2nd Battery

Did not see it mentioned in the thread
BUT if putting any battery within the vehicle's cabin area including the boot it must be a SEALED battery --- as lead acid batteries including the Deep Cycle type give off hydrogen gas --- can cause a absoulute disaster which you will no longer be around to tell about.

cheers
Coyotte
 
i'm thinking just using a normal deep cycle in a box that goes behind the passengers seat in the footwell area, only for camping trips, also once i've built my rear draws i mau have a spare corner that it'd fit in well
 
Eastie said:
Never seen one but these look very useful for a portable dual battery setup. I suppose add a decent battery and it's around the same as a thumper?

https://www.sidewinder.com.au/page133.html
Click to expand...

I have exactly that batt box.......

I threw a 100Ah gel batt with low cranking amps but longer running time in and its sweet. Has an anderson plug input, enough outlets for my fridge (anderson plug), a ciggy plug for my inverter which runs the laptop and any chargers I am running and a narva plug i havnt used as yet.

I also bought a fridge off him....

https://www.sidewinder.com.au/page25.html

Its an awesome fridge.... maybe a little big for the Suby for a weekend but awesome for for longer trips.

I have run that fridge off that batt box for 6 days and it still had some left in it......

I recommend both these products. The batt box means I dont have to carry the battery everywhere..... I have taken it away and left it in the caravan when camping at parks and done the local beaches and driving without the weight and it keeping excess "produce" cool whilst away. It's a very versatile setup. I had a dual batt charger setup installed a while back in prep for later developements with an anderson plug cabled into the rear left pocket which normally holds race-tape and crap..... everything plugs in and runs sweet.
 
Last edited:
SKT said:
a ciggy plug for my inverter which runs the laptop and any chargers I am running
Click to expand...

I don't use my inverter much anymore - I got a 12V supply for the laptop and a 12V charger specifically for my Canon camera batteries.

It does come in handy at home for running the entertainment system during blackouts though! :iconwink:
 
With the Sidewinder Dual Battery setup you can also run a cable (advailble from sidewinder ) from the outlet anderson plug to a camper etc with its own battery --- hence leaving the main setup in the vechile whilst away --- it's also quite capable of running off the 800 amp Solar panel from sidewinder ---- well thats how my setup works but I do go away for extended periods.

cheers
Coyotte
 
I would guess "safe" if properly enclosed and strapped down. Load and recharging would be other factors - what would you want to run off it?

I tend to avoid inverters unless absolutely necessary as they are an inefffcient use of power. So I have acquired 12v chargers for everything I use e.g. cameras, torches, phones etc.
 
Best approach is definitely to use 12v chargers/devices. Inverters are ineffecient as Kevin said so you'd get little runtime from those SLA batteries, especially the small ones.

I'm very happy with my dual battery set up so far. Was able to run the fridge for about 24 hours with the temp at about 2degC and car parked in full sun and battery was only down to 12.1v. Means I should be able to get 48 hours out of it if I had to which is plenty. Longer time than that and I'll have the trailer with 4x the battery capacity and solar recharging.
 
That's exactly what I have for my "other" axillary battery a sealed 9 amp/hr. It stays in the car all the time and is secured by a short webbing strap passing under the rear floor foam. Its connected by a two pin plug to the rear cigarette lighter power point and has a double cigarette lighter socket stuck on with double sided tape. Its great taking into the tent, recharging the phone, running LED lights, running the portable electric shower etc etc. It will also power my Waeco fridge for a day, so if I am on a day trip I don't even bother with my 55 amp/hr battery.

cheers
 
Last edited:
engel

Hi There
I have a new engel aswell, was going to run it on one battery with a cut out for now and see how we get on. Has anyone else done this before.
Also, how do you get the cable through the firewall, i have the glove box off but it is still not obvious to me.
Any help appreciated.
James
 
I had mine done with the wiring to the back of the car with an Anderson plug, then when I wanted to use it I would just chuck the 100AH AGM sealed battery and fridge in the back, charging off the wiring to the front of the vehicle.

That big a battery is VERY heavy, but allowed us to take it out of the car for up to 3 days before charging (we pretty much only ran a Waeco/Engel fridge off it, so not too much power draw).

All up, including Remco battery from BCF, was about $700. Unfortunately, that car went for a swim earlier this year (Brisbane floods in May), so now I have to look at getting something organised for the new '06 XT ;)
 
I have my AGM battery in the back, with an Anderson plug to disconnect. Ran the cable through the firewall through an existing unused grommet that sits between the brake booster and the clutch oil container.
Cheers
 
I am suspicious of what batteries are put in those "thumper" packages.

I mean they could cheaply use sealed batteries such as in UPS batteries, these are much cheaper to buy than batteries specified for continuous
discharge-recharge cycles so would be a really good margin for those retailers. And the batteries will work ok, for a time......, but the life time and performance will be no where near as good as a proper agm deep-cycle.

so be careful in what you choose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top