Spilsy's 2013 White GXL Build Up

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

I would get a normal battery box instead of an Ark Power Pack unless you want all the fancy inverter stuff.
To keep the battery charged up, run 6B&S into the cabin and fit an isolator or a VSR. Put an anderson plug on the battery box and you're set.
Also fit LeighW's alternator voltage booster diode.

Thanks for the advice, for a novice a VSR is...

The reason for the Ark Power Pack was the built in 240 v charging I guess. This could be overcome by buying a standard charger, though they are fairly pricey...
Also, the Power Pack has the ability to house the Exide Battery (304L x 173W x 225H)

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VSR = Voltage Sensitive Relay. I use a dual sense VSR. Meaning that I can connect my 240V charger at the battery box and the VSR will sense this and also charge the starter battery.

There are good 240V chargers around and this is a new model from Projecta. It is 15A but you can also select the charge current
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PROJECTA-...item33874321d8

I have the 7A version which is good enough for me. People tell me that I need a charging current that is 10% of the battery capacity. I ahve a 130AH battery and so I'm supposed to have a 13A charger. Still not clear to me why so at the moment, I'll continue with the 7A version
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PROJECTA-...item4178534c8d

Just found some competition with the Arkpak - the Thunder Weekender
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/THUNDER-W...item4190d538bd

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

VSR = Voltage Sensitive Relay. I use a dual sense VSR. Meaning that I can connect my 240V charger at the battery box and the VSR will sense this and also charge the starter battery.

There are good 240V chargers around and this is a new model from Projecta. It is 15A but you can also select the charge current
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PROJECTA-...item33874321d8

I have the 7A version which is good enough for me. People tell me that I need a charging current that is 10% of the battery capacity. I ahve a 130AH battery and so I'm supposed to have a 13A charger. Still not clear to me why so at the moment, I'll continue with the 7A version
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PROJECTA-...item4178534c8d

Just found some competition with the Arkpak - the Thunder Weekender
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/THUNDER-W...item4190d538bd

Thanks for that, I'll have a good look into it. I'm fairly certain the amperage of a charger does not necessarily need to relate to the size of the battery...the higher the amperage, the quicker the recharge can be.

Can I ask which VSR you use?

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Thanks for that, I'll have a good look into it. I'm fairly certain the amperage of a charger does not necessarily need to relate to the size of the battery...the higher the amperage, the quicker the recharge can be.

That was what I thought. My AGM maintains its voltage fairly well. So it doesn't take long to charge it up overnight prior to a trip with a 7A charger.

Can I ask which VSR you use?

I bought this one
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-DUAL-...item2a4b66739e

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I bought this one
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-DUAL-...item2a4b66739e

Cheers!

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I would get a normal battery box instead of an Ark Power Pack unless you want all the fancy inverter stuff.

Im thinking, once I can confirm that my new battery will fit, perhaps the Projecta BPE330 Battery Box may be a solid investment.
https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/publ...id=1703&cat=30

I have the 7A version which is good enough for me. People tell me that I need a charging current that is 10% of the battery capacity. I ahve a 130AH battery and so I'm supposed to have a 13A charger. Still not clear to me why so at the moment, I'll continue with the 7A version

Especially if I pair it with the Projecta IC700, as you have suggested.
https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/publ...?id=474&cat=45

Total cost is about $30 more than the Ark Power Pack, but I get a better charger, so its probably a win situation.

Ark Power Pack: https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/publ...id=1930&cat=30

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Im thinking, once I can confirm that my new battery will fit, perhaps the Projecta BPE330 Battery Box may be a solid investment.
https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/publ...id=1703&cat=30

Yes looks good. Just need to add some Anderson plugs to it. I have both 50A Anderson plugs as well as 30A Anderson Powerpoles.

Especially if I pair it with the Projecta IC700, as you have suggested.
https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/publ...?id=474&cat=45

Total cost is about $30 more than the Ark Power Pack, but I get a better charger, so its probably a win situation.

Ark Power Pack: https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/publ...id=1930&cat=30

I was of the impression that you were after the new version - Arkpak. The built-in charger on the original Ark Power Pack is pretty inadequate for a 130Ah battery.

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I was of the impression that you were after the new version - Arkpak. The built-in charger on the original Ark Power Pack is pretty inadequate for a 130Ah battery.

I'd love the new one, but the budget isnt going to stretch for that at the moment. The charger's only 1.5 amps I believe and a 3 stage.

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The Arkpak 715 has a 4A charger.
The Arkpak 730 has a 7A charger.

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The Arkpak 715 has a 4A charger.
The Arkpak 730 has a 7A charger.

I should have specified that the charger stats were for the original Ark Power Pack.
The 715 or 730 would be alright buys if I could part with the cash.

[Drift Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drift]

I bought one of these along with 100ah AGM before Xmas as we were heading up north for a couple of weeks in the Hilux. Fantastic peice of kit. Managed to get a 12v charger thrown in for charging straight of the cig socket. Just needed something quickly as we didn't have time to faff about installing Anderson plugs and associated cabling. A couple of hours driving per day was more than enough to keep the 50l Waeco going along with a couple of LED lights and charging the phones/iPads etc (inverter has a built in usb charger). I didn't think we'd use the inverter at all tbh aside from the usb charging but it's actually been quite handy.

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I bought one of these along with 100ah AGM before Xmas as we were heading up north for a couple of weeks in the Hilux. Fantastic peice of kit. Managed to get a 12v charger thrown in for charging straight of the cig socket.

Hadn't even thought of a simple 12v charger.
Can anyone give a Pro's/Con's list of using a 12v charger over a proper dual battery setup?
At the moment I'm open to anything.

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I should clarify that the one I have is not so much a charger as a 12-24v dc converter that plugs into the box where the standard arkpak 240v power supply would. Just uses the same in built smart charger. Still charges at 7A.

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I see...
Does this put any strain on the starter battery/alternator?

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A proper dual battery system will put out as much current as the battery will take. A straight cig lighter charger connection is limited to the 12V accessory fuse rating and with the thin cabling, there will be voltage drop. So the charging rate would be slow.

If it is a DC-DC converter, then that is a different story as that will increase the output voltage to the required level for charging. But the current is still limited by the fuse rating of the cig socket or the DC-DC output.