Dual Batteries or one single

[megatexture]

Save your coin at arb and wire it up yourself, that way you know how its set up in the event you may need to trouble shoot a problem in the future. its actually verry simple to do! Also you will have no shortage of info to help you along if needed.
if you plan to get a dual batt set up I would recommend a dcdc charger with built in solar regulator like ctek's ( my choice) or a red arc unit. The ctek is rated at 20amp can take up to 250w of solar pannel and capable of maintaining a battery bank of up to 300 amp, and who knows you may not need to run your genni .

[lucus30]

Save your coin at arb and wire it up yourself.

X2 do it yourself. I just did mine

[Cuppa]

A local nrma here in town, sell new 95amps for $130, they don't sell anything bigger,

That price sounds cheap if it is for 95Ah batteries. This leads me to suspect that they are most likely ‘wet’ batteries, & possibly not deep cycle?
For the use you are planning deep cycle batteries are the go. Cranking batteries will work, but will have a shorter lifespan.

If I’m correct & they are ‘wet’ batteries ...... DO NOT mount them inside the vehicle. Wet batteries when being fully charged on a smart charger (unlike when being only alternator charged) will bubble & release gas. You don’t want that inside your vehicle. It stinks & is unsafe. You will also need to regularly check their fluid levels & top up with distilled water.
AGM batteries can be placed inside the vehicle, don’t need topping up & are quicker to charge as a bonus.

[Drew]

Wow this is all mainly going over my head lol. Those weblinks are an awesome read Drew. Thanks aswell Cuppa, I have read quite a few of your posts and you seem very much in the know for auto electrics/batteries.
I think with what I'm going to be using in the led lights, and being able to use either 240volt ctek smart charger or my genie every 2-3 days I don't think I would go under the 50% capacity. Although may come close.
I'm going to get ARB to hook up a dual battery system up in the patrol with a better rated 12 volt plug for the fridge in the back( as I've read that the standard 12 volt cord/plug to the rear may be a little under powered for a full time fridge when it is on) , and also hook up a Anderson plug. (for a later date. To be able to charge the batteries in the trailer whilst we are driving)
My only problem might be with my genie, I only have a 1kva inverter genni, Would that be enough to use the ctek charger to charge the batteries? I read most of this link http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/gen_charge.htm but couldn't find out how big a genni I'd need
Also can you use the power (leds) as your charging the batteries?
Any more answers would be great if you can understand what I'm saying,
P.S Cuppa, How good is Copeton Dam

I bow to Cuppa he's the exspurt

Seriously mate, I hear you. It took me months before I did this the first time around and then oh wait took months the second time coz I couldn't my head around some stuff and being the Patrol and not the Navara, it was a little different. Enough to stop me.

When it comes to the car it's piss easy. oh am I allowed to say that ? easy ? As said, save some coin and do it yourself. The second battery, decide on which isolator (ton of options there sorry) get the cables mount, screw, done.

Running the power for the trailer, the way I did it, 6B&S cable, auto resetting fuse, relay (to prevent power going to trailer when ignition isnt on), plugs, connectors, cable ties and roll around on your back putting it all in.

Power to the cargo area, see my thread.

I am not a technically minded person, I couldn't tell you arthur from martha before I did mine but it is not as hard as it first seems. There are heaps of wisdom well knowledge here and really the difficult bit is choosing the kit and wondering if it's the right choice.

So to cut it short, stick the best battery you can afford in the trailer (something that can handle a bit of rough stuff), LEDs will draw bugger all so 3 days won't be a problem and if need be charge at home. If need be, as cuppa said a 1kva genny will be fine. Geez I've used mine more with power outages at home than camping .

The next decision is whether you need 2nd battery next or run power to trailer. I'd go 2nd battery for peace of mind and fridge maybe, then power to trailer.

oh and keep in mind that if you do need to charge with the genny, the size of the charger (Amps) does matter. Well time wise that is. A 25Amp charger (or cuppas wiz bang charger) is way faster than a 7Amp. 20/20 hindsight, I should've saved a little and got the 25Amp I just got instead of the 7amp 2-3 years ago.

I must've missed it, where are you located mitch ?

[the evil twin]

So for our camping needs, we might go 3 days without power( would be charging every 3 days, so I want to figure this out with your help and Please mind my lack of expertise in this area, So here is a question could you wire 2 x 95 amp batteries to give 190 amps, instead of using a single 130, thus giving more ampage? Would you have to run the 2 95's with a dual battery system or just a smart charger. A local nrma here in town, sell new 95amps for $130, they don't sell anything bigger,
Any thoughts or ideas would be good, I would be running lights, maybe some tunes, a water pump and maybe a fridge

Hi Mitch,

Because the setup is for your camper...

I run twin 105AH deep cycle batteries with a similar load to your useage (lights, water pump, 60 litre frig etc) however I do use Solar charging (not Genset) if I camp up for a period, soooo...

