Two Battery Isolators...Is this the best way??

Submitted: Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 12:37
ThreadID: 42673 Views:6151 Replies:8 FollowUps:26
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Expert Facts please........

I have a dual battery setup in the Prado 120.

Redarc used as the isolator.

Second battery (exide extreme 80A/h at present feeds the anderson plug on the rear for charging of Kimberley Karavan Batteries.

Batteries in the KK are a total matrix of 350A/h exide AGM's. These need between 13.9 and 14.2 volts for charging.

My question is......would I be better to install another redarc so that these batteries being of a different type and charge rate be only charged once the second battery has fully charged.

Also this setup would then effectively isolate the three "batteries" and I wouldn't encounter any problems with circulating currents between the second battery and those in the KK when not charging and the KK is still connected to the 4by.

Any who have done this or do you just operate with the one redarc in place? Has this caused any problems??

Thanks in advance
Garth.
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Reply By: amcjavelinsst - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 14:05

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 14:05
G'day Garth,

From my reading up on things - as I wish to do 2 off agm's in the rear of the Jeep - I think that you would use another redarc off the second battery. This will establish a charging priority order of start battery - second battery - then next bank in the Kamper.
Also the second battery will be isolated from the Kamper bank then and will not be drained if the Kamper bank goes flat.
I have been looking at doing 2 x 120 A/h agms in parallel for the back of the Grand Cherokee to be used only for camping and both being portable in a plywood box each - or can bang them in the Sportstrailer roadrunner luggage trailer. Although these will only go off the one redarc. Only problem I have wwith this, is that the existing cig lighter sockets are wired direct to the main battery and I have difficulty seeing how things will work when I remove the second battery supply (ie disconnect the anderson plug) as the redarc will automatically switch over to something that is not there as it only checks the start battery, and as a result, if say my phone is charging, or a laptop is on, or even fridge is in and on (due to only using for the day and not needing the second setup in), then do these things actually still get power?? If ya know what I mean
Cheers
Graeme
AnswerID: 223856

Reply By: Mainey (WA) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 14:45

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 14:45
Garth posted,
"My question is.....Anyone who have done this or do you just operate with the one Redarc in place?
Has this caused any problems"

Garth, Use an ELECTRONIC battery isolator that is guaranteed (in writing, by the actual isolator manufacturer) to work with DIFFERENT types and styles of batteries, and you will have no problems.
Does it say anywhere on the Redarc installation literature that they are guaranteed to work with different types and styles of batteries, if it's not there in writing ask "why not" when the manufacturers of "Electronic" battery isolators actually supply a written guarantee with their products and state no matter what type and style of battery is used the Electronic Isolator is guaranteed to work perfectly.

Read some forum posts of ppl having problems charging their DEEP CYCLE battery and see what type of battery isolator is being used, a MECHANICAL SOLENOID is usually part of the problem - not an electronic battery isolator.

AnswerID: 223861

Follow Up By: Member - Leigh (Vic) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 15:15

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 15:15
No problems with the Redarc isolator at all and their support and service is second to none. As for all the other electronic junk being proffered with guarantees and so on I will stick with what works thanks. I suggest the issue was answered in the question itself!! Cheers
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FollowupID: 484723

Follow Up By: Member - Garth J (NSW) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 17:01

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 17:01
Leigh,

Thanks. I think I may have answered it myself as well. Was just looking for a second opinion. Other than mine LOL!!

It's not about the isolator or the type of isolator it's about the different batteries.

Thanks
Garth
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Follow Up By: Mainey (WA) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 17:59

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 17:59
Garth, I 'cel' batteries & solar systems etc, (no I did not print that) I assure you it is about the 'isolator' when you use Different 'types' of batteries in the same charging system.

As I said, do a search on all the post's that are about AGM's or Deep Cycle batteries not being correctly charged or the battery not lasting very long etc, and compare the battery isolator used in those systems, would say 100% are Mechanical Solenoids, not Electronic isolator systems.

Your system - your money - your choice.
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Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 14:48

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 14:48
Garth,

I am not familiar with the range of Redarc products, but what you need to ensure, is that you do not have a voltage drop at the Camper end.

I would leave your current dual battery setup as is.

Assuming you have a heavy duty cable running back to the Camper, (via Anderson connectors at the rear of the vehicle) I would look at installing a "booster" type of charge controller in the Camper.

The Arrid Twin Charge unit allows exactly for this situation.
The DCTC20 for instance, provides for an input voltage between 8-15 VDC and is commonly used on many Camper Trailer and Caravan installations.

