Dual battery setup

[lorrieandjas]

Hi everyone - I know there is a lot of posts on the forum on dual battery setups however wanted some opinions. I have GU 8 Patrol and want to fit a second battery - OK easy enough. The setup I am looking for is as follows:

1. Want to have the dual battery be able to be a "crank assist" battery as well
2. Want it to support a Waeco and some small accessories. Thinking about 30Amp hours per day
3. Have a winch fitted so need to keep that in mind
4. Want to be able to easily use solar panels to recharge when stopped
5. Want to fit rear Anderson (easy enough) and internal power sockets for the fridge and bits and pieces

So the questions I have:

1. What size battery is needed - 100Amp hour?
2. How solid is the ARB setup? They are quoting about $2200 for this type if install
3. Any other things I need to keep in mind?

Thanks - and I know some of this is a duplication of previous posts but each setup is different and I have yet to find a one-size-fits-all answer!

Jas

[oncedisturbed]

Pirhana do a dual battery isolator which includes the ability to use solar panels. I believe they also include an "over-ride" switch to link the batteries if neededfor for cranking. Therefore only 1 unit is needed.

100-120ah battery would be enough.

Yendor or Evil Twin would be your best contacts to answer your queries.

You should be able to do lot for under 1k especially if you do it yourself





Tap, Tap Taparoo

[Lieney]

No dissagreement with oncedisturbed. There are some nice systems but if I was quoted $2k plus i'd be walking, or seriously impressed by the system. But i am tight.
Consider how much current the solenoid unit part of the system can cope with if you were to start through it.
An example would be that your SLI battery is flat, so you push the manual override switch to link both batteries and crank her over.
As starting uses a few more amps, and varies between vehicle types, it can burn out the solenoid after a few goes.
Once small thing I came across a while back.

[threedogs]

can't go past rearc aus made affordable. I' Steer clear of the ARB set up looks like you pay more for the sticker than actual product, I'll send you a PM regarding the Solar panel

[harro959]

DONT GO TO ARB. My dad got a dual battery system for his pajero installed by arb with two anderson plugs in the back. They did a shocking job, only ran one lot of wires to the back then piggy backed it when it got there. The dc-dc charger they installed incorrectly for the type of battery dad had, plus they put a horrible little fuse holder in that kept on melting. Dad went back to arb 3 or 4 times before he got sick of it and fixed it himself the lazy bugger.

Ideally if you have the time to learn and setup something yourself it will be far better and cheaper than what arb could ever do, plus you know how everything has bee run so you can fix it in the future.

I vote for the pirahnah model as its made of mill spec components and designed to operate at higher temperatures than the redarc in conjunction with a big heavy marine switch for cranking and winching. The down side off the top of my head is that i believe that the pirahnah doesnt actually have a solar regulator in it, just a feed in.

If you are interested in doing it yourself, then this book is an awesome resource to understand everything http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks....ravans_too.htm


No affiliations, just trying to share some of the stuff ive found from researching for my own truck

[threedogs]

Pics are of my RED arc products rear unit gives me plenty of outlets plus battery condition. under bonnent is the dual batter monitor .I have an Anderson plug under towbar to charge battery in camper whislt on the move. My solar panel plugs into redarc rear panel never had an issue yet, and if you read my other threads etc I take heaps of lighting all LED and 12v equipment, never ever ran out of battery and the 4x4 runs the 49 lt Engel for food, Battery wise I have 1 v 110 AH,in 4x4 1 x 100 ah in camper and an 18ah battery pac for remote lighting. plus mate brings a 27 ah battery pac.
Easy to work out what you use, I only use 100watt panel puts back 4,5 ah on a good day , Remember with panels bigger isnt better. 200watt panel wont put 9 ah back in, do your home work. might find a folding 80 watt more efficient

[lorrieandjas]

can't go past rearc aus made affordable. I' Steer clear of the ARB set up looks like you pay more for the sticker than actual product, I'll send you a PM regarding the Solar panel

Thanks threedogs. Will check it out now.