1. Due to the chemistry and physics of lead acid batteries two batteries (say 50AH x 2 = 100AH) in parallel will actually have a better useable capacity and longer life than an equivalent single (say 100AH).
They will take up more room and weigh more however.

2. I have a feeling that the 95 AH jobbies that the NRMA are selling may not be deep cycle and if they are I would therefore definitely not recommend them for the camper if you are running them 3 days between charge cycles.
If they are deep cycle and you watch your 'state of charge' (SOC) they will be fine.

3.If you go Solar many of the regs will tell you power useage etc. however, whether you do or you don't, there are many quite cheap power monitors that attach to the battery/s and will tell you the power you are using, voltage, capacity used etc.
I would definitely fit one as they are very valuable tool for keeping an eye on what is going on.

4. Be a tad wary of "technology solutions" and how you use them.
Some are brilliant, some are smoke and mirrors, some are brilliant but totally unnecessary.
The manuf advertising blurb and tech reps will try to sell you anything they make whether you need it or not.
Take "smart" battery chargers for example.
Even many of the top brands don't work correctly due to their algorithms and programming if there is equipment operating from the battery.
The presence of the load (esp high current intermittent loads like a water pump) confuses them in regard to the SOC and charge acceptance rates for what they think is a battery.

5. Try and firm up exactly how your system will work best for you and purchase the gear around that method and your budget as it permits.
So, get a power monitor, then
Solar - Good quality Reg and size the Solar Panels matching your battery useage (to small and you end up with no power, to big is pointless and expensive)
Genset or Mains - Good brand smart charger and, budget permitting, a power supply so you can charge the battery/s off load
Vehicle - DC/DC charger (mounted as close to the camper batteries as possible). As posted by others the good brand combo Solar / DC/DC jobbies are versatile and ost effective if used with Solar.

6. ALWAYS keep the camper batteries as close to fully charged as is practical when the Camper is not in use.
Batteries are a chemical device. The electricity is just a byproduct.
When the battery is not fuly charged the chemistry is such that sulphation etc is accelerated reducing the life and even more importantly the capacity of the Battery and the whole idea of the exercise is to have and keep as much available capacity as you can.

Bottom line is that 'simple is best' and as long as you aren't pulling your batteries down to a low SOC it is pretty hard to balls anything up.

[Ronin]

apologies for hijacking the thread.. but what do the experts think of this ? Ark Pak

We go camping for like 3 days every two to three months. So dont wanna lug a battery in the Patrol all the time.

[the evil twin]

apologies for hijacking the thread.. but what do the experts think of this ? Ark Pak

We go camping for like 3 days every two to three months. So dont wanna lug a battery in the Patrol all the time.

There are quite a few variations of that theme around but that is the first time I've seen that particular one.

Given your useage pattern then it will be fine and no better or worse than a hard wired installation
Essentially it will be as good as the Battery you put in it and they have gone for versatility with connectors etc so ticks a lot of boxes I spose.

Cost might be a bit of an eye opener

[Ronin]

There are quite a few variations of that theme around but that is the first time I've seen that particular one.

Given your useage pattern then it will be fine and no better or worse than a hard wired installation
Essentially it will be as good as the Battery you put in it and they have gone for versatility with connectors etc so ticks a lot of boxes I spose.

Cost might be a bit of an eye opener

yeah they are not cheap.. just the unit itself is 450 and u have to add a battery to it. But they do have all the connections I could need including a 240v output.

[megatexture]

yeah they are not cheap.. just the unit itself is 450 and u have to add a battery to it. But they do have all the connections I could need including a 240v output.

450$ sounds like a lot but if you were to make it yourself it adds up fast but I bet you would get a better unit at the end of the day. if you were to get a battery monitor also the ark wouldn't be such a bad option though mind you i added a bit on these prices as I'd be using baintech plugs and USB and cheaper parts could be used.

battery box $74 20 if you get a blank one
Merit,cig cig plugs 60
Anderson plug 20$
Inverter 60$- 300$
Dual USB plugs 65$
Ctek 7amp charger 145$ ebay
Isolator switch 30$

Around $450

[Ronin]

thanx for the reply Megatexture.

I was reading their FAQ and saw that they do not have Pure Sine wave inverter. Although they say its ok, but I am not entirely convinced.

----------------------------------------------------------
What type of inverter is in the ArkPak?

The ArkPak has a built in 150W modified sine wave inverter.


Will the modified sine wave inverter damage my electronic equipment?

Unfortunately there is a misconception about modified sine wave (MSW) inverters in the market; in short most portable electronic equipment that you will be using with the ArkPak while out camping, use a transformer which generally converts your home’s 240V AC power to 12V DC then charges the device. So whether you are using a Modified Sine Wave inverter or a Pure Sine Wave (PSW) inverter, the appliance’s transformer is giving the electronic device the necessary current and voltage it requires to operate safely.