Dual battery, s

[megatexture]

G'day mate, personally I have a Projecta VSR which is pretty much the same as the Redarc. Works well. Should be plenty of info forthcoming on the ctek unit as I have seen them mentioned here a few times before. Tony

The redarc he is referring to is a dcdc charger with solar regulator so a few more features than a projector vsr but at 2xthe price of a ctek and 5x a projector My preference would be the ctek, more bang for your buck

[Patrol'n]

G'day coop,

I recently installed a 2nd battery in my GQ, installed under the bonnet, so far my experience with the Red Arc (SBl12 I think), has been all good. It also has the override to let me start off the aux battery should the primary go flat, assuming the aux has sufficient charge of course. I got a full wiring kit with solenoid delivered for about $230 from ebay.

I did a heap of research, asked lots of questions etc before doing mine, and I'm happy with the result for my situation. I'm sure more experienced guys on here may have different / better opinions than mine, but that's just my 2 cents, and my experience (so far anyway). Good luck with whatever set up you choose. Would be worthwhile asking an auto sparky or two how they would do the set up in your situation. If you aren't confident with auto electrics, I'd suggest getting a qualified auto sparky to do the job, might save a zap, or damage / fire etc.

[coop]

G, day all, thanks for all your advice guys, im going to do a bit more research and will keep you posted on my decision, so thanks again, cheers Tony.

[SG1]

Will keep an eye on this thread, as in similar situation, tho already have a dual battery setup with a redarc, BUT it is the very basic one I think in that it runs of the alternator and chargers the 2nd battery, that's all it seems to do, given the second battery is cactus and would like to flick a switch or push a button to use as a starting battery just in case I think I will upgrade at some stage and completely re-wire the setup that's currently there that I bought with the patrol. I noticed a thin blue wire under the redarc that has a female joiner on it that's doing nothing except for hanging there so might have to investigate and find out what model redarc it is.

[Agronaught]

thin blue wire under the redarc that has a female joiner on it that's doing nothing except for hanging there so might have to investigate and find out what model redarc it is.

If its the SB12 or SB200 the wire can be used for an internal LED, Bypass switch, or both. The wiring is the same for both units, I'll be wiring this up myself in a couple of weeks with a LED next to the battery monitor to tell me when the relay has kicked in.

http://www.redarc.com.au/images/uplo...ion_Manual.pdf

[SG1]

Makes sense now, thanks Agronaught. I can see that mine is hooked up wrong or different from previous owner, tho still works, with both batterys are continuously linked until the starter drops below 12.7v by the looks of it. Think I will keep the unit but re-wire it up and use the over ride switch, probably option 3, unless I can work out the benefit of option 2 and having a LED in cab?

[bishbashbosh]

just installed a ctek dual in my cargo area - no problems and pretty straight forward to install once you have your head around it.. lots of support from this mob to made it like simply connecting the pieces together.

i paired my ctek with a 105 full river and a baintech power panel - i'm now just figuring out the solar component to it all.

went away the other week and it ran my fridge, speakers, lights and other usb devices without any drama. really happy so far.. t

he hardest bit is dropping the coin on a product - do i buy this.. do i buy that one.. aww which is the one for me.. which is the right one..

list what you want to achieve with your setup and the folk here will tell you which product is the most suitable.

[coop]

I tell you what guy's this can all get very confusing but as im not running a winch at the moment I think I'll go down the dc to dc route, im hoping to get a winch in the new year when fund's allow so its just the fridge and a few accessories for a while, is it correct that the charger has to be as close as possible to the auxiliary battery ?. I appreciate all your help guy's. Cheers Tony.

[threedogs]

FYI Redarc have just released a dual battery monitor gauge,
similar to whats out there but a Redarc Brand I think Price is $165

[bishbashbosh]

I tell you what guy's this can all get very confusing but as im not running a winch at the moment I think I'll go down the dc to dc route, im hoping to get a winch in the new year when fund's allow so its just the fridge and a few accessories for a while, is it correct that the charger has to be as close as possible to the auxiliary battery ?. I appreciate all your help guy's. Cheers Tony.

Yup you want that charger as close as you can get it.. my is about a metre of cable away and nil problems.