Ironman 65L dual compartment Fridge / Freezer

[Warwick89]

Just found the manual and having a look

[Warwick89]

Ok so the manaul warns that it's only for lead-acid batteries between 10-60amp hours and not to try any other types.

Sorry only info I could find

[rafa]

Ok so the manaul warns that it's only for lead-acid batteries between 10-60amp hours and not to try any other types.

Sorry only info I could find

Cheers mate.

Better not then.

[Cuppa]

AGM's are lead acid, they just have the electrolyte suspended in glass mat (Absorbed Glass Mat) instead of in liquid form. That charger would charge the AGM ok, but because it is not a smart charger it would be possible to overcharge the battery, consequently you would ideally need to know the battery's SoC & the output of the charger to know how long to leave them hooked up together. In reality the battery will reduce the amount of charge it will accept as it gets 'fuller' so overcharging is probably only a possibility if left hooked up for long periods. Leaving it on charge for a few hours should be fine. Best to leave it on for two or three hours, disconnect & let the battery sit for half an hour. Connect a small load to the battery (e.g., a 5 watt globe or similar) for 5 minutes, disconnect it & let the battery sit for another 15 minutes or so, & then check the voltage across it's terminals. This should then give you an idea of it's state of charge & you can decide whether to repeat the charging process. If after checking like this you get a reading of 12.7v+ you can consider the battery well charged.

Cuppa

EDIT. If the charger is intended for batteries of 10 to 60 amp hours capacity, it will still charge a 120 amp hour battery but will take longer. In the unlikely event that the charger were a smart charger, it would still be wise to disconnect & check as I have suggested as it is possible for an undersized smart charger to overcharge a battery bigger than it is intended to be used for.

[rafa]

AGM's are lead acid, they just have the electrolyte suspended in glass mat (Absorbed Glass Mat) instead of in liquid form. That charger would charge the AGM ok, but because it is not a smart charger it would be possible to overcharge the battery, consequently you would ideally need to know the battery's SoC & the output of the charger to know how long to leave them hooked up together. In reality the battery will reduce the amount of charge it will accept as it gets 'fuller' so overcharging is probably only a possibility if left hooked up for long periods. Leaving it on charge for a few hours should be fine. Best to leave it on for two or three hours, disconnect & let the battery sit for half an hour. Connect a small load to the battery (e.g., a 5 watt globe or similar) for 5 minutes, disconnect it & let the battery sit for another 15 minutes or so, & then check the voltage across it's terminals. This should then give you an idea of it's state of charge & you can decide whether to repeat the charging process. If after checking like this you get a reading of 12.7v+ you can consider the battery well charged.

Cuppa

I did end up trying it for a couple hours and it did nothing. Just kept clicking in and out of charge mode every min or so.

I'm staying in the same place for 3 days so will let the solar run into the battery with no draw. I have the fridge on mains at the moment and am parked up while working.

Battery up to 12.4v now so well see what happens through the day.

ArkPak sell a dc to dc smart charger so may look at one of those down the track or something similar.

Was hoping to keep this battery isolated from the two under the bonnet. I think also my dual battery solenoid is stuffed so may be a good time to sort it all out.

Thanks mate.

Marty

[rafa]

Solar panel has it at 12.6v by 1:00pm with no draw. Getting there!

[Cuppa]

A bit more looking revealed that that particular Arlec charger, whilst not being a smart charger, also only has a max output of 2.5amps. If it were working properly it could take anything up to 48 hours continuous to charge your battery! The fact that it kept cutting in & out is most likely because the charger itself is faulty or it's simply struggling in a really hot place. It has a built in thermal overload causing it to switch off if it gets too hot. I don't think it likely that your battery is at fault.

[rafa]

A bit more looking revealed that that particular Arlec charger, whilst not being a smart charger, also only has a max output of 2.5amps. If it were working properly it could take anything up to 48 hours continuous to charge your battery! The fact that it kept cutting in & out is most likely because the charger itself is faulty or it's simply struggling in a really hot place. It has a built in thermal overload causing it to switch off if it gets too hot. I don't think it likely that your battery is at fault.

