4x4 dual battery installations

Obviously you want to have the alternator supplying a decent charge too: above This is next to useless for fast, deep charging. A very basic explanation would be that the larger the current draw, the larger the wire cable needs to be. And the further the distance the wire needs to run, the thicker the wire needs to be. Water and power analogies work well here. If, for example, you want to fill a bucket of water fast, do you use a hose the size of a straw, or a 25mm garden hose?

Larger is even better, but could be overkill on smaller setups, and it is not cheap. Putting in fuses is necessary because of the potential of a short-circuit. We need one at each battery because each battery will be connected to the same cable. A very important thing to consider is where you are going to place your batteries. Standard open wet-cell batteries give off hydrogen gas when they are charging and discharging. Even worse, some people place battery chargers and even inverters next to these batteries.

Just think about that for a moment: a hydrogen-producing device next to a possible spark producing device…. Wet cell batteries must be housed in a properly vented area, with the venting externally, away from any ignition source. Hydrogen gas rises, so sealed battery enclosures should be vented externally top and bottom. If you need to place batteries inside the vehicle, then you should seriously consider sealed AGM Absorbed Glass Mat , or lead-crystal or gel batteries. These batteries, if placed in an enclosure, only need to be vented to atmosphere, and not necessarily vented externally.

Remember that gel batteries do not handle heat very well. However, they are safe to install inside the cabin or tray. A common misconception in the market is that the cold kills lead acid batteries; however, it is heat that does the damage. TWO IS better than one, surely? The second is to have the ability to jump-start your vehicle if the main start battery either fails or is flat.

How much electrical charge, or amps, a battery features is also important. Due to ever-stricter state forest and national park regulations — with increasing restrictions on the use of generators — solar panels will become an even more popular as a source of energy. A FLAT battery is good to no-one, and neither is a cooked, overcharged battery. To strike the right balance, a clever piece of tech to invest in is a Smart Charger — V AC or 12V DC — which provides the correct voltage or amperage based on the chemistry of the unit lead acid, AGM, gel or lithium , state of charge and internal resistance.

Most units can supply charging power to both the alternator and portable power. I connected to the start battery with the isolator and then into the DC-DC charger and left all of that installed in the vehicle nicely hidden under the seat.

I connected this to the start battery and all of this is hidden away. I simply plug in my fridge, rear lights and a couple of USBs for phone charging. Easy to install and I know I can never deplete my start battery and my fridge keeps going even when the car is off.

Description: 12V 50Ah lithium battery with a huge A discharge capacity plus a pure sine inverter. This package will give you AC power for recharging tools and appliances up to W. I already had solar panels and had all of the other leads for my DC loads. All I had to do was place the battery securely in place and mount the new inverter. The inverter was great for all of my rechargeable power tools.

My fridge connected straight to the DC power and my lights were also connected to the DC power. The package came with a remote monitoring screen and I mounted that so I could see it clearly. It is great and gives me a simple screen that tells me how much is left in the battery. I do also go into the next screen which tells me amps in or out and time to empty or full but I only did that when setting up to see how much each item was drawing or how my solar panels were going. Description: 12V Ah lithium battery with 50A discharge capacity.

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