Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

[yetiboy01 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close yetiboy01]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Yes Ashdown-Ingram, It was a retail price from them, when I rang they asked account or retail & they gave me the retail price as I dont have an account with them, I have been told that Ingram have the exclusive rights for 6 months on this product in Brisbane

Ingram in Brisabane are selling them for $360 plus gst

yetiboy01, Is that a trade price? I assume you mean Ashdown-Ingram?

[joz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close joz]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

G'day, how does this compare to the sidewinder units such as the DBi-120 $80. Because of the alternator charge drop due to under bonnet heat this unit will charge the Aux same as the main. what advantage does the Redarc unit have at that price?

[01Rod Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 01Rod]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

G'day, how does this compare to the sidewinder units such as the DBi-120 $80. Because of the alternator charge drop due to under bonnet heat this unit will charge the Aux same as the main. what advantage does the Redarc unit have at that price?

What advantage... well its apples and oranges there..
The dbi-120 is just a switch - closes to join the two batteries together above 13.2 v then opens when the voltage drops to 12.4 to stop the main battery discharging.

The Redarc unit works the same way in isolating the two batteries BUT it takes the input voltage (anywhere between 9v - 32v good for situations of voltage drop due to cable length like a caravan or camper trailer) and boosts the voltage (or drops it down)
to allow the battery to be charged with a
Three stage charging process= Boost - absortion - float
It also features different battery type charging capability.. GEL/AGM - Leadacid and Calcium Calcium.
with No Noise (big problem with the cheaper units I have tried)

The biggest advantage is to be able to fully charge a Calcium Calcium battery.
Most batteries these days are using the Calcium Calcium technology, but very little is understood about there charging requirments.
alot of Calcium Batteries are not labelled as such as there is no requirment to do so..
an example of this would be the Supercharge Allrounder MRV70 range of batteries. (nothing wrong with them just not marked as calcium)

A calium battery needs approx 15.50 - 16volts to achive 100% state of charge...
incorrectly charging the battery will cause premature failure especially when using these batteries as AUX batteries to run accessories constantly draining the battery.

So this unit allows you to have two different types of batteries fitted to the vehicle and still correctly charge the aux battery..
e.g. Lead acid main battery, Calcium calium battery as the Aux.

As you said.. if the main battery voltage drops to 13.20 due to the "temp sensing" then the aux battery voltage will still be upped to the required rate for the aux battery to fully charge.

End of the day you get what you pay for....

Just depends if you want the fridge to run for 1 day or three
and / or how often you want to replace your Aux battery.

Rod

[Gatty Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Gatty]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Hi Rod and fellow Prado owners,
Regarding the Red Arc DC-DC charger,
my dealings and understanding is that batteries need to be charged at say 14.4 volts Bulk charge correct yeah at 25 deg C,
If the red arc DC-DC charger is under bonnett and the under bonnett temp is 45 degrees, will it still push out 14.4 on bulk charge, I think you may find that the batteries will boil, causing thermal runaway and batteries to fail.
I have done some reading on the website and could not find any info on temp compinsation charging. i know under bonnett that the temp goes well above 50 deg c.

can you please clarify.

I am looking to get a Dc-Dc charger for myself, but would like some feed back there is three brands i am looking at.

cheers
Gatty.

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

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Gatty,

Unless you need to an under bonnet installation the best boost charger is a Ranox. It offers programable charging voltages, current limit and temperature compensation.

Leachy

[xvprado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xvprado]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

shutdown

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

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Gatty,

Unless you need to an under bonnet installation the best boost charger is a Ranox. It offers programable charging voltages, current limit and temperature compensation.

Leachy

as does the redarc unit
from their install brochure...........

FEATURES
• Selectable Multi-stage smart charging profiles for optimal charging of all automotive battery types
• Over current, short circuit, and reverse polarity protected
• High operating temperature range up to 80°C with over temperature protection
• Input under and over voltage shutdown

No the Redarc has three preset charging voltage profiles which are selected by the wiring configuration. These voltage levels correspond to what Redarc believe is suitable for different battery types. There is no facility for the user to customise these to match the battery manufacturer’s recommended voltage levels.

Likewise with the Redarc the user cannot limit the battery charge current, in fact the Redarc literature states "Make sure your battery can handle a 20mp charging rate" This is because the user cannot select and lower current limit.

The temperature protection you refer to is for the Redarc unit itself (not the battery) it does not provide compensated charging voltages based on battery temperature.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with the Redarc, in fact for under bonnet applications it would probably be my choice. But if under bonnet installation is not required then the Ranox offers a greater range of features and monitoring.

