Tuesday, Jan 11, 2005 at 10:56
been through this hell and know what you're going through. i run a 60L Waeco
battery.
buy an AGM (absorbent glass mat) battery. latest and greatest. same technology as the Lifeline and Optima batteries. Recharge in F*** all time. I do drive a GU with a fairly big alternator. but agm batteries charge faster than anything else anyway. Cheaper brands AGM's are remco and FullRiver.. I went with Full river. really happy with it.
battery management unit.
I looked at every option available on the market. from the cheap redarc to the isolated Rotronics to sparkie's own brew. It's easy for people to give opinions when it's not their car. I'm a very picky person and everything has to be perfect.
I went with the TJM's IBS unit. Make sure it's the newest one with the electronic relay unit. The old ones run on a solnoid which was s**t.
new cars of today really can't use these old tech stuff. The beauty of the IBS unit is:
1. The battery indicator on it was absolutely brilliant (in 0.2V intervals). I thought it was a wank factor when i got it but i just spent 2 weeks on fraser island. It was the best bloody tool i had. press a button and you can see how your power consumption is going.
2. the link button. it links your aux and main battery together as one. if your main runs flat or dies, just link the battery with the button and start your car. No jump start to fry your EFI computer. The unit is fully surge protected. Also great when winching, less stress on the alternator. This is the best on the market in my opinion and i would buy it again.
I had guys from OL looking at it thinking their own rotronic battery indicator needs up grading.
Don't know if you have considered this but what's important with due battery system is:
1. is your 50L Waeco a fridge or are you going to run it as a freezer?? it chews up power. get your self a insulation bag. saved me heaps in
battery power.
as a freezer running at -6 degrees will yank about 65 amps in 12 hrs. mine was pretty much full all the time and making 3Lt of ice each day.
So a 120 a/hr battery is not very much when you consider you can only use 80% of it so it becomes a 96a/hr battery i use 65 amps that then comes down to 31 amps and a couple of lights for 5 hrs that's down to 21 amps left.
This is all good you may think but the truth is with recharging a battery is that the load to fill is relative to time. The more a battery is drained, longer it takes to fill/top up. even with an AGM.
I have 2 AGM's totally 220a/hrs
2. buy a cheap temp guage inside the fridge, you can run the fridge more efficiently.
3. getting power to your battery, big cable for huge power and fast charge.
If i were you i would consider putting a huge battery in or carry a generator. this all depends on your style of travel. If you trailer will always stay with you, get a 240a/hr battery in the trailer and anderson plug it to run fridge or if you will dump the trailer on some trips then fit the biggest battery you can in the vehicle. under the bonnet is the best. if you put a battery in the cabin, then you'll have to fit an AGM as they emit no gases when been charged which makes it safe.
I gave a huge explanation on all this to another guy on the 4wd monthly
forum. It bloody hard on deciding which way to go. took me 7 months to decide with my setup and it's prob the best i could get. It's not the cheapest but it's reliable and useful.
hope it helps.
I'm in
brisbane, if you want more info e-mail me and i can point you towards the right people that are awesome fitters.
AnswerID:
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