Dual Battery or no dual battery
Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 16, 2016 at 18:35
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Mike & Kendra -Prado1
Just traded in my Prado which had an installed dual battery system to run my 40l engel in the back of the car and the electrics ( led lights, shower pump ) for my camper trailer which had no battery.I now have a new prado and upgraded the camper trailer which comes with a battery. My question is , do I need a second battery in my car to safe guard not being able to start in a remote location or is the second battery in the camper sufficient ? Is a dual battery in the car and one in the camper over kill?
Any thoughts out there? Cheers Mike.
ps I also have a 140watt solar panel
Reply By: Frank P (NSW) - Wednesday, Nov 16, 2016 at 19:34
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2016 at 19:34
If you're going to stay with a fridge in the car, I would go for a second battery in the car.
Presuming you keep your fridge, if you don't do the second battery which battery will run your fridge when you're camped up? If it's the car you run the risk of flattening your crank battery. If it's the camper you'd better have a dc-dc charger and possibly solar in the camper to keep up with electrical demand. I'd be doing that anyway.
Personally I don't think a second battery in the car and another in the camper is overkill. That's what I'd set up, particularly as you are contemplating remotelocations.
Cheers
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Reply By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, Nov 16, 2016 at 20:19
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2016 at 20:19
There is no need for a second car battery for that reason, its mostly dead weight.
Whats important is that you have a means to start car if you accidently discharge its battery.
After all , a jump starter is just a second and small battery , smaller than your campers battery.
You need to be sure that you can move campers battery to the car and make a quick connection - I just use a short 50amp Anderson on the car and matching one to a 20ah gel cell.
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605954
Reply By: Alloy c/t - Thursday, Nov 17, 2016 at 15:37
Thursday, Nov 17, 2016 at 15:37
2 things , apart from your solar panels how are you charging the c/t battery ? The obvious is of course an Anderson plug that is connected to your vehicle battery via an isolator of some form , .. personally would would also put in another battery in the new vehicle then run something like … from start batt to Aux via DC- DC charge regulator then nice and heavy wire from AUX to C/T battery via Anderson connection and appropriate fuses , lets you keep the Fridge in the vehicle while away from
camp and minimal chance of draining the start batt …..after all a fridge in the vehicle is not just for camping or touring ,
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Reply By: Sigmund - Friday, Nov 18, 2016 at 09:52
Friday, Nov 18, 2016 at 09:52
Q is whether the CT battery will start your car if needed. My guess is yes as a one-off, without significant damage.
I'd put a 2nd battery in the CT. My rule of thumb is 2 x 100 aH batteries there to run a 40l fridge and some lights for around 5 days, depending on conditions.
Apart from all that, with a new wagon I wouldn't be expecting starting problems so unless you have to run a fridge in the car, don't bother adding capacity there. If you make few stops or if you substantially increase the insulation around the fridge, you could still be able to run one in the wagon without a 2nd battery but you'd want insurance in the form of a fairly high level voltage cut-out. The fridges I've seen offer 10.5 or 11v cut-outs which is too low, but I think you can get an inline cut-out from Jaycar and the like that allows a higher setting.
Take this with a grain of salt. I'm no sparky. Just comes from some hard-won experience.
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Reply By: Batt's - Friday, Nov 18, 2016 at 12:29
Friday, Nov 18, 2016 at 12:29
So many different scenarios come to mind but personally I think it comes down to that fitting a 2nd battery to the vehicle would be the best option using a decent size dual purpose battery say 105 ah at least so starting your vehicle will be covered and you can run your fridge for a day or two when you go away without the camper on other trips.
Also remember you can fit all the batteries you want to your camper but if your out on a day trip and it's setup back in
camp your jumper leads won't be long enough so you could be in for a long walk.
If you only run you fridge in the camper and never use it in the car you can also look and buying one of those new jump starter packs to keep in the glove box just in case.
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