Hi Guys,

OK - I am confused. There seems to be two schools of thought on batteries and charging options. Bit of background - have a 2012 GU Patrol with stock battery. Have a camper-trailer with 2x75Ah AGM batteries in it. Have an Anderson plug on the trailer. In the past I have always just run an Anderson from the alternator via a relay (solenoid) to charge the rear batteries. I know several people with this kind of setup.

Now - in comes DC-DC chargers, battery management systems, etc. The question I have is this really needed? Basically the issues I see - under-charging - ie the alternator not putting out enough charge to charge the house batteries. The other issue is potentially over-charging/over-heating. The third issue (potentially) is not getting the house batteries to full charge?

I've been doing a little bit of looking into all this and the way I am thinking is to run an Anderson on the back of the Patrol with a bi-directional Voltage Sensing Relay inline and fuse. Then on the camper another fuse near the house batteries. I'll use 6 B&S (13.5sq.mm) cabling. I'll also use the portable solar panels (with regulator) when camping.

Thoughts?