BCDC needed for GRJ120 (Petrol) second battery system?

[CKups Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close CKups]

Hi All,

I am looking at getting a second battery system installed for my petrol 120 and went to 2 places for a quote. One was an auto electrical place and the other was a 4x4 place. The one place quoted a Redarc BCDC with the install and the other place said it was not necessary to have one with the petrol Prado...

What I am looking to achieve with the system is a couple of power points in the boot for a fridge and other accessories, an Anderson plug to power the future camper trailer and also the ability to plug in a solar panel while in camp.

Has anyone else had any experience with this and if so what did you end up doing with your second battery install? Is the BCDC not required with the petrol motor and why? Is an isolater all that is required? Any comments / feedback / experience would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

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

Either it will have a normal or high compensated alternator, either way you don't need to use a DCDC charger unless you have a specific need
for one, ie you intend to use a battery that can't accept high charge rates etc. If you use a flooded deep cycle or something like a Marine pro or
an AGM that can accept high charge currents like the Full river standard types (35A max recharge rate) recharge rates won't be an issue.

If you go with a simple VSR setup you'll get better performance than you would with a DCDC, if your alternator is a low output type then you will
also need to fit a booster diode to raise the output voltage.

[red hilux Member Find all posts View Profile Close red hilux]

Get a projecta dcdc 25amp charger.

You can can set it to a high voltage.

Also, this dcdc charger has the solar input you require when camping

electrcs is a simple thing to do if it’s just basic stuff

[CKups Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close CKups]

Thanks for your responses LeighW and red hilux, much appreciated. So other than me spelling DCDC wrong (LOL) what I got from that is it will be specific to my particular vehicle and also my needs as to whether a DCDC is required or not. From your comment red hilux am I assuming correctly that if I would like the solar input option then a DCDC will be required anyway. I was intending on using an AGM deep cycle battery.

Thanks again and safe travels.

[Addy120 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Addy120]

So other than me spelling DCDC wrong

You didn't spell it wrong, they refer to it as BCDC. Haven't googled why though

Addy