There may be a Redarc product that does a similar job, but the Twin Charge is well known in the Caravan/Camper Trailer Industry.
Bill


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AnswerID: 223862

Reply By: Member - Captain (WA) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 15:43

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 15:43
Hi Garth,

I have a similar setup, dual batteries in the Patrol with a redarc isolator and a 100a/hr battery in the camper. I run a cable from the 2nd battery to the camper, but have a relay in-line to manually overide when its charging. This setup has served me well and avoids the expense/complication of a second redarc isolator.

I have an indicator in my Patrol that shows when the redarc is isolated. In practise it is rare for the the isolator to be on for longer than 10 seconds after starting the car. In actual fact, I have never seen it on longer than 30 seconds. Also, having a switch in the line rather than another redarc means I can use the 2nd battery in the Patrol to compliment the 3rd battery in tha camper if I choose to.

The only downside of this setup is that the 3rd battery will never receive as high a voltage as the others due to line losses, regardless of the type of isolater you use. Given you have an AGM battery (likes higher volts again) then you would be best off adding an Arrid Twin Charge in the camper (as Sand Man says above) as this boosts the voltage up, thus ensuring you give the AGM batteries the best chance of a full charge while travelling.

I use a 240V 3 stage smart charger to fully charge the battery on the camper before I go and use the vehcile to simply top up as we travel. I doubt I would ever get the camper battery back to more than a 80-90% charge while travelling with my setup, but this is fine as they get fully charged when back home on 240V.

Cheers

Captain
AnswerID: 223870

Follow Up By: Member - Garth J (NSW) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 16:58

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 16:58
Thanks Captain,

I think you understood the question and your steup is basically what I have except for the relay which is another way of isolating.

My redarc is as per yours. Only takes a very short time to charge the start battery.

My concern is not how I isolate the batteries whether redarc or whatever. But whether I should because different batteries have different charge rates and hence discharge etc, etc. For me this would create three seperate power supplies.

When and if the 2nd and KK batteries were in parallel as they would be without some type of isolation then some of these nuances between the batteries may cause some "funny" things to happen.

This was the gist of my question.

Thanks
Garth
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Follow Up By: Member - Captain (WA) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 17:42

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 17:42
Hi Garth,

I don't think you have a problem with not isolating the camper and 2nd batteries.

If say camper batteries "flat" and 2nd battery charged and vehicle running (assume no isolater) then the 2nd battey draws hardly any amps (fully charged) while the camper AGM batteries draw high amps (they have low internal resistance and this is why they can charge at a higher rate). This has no effect on the 2nd battery and does not "suck" charge from the 2nd battery to the camper batteries.

Now consider the vehicle off (no charging) and the batteries all connected. The 2nd battery would now start to "charge" the camper batteries until all voltages equalised. This does not happen quickly like some people imagine and may take hours to occur. As your camper batteries are AGM, this would happen quicker than if normal wet cell. But overall, no real problem IMHO.

Personally, the only change I would make to your system would be to install an Arrid Twin Charge. While I would be doing it to ensure fully charged camper batteries, it also has the added benefit of isolating the camper batteries from the 2nd battery (but not the other way round!).

I hope the above makes some kind of sense!

Cheers

Captain
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FollowupID: 484757

Follow Up By: drivesafe - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 18:37

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 18:37
Hi Garth, Captain’s post comes the closest to what will happen.

The only part of his post that I would change is that once the motor is off, UNLESS all the batteries are close to fully charged, the lower charged batteries will draw current from the higher charged batteries until they are all at the same level of charge as the lowest. The lowest charged battery will NOT be charged by the higher charged batteries, it will simply draw the charge off them so the additional charge in the higher batteries will just be wasted.

A step up inverter would have to be capable of providing at least 50 amps while charging the rear batteries, to be of any real use.

Those little 20 amp step up inverters are only useful on batteries up to about 70 A/H and anything over 100 A/H capacity and these little units are next to useless, and will take much much longer to charge your batteries from flat than just connecting straight to your alternator ( via an isolator ).

Your biggest problem is that you are going to need far more current to charge all those batteries than your alternator could handle.

I would suggest that before you do anything, check out the battery manufacturer’s web site and get all the charging details from there and then start to plan your charging set up.

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - Captain (WA) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 23:48

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 23:48
Hi Drivesafe,

I have read may of your "battery" posts and can see you know your stuff.

