The 150 series Dual Battery Guide

[mullerwh Member Find all posts View Profile Close mullerwh]

I'm running a voltage booster installed with a 55ah Yellowtop and a 120ah AGM in the back. The setup was as follow, main battery to 100a circuit breaker to isolator to 55ah yellow top to 100a circuit breaker to Redarc BCDC to 60a circuit breaker to 120ah Fullriver AGM in the back. Effectively the battery in the back charges of rhe yellowtop in the front. With this setup I ran a fridge and freezer in the back for a week with the occasional driving. I had one issue on the last 2 days I did not drive that much and both batteries were down to about 60-70%. The first 100amp circuit breaker kept on tripping whenever I started the vehicle and the only way i could get it working was to trip the back circuit manually and charge the agm in front first. Then only could I connect the back battery for charging. Not sure how this works but cannot think that the batteries could pull moren than 100a.

[Whit Find all posts View Profile Close Whit]

Does a TJM 12" battery tray fit a 2012 diesel?

[Ghandi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ghandi]

Gday all,
I have read through the whole thread (that was an achievement in itself!) and I am probably more confused than before

One thing I notice is the lack of discussion regarding DCDC chargers. Do you guys think an isolator (sBi12 etc) and a diode is sufficient and cheaper, than say a RedArc 25A/40A ($600ish!) or even a Ctek 250S dual. Even if you can get one for $360 (Repco on sale now!).

Especially if I want solar (MPPT Regs on these units) down the line? It seems a discounted Ctek as above would be cheaper than isolator, diode, solar relay etc down the line?

Just a standard under bonnet, aux battery setup running fridge, lights, occasional handheld compressor.

Any hints or suggestions are much appreciated!! Enjoy the weekend!

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

It depends on what sort of system your after, if you need a system that is required to recharge your batteries daily, or every couple of days over a say a three month touring season then economising on the setup might not be the best thing.

To get close to the performance of a VSR and diode setup for in car charging you would need at least a 40A charger and in the case of the ctek you would need a smart pass in addition to the charger.

A 40A DCDC charger will give similar performance to the VSR diode setup but for one battery only, if your going to have two aux,s in the car or a couple of batteries in a trailer etc then your going to need an extra charger for each battery.

As for the MPPT function, none of the DCDC have really good mppt chargers, from what I have seen even a top of the line mppt won't give much improvement when used with a 12V panel, you would better off using a 24V panel and an mppt charger that can handle the 24V panel and charge a 12V battery. This gives the mppt a lot more head room to play with.

If your going to rely on the system to keep food frozen etc in remote areas then redundancy should also be taken in to account and having all your eggs in one basket might not be the be idea.

Your the one that knows your needs, if your on a budget and only occassionally going to use the system for a weekend getaway and not worried about rapid recharge times then a basic all in one setup may suit your needs.

[Ghandi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ghandi]

Thanks for the response Leigh,

The main setup I'm looking at will be to run the Waeco CFX 60 (apparently 0.85A/hr off website, say 1A/hr) whilst camping, generally for 2-3 days (at most!) in one spot. Also run some LED awning and work lights as well of an AUX battery setup. I would like to run some Andersons on front and back down the track for accessories eg portable 4WD Supacentre Thumper aircompressor etc. Would running the car for 15mins every 2 days suffice with keeping it topped up?

I also want to leave the door open for solar input down the track, once I pay off the dual battery mortgage! I'm confused that some kits like the SBI12KIT (~$250) (plus a $55 diode) seem to do the same job as a $600+ DCDC charger! :shock:

Will I be left short with a RedArc/diode kit (and say a ~75Ah battery <25kgs) for what I intend? Also what is needed with this kit for solar down the track?

Thanks again all!

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

Thanks for the response Leigh,

The main setup I'm looking at will be to run the Waeco CFX 60 (apparently 0.85A/hr off website, say 1A/hr) whilst camping, generally for 2-3 days (at most!) in one spot. Also run some LED awning and work lights as well of an AUX battery setup. I would like to run some Andersons on front and back down the track for accessories eg portable 4WD Supacentre Thumper aircompressor etc. Would running the car for 15mins every 2 days suffice with keeping it topped up?

I also want to leave the door open for solar input down the track, once I pay off the dual battery mortgage! I'm confused that some kits like the SBI12KIT (~$250) (plus a $55 diode) seem to do the same job as a $600+ DCDC charger! :shock:

Will I be left short with a RedArc/diode kit (and say a ~75Ah battery <25kgs) for what I intend? Also what is needed with this kit for solar down the track?

Thanks again all!

Will be interested in the response, thats exactly what I want.

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

The VSR setup will do a better job than the $600+ charger in car assuming your
your 150 is pre 2016.

Beware the Waeco figures, the quoted figures represent running as a fridge ie 5 °C interior, 32 °C ambient. If the your running it as a freezer you can triple that figure and it doesn't need to be very hot outside for the interior of a parked car to get to 32C in the sun.

