Battery charging circuits

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

Re: Battery charging circuits

Like a fridge?

Should be able to do that in the morning. So, put the fridge on the battery for a few minutes, then disconnect it and read the volts?

Michael

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Re: Battery charging circuits

Most guides to removing surface charge talk about approx. 10A for 3min. I doubt your fridge will draw anywhere near 10A. If you don't have a bigger load, try running the fridge for 15min. Of course the charging circuit should be disconnected during this process and the testing.

Leachy

[Crammy Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Crammy]

Re: Battery charging circuits

Is there no under bonnet version of Ranox or an equivalent. I really don't want to run a set of wires back and forward of the cabin to get to the under bonnet second battery.

Much better idea for me 8)

One of the auto sparkys on site just said, "Is it possible to get Toyota to up the voltage output for the alternator through the ECU" to me IMHO Toyota are not allowing us to charge up a simple dual battery through a solenoid, therefore leaving us no choice but to purchase extra gear needed.... Can this be done ? :|

Metro09,

If you're running sockets in the rear off your auxiliary battery, you're already going to be running cables to the back :idea: It's no big deal to run 1 extra is it? Really if you do a decent job on the install all you'll need is 2 wires running through. With my setup I only have 1. Thats either the same or 1 less than what you'll have with your battery under the bonnet running an outlet in the back. I've run 1 35mm2 to the back and run my ranox, inverter and the sockets when the ranox is charging off the one supply... Simple.

Golly,

Not sure what fridge size you have but I have a 60L waeco and I can fit my 90AH AGM in a battery box in front of the fridge (between fridge and back seat) with no problems at all. You'll find that because the middle row of seats sits back on an angle (unless your passengers sit bolt upright) you'll have a void which would normally be wasted space anyway... Perfect spot for the battery! And better still, if you need power away from the car you simply unplug the battery and take it where you want. My inverter is also removable. The whole setup has anderson plugs so I can use my inverter away from the car too.

Really it depends on how you'll use the system and what you want out of it. If you'll get away with 70-80% charged batteries and aren't too fussed about wrecking your batteries from discharging too deep go for the simplest and cheapest install. If you want the best, go the Ranox for longer lasting batteries both discharging and life span. When you discharge a battery the rule of thumb is to not discharge below 40-50%. So starting at say 80% will give you a realistic figure of say a 40% usable energy from your battery without doing damage. Using the Ranox you'll get 60%.

So to put that into usable Ah terms based on 100Ah battery.

D4D alt (Approx 80% charge and min 40% discharge): 40Ah Usable from 100Ah
RanOx (Approx 100% charge and min 40% discharge): 60Ah Usable from 100Ah

You need to also take into account that the Ranox will charge quicker than the Alt to full capacity (Ranox 100% Alt 80%). If you're doing long trips it will take at least a full days driving to get to 70% from a discharged battery. Happened to me up the cape using a redarc solenoid. The system was a big let down for long extended trips.

Sorry to go on, but I've used both systems, redarc and now the Ranox, and can tell you from experience that in the D4D, the Ranox is the only way to go for optimal performance.

Cheers,

Crammy

[Steve & Sandra Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve & Sandra]

Re: Battery charging circuits

What about a smaller solar panel for maintenance charging whilst you are away. ?????????????????

Steve