Carmen the Campervan

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The main battery monitor and electrical controls are on the panel above the bench seats. On the panel you can see how much battery you have left and a countdown timer, if you’re running the fridge then this timer will go up and down depending on if the compressor is running. The battery should last a couple of days between charges, but can last longer if you do a lot of driving and see plenty of sun!

There are several switches on the main panel:

  • Water pump switch- If the water is low (you can see the level in the tank behind the driver's seat) then please keep this off otherwise you will burn out the pump motor.

  • Light switch- This turns on the kitchen lights. The main lights are controlled by the remote attached to the back of the passenger seats.

  • Fan Switch – This turns the kitchen extractor fan on, you can control the speed using the dial by the vent. It’s best to turn this on when cooking to extract fumes and moisture.

  • Speaker Switch – This turns on the Bluetooth speaker. You can connect to the speaker by looking for “Heardio” on your device.

Battery

Carmen has a 105Ah Lithium battery. This is powered from 200W rooftop Solar, as well as the engine when driving. If you're planning on driving every few days or you're parked up in a good spot to soak up the sun then you'll have plenty juice to run the fridge, lighting and charge phones. It's easy to check the status of the battery on the built-in battery monitor.

We have solar! The solar panels on top of Carmen charge the batteries in sunlight therefore you should have plenty of juice to camp off-grid for 2-3 days if that’s your thing.

We recommend putting Carmen on hook after 2-3 days to make sure the batteries are kept charge- this is especially important in the winter when there is less sunlight. There is an electric hook-up cable in the garage for connecting Carmen to electric charging when at a camp site.

Fridge

Lighting

USB Charging

240V Sockets

There are two 240v plug sockets which only work when Carmen is on hook up or the inverter is on. These are only for low powered devices such as chargers. If you have a USB cable, then it’s more efficient to use the USB socket next to the switches.

Mains Electric Hook-Up (EHU)

Carmen comes with a 20m cable which can be used at campsites which offer mains electric. When connected everything will be powered from the mains, and the battery will charge up too.