Engel Smart Battery box

Submitted: Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 03:36

ThreadID: 103463 Views:7198 Replies:2 FollowUps:9

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Battery Power

In this article we explain why you might need an additional power source independent of the starting battery installed into your vehicle and we look in detail at types of batteries,

Rohan C

Can anyone help ? I have engel smart battery box, and are wondering if I can wire it up like a dual battery system in my dual cab, being wired direct from starter battery with Redarc isolater inbetween, OR do I need to use the 12V cigarette charger it came with ? Thanks

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Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 07:39

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 07:39

Hi Rohan,

There would be little advantage in wiring it up direct from starter battery with an isolator in the circuit.

With its own built-in dc-dc 6 amp charger, you basically have a dual battery system anyway. You would not drain the starter battery by running accessories off the auxiliary battery inside the box. The dc-dc charger is to all intents and purposes, the isolator.
It will boost the voltage to an optimum level, overcoming any voltage drop in the long cable run, but you will be limited to a 6 amp maximum charging rate.
Yes you could wire it up directly to the starter battery, including an in-line fuse and run a twin cable back to the remote location where you choose to mount the battery box, but I think it would be impractical to try and bypass the internal dc-dc charger which looks good enough anyway to manage the charging of an AGM style battery.
I would terminate the cable run to a Merit/Hella style socket, or even better, to an Engel socket, then use a short "patch lead" to connect the battery box to.

Any alternative solution would require the disconnection of the dc-dc charger and use the alternator smarts to manage the charging of the remote battery. In this case the cable run would be the same (using appropriate size dual core cable) and include an isolator in the circuit as you first mentioned.

Bill

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Follow Up By: Ross M - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 09:30

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 09:30

Sand Man
Why would the DC/DC bit have to be disconnected from the battery?
Any additional connection to the battery for charging from the alternator is just the same as having the battery there in the first place.

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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 09:44

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 09:44

Hi Ross,

Perhaps I wasn't plain enough?

The dc-dc charger would need to be disconnected if Rohan wanted to have a higher charge rate.
Regardless of the output from the alternator, the built-in dc-dc charger would limit the maximum charge rate to 6 amps.

Bill

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Follow Up By: Ross M - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 17:19

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 17:19

You can charge the battery with as many amps as you like and from another source and the DC/DC unit doesn't have to be disconnected.
Even if you used a higher capacity DC/DC unit the original can still remain intact and connected.
While the higher charge rate is active/running, you wouldn't have the DC/DC receiving any 12v input though.
Is that what you mean by disconnected?
Cheers
Ross M

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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 18:52

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 18:52

I believe you are wrong Ross.

Whatever voltage is applied to the battery box in its original configuration the dc-dc charger will restrict the maximum amperage to 6A. That is all it is capable of and that is all that will be drawn from the supply source.

Only by disconnecting, or bypassing the built-in charger will you get a higher charge rate.

Bill

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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 23:39

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 23:39

You do not have to disconnect the included 6 A DC-DC charger. You just connect any additional charger directly to the battery terminals. The inbuilt charger will not upset the new charger, if it did then it would discharge the battery whilst there was no 12 V power applied to it.

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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 at 07:15

Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 at 07:15

Ah, now I get it.

Both you and Ross are looking at at different method of connection by connecting directly to the battery terminals. Of course you can do that, as could I, but can Rohan.

I think it may cause additional hassles, unless the Engel box is modified to include a second input and the person modifying the product knows what they are doing.

Kind of defeats the whole idea of using the original input socket doesn't it? You may as well sell the Engel Smart Box and install a Sidewinder Flyer and perhaps a higher output dc-dc charger as well.
Of course the cost will be much higher, but give a much better solution:-)

Bill

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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 at 23:42

Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 at 23:42

Bill, I suggest you have a look at this link. You will see there is two heavy duty connections to the battery inside the box. There is a 50 A Anderson connector and a pair of heavy terminals with wing nuts. That gives Rohan several ways of charging and discharging the battery. He can also purchase an AC charger for it.

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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 at 09:11

Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 at 09:11

Ah, thanks Peter and my apologies to Ross too.

Yes I can see the box already has an Anderson connector to which Rohan could run a dual cable from the primary battery to this connector, with an isolator in the circuit to protect the primary battery.
My assumption was it only included the one "on board" input port with a dc-dc charger connected to it.

I will do a bit more research in future before I comment on a product whose features I know little about:-)

Bill

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Reply By: Member - Frank P (NSW) - Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 18:23

Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 at 18:23

Rohan,
What sort of battery is in the box?
Not all batteries can accept high amps when charging, so bypassing your inbuilt dc-dc charger may not be the best thing to do.
Eg, I have a Supercharge Allrounder, 105 AH wet cell. Max charging current (from the manufacturer's blurb) is 10-11amps.
OTOH, AGM type batteries, and others, can typically take much higher currents.
Be careful.

Cheers