For solar you'll need to add panels and a solar regulator.

[Ghandi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ghandi]

Awesome... I'm glad to hear that the 'cheaper' option, will be more effective too! And yes I have a 2013 (MY14)... 3.0 D4D. Does the new 2.8lt have a different alternator that affects it?

WAECO figures point is interesting, I thought 5degC (I usually use 2or3degrees) and 32 ambient was fairly accurate. In summer with 45degC... you expect that Amp draw to double or triple? It is in a fridge bag, and I intend to tint the rear side windows to full dark too.

I do believe (need to confirm when back home) that ARB stated I need a solar relay kit if I went down the SBI path. Another $80 or so. A good quality solar regulator would set you back $100ish?

I'm guessing there are lots of guys and gals on this site that have a very similar setup with little to no dramas that I've read!

Thanks again Leigh and others

[Ghandi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ghandi]

Well after much to-ing and fro-ing, between DCDC & isolator etc. I've finally decided on and installed a dual battery setup in my MY14 3.0lt Diesel based on the RedArc SBi12 isolator.

I haven't bought a diode booster yet... Need to wait for the Minister of War & Finance to approve further expenditure But it's been installed and used for a few weeks now with no major dramas... Yet!! Will put some pics up shortly to give others ideas, including fuse panel mounting & rear work light.


Next on the spendings list will be the diode and a good quality ACDC charger. Any suggestions on a good charger (CTEK 5/7/10 amp etc?) and wiring that in properly via Anderson plug? Should you connect Anderson plug to the main battery, and then the charger would charge the main battery, isolator would kick in when full, then charge AUX/accessories battery ? Or best to charge Main/start battery seperate and disconnected from vehicle?

Cheers all!!
-ghandi

[KeenOnFishing Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close KeenOnFishing]

Guys, I have been through these threads and I think I know what I am going to install. I just want to run it past you in case I am missing something and get some advice.
I have the 2015 3.0L and intend on using the system to power a fridge for short trips. I do not intend on relying on this for a week at a time.

Redarc SBI12D Kit
Has 3 BS cable looks OK may make a longer earth cable to return to cranking battery.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/REDARC-SB...YAAMXQyY1TWG6S

Marine Pro 730 Battery to be mounted under the bonnet.
Basha Battery tray to suit N70 with a mount for aircon pipe

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TOYOTA-PR...UAAMXQWuRQ-oNx

What size cable to use for the run to the rear. Will be running a fridge from a cig plug in the boot but am also considering a anderson plug that I can use to charge the batteries in the engine bay (why I want the D model redarc). My idea is that I would use a ac dc charger for this when I get home to fully charge batteries and leave the door open for a solar set up, if I ever decide to do a longer trip. That would work right?
I think that I would need 3 BS cable for this purpose but not really sure how I am going to set it up.

Thanks guys any advice is appreciated.

[KeenOnFishing Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close KeenOnFishing]

Leigh, can you pm a link to your booster diode please. Or tell me which one it is. There's lots on eBay but not sure which one is yours.
Cheers

[Ghandi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ghandi]

Pretty sure it's HKB

https://www.hkbelect.com

Let me know if im wrong!

-ghandi

[Little Oz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Little Oz]

I'm looking at using a battery box with a 20A Redarc BCDC charger with an Andersen plug running from the engine to the back of the car. I rather use the portable option in case I sell the car in the future I also want to be able to take it out and use around the campsite. I just want to check the best battery to use. It will mainly be used for a 40L engel fridge and led lights. My original option was a 120AH deep cycle however I have also been looking at the Optima yellow top but I think it only has 66AH. It will mainly be used for short trips on weekends however it will also get the odd longer trip of 2-3 weeks. Can the yellow top also be used as a marine battery, I may also use it as a second battery on the boat.

Thanks

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

I'm looking at using a battery box with a 20A Redarc BCDC charger with an Andersen plug running from the engine to the back of the car. I rather use the portable option in case I sell the car in the future I also want to be able to take it out and use around the campsite. I just want to check the best battery to use. It will mainly be used for a 40L engel fridge and led lights. My original option was a 120AH deep cycle however I have also been looking at the Optima yellow top but I think it only has 66AH. It will mainly be used for short trips on weekends however it will also get the odd longer trip of 2-3 weeks. Can the yellow top also be used as a marine battery, I may also use it as a second battery on the boat.

Thanks

Hi Little Oz.

The Optima would be fine for deepcycle and marine use, and using around (the recommended) 50% of a 120ah is not that different to using most of the 66ah in an Optima.

Recharging via the BCDC will obviously be limited to 20a/hr so you just need to allow for this when you're not driving for a few days...

[Little Oz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Little Oz]

Thanks Micheal

Just had a look and they also have a deep cycle marine/cranking option. This might be the way to go.