Dual battery installed, almost........

[WogsRus]

Ok So i picked up a dual battery kit from flee bay for a bargain price of a $120 brand new. Si i decided to install it today.

Still got to get some split conduit to clean it up but pretty happy with it all. Second battery is not in yet, at the moment its simply going to the back for the trailer charging.

I need to work out how to boost the charging amperage a bit. While i was at it, i installed 3 off power outlets fed of the second battery circuit.

What you think

[threedogs]

I put my rear outlets there two one cig, one merit.
neat work gotta be happy with that.
what this boost the chargng amps mean??

[WogsRus]

Opps, no more beer for me. The voltage drop is a bit much, even with 10mm2 cable, There is a way of getting the charging voltage up by .4V by replacing the stock voltage fuse with one of these

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nissan-GU-Patrol-Alternator-Voltage-Booster-/321003678594?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4abd4f6b82

Then also look at a high output alternator.

[megatexture]

If you wanted to boost the amps maybe you should have got a dc/ dc charger like ctek250dual (20amp)or redarc (40amp ) but what you have done looks good and split tube is a good idea love that stuff

[the evil twin]

Do you mean boost the charging voltage?
Be very wary of doing so if you already have 14.2 to 14.5. You can buy the replacement fuses for the sense circuit that have a diode in them which will boost your voltage by fooling the Alternator. These devices are for teh latest vehicles that have ECU regulation and can go as low as 12.8 at times. The are NOT for teh Patrols as such but will work if you have a low Regulation voltage IE down around 13.8

Very generally speaking... Batteries have a charge acceptance rate so no matter how much amperage is "available" they will only accept what they want. Thats why a battery at near full charge will still take just as long to charge to 100% no matter whether you have a 50 amp alternator or a 150 amp alternator.

If you mean you want to increase the available amperage so both batteries will charge at the maximum rate you need to upgrade your Alternator

If you mean you want to keep the Aux battery up as close to 100% as you can and it is a calcium deep cycle or whatever then you may need to use a DC/DC converter. Be aware these may actually REDUCE the amperage available and INCREASE charging times as in the case of the Ctek you are now limited to 20 amps and not the Alternator output.

[WogsRus]

The batteries in the camper are Supercharge floded deep cycle so all good at 14.2 but i get about 13.8 at the trailer. I will see how she charges over time and go from there.

[threedogs]

Don't know your set up but I used an 80 watt panel on top of my old trailer to charge third battery plus alternator whilst travelling

[the evil twin]

The batteries in the camper are Supercharge floded deep cycle so all good at 14.2 but i get about 13.8 at the trailer. I will see how she charges over time and go from there.

Cool... thought you were talking about the aux not the camper. You have to treat the plan of attack on Camper batteries slightly different to an under bonnet Aux. This is mainly because of the losses thru the significantly longer cable run and the Connectors etc. These losses and the available charging voltage can look OK when everything is charged up but can be significant when the cables warm up with higher loads etc. when the batteries are down.

Once upon a time in a land called Oz the only way was to use larger cable but now the DC/DC converters are becoming much cheaper thus very popular and indeed, this application is exactly what they are best at handling. Soooo, bottom line, a DC/DC in the Camper is the way to go to look after those batteries.

As mentioned by others I especially like the Ctek D250S (or similar) if you are running solar as well because it has an MPPT solar reg which greatly simplifys the wiring and other bits and pieces so is a 'one box' solution to handling the camper batteries.

P.S. nice job on the install and well done putting the smart relay near the cranker... most people put it near the Aux. Doesn't matter 95% of teh time but nice to see one where it should ideally be.