240v socket only works when hooked up. Is this correct?

OceanHolidays · Jul 19, 2022

Hi Team - we're new to owning a Cali Ocean 4 motion 6.1, so apologies if this is a daft question. When hooked up to mains supply, our 240v socket next to the sink works fine. We've tested on a 750w kettle. However, there is no power to the socket, when mains hook up is disconnected. Is this how it should be.........or is there a switch somewhere I need to flick to kick in a12v to 240v step-up inverter? Many thanks, Andy & Liz

Hedley Wright · Jul 19, 2022

OceanHolidays said:
Hi Team - we're new to owning a Cali Ocean 4 motion 6.1, so apologies if this is a daft question. When hooked up to mains supply, our 240v socket next to the sink works fine. We've tested on a 750w kettle. However, there is no power to the socket, when mains hook up is disconnected. Is this how it should be.........or is there a switch somewhere I need to flick to kick in a12v to 240v step-up inverter? Many thanks, Andy & Liz

That is as it should be. The one that runs off the leisure batteries via an inverter is on the side of the driver’s seat - with that one you are limited to 300 watts.

Viktorgeorge · Jul 19, 2022

Hedley Wright said:
That is as it should be. The one that runs off the leisure batteries via an inverter is on the side of the driver’s seat - with that one you are limited to 300 watts.

I thought I read that the latest T6.1 is up to 600w from the inverter.

WelshGas · Jul 19, 2022

OceanHolidays said:
Hi Team - we're new to owning a Cali Ocean 4 motion 6.1, so apologies if this is a daft question. When hooked up to mains supply, our 240v socket next to the sink works fine. We've tested on a 750w kettle. However, there is no power to the socket, when mains hook up is disconnected. Is this how it should be.........or is there a switch somewhere I need to flick to kick in a12v to 240v step-up inverter? Many thanks, Andy & Liz

That's how it is supposed to be. You have a Mains inverter on the Drivers seat base, rated at 300w that runs off the Leisure Battery BUT do not plug your kettle in there as it will blow fuses .

Hedley Wright · Jul 19, 2022

Viktorgeorge said:
I thought I read that the latest T6.1 is up to 600w from the inverter.

It was 150W on the t6, the t6.1 has been upgraded to 300W. Not a pure sine wave inverter so check compatibility with electrical equipment before using.

OceanHolidays · Jul 20, 2022

Hedley Wright said:
That is as it should be. The one that runs off the leisure batteries via an inverter is on the side of the driver’s seat - with that one you are limited to 300 watts.

fantastic - thanks for this - it is what I hoped

OceanHolidays · Jul 20, 2022

WelshGas said:
That's how it is supposed to be. You have a Mains inverter on the Drivers seat base, rated at 300w that runs off the Leisure Battery BUT do not plug your kettle in there as it will blow fuses .

great - thanks. The plug under the drivers seat is a 2 pin euro plug......so nothing to go in there anyway!

Thanks all for confirming this.

Viktorgeorge · Jul 20, 2022

Hedley Wright said:
It was 150W on the t6, the t6.1 has been upgraded to 300W. Not a pure sine wave inverter so check compatibility with electrical equipment before using.

Thank you, Hedley. I was getting confused with the EHU maximum (as you would have guessed).

Do you or other has any thoughts on the following?

I saw this https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/charging-e-bike-batteries.23598/post-272240

and have the same requirement - once my Ocean arrives - i.e. to charge an ebike 500w battery using a 2A Bosch compact charger from one of the Ocean's batteries via the fitted inverter, or another bought inverter if the fitted one is not suitable.

Bosch did produce a 12v ebike charger but that is now discontinued.

Skewif suggests that his 2A charger never drew much more than 200w ~1A @230v.

Might the fitted current 300w inverter do the job?

Stu@rt · Jul 20, 2022

OceanHolidays said:
great - thanks. The plug under the drivers seat is a 2 pin euro plug......so nothing to go in there anyway! Thanks all for confirming this.

It's a kinda multi plug, so a UK 3 pin plug does fit in there, but tends to fall out under it's own weight. I have created a small trailing extension lead with a Schuko plug which is a lot happier staying in place and adds some convenience too.

Hedley Wright · Jul 20, 2022

Viktorgeorge said:
Thank you, Hedley. I was getting confused with the EHU maximum (as you would have guessed).

Do you or other has any thoughts on the following?

I saw this https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/charging-e-bike-batteries.23598/post-272240

and have the same requirement - once my Ocean arrives - i.e. to charge an ebike 500w battery using a 2A Bosch compact charger from one of the Ocean's batteries via the fitted inverter, or another bought inverter if the fitted one is not suitable.

Bosch did produce a 12v ebike charger but that is now discontinued.

Skewif suggests that his 2A charger never drew much more than 200w ~1A @230v.

Might the fitted current 300w inverter do the job?

The maximum load on hookup is theoretically 13A which is 2500W at 230V. I think the circuit breaker is rated at 10A though. You should be safe up to 2000W on the mains socket.

As for charging a 500Wh EBike battery from the inverter, even if the charger draws less than 300W the bigger issue is the depletion of your leisure batteries. 500Wh at 12V is 41.66 Ah, more than half your useable leisure battery capacity, and that’s without allowing for inverter losses. Are you fitting a solar panel? If not then you might have to rely on mains charging for the EBike.

Hopefully someone with real experience of this scenario will chip in.

