What Brand Duel Battery System To Get / Fridge

[stevehastings]

Hi Guys, well only new to this and I would like some advice on what duel battery system to buy. Looking on ebay there is many types and price ranges.
I am going to be running a 50l fridge, compressor, cb, winch, and night lights
Also what would be a good battery for it, and does it have to match the main battery.

Any thoughts on what your running, and the good and bad points off your system, will be a great help for me to decide on what I will instill.

Any fridge tips on whitch one to buy will help to (I am going for the ARB fridge at the mo)

Thanks Steve.

[Alby]

There is a long very informative thread that Olcoolone has written extensive information on the subject that you can read up on but basically the entry level Redarc system has proven to be a good reliable unit and was the most common type of setup or you can go the top end way of a DC to DC charger setup, that thread will give you the technical aspects of it all.
The battery does not have to match your cranking battery and the best way to go is an AGM battery the bigger the better but something between 80 and 120 A/H

If you do a bit of a search there has been a fair bit written on the subject.

[angusjones8]

I run and always have run the redarc solenoid and any old battery i could get my hands on(always have good second hand ones kicking round work) but a nice deep cycle battery would be the go. as far as fridges go ya cant go past an engel, i have had mine for 5 years and it has hardly been turned off in that time as i use it as a freezer at home,it gets bashed round the back off my ute, gets wet, covered in dust, horses and dogs chewing on it and anything else that gets thrown at it and it has never missed a beat.
hope this helps.

[ktm300]

Bushman fridges are well worth a look.

[dute]

Bushman fridges are well worth a look.

X 2

As most people well tell you that the fridge that they run is best, I say do your homework before you buy

[jamfix69]

I noticed you said you were going to run your winch off your dual battery? I'm pretty sure you should run it off your main battery.( some one correct me if I'm wrong).

[LJV13B]

The Ctek 250S Dual dc-dc chargers are the go too, in the future you can add solar plus they maintain and can restore batteries with their 8 stage charging. Worth a look and just a little more than the Redarc.

[Qwerty]

Hi mate,

There's a lot of different ways to skin a cat ... but I would recommend you ;

1) Use a DC - DC charger (20 or 30 amps) , it will correctly charge your AUX battery to 100% SOC ... which your Alternator won't in a smart solenoid scenario. It also allows you to run different size and type of battery for your AUX battery.

2) Ensure you have a seperate circuit for your aux system, so a couple of fridge jacks / stereo system etc all wired into your aux battery only.

Run your compressor off your starter battery, with engine running.

I run an Waeco CF-50 fridge (got it cheap through a mate) and love it ... and use an Engel 40litre as a freezer on extended trips.

Waeco vs Engel is a scrunch vs fold type debate ... personally I like Waeco in that it's lighter and seems to suck less juice ... but you'l find a thousand blokes with opposite view ... and I do think the Engels are a little more robust if abused for years on end. (that said, my Waeco's have taken beatings).

Definately get a fridge with a digital readout as to the temp setting ... the engel I use shits me in that it takes a bit of guess work as to how cold it's set.

I've got a 115ah AUx battery in the engine bay, with a RedArc DC 20amp 3 stage charger.

I have a fridge socket in the cabin, and in the tray (canopy) ... aswell as a 60amp anderson plug/feed in the cabin for use of inverter.

Have wired the Stereo Deck / Sat Nav , and 2 stereo amplifiers into AUX battery. Have a switch which turns the amps /stereo on , without needing the key ... so when I'm camping I can run stereo system all night with no need to have key in the ignition. Starter battery is never touched.

Starter battery is a 660CCA calcium Bosch Battery.

DownSide? None really, but I have had a small shortfall with my (brand new) alternator on the V6 (different in D4D i believe) ... if i sit idling, in gear (lower revs), with a FULL load (highbeams, fogs, spotties, AC FAN, AUX battery on Boost) ... alternator barely keeps up. The Good thing about the Redarc is it detects this and switches itself off, allowing the load to return to levels the alternator could handle. It's actually never once caused me a problem in the field, just in workshop stress testing. If i was in a smart solenoid situation, I think I'd have found BOTH batteries would have been getting insufficient charge.

Other recommendation : Get a decent AC-DC 20 amp charger (7 or 8 stage) ... and charge both your batteries up to 100% SOC before heading off on a big trip ... keep the batteries nice and fresh.

I also take AC charger when on extended camping trip where gennys or AC is available ... particularly if stereo / two fridges are running.

Get a solar panel ... mates of mine were using them over a recent trip and they would trickle 4 or 5amps into the AUX battery all day long ... not a bad way to contribute.

[sbeer7]

Really good info there qwerty! It's helped me decide what exactly to do with my setup now, cheers!

[Uncle]

Have a look at autofridge's. If you have the extra cash i think that they are worth it, only down side is that they only come in 2 sizes.