Leachy

[Gatty Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Gatty]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Leechy,
The renox unit has some great features, I like it.
CTEK have released a new unit called a D250s DC-DC charger, it is set to 14.4 absorption 20 amps max out put, 13.8 float, IP65 and temp compinsated charging, so it wont cook your AGM or gel batteries, nor boil flooded, three wire install.

looks great
check out
www.baintech.com.au

My Father who is in the Game has one in a 120 series D4d for trials he had 13.2 volts at the start battery when the vechile was warm and the alternator was under load. he has 14.4 now and 20 amps at the Aux Battery, it can also double up as a MPPT solar Reg.

he is happy.

Cheers Gatty

[Boomslang Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boomslang]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Hi Rod
If this is used to charge the Aux battery, can you just put a high current bypass switch in parrallel in case the main battery is in trouble and you need extra cranking amps?
Cheers
Piet

[vk2ss55 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vk2ss55]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Gatty
The normal compensation for lead acid batts is 3mV per cell per degree above either 20 or 25 deg .
Some manufacturers state 20 deg and some state 25 deg . So for a 6 cell batt (normal 12v) the float voltage should be reduced by 3mv X 6 cells =18mV per deg C above 25 . For normal float at 25 deg of 2.3V/cell X 6 cells = 13.8V .
At 40 deg this would be reduced to --- 13.800-0.018 X 15 = 13.800-0.27 = 13.53 V .

Clear as mud ?

Cheers Ross

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

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

The other constraint is that most manufactures do not recommed charging batteries what are above 50 degrees.
I have measured a temperature rise of 25 degrees behind the drivers side headlight in a Prado. So on a hot summers day a battery in this location will most certianly exceed 50 degrees and should not be charged.
There are too many vaiables the accurately quantify the detrimental effect on the battery of charging at temps greater than 50 degrees but it will most certian reduce the life expectancy of the battery.

Leachy

[01Rod Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 01Rod]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Couple of things with the heat issue.....

Under bonnet temps are high so the battery is going to warm up....
end of the day.. you also need to charge the aux battery..

Not much use driving for an hour then finding out the battery has not charged for 45mins of the trip.. if you get what I mean...

I find that most batteries installed under the bonnet have a life expectancy of approx 3 years. (due to engine bay temp)
So I would rather have my battery charged even when a little hot... than have the unit switch off....
Bearing in mind that.. if your not draining the battery down (ie no loads fridge etc) then the charger will go to float mode quickly anyway..
if you are out camping or touring and have run the battery down then you want it to re charge..... if it gets a bit hot well its going to be hot anyway due to engine bay temps...
again it will go to absorb and float mode when needed anyway..

One of the advantages of cacium calcium batteries is there ability to accept a higher charge voltage, increasing charge rate... without gassing the battery..
this allows them to be sealed and used as maintainance free batteries...
I would also suggest they will be better at withstanding higher temps from the engine bay.

On the other side.... AGM batteries are great.. but as each plate is coverered with fibreglass matting that absorbs the electrolyte,
that are then sealed into a plastic wrapper (like a shrink wrap) then bundled together to make a cell etc...

AGM batteries are not good with high temps and overcharging.. so I have often seen them failing in underbonnet applications due to heat...
add to that a high a charge voltage and the electrolyte boils and "pops" the plasit case the plate is wrapped in.. allowing the electrolyte to escape..
and thus the battery fails....


Just some thoughts....

Rod

[01Rod Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 01Rod]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Hi Rod
If this is used to charge the Aux battery, can you just put a high current bypass switch in parrallel in case the main battery is in trouble and you need extra cranking amps?
Cheers
Piet

I assume you are wanting to link the batteries together.. for starting or winching etc...
I dont see why you couldn't... as long as they seperate when the engine is stopped so both batteries dont discharge...

Rod

[Boomslang Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boomslang]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Yes, I was thinking of a manual bypass switch to link the batteries together during winching and cranking if I need to. It will be a short period hand controlled operation. My concern is what will the DC-DC do it the input and output connections are shorted tegether.

[KevinD4D Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close KevinD4D]

Re: Redarc BCDC-1220 20amp DC-DC 3 Stage Battery Charger Install

Yes, I was thinking of a manual bypass switch to link the batteries together during winching and cranking if I need to. It will be a short period hand controlled operation. My concern is what will the DC-DC do it the input and output connections are shorted tegether.

I did a test start of the car using heavy jumper leads from the aux to the main battery. There was no damage done to the redarc unit. I am sure they would have thought of this senario when they designed the unit but who knows. Anyway it did not hurt mine.