R_Sargeant_CH · Jul 20, 2022

Stu@rt said:
It's a kinda multi plug, so a UK 3 pin plug does fit in there, but tends to fall out under it's own weight. I have created a small trailing extension lead with a Schuko plug which is a lot happier staying in place and adds some convenient too.

Just remember to unplug the Schuko completely when nothing is plugged in to the extension, otherwise the inverter continues to run, and to consume power.

Stu@rt · Jul 20, 2022

R_Sargeant_CH said:
Just remember to unplug the Schuko completely when nothing is plugged in to the extension, otherwise the inverter continues to run, and to consume power.

Yeah. It folds up nice and neat with a velcro strap and stores in the pocket on the base of the passenger seat :thumb

Viktorgeorge · Jul 20, 2022

Hedley Wright said:
The maximum load on hookup is theoretically 13A which is 2500W at 230V. I think the circuit breaker is rated at 10A though. You should be safe up to 2000W on the mains socket.

As for charging a 500Wh EBike battery from the inverter, even if the charger draws less than 300W the bigger issue is the depletion of your leisure batteries. 500Wh at 12V is 41.66 Ah, more than half your useable leisure battery capacity, and that’s without allowing for inverter losses. Are you fitting a solar panel? If not then you might have to rely on mains charging for the EBike.

Hopefully someone with real experience of this scenario will chip in.

Thank you, Hedley. I have little expertise on this, obviously, hence my question. But I did note, and would copy @Skewif's method of charging on the go (presumably mainly taking charge from the alternator, though I was not able to order the larger capacity one that VW did offer) rather than when the the engine was not running. The idea of being able to re-charge when not 'hooked up' is appealing - even if only when driving - as ebike batteries can soon run down.

I would like to add solar, once I get my ocean, and perhaps Roger Donoghue of Solar Camper Solutions could sell an install that is compatible with what I want to do.

jonr71 · Jul 21, 2022

Hedley Wright said:
The maximum load on hookup is theoretically 13A which is 2500W at 230V. I think the circuit breaker is rated at 10A though. You should be safe up to 2000W on the mains socket.

As for charging a 500Wh EBike battery from the inverter, even if the charger draws less than 300W the bigger issue is the depletion of your leisure batteries. 500Wh at 12V is 41.66 Ah, more than half your useable leisure battery capacity, and that’s without allowing for inverter losses. Are you fitting a solar panel? If not then you might have to rely on mains charging for the EBike.

Hopefully someone with real experience of this scenario will chip in.

I carry an Ecoflow Rivermax battery for charging my ebike. I charge that either from mains/EHU overnight or using a portable 160w solar panel. The Rivermax also acts as a power store at festivals. We use it as an EHU to keep the leisure batteries topped up so we can keep the beer (and milk apparently) cold.

WelshGas · Jul 21, 2022

Viktorgeorge said:
Thank you, Hedley. I have little expertise on this, obviously, hence my question. But I did note, and would copy @Skewif's method of charging on the go (presumably mainly taking charge from the alternator, though I was not able to order the larger capacity one that VW did offer) rather than when the the engine was not running. The idea of being able to re-charge when not 'hooked up' is appealing - even if only when driving - as ebike batteries can soon run down.

I would like to add solar, once I get my ocean, and perhaps Roger Donoghue of Solar Camper Solutions could sell an install that is compatible with what I want to do.

Read this thread.

E-bike Charge - Not on EHU

I have a Cali Ocean 2019, can I charge a Brompton e-bike not on EHU, I have 200w solar panel.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Viktorgeorge · Jul 21, 2022

jonr71 said:
I carry an Ecoflow Rivermax battery for charging my ebike. I charge that either from mains/EHU overnight or using a portable 160w solar panel. The Rivermax also acts as a power store at festivals. We use it as an EHU to keep the leisure batteries topped up so we can keep the beer (and milk apparently) cold.

Thank you, Jon - that is an interesting alternative that I can have up my sleeve (for when my Ocean finally arrives ...).

The solar side of things may be the significant 'booster': as if EHU or normal mains are available the problem goes away just like that. So, Solar Camper Solutions panels may make the difference.

As I post @WelshGas has kindly send this link which I will study:

E-bike Charge - Not on EHU

I have a Cali Ocean 2019, can I charge a Brompton e-bike not on EHU, I have 200w solar panel.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

KateCharlie · Aug 8, 2022

jonr71 said:
I carry an Ecoflow Rivermax battery for charging my ebike. I charge that either from mains/EHU overnight or using a portable 160w solar panel. The Rivermax also acts as a power store at festivals. We use it as an EHU to keep the leisure batteries topped up so we can keep the beer (and milk apparently) cold.

How do you link the eco river to the leisure battery to charge?

Azteccamper · Aug 8, 2022

As a side note.
we were at a CAMC site in Cornwall last week and they were allowing EV’s to be charged overnight from your own caravan/motorhome socket for an extra £9 per night.
I asked why aren’t they taking money off outfits that a self-sufficient (solar panels)? Their reply was the cost of electricity was negligible on a pitch and only a small fraction of the cost for powering showers, etc.
I tried to explain that the guy next to me in his 15m bus with air con, fridge, freezer, satellite, etc. was obviously using more than myself who wasn’t even plugged in!

jonr71 · Aug 8, 2022

KateCharlie said:
How do you link the eco river to the leisure battery to charge?

Take your hookup cable from the van, plug it into the Ecoflow using a 3-pin plug adapter. Like plugging the van in at home. Another good use of the airsafe product that leaves an airgap in the boot. The cable can be connected and the Ecoflow can still be locked in the van.

240v socket only works when hooked up. Is this correct?

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