Dual Batteries or one single

[Mitch.mccabe]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130AH-AMP...item5d47b29e33 what about this one??

[lucus30]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130AH-AMP...item5d47b29e33 what about this one??

I think that one would be ok and knowing that seller and his turn over rates it should be relatively fresh stock. The thing will be heavy though.

Might be better to head to a retail outlet like battery world or something though

[Drew]

Free Freight. Trustworthy seller. Just not sure about the brand, never heard of them but that doesn't mean much

[Ronin]

a bit heavy at 32.5 KG.

[Drew]

Not unusual for that size/type of battery. Lucky he's got a patrol

[the evil twin]

Free Freight. Trustworthy seller. Just not sure about the brand, never heard of them but that doesn't mean much

I buy a fair bit of gear off that seller... never been disappointed yet.

Jeeez that looks like a Full River case... might be a knock off 'cept the discharge ratings are higher so maybe not.
The weight is good (I can barely lift the bloody Full Rivers I use) the lighter the battery the crappier it is in the Lead Acid technology

I'd be happy enough to buy it.

[Mitch.mccabe]

ImageUploadedByMotorculture1396658875.224272.jpg Battery arrived today, now I can start to figure out how I'm going to set it all up

[Mitch.mccabe]

Whats everyones thoughts on voltage meters? They seem cheap, so are they worth it, I just dont want to guess and stuff the battery by undercharging or overusing, If yes, then what are your suggustions?

[megatexture]

I've got a baintech dual volt meter and its easy to see and is backlit I looked around a bit and this was the best IMO and I like a digital readout that displays .1 of a volt not a needle to keep me guessing http://www.baintech.com.au/meters-mo...-surface-mount

From memory it was like 60-70$

[Cuppa]

Using a voltmeter as a battery 'fuel gauge' is fraught with problems. It can give an indication ofa battery's state of charge but only in certain circumstances to someone who is a little knowledgeable about such things. Some people sell them, telling folks that x voltage equals a specific state of charge. Unfortunately trusting folks accept this, but it just isn't true. Such readings require a battery to be rested (no load or charge for a minimum of half an hour & preferably several hours), which virtually never happens. Where voltage readings are useful is to assist the user in becoming familiar with their setup & thus being able to recognise what is normal & able to be aware of any deviations from this. For the majority of folk this isn't very practical because they simply don't spend enough time on a regular basis with the system to establish that familiarity. We lived & travelled in our bus for 18 months, & every morning when I got up in the early hours, before dawn, for a pee i would check the voltage readout on the solar regulator. Doing this gave me a very good idea of what was 'normal', & if it was lower than usual, i could predict it because, for example I knew the previous day had been cloudy, or we had watched a lot of tv the previous night. Such familiarity enabled me to know if we ever had a problem, & gave me a reasonable idea of the relative state of charge.

There is no perfect way to measure state of charge because batteries are based upon chemical reaction. However the most accurate type of battery gauge (& what most people want, & unscrupulous sellers let them think they are getting with a voltmeter) is an ammeter installed with a shunt. The battery monitors basically keep count of amp hours in & amp hour out & with the full capacity of the battery set by the user, are able to tell them how full/empty the battery is most of the time. I say most because certain conditions will still cause false readings, but overall it is the most accurate method available. Unfortunately such battery monitors are several hundred dollars to buy.

I tend to observe the PWM function readout on my solar reg as a means of monitoring when my batteries are getting full during the day. PWM is shown as a percentage of available input from the solar panels being 'allowed' through to the nattery. As the battery becomes more full the percentage drops. Once down to 10% or less I know the batteries are close to full. Once full they go into 'float' mode, which tells me they are full, although most of the time this does not occur because the loads from the fridge & freezer cut in & prevents float occurring, but I'm happy enough to see the single figure PWM percentages by around 1pm each day.

Of those Baintech meters, the voltmeter alone is really doesn't tell you much of use. Their voltmeter ammeter is much more useful. In conjunction with showing battery voltage, it shows amps coming in/going out in real time. This means that if you know how many amps to expect to see coming in when the battery is discharged you can see this figure drop as the battery becomes fuller, & after a short amount of familarising yourself with the norms, you can make a reasonable judgement about how full the battery is by how many amps it is accepting.