Powerless

With my belly full of delicious food, I drive to a campsite in the hills high above Kotor. But before I go to bed, I need to investigate a problem I noticed earlier when trying to fill my water bottle. The electric water pump hadn't started and I suspected I had damaged the makeshift power connection.

A glance at my inverter shows me that my problem is more extensive. The status LEDs are off, meaning I seem to have a complete electrical failure. Fuck! This is just what I need, especially since I have all of my electrical equipment under the heavy kitchen insert in the back of my car.

But I can't ignore this away, so I pull the kitchen onto my rickety camping table, hoping it won't collapse under the weight. Looking into the electrical compartment, I see zero lights. Everything is off. How can that be? I've got a separate battery, charged while driving, and additionally via solar or shore power. The battery lasts for days when it's full.

Lacking a multimeter, I adjourn my troubleshooting and try to sleep. It's hot, the air is thick and motionless, and the howling canine concert transitions into a racket of roosters as the Earth spins into morning.

Way before my time, I pack up at six o'clock and head for a car parts store in Budva. I make it 300 meters before I spot a campervan with its doors open. I stop and ask if they have a multimeter. No, they don't, but they're eager to help, offer me tea and we start troubleshooting together.

Two hours later, we've found out using a simple currency tester that I do have car battery/alternator power reaching my camping power setup, but not charging the secondary battery, which is completely dead. Delimiting the possible points of failure is worth so much!

With the kitchen is out once more, I've also decided to move all the electrical equipment to the rear seat. Makeshift again, but this needs to be easily accessible while traveling! And with the move, all of a sudden, the battery-to-battery device lights up and, motor running, starts charging the secondary battery! A loose wire?

Newfound friends say their goodbyes and I continue my journey, soon to realize I've only partially solved the problem. Charging is only intermittent, barely enough to counter the current of the refrigerator. But at least my food is safe – for the moment.Baca selengkapnya