Wednesday, Mar 21, 2012 at 09:04
Hi Kieran
First off the Redarc 12v DC/DC charger only works when your truck is running, its power comes from the alternator.
Redarc make two sizes a 40 amp and a 20 amp
No the Redarc I described is not an inverter.
Yes you can bye 240v /12v Battery Chargers that are
inverters.
IMHO I always go with the highest output charger I can afford, this can result in shorter charging times.
Just because is says 40 amps dose not mean it will pump 40 amps all the time.
In my Ftruck I have a Redarc DC/DC 40 amp for my 2 x start batts and 3 x 125 Aux batts, to run 2 x 40 lt Engels, I also run a 50 amp 240v Xantrac charger off my gen set and I can bring low batts back up very quickly.
My kit is in the silly end of the scale but I
bush camp for weeks at a time with no issues, solar for the van with another 5 batts.
(Please don't pick on me for some simple logic shown below)
Kieran as an example 2 x 125 amps = 250 amps ( usable say 100 amps )
now a 10 amp 240v charger should take 10 hours to re charge, a 50 amp 240v charger 2 hours, in theory, but it's not quite that simple in the real world, but for the example OK
Most good charger's start with a heavy hit perhaps there stated max output, then they lower the charge rate to a point that you may only be getting 1.5 amps per hour.
So perhaps you can get the idea of why a higher output charger can be beneficial.
Again the Redarc ONLY needs you to run your truck to work, no 240v required.
Gadget
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