[lorrieandjas]

DONT GO TO ARB. My dad got a dual battery system for his pajero installed by arb with two anderson plugs in the back. They did a shocking job, only ran one lot of wires to the back then piggy backed it when it got there. The dc-dc charger they installed incorrectly for the type of battery dad had, plus they put a horrible little fuse holder in that kept on melting. Dad went back to arb 3 or 4 times before he got sick of it and fixed it himself the lazy bugger.

Ideally if you have the time to learn and setup something yourself it will be far better and cheaper than what arb could ever do, plus you know how everything has bee run so you can fix it in the future.

I vote for the pirahnah model as its made of mill spec components and designed to operate at higher temperatures than the redarc in conjunction with a big heavy marine switch for cranking and winching. The down side off the top of my head is that i believe that the pirahnah doesnt actually have a solar regulator in it, just a feed in.

If you are interested in doing it yourself, then this book is an awesome resource to understand everything http://www.caravanandmotorhomebooks....ravans_too.htm


No affiliations, just trying to share some of the stuff ive found from researching for my own truck

Thanks mate. Will check out that book now.

[BigRAWesty]

X2 on red arc.. If you search around there are specials were they throw in the jumping button (gives ability to crank of 2nd), usually some heavy duty cable and terminal connections for around the $120 mark..

I love the red arc because it's simple.. Clicks on at 13.8V and off at just below 13V.
Seem all sorts of fancy dc chargers used and systems have $1000's sunk into them and they fail when you leave the bitumen due to corrugations, dust or water...

KISS.. Red arc is all you need..


Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories

[the evil twin]

Hiya Lorrieandjas,

Just back from some holidays and helping out at the Gascoyne Dash Racing (What a blast). $2200 is a woeful price but some of the gear is a bit expensive.

Most of the replies I totally agree with... however each opinion will differ slightly as each person has different uses or issues IE rear draws so the "drop in" sockets like threedogs has are not useable.

1. I like simple and reliable so a Redarc (or similar) between main and aux is my pref but that won't do the Solar bit. Connect your winch to your main not your Aux and if you do LOTS of winching then get the heavier rated Redarc or whatever. Most people get the 100 Amp which is OK but the heavy prolonged winch currents mean a 150 or 200 amp rated relay is better. Some units are 150 off the shelf and Redarc make a 100 and a 200 amp version.

2. Decide if you want the Solar 'hard' as part of the vehicle wiring for the dual batteries or seperate. I prefer seperate so no single unit getting cooked makes a catastrophe. A great quality dedicated Solar Reg like Steca or similar is cheaper than the vehicle accesory style (Ctek etc). I however use cheap as chips no name Ebay Solar Regs and have yet to have one fail.
My "solar" is a twin folding 50's, chinee MPPT regulator and an Anderson plug. Supercahrge All Rounder Aux in the car and twin 120 Deep Cycles in the Camper but never needed anything like that capacity yet.
I connect it to whatever I want, car, camper, solar with Anderson plugs. I can park in the shade and still get best sun and angles from the panel and this setup runs two 40 litre Engels, a Water Pump, Camp LED lights and phone/cam/lappy recharging no worries at all.

3. Power sockets.
I swear that the Engel fridge socket is the best by a country mile so fit at least one for fridge use and if you have a different brand fridge with a Ciggy plug change it. The rest of mine are Merit Sockets or Anderson and I carry a couple of Merit to Ciggy adapters for accessory/phone/whatevers.
Ciggy plugs just plain suck

4. If you get the Battery Tray and fit it yourself, a good deal on the battery, Ebay for the Panels and Solar Reg, try Sidewinder or other online eleccy dudes for the wire and plugs and run the wiring yourself you can then get an Auto Sparkie to fit off the pins/sockets for under or maybe just on $1000 depending on what Solar gear you get. Check with the Sparkie if you can't fit off yourself (esp the Andersons and battery leads as you want the best crimping you can) as he may do you a good deal on the cable

5. Disclaimer - just like everyone else that is purely my opinions and what works for me and I am set up with fairly similar priorities to your post... IE use the Aux to crank assist every now and then, occasional winching, lots of camping and solar use.