Saturday 12th June 2021
So plans changed a little dramatically in the last 24hrs.
Yesterday morning, when we woke, we had power, but within seconds of turning the heater up, that all changed.
It appeared that we had both our batteries drained. Our battery monitor was jumping all over the shop with the “hours remaining”, but the lights cut out within a few seconds. It would go from >199hrs to 15hrs and nothing within seconds.
It was a cold night and we ran the diesel heater for around 10 hrs, which we’ve done before without hassle. The only difference was a heavily corrugated road into our free camp, which may have shaken something loose.
The sun came up so we decided to give the solar panels a chance to get some energy into the batteries. The batteries appeared to be charging from the solar panels. We left for our Age of Dinosaurs Tour.
We returned at lunch time to a similar issue. Just switching on a light would drain the battery. So out came the generator to help give us some power.
We checked the solar panels, we checked the batteries, we checked all the fuses but nothing appeared abnormal. We used a multimeter to check the battery currents. Both had >12 volts which usually signifies a working battery.
So we were scratching our heads trying to figure out the next move. Winton accommodation was booked out, so getting a motel room or powered site was out of the question. So we bunkered down for a cold night without power.
We used the generator to cook dinner and after heating Madeline milk, we switched it off, to a very loud applause from the 40 other caravanners in the area.
Madeline slept with us and we preserved heat in the van as much as we could. It was a rough night for us all.
We woke up to 6 degrees in the van and us being able to see our breathe.
We got completely rugged up and started packing. We made the decision to drive early to Longreach to (a) get power and (b) get an auto electrician to figure out our battery issue.
So here we are on a powered site in Longreach. The car booked in to check out our terrible fuel consumption within the last weeks and auto electrician to diagnose our van…both on Monday morning.
They talk about hiccups when traveling full time, you wait for it and brace yourself. It will be sorted out, until next time.
We rested today, last nights poor sleep meant we were all wiped out. We watched Brolgas walking around our caravan site today.
Tomorrow
We are planning to explore this town of Longreach.
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