12 Volt camping stuff. Wot ya using?

[sudso]

I havent got much myself, a 12v fluro and today I bought a Waeco Mobitherm 12v coffee maker, the one that perculates it. Haven't tried it yet but I like a good cuppa in the mornings when camping.
Has anyone else got one and whats it like?

cheers, sudso

[Irk]

I just buy normal sized 240 house fluros and put a 12 volt ballast in them , the solahart shop supplies the whole deal for $60 for the last one and he did the lot . a 600mm one makes a great interior light

[Bazza_rips]

explorer fridge and a col-lite. both expensive but will last forever!

[01Rod]

I have 3 bushman fluro's
40l engle fridge
Bluetonge compressor
300w inverter (for charging video camera batteries / laptop)
12v colour TV
12v portable DVD player
12v Battery charger (for torch / camera batteries and such)
I have also made a fan system for inside the CT during summer using 2 computerfans, very little current draw
12v shower
Rod

[orejap]

I have 3 bushman fluro's
40l engle fridge
Bluetonge compressor
300w inverter (for charging video camera batteries / laptop)
12v colour TV
12v portable DVD player
12v Battery charger (for torch / camera batteries and such)
I have also made a fan system for inside the CT during summer using 2 computerfans, very little current draw

Rod

Hey Rod, What brand of fan did you use & can you send me details on how you did it all. Sounds very clever. Regards bob

[01Rod]

Here's a link to the original article I got the ideas from
http://www.campertrailers.org/mikes_fans.htm

there are also other pics in the Yahoo group that runs alongside the campertrailer website. Just need to join group to access.. you wil find the info listed under Photo's and Files and also database
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/campertrailers/


Any computer fans are fine just depending on what you want to achive. I personally used the bigger 120mm fans, and I have mounted mine on a piece of PVC pipe that "hangs" above the bed in the Camper trailer. that way i only put them up if needed.

Hope this helps
Rod

[crusher]

I just buy normal sized 240 house fluros and put a 12 volt ballast in them , the solahart shop supplies the whole deal for $60 for the last one and he did the lot . a 600mm one makes a great interior light

great idea mate:thumb: might consider that myself.
I've got two ARB Bushman fluros 110 litre Waeco and a 150 watt inverter

[sirluxalot]

mainly 12v fluros, I normally convert the larger camp lanterns from the D cell or such to run on 12v and or use rechargeables. so i can just dc jack in the side and recharge the batteries or use as 12v. Also have a number of LED spot lights on the same system. the small head mount or torch ones are again set up to recharge from the 12v or adaptor.
Laptop via adaptor, etc. fridge from cheap n nasty Wharehouse, more like a cold esky ;) but i got it real cheap as it was the last one. peltier isnt the most effecient i have seen but ittlldoo for now.
little cheap 12v compressor
had a 12v bug zapper but gave up on that years ago.

10"DOB tracking telescope mount... when its working ;)

[rumpig]

I just buy normal sized 240 house fluros and put a 12 volt ballast in them , the solahart shop supplies the whole deal for $60 for the last one and he did the lot . a 600mm one makes a great interior lightditto what irk has said, we just use the converted 600mm lights for our camp area, gives out a great light for its size.

[Walt]

I just buy normal sized 240 house fluros and put a 12 volt ballast in them , the solahart shop supplies the whole deal for $60 for the last one and he did the lot . a 600mm one makes a great interior light

I do exaclty the same, use the electronic 12v ballast, get rid of the starter. Also try using a 865 Triphosphure tube. I only have a 18w battern(2 footer), but the 865 is the same wattage as your 860s an 850s, but a hell of alot brighter.
But apart from that, my only other 2 12v items are my 50L an 110L Waceos.

[01Rod]

I do exaclty the same, use the electronic 12v ballast, get rid of the starter. Also try using a 865 Triphosphure tube. I only have a 18w battern(2 footer), but the 865 is the same wattage as your 860s an 850s, but a hell of alot brighter.
But apart from that, my only other 2 12v items are my 50L an 110L Waceos.

Just curious....

do you know how many amps these 12 ballast's/ lights draw when running??

I have also used the 12v compact fluro's fitted into a standard light fitting, secure the base of the holder with some tape to give a little more support and its great, They pull around .60 amp when running.

http://www.campertrailers.org/tuco's_lights.htm

I know my bushmans pull about 1.20 amps when running.

Rod

[01Rod]

http://www.campertrailers.org/tuco's_lights.htm

see if link works this time

[Walt]

yeh im not sure, i know its buggar all, i would have to stick a clamp meter on one to find out the exact usage, but going via the mathematical rule, it would be about 1.5 amps, but you have to take into account losses due to the invertor etc etc...

[Irk]

Just curious....

do you know how many amps these 12 ballast's/ lights draw when running??

I have also used the 12v compact fluro's fitted into a standard light fitting, secure the base of the holder with some tape to give a little more support and its great, They pull around .60 amp when running.

http://www.campertrailers.org/tuco's_lights.htm

I know my bushmans pull about 1.20 amps when running.

Rod
I dont know how many amps they draw but last time we went fishing I used 3 of them for 5 nights , not all night just 3 or 4 hrs , on a old tractor battery I got at the scap dealer for $2 and they were still going fine on the last night. i just use the old battery so we can drive around and the camp still has light.Throw them away if you cant be bothered storing them and get a "new" one next trip. They wont start a tractor maybe but are great electrickery tanks for the camp.:D

[sudso]

Can ya convert electric blankets from 240 to 12v?:D
(I know you can get cars etc. with heated seats etc.)
Then my missus will come camping in winter again:waycool:

[Marc 1]

Can ya convert electric blankets from 240 to 12v?:D
(I know you can get cars etc. with heated seats etc.)
Then my missus will come camping in winter again:waycool:

Why convert? buy one of these...

12 Volt electric blanket $39.95 at Jaycar cat GH-1205. Strangely it doesn't come up on their website but it is listed in their latest 2007 cattledog and was on a specials flyer for Mothers Day. It's 1.5m x 1.1m
in size and apparently made from Terylene fabric.

They are rated at 80W (so look at a 7 amp draw) so if you slept 8 hours you'd chew a bit over 50Ah out of your battery:eek: . The good news is this should be less than running an inverter and 240v blanket given that you get about a 20% loss just converting 12v to 240v. Then again your 240v blanket may have a lower setting than 80W which may help.

[sirluxalot]

Can ya convert electric blankets from 240 to 12v?:D
(I know you can get cars etc. with heated seats etc.)
Then my missus will come camping in winter again

Well this could open up a thread on its own ;)

Is it getting into a cold bed she dont like
or
does she get cold during the night?

The first one is a matter of comfort but lets be dutiful hubbies and fix it. chemical hikers hand warmer paks work well. you can get them real easy n cheap now. I store these in gear for emergancies, but often see the kids cuddle them of a cold night. You know you click the clicker and it heats up! (boil them for what is it 5 min? they go clear and now ready again)
Toss it in the bed 5 min before and that should suffice.
Im sure there are other "hot water" bottle like solutions too.

The latter one is more important as it could be the onset of hypothermia or just plain, so cold that my bones ache.

This is a matter of insulation. Stopping the body heat from escaping.
Decent jammies, decent sleeping bag, AND decent mattress. You can loose alot thru the floor.
However even with the best insulation its only a matter of time b4 you start to loose the heat transfer battle. :(
This then relys on your bodies or a devices, ability to replenish the loss.
Please excuse my numbers its been a while since I did this stuff.
Average bloke produces about 100w of heat doing nout. Thats converting food (sugar) to energy to heat the body to 38degc If its 5 outside we have to produce enough heat to compensate for the diff 33. This loss and transfer gets a bit tricky to calculate :crazy:
Upshot is get the metabolism working, it generates the heat. Give it something decent to feed off of.
(sorry alcohol does not qualify at all):drink:
Insulate well, keep all air gaps small and sealed. Minimise exposed area

or of course we can go the Microsft route and just keep throwing energy at the problem untill its toasty warm and works ;)

[window]

got a great story about those chemical hand warmers!

a mate went up north to help with the cyclone larry relief effoerts. day they are supposed to leave, he takes his hand warmers, (that had been used once) throws them in a pan of water, and procceds to pack. he packs up, then leaves for a couple of hours forgetting about the warmers. He gats back, and finds his team leader and the hotel manager looking pretty p!ssed off.

Team leader asks if he has forgotten anything, and he says to them, no, got everything. they then show him a saucepan, with some burnt stuff inside it. He then remembers the hand warmers!

The water boiled, the warmers melted, then caught fire, and smoked his room out! The alarm went off, and the firies turned up to find this pan with this burnt black stuff in it!

Needlesss to say his nickname is now Smoky!

[01Rod]

Well just for the record....

If your looking for a 12v
Microwave or Coffee machine, Vacuum cleaner or Air conditioner...

http://www.springers.com.au/Products.aspx?CategoryID=46

[Mr 80]

We have one of those Waeco coffee purculator things, I don't drink coffee, but my wife says it turns out awesome. Only takes a few minutes to make, just plug it in while you cook the bacon and eggs!

[Emo]

Vitrifrigio fridge
Blue Tongue compressor
Jackaroo oven
600w inverter
GPS cradle
Versalight
Warn XD 9000
Charge the fluro lantern.

Not all at once though.

[oldcourier]

I use 12 v for my Engel, fluros, lightforce spotlight, battery charger (phone, camera etc) and have used GPS!

[Marc 1]

Well just for the record....

If your looking for a 12v
Microwave or Coffee machine, Vacuum cleaner or Air conditioner...

http://www.springers.com.au/Products.aspx?CategoryID=46

We used to sell the Microwaves, well, more correctly they used to sit on the shelf collecting dust. A more versatile way to go would be to get a decent inverter (a 1000w continuous sine wave is $599 at Jaycar cat no: MI5088) and a $99 dollar microwave from kmart, you'll save $100. If the microwave dies, throw it out, get another. Incidentally, when sizing the inverter the power rating on the front of the microwave is its cooking power, it will use substantially more from the plug. (but that be made up for the fact that a microwave is generally not used for more than 5 minutes at a time, so you may be able to size an inverter based on it's half hour overload rating).

If you go down this route, you can then operate a stack load of other 240 volt appliances, rather than having to source the dearer 12v equivalents.
:thumb:

[wado]

ok 12Volt items:
waeco fridge, gps, phone charger, air compressor, dvd player and thats about it.