About a year ago I reviewed the Auto-Vox Solar 3A Plus - a wireless, solar-powered reversing camera that I fitted to the back of my new Citroën Jumper build. I loved it. It quickly became one of my favourite bits of kit on that van, and judging by my inbox, plenty of you went out and bought one off the back of that review. But I had two niggles with it. The first was the installation. The 3A is designed to mount on your registration plate bolts, which works a treat in the US where plates...

For years in my van “Beans” I ran a simple voltage sensitive relay (VSR) to handle split charging . It worked — in the most basic sense of the word. When the engine was running, it connected the starter and leisure batteries. When it wasn’t, it disconnected them. Simple. Cheap. Done. But when I upgraded to a lithium battery this winter , that simplicity suddenly wasn’t enough. Lithium charging is less forgiving than AGM, modern batteries expect controlled multi-stage charging, and cold...

I don't know how many times I've woken up on freezing Alpine mornings in my van "Beans" to find my old AGM leisure batteries seriously struggling or completely dead. If you’ve ever tried running a campervan through winter on lead-acid, you’ll know the routine: weak solar, short drives, voltage sag, and constant “can I make it through tonight?” battery anxiety. This winter I tested the Renogy 12V 200Ah Smart LiFePO₄ Battery with Self-Heating (Bluetooth BMS) in my van, paired with a Renogy 40A...