olcoolone wrote:Your Hilux will charge it to about 600% SOC and a DC-Dc charger will help you heaps.
olcoolone wrote:I would say the article was written by someone who knew very little about battery's and charging.
olcoolone wrote:The battery of the future will be silicon anode Li-Ion nanowire type (big word) , they are in development at the moment and they will change the way of battery use.
olcoolone wrote:
We leave Tuesday morning for a 10 day trip into the Simpson Desert with some research scientist from Melbourne Uni....collecting moss, Will have plenty of time to test the RedArc and I will keep you's informed of the outcome.
Don't know about scientist friend.....Alby wrote:olcoolone wrote:
We leave Tuesday morning for a 10 day trip into the Simpson Desert with some research scientist from Melbourne Uni....collecting moss, Will have plenty of time to test the RedArc and I will keep you's informed of the outcome.
I need to sort out my battery setup so look forward to seeing how the redarc performs,
Just a tip for your scientist friend..........don't look for moss on a rolling stone .
marksorensen wrote:Hey there Bruiser. I hear you loud and clear. We travelled all around the country over the years and i think i've tried every type of battery and charge option other than solar. Even tried wind generation. My efforts and opinion could be described below:
Dual batteries in 75 & 2 X 80 series (roof top camper) with alternator beefed up to handle 100 amps were ok but when running two fridges across the Simpson Desert they struggled and we basically had nothing after 1/3 of the way through the trip. I tried 130 amp hr deep cycle until a so called battery expert reccomended marine batteries as they also have cranking power. This was good for running the winch but hopeless for anything else.
Went to a Hilux (swags) and fitted dual batteries - again hopeless even more so as you can't get a decent size battery under the hood. We tried two 210 amp hr 6 volts in the back. Plenty of power to run shit but the batteries were so big they failed to what i was told later on was plate separation due to the corrugations etc.
Went to a Prado (tent camping) did not even consider dual batteries as i would be in the same boat as the hilux for size i could fit and these systems are just about unafordable when compared to a 1 kva generator. I brought a marine battery box for $20 and fitted numerous plugs and a small volt meter. I put a dry cell 115 amp hour deep cycle battery in the box. Went and brought a 2 stage "calibre" electronic battery charger from super cheap for $80 then did the hunting for size and brand of generator.
I decided i would never have to run an air conditioner while camping so we agreed on a 1.0 kva unit. We looked at all the small inverter ones that had some kind of reputation: Engel, Honda, Yamaha, Kypor. I spoke with campers and retailers about these and the Kypor was instantly thrown out. They look like a Honda but they are made from Taiwaneese crap and everyone i spoke to said that all the little bits were falling apart like the pull start and the casing. They are also much much noisier than any of the others around. We then looked at the Engel. It was a good solid machine and not a bad work was spoken about them as was the Honda and at the time the not as popular yamaha. All the of specs summed up in that the Yamaha was the quietest, the most economical and has a slightly larger fuel tank than all of the rest. All three were pretty much the same price except Honda was offering a $300 cash back. I brought the Yamaha. I have now had it three years and it gets used at least every three weeks. The combination of the battery in the tent with the charger and generator was amazing. We could run anything we like during the day then of an afternoon run the genny and charger for a couple of hours and it was back to almost fully charged. We travelled around the Alps for 4 weeks and had the most comfortable trip ever.
Now if your not sick of my rambling yet.........
We finally gave up the tent camping and brought a Kimberly Kamper. Great investment but later found that the AGM batteries that i got and that is 4 X 35 amp hour batteries (small so as not to have problems with plate separation) needed a minimum of 14 volt charge rate otherwise Kimberly would void the warranty on the batteries. Because i have one of these new U beaut D4D Prado's with all of the electronic crap that we all love these days i find out that the alternator on these things are lucky to put out 13.2 volts and 80 amps. Well I had already shelled out $600 for a switching unit that is used for duel battery systems and just run this down to an anderson plug. Wasn't i nice and peeved off when i find out that I didn't have enough current to open the circuit. I did a lot of swearing and then got down to some serious research and was put on to a guy called Alan Ran. He is the director of a company called "RanOx" this is a very inteligent 12 volt battery booster. It cost me another $470 and I had it delivered to Kimberly where they fitted it for me while the camper was being built. This thing has run sensors and temp probes with a million and one options and is tiny to boot. Since this fit up the agent who i brought my camper from is in the process of becomming a QLD distributor and has already fitted them to their entire hire fleet. Try this link:
RanOx DC-DC Multi-Stage Battery Booster/Charger
Since i have had my Kimberly I have actually used my generator once and that was on a 5 day camping trip to Carnarvon Gorge where i didn't move the campsite. I ran it for a total of 8 hrs behind a 20 amp smartcharger and that was it. The batteries were down to 11.8 volts when we left Carnarvon Gorge to come home to Brisbane i found that the batteries were fully charged before we even got to Towoomba.
I know i'm probably rabbiting on but I wished I could have found this info before I started so if you are setting up a camper trailer I guess my opinion is:
1. multiple small deep cycle batteries (210 amp hr) if you can fit or afford.
2. Yamaha EU1.0 genenerator
3. not larger than 20amp smart charger (geny struggles to run a 40amp)
4. RanOx DC to DC battery booster an absolute must.
I hope you didn't get bored and got some useful info from "my opinion and trials/bad experiences"
rosco01 wrote:thanks Rod,
I am chasing up some 8mm2 cabling at present (both pos and neg) and may even opt for 10mm2 - I don't know what physical size these will amount to -
frats,
Rosco
Current ratings provided with 12/24 volt cable are always of this nature. To determine cable size you must know:
1. The total conductor length,
2. The current that the cable will carry,
3. The permissible voltage drop (0.36 volts is fine for most 12 volt purposes, 0.72 for 24 volts).
From that it is possible to work out conductor size in sq mm as follows.
Length in metres x current in amps x 0.017/conductor size in sq mm = voltage drop.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 36 guests