Will get it checked when I get back to Darwin.

What do you recommend to replace the old dual solenoid? Is there some thing that could do all three batteries even if the deep cycle is in the back pod?

Cheers

Marty

[Cuppa]

To an extent it depends on what you wish to use your 2nd under bonnet battery for. If it were me I'd use a voltage sensitive relay (solenoid) between crank bat & 2nd under bonnet bat, & a Redarc BCDC1240 between crank bat & pod bat. The BCDC will provide up to 40 amps to the pod battery whilst driving, although much of the time the battery in a reasonable state of charge will not accept all of this. (Some folk also wire in a bypass to allow the full amperage from the alternator to fast charge batteries in emergency situations but this is largely pointless with a single 120ah battery). Importantly what the BCDC will so is fully charge the pod battery, something a solenoid (ie. alternator)will never do. (It could, but might involve the need to drive around Australia without stopping!). This will give a significant increased effective capacity. The BCDC also boosts voltage supplied to it if required to ensure optimal charging, Thus it can compensate for any voltage drop between crank battery & pod battery provided the BCDC is mounted in the pod as close to the battery as possible. The BCDC also functions as a crank battery 'protector' as a solenoid does, and is an MPPT solar regulator. All in one small box. The alternative is the CTek Dual, but I have no experience with it. Be careful about buying any other dc to dc chargers. Many have too small output to be useful, & as ,oils ain't oils' not all dc to dc units are the same. I learned of one just a couple of days ago being marketed by Jaycar. It sounds like a great deal & will likely appeal to many folk, who will subsequently be disappointed as although it has high specs (120amps I output I think it was) it is a dc to dc charge controller not a charger. It does not, like Redarc & the Ctek, boost voltage, so in the case of thin wires or low alternator voltage, it would be effectively useless.
Others may comment on what dc to dc chargers they have which suit them.

[rafa]

To an extent it depends on what you wish to use your 2nd under bonnet battery for. If it were me I'd use a voltage sensitive relay (solenoid) between crank bat & 2nd under bonnet bat, & a Redarc BCDC1240 between crank bat & pod bat. The BCDC will provide up to 40 amps to the pod battery whilst driving, although much of the time the battery in a reasonable state of charge will not accept all of this. (Some folk also wire in a bypass to allow the full amperage from the alternator to fast charge batteries in emergency situations but this is largely pointless with a single 120ah battery). Importantly what the BCDC will so is fully charge the pod battery, something a solenoid (ie. alternator)will never do. (It could, but might involve the need to drive around Australia without stopping!). This will give a significant increased effective capacity. The BCDC also boosts voltage supplied to it if required to ensure optimal charging, Thus it can compensate for any voltage drop between crank battery & pod battery provided the BCDC is mounted in the pod as close to the battery as possible. The BCDC also functions as a crank battery 'protector' as a solenoid does, and is an MPPT solar regulator. All in one small box. The alternative is the CTek Dual, but I have no experience with it. Be careful about buying any other dc to dc chargers. Many have too small output to be useful, & as ,oils ain't oils' not all dc to dc units are the same. I learned of one just a couple of days ago being marketed by Jaycar. It sounds like a great deal & will likely appeal to many folk, who will subsequently be disappointed as although it has high specs (120amps I output I think it was) it is a dc to dc charge controller not a charger. It does not, like Redarc & the Ctek, boost voltage, so in the case of thin wires or low alternator voltage, it would be effectively useless.
Others may comment on what dc to dc chargers they have which suit them.

I'm sold. What great info. Cheers mate. So in a nut shell. Instal the redarc next to arcpak. Then run decent wires back to main under bonnet battery and then when driving it will charge pod battery. When not the solar will top up the arkpak and not draw from crank battery?

Cheers heaps mate.

Marty