The 150 series Dual Battery Guide

[drivesafe]

• The solar input will also charge and maintain the Starter battery. • Built in battery guard for the starter battery.

Hi Winston and that is a feature that can be used when the motor is not running, but this is not what was being implied.

Anyway, rather than inflame this thread any further, if others want to know how to set their Toyotas up to be able to replace the maximum used battery capacity in the shortest drive time, in the most fuel efficient way, which is the one of the points of having a dual battery set up, can I suggest they start a new thread.

Time to stop the dcdc/ dual battery argument gents.
Roo you have crossed the line threatening multiple members, this will not be tolerated.

I'd suggest highly if others don't want holidays to calm it down now..

[winniliss]

As Roo pointed out "Another thing that is a piss off, it that the Ctek 250 Dual doesn't charge the cranking battery, so where do you get that from?"

D250S DUAL
FEATURES:
• Multi-step 20A temperature compensated battery charging and battery maintenance.
• Battery separation of Starter and Service batteries.
• Maximum power point tracking for solar panels charging the Service battery.
• Two power source inputs (alternator, solar, wind, Supply battery and other).
• Coordination of the two inputs, allowing parallel operation.
• The solar input will also charge and maintain the Starter battery. • Built in battery guard for the starter battery.

http://www.ctek.com/Archive/ProductM...%20DUAL_EN.pdf

What should have been stated in previous posts was that when connected to a solar panel the Ctek 250 will charge the starter battery.

Winston

[winniliss]

All this information must be an overload to some. Main points to consider are:

Where you live and or do most of your driving. I live in Darwin where it is 30deg most of the year. As a result my charging voltage with a booster diode is about 13.7 - 13.9vdc. The only time I constantly see 14.2v or so is when I drive down south.

Second thing is, once you know what your average charge voltage will be is battery selection. You need to find out what your battery's charging requirements are and see if your average charging voltage will accommodate this and how long it will take to charge the battery and how much by. You will then have different considerations for your starter and aux battery/s such winching, what ancillary items you will be supplying power to when your vehicle is not running etc.

Once that is sorted you can then look at what product you need to achieve this...

Winston.

[Alpinebully]

##########,

Honestly im not sold on the DC-DC charger just yet for a simple dual battery system, in your camper trailer or caravan sure but just to charge an aux battery in your car forget it.

Your right, most new vehicles with 'smart' alternators are a pain in the butt, but the voltages you mention do not match up with my own experiences with my wifes 2012 Prado 150. Her alternator would begin outputting 14.1-14.2V upon starting the vehicle.

But being a 'smart' alternator this voltage would drop down into the mid to high 13's after a while with the engine running.

This is where LeighW's voltage booster fuse comes into play and it works perfectly as advertised. My wifes Prado now puts out 14.4-14.5V constantly.

Bottom line Roo, you must understand that to properly maintain and charge a 12V vehicle battery you need 14.4-14.5volts. Yes, giving your batteries some loving with an AC charger every now and again is a great idea but generally speaking with 14.4-14.5volts IMO you will likely get the most longevity out of your batteries given they are likely to die because of the harsh operating conditions in the end anyways.

So in the case of modern smart alternators Leigh's product solves this problem, WHEREAS your DC-DC charger does NOT.

The 'main' battery is only ever going to see what the alternator puts out which is IMO not enough to properly maintain the cranking battery for a full and reasonably long life.

The DC-DC charger is only going to further impact the cranking battery negatively as it becomes 'another' load on the alternator dragging the voltage even lower. YES, the DC-DC charger is going to look after the Aux battery reasonably well but again if anything all it is going to do is speed up the already shorter life of your cranking battery thats charged by the smart alternator.

Id also support the other guys in that the alternator is capable of bulk charging the batteries much quicker then a 20A DC-DC Charger.

As for the costs... I think i payed around $80 for the Redarc SBi12 and $40-50bux for the voltage booster diode. Hard to argue for any DC-DC chargers out there again if your just wanting to charge and isolate an Auxiliary battery in your vehicle.

If your going to use a DC-DC charger in a modern vehicle with a 'smart alternator' then you still need to boost the alternators voltage anyways so the cranking battery is properly cared for too.

Travis.