Just curious as to why you say "...if two batteries of unequal charge (voltage) are connected together, you say that the higher charged battery will drop to that of the lower, but will not charge the lower battery...". Now my question is "where does the energy go?".

Now to my mind, the energy must either heat something up (the lower charged battery?) or perform a chemical change (charge the battery?).

Cheers

Captain
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Follow Up By: drivesafe - Monday, Feb 26, 2007 at 08:11

Monday, Feb 26, 2007 at 08:11
Hi Captain, as you have mentioned and putting it crudely, to get a battery to charge, you need to get a chemical reaction going.

Applying a voltage higher than the battery’s SoC will start the chemical reaction and this chemical reaction itself will consume a small amount of power but to get this chemical reaction to a point where it will start to actually absorb the charge being applied to the battery, your battery needs a voltage of at least 13.6 to 13.8 volts ( depending on the type of battery ), any voltage much below 13.5 and the chemical reaction will take place but will simply waste the charge coming into the lower charged battery.

Even when the charging voltage is over 13.8, you will need to supply between 5% and 10% more power than will be stored because the chemical reaction still consumes power, in other words, if you use 20 amp, you will need to supply between 21 to 22 amps to replace the 20 amps originally used.

As posted above, this is a very crude and simplified explanation.

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 22:13

Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 22:13
Guys, I have a similar setup to Garth actually so have been interested to read the responses. I have been having my charge cables out to the back from the secondary batteries and controlled by a voltage sensative relay. Direct connected to the secondary ones.

The deep cycle batteries in the ute have taken so long to charge fully they have slowed down the rate of charge. If I don't have the camper box on and no fridge in the back of there, I can get 14.1 volts without too much difficulty. With the fridge on it depletes the charge off the top of the battery output which then takes some time to charge fully. The whole system seems to stop the voltage out to the back of the ute to the KK.

I just this last week connected the cable to the primary - start battery which of course has the potential to deplete the charge there. It looks like the need is to fit an Arrid or similar as I can now get over 14+ volts out the back with the fridge on, the lights on high beam too but the batteries being charged at the rate they want. I know now the out put to the KK should not be from the secondary batteries!
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Follow Up By: drivesafe - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 06:35

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 06:35
Actually JohnR, it sounds like all you need is to run some decent size cables, both positive and negative, to the rear and all your problems would be solved.

The alternator in your vehicle is way big enough to do all you want and charge your batteries properly and in a reasonable time frame.

Cheers
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FollowupID: 486238

Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 07:51

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 07:51
drivesafe, they are 8mm or 10mm squared cables now. Not sure which but are pretty decent sized cables. I suppose I sould have said it was the same as Garth, 350 amphours to charge too but the complications of two 80 amphour (160amphours total) deep cycle batteries in the same circuit slowed down the charging.

It needs the same voltage out of the back as Garth, hence my interest. I have the 350 amphour array in the Karavan (10 x 35 amphour)
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Follow Up By: drivesafe - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 09:26

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 09:26
Hi again JohnR, if you are trying to charge 12 volt batteries with a total storage capacity of 350 A/H, you would need at least double that size cable to the KK to go anywhere near trying to charge those batteries but as I posted for Garth, you are not going to be able to fully charge that array of batteries without driving for many MANY hours if the batteries are fairly low when you start.

I don’t know anything about the specific battery set up in Kimberley Caravans so one more question, you both call the batteries as a matrix, could you explain in more detail the exact layout because it sounds like it may be an arrangement of lower voltage batteries organised into a 12 volt bank of batteries and if this is the case then it should be a lot easier to charge straight off your alternator and won’t require anywhere near the driving time.

Cheers.
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 09:39

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 09:39
drivesafe, the cables are heavy anyway. will go into the 50amp solder points of the Anderson plug if they are smoothed down.

The array or matrix of batteries is 10 of 12v 35 amphour batteries as I understand. They are all in parallel. I have seen batteries on a bench, not in a box. There is protection on the system by a Redarc system to stop the discharge . I would have to check the manual as to the level it protects from but the voltage is protected from 11.5v. I have an idea it won't draw below 55%.

There is a permanently connected 20 amp Xantrex charger for when 240v is connected. I leave it permanently connected at home so it can float.
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Follow Up By: drivesafe - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 10:43

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 10:43
OK JohnR, 50 amp Anderson plug terminals come in different sizes to suite different thickness of cable so unfortunately that does not give a any idea of the cable’s size.

One think I am very surprised at is the fact that KK did not specifically instruct you as to the minimum size cable you need.

No matter, the point is, if you get those caravan batteries down to 11.5 , which means the batteries are bellow 20%, if, with thicker cable, you were able to get 50 amps to your caravan batteries while driving, you will still need to drive for at least 5 to 6 hour just to get the bulk of the charge back into the batteries, about 80% charged, you will probably never fully charge those batteries from your vehicle.

Cheers
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 11:51

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 11:51
drivesafe, I guess the restriction will be with their cable as it is thinner by a couple from sizes that I used. I understated above. Their chart is below 25% for 11.5v but I have never seen below 55%. My earlier problems were that I was unable to get over 14v with the connection through the ute secondary batteries. I can now, even with the secondaries charging, the lights on and the fridge running.
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FollowupID: 486286

Follow Up By: Member - Garth J (NSW) - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 17:56

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 17:56
John & Drivesafe,

I've been into the KK manual.
John for your info page 25.

KK says you need to do two things:-
1. Dual or triple battery isolation. AKA my initial question way back when...
2. Install a decent sized cable from vehicle to anderson plug. ..they quote 5mm2 for 70Ah up to 210Ah using 8mm (not shaw if they mean mm2).

When using the onboard charger (20amp output) and plugged in to 240v supply and no other devices using power.
Charging times from 33% capacity. 15-16hrs for 350Ah and 5-6hrs for 175Ah

Batteries in the KK are exide ED 10S AGM.
Calcs are done using C-20 test data.
At 11.5 volts the capacity of the batteries is approx 20%. This is the trip voltage of the onboard protection from the redarc in the KK. THe redarc resets at a value of 12v for 5 minutes or longer.

In my vehicle I installed Narva twin cable of 4.58mm2 with a current rating of 50amps. So I think for a charging circuit this should be adequate but after reading the info in the KK manual maybe I should put another run in parallel.

In saying this ..If I have another isolator installed and am only charging the KK batteries after the first and second have charged then maybe that one cable run of 4.58mm2 will suffice. Seeing as this has a rating of 50amps.

So does that throw the cat amongst the pidgeons.

Cheers
Garth
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FollowupID: 486367

Follow Up By: drivesafe - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 19:18

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 19:18
Yes that more than throws a cat amongst the pigeons.

If the info you have posted is copied word for word out of the KK manual, then they should not be making letter boxes let alone caravans.

4.58mm2 cable is also called 6mm auto cable and the amp rating they have quoted is the maximum current the cable can handle before the cable’s plastic insulation starts to melt and has absolutely nothing to do with the work current of the cable.

4.58mm2 cable would be good when two standard sized batteries were side by side and then the voltage drop would be small.

8mm2 cable would be good when two standard sized batteries were both in the engine bay and again the voltage drop would be small and this cable can handle about 120 amps maximum current before the cable’s plastic insulation starts to melt.

No way on earth would anybody in their right mind try to put 210 amps down this size cable.

For KK to suggest that even the 8mm2, which would be 8B&S, would charge the batteries is totally ludicrous and shows how very little KK knows about 12 volt systems.

Using either of these cable sizes means you will never charge your caravan batteries, even if you drove for 24 hours straight, day after day.

The voltage drop would be so great that the voltage at the caravan batteries would never be high enough to even start to charge the batteries.

Garth and John, don’t take my word just go and get some professional advice.
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FollowupID: 486394

Reply By: furph - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 15:58

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 15:58
As has been pointed out several times it is voltage drop in a long 12v. run that causes more problems than isolators. If you have 14.1v. at the alternator (high end of normal alts) it is very easy to find 13.5v. at the battery "down the back". Only 0.6v. loss, but it means you will never attain more than 75% charge.
More and more people are using a (say) 350w. 12/240v. inverter under the bonnet, then running a 240v. lead to a conventional (say) 240/12v.10a. charger with float control.
Properly installed, the 240v. supply should not cause any safety concern, and you always have FULLY charged batteries.
furph

AnswerID: 223876

Follow Up By: Peter McG (Member, Melbourne) - Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 16:47

Sunday, Feb 25, 2007 at 16:47
Check the voltage at the trailer first. If less that around 13.9-14 then look at using tyhe Arrid Twin-charge. When i went through this I found the voltage at the camper was acceptable and so didn't fit one. Remember that float volatge for an AGM is 13.6.

Peter
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Reply By: whyallacookie - Tuesday, Feb 27, 2007 at 15:28

Tuesday, Feb 27, 2007 at 15:28
My only concern could be if you have no monitoring system you can see/check is that if your aux (2nd) battery dies then you may never charge your KK batteries, where if all the aux batteries were being charged with some form of isolation between the vehicle and trailer batteries you would at least have charged batteries in the camper
AnswerID: 224358

Reply By: drivesafe - Tuesday, Feb 27, 2007 at 16:08

Tuesday, Feb 27, 2007 at 16:08
The main problem is that the 350 A/H of batteries in the KK, even ordinary wet cell batteries, could easily pull over 100 amps while charging and AGM type batteries will pull even more, so with this type of set up, the alternator will not only not be able to charge everything up without driving for 10 to 15 hours straight but the alternator is going to have a very short life span as are the batteries because they will never be charged properly.

One alternative might be to fit a second alternator dedicated to just charging the KK batteries, but even this, depending on how low the KK batteries are when you set out for your drive, could take may hours of driving, but still a lot less driving time than trying to charge all the batteries off one alternator.

Cheers and just a suggestion
AnswerID: 224364

Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 23:10

Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 23:10
drivesafe, you suggest fitting a second alternator but that seems a worry. The KK actually has a protection to stop the discharge below the 11.5v mark. The way I have had the system - described below, didn't allow proper charging with the controller operating on two deep cycle batteries (in the ute), before the AGMs in the KK. The useage of power in the 10x35 amphour array should be only over a few days but it can be a worry.
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Follow Up By: drivesafe - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 06:57

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 06:57
Hi again JohnR, in both your post above and this one, you don’t say how much battery capacity you have so I take it it’s no where near as much as Garth J’s set up, and if so then in your case, there really isn’t a need for the additional charging current and as posted above, it sounds like just fitting much thicker cables would be the solution to your problems and I might add, this is the most common fault with many dual battery installations.

People just don’t fit the correct size cable during the initial installation and have all sorts of problems. They are then advised to fit all sorts of gadgets that will fix the problem but half the time these gadgets also need thick cables to get them to work properly, yet just fitting the heavier cable in the first place will not only avoid having problems, it is usually much cheaper than any of the so called fix-its.

You would be surprised at how many camper trailer, caravan and motor home manufacturers who have zero expertise in DC electrical installations and fit under sized cables, then wonder why their customers are having so many problems.

One more point, dual alternator installations are quite common in 24 volt vehicles so there would be no real challenge to do it other than the actual installation of the second alternator.

Cheers.
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Reply By: PeteS - Saturday, Mar 03, 2007 at 14:08

Saturday, Mar 03, 2007 at 14:08
Hi Garth
Apologies 1st off as I'm not answering your post but actually requesting some info if you don't mind?

I have just taken delivery of a new Toyota Prado TD and soon to take delivery of a KKaravan. I was wondering if you can advise me if you did your 2nd battery install yourself and if any tips etc. I'm an electrical mechanic however when it comes to 12v I find its a slightly different world/thought process.

Went to ARB today and the $900+ to have 2nd battery installed and wired for an Anderson plug at the back sounded far to expensive for me.

Also KK supply the electronic actuator for the Karavan. Did you get one of these and if so did you fit it or have it done by that BIG company call "By Others".

Thanks

PeteS
AnswerID: 225078

Follow Up By: Member - Garth J (NSW) - Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 19:45

Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 19:45
Pete,

I'm an elect also but got some stuff done.

I bought all the bits and installed the second battery and the anderson plug myself.
No big deal just takes time. Also when you do it yourself you tend to take more time and do a better job.

Bought the REDARC off ebay from Derek Bester (ABR)who is on this site.
Cable from JAYCAR

Derek also sells kits with all the stuff. Check his shop on e-bay.

Getting covers off and installing the wires in the car is easy but takes time as I said.

I have the electro-pneumatic brakes also.
Bought the controller from Derek on ebay.
Got an auto elect to do the cut in and run a cable to the towing plug. He put a plug on the cut-in under the dash and another on the brake controller so I just had to mount and plug in. DO NOT GET a Tekonsha Prodigy controller. These are not compatible with the KK brakes.

A Tekonsha Voyager is. Whatever make you decide just make sure it works with electro-pneumatic systems.

Call me on my mobile if you want more info.
0400756568

We have a couple of other owners who have been exchanging info on the KK so you might like to get in the loop of the e-mails in the future.

Cheers
Garth
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FollowupID: 486166

Follow Up By: PeteS - Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 20:21

Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 20:21
Garth

Thanks for the feedback. Funnily enough I actually viewed Derek Bester's website today as I have seen many of his feedback on various posts. I'm impressed that Derek provides solