batteries auxiliary

[maurokey]

Thanks

[netsailor]

Hallo ,
der Stromverbrauch des Kühlschranks hängt sehr stark ab von der Außentemperatur.
Unsere Batterien lieferten zuletzt nur noch gut 90Ah. Wir konnten damit im kühlen Frankreich (max 24*C) meist 40 Std. (2 Nächte) stehen. Man kommt also mit ca. 50Ah je 24 Std. aus. Bei heißem Wetter kann der Bedarf ab auch 80Ah oder mehr betragen.
Euch hat somit wahrscheinlich das gleiche Schicksal ereilt wie uns: mindestens eine der beiden Batterien ist defekt.
So long,
Stefan

[Bosti]

Hello together,

As Stefan wrote, it depends a lot of the outside temperature. If the JC is complete closed, it will be very hot inside. Damaged batteries it seems so... Another indication for this defect can be that you can't start your heating without external power supply.

How to extend the running time of the fridge?
1. lift up the bench so that the fridge gets more air from the ground
2. Some of us drilled the horizontal cover between bed and fridge with a lot of small holes and mount a small fan to increase the air circulation. Result: Less power consumption
3. It is possible to lift up the characteristic line of the cooling temperature. With the change the fridge must operate with higher setting to reach the lower cooling temperature. This change can only be done by the service of Westfalia directly. Advantage: less power consumption but the ice box doesn't freeze anymore and can be used as a normal cooling storage. We are using this now for years and we didn't have any problems with it also not in Italy.

Best regards
Oliver

[maurokey]

thanks

[Janno]

Cheers Mauro,

how often and how long is your fridge compressor running? 2-4 times for about 5 minutes in one hour?
If the compressor is running all the time, the best batteries get depleted in no time.

If the compressor is running as long as your fridge at home, you batteries maybe worn out.

You could also install a flowmeter to your batteries. It will indicate how much power consumption you have.

Greetings,
Janno

[maurokey]

Thanks

[Janno]

Hi,

i´m a big fan of the Efoy even though I haven´t got one myself (lack of space and money ). Be aware: the Efoy is not that sufficient if its used in a hot environment.

If your batteries are old, it is most likely that they are worn out. So, how old are they?

Most times it´s not the compressor that is broken. It could be missing cooling fluid or those things the guys wrote above.

Greetz,
Janno

[maurokey]

Thanks

[Janno]

Hi Mauro,

it could be that you dealer didn´t charge the batteries so they might had a depth discharge (if they are empty and not charged over one month).

[Bosti]

Hi Mauro,

We are running our JC with photovoltaic panel 2x 80Wp (?) (original from Westfalia) With them we have 6-7 days autonomy without using any heating. Maybe also Spacy can tell you more about his own experience regarding photovoltaic. View also viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1357#p6487

Photovoltaic is nice but this investment believe me, you will never want to think about to the time without
DE http://www.votronic.de/de/catalog.php?p ... type=group
EN http://www.votronic.de/en/catalog.php?P ... type=group

Space to install it in the box under the drivers seat
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1993#p11772
(the installation by yourself is a heavy work and takes more time than expected....)

Best regards
Oliver

[maurokey]

Thanks

[Bosti]

Hi Mauro,
This is hard to read: to spend some money for defects, that should be covered by the warranty...

You wrote: I find it strange, in fact, that the photovoltaic panel, on a sunny day like this, is not able to fully charge the battery.
That means batteries will be charged, but the question is how?
Some of us didn't get built in optimal photovoltaic charging controllers. Most of the mounted chargers are from the lower price segment and not optimal/optimized for the batteries. It could be in that fact that the batteries getting wrong charged and the lifetime decreases.
So, if you buy new batteries please check also the type of charger. Important is the Characteristic Line of Charging (IU1oU2) and the allowed types of batteries. This will save also money in the future.
The photovoltaic charger is mounted here viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2561 in the bath under the wash-bowl behind the cover, remove four white screw covers, loosen screws carefully (especially then tighten), take of cover from hook-and-loop tape.
By the way the original onboard AC/DC 230V/12V charger is to small. Output 10A/2A (2A are in use for the starter batterie) for an installed capacity of 2x 85Ah. This was the reason for the above link of Votronic. Votronic supplies also other chargers e.g. AC charger, booster, photovoltaic...

Best regards
Oliver

[maurokey]

Thanks

[Janno]

Hi Mauro,

what temperatur was inside your JC?

On my last trip this week my fridge ran over 40 hours.

12 hours we had about 35 degrees: the compressor ran all the time
28 hours we had 20 - 25 degrees: the compressor ran half of the time

buuuut: my fridge is not coded correctly. At temperature level 1, I always got -15 degrees in my freezing compartment and about 0 degrees in the normal compartment.

after 40 hours I had 12,3 Volts and 3 bars left. No charging in between.

I think you fridge is just fine (if you had high temperatures inside the JC). Your batteries maybe worn out. My batteries are older and seem to last longer.

When did you buy your JC?

[Bosti]

Hi Mauro, Hi janno,

@Janno This also happend to me after we have had the update for our new heating. The control unit operate heating and fridge. On level 1 our fridge was running more or less constantly. We did not meassure the temperature in the fridge but if you take from the lower compartment froozen food, something is wrong. This was the reason why I have had the change of the cooling line.

@ Mauro: As Janno wrote, it depends on the outside temperature.
On batteries you will not get easy warranty. If the contract with the retailer is as you wrote, the only chance I see contact Westfalia directy.

In general by the german law is 2 years warranty, starting from buying. In your case, Westfalia must do nothing because you are not partner of contract with Westfalia.
You will not get warranty but maybe and hopefully a goodwill action from Westfalia. So please contact the Head of Service at Westfalia, Mr. Rainer Walkenhorst directly. In a lot of cases we got help from there and sometimes also help what never be published or written here in this forum...

Something is wrong, that is for sure.

Oliver