up the goast ill likely go with a 300w which should help but thinking since i want to replace the battery in the second van anyway, may as well put a £500 one in it and treat it like a backup power source.

I'm assuming by @Dellmassive response that might not work lol

 

[Salty Spuds]

Yeah kind of, so the second van with the 300ah lifepo would basically just be a storage/backup battery as it won't be using much power its self, and wouldnt have solar etc, would just be charged while driving and on hook up once we were home.

So would only be used if needed on cloudy days ( low UV days ) when we've been away for more than a few days and the clayton looks like it needs a boost, instead of running the engine for a bit etc.

Most of the time the clayton is fine if its reasonable UV, it can go from 20% to 100% by around 1pm on good days, but like this weekend where there was little direct sun, it can struggle to get back to 100%.

When my current solar panel gives up the goast ill likely go with a 300w which should help but thinking since i want to replace the battery in the second van anyway, may as well put a £500 one in it and treat it like a backup power source.

I'm assuming by @Dellmassive response that might not work lol

can't you shoehorn another 100Ah battery into the "Clayton Van" and have a hybrid system? Use the LB for all the 12V stuff & use the clayton when you need 240V. It all seems a bit clunky and shows the weaknesses in the All in One power bank systems, they aren't scalable except at great expense (although probably cheaper than a 300Ah Lithium) and once you outgrow them, you're stuck.
PS Air fryer and minimal stuff to power, rarely appear in the same sentence Running a power hungry device like an airfryer is going to need some serious infrastructure.

 

[Adam H]

Yeah I had thought about an addon battery, but again its then taking up more space which we havent got.

haha, yeah I realise that. We don't use it often ( infact not used it this year ) but would be nice to keep in the van for the odd occation we want it. Its one of these low powered ones, they are excellent and do some chips in 10 - 15 mins, which the clayton manages fine using very little power when we've tested it before.

https://groceries.asda.com/product/cookers-grills-steamers/george-home-black-compact-air-fryer/1000149710292

 

[Drive Wayne]

A bucket of chips in our airfryer costs about 12Ah.
Smallish Russell Obbs model.

 

[DXX]

It would be cheaper to get a takeaway delivered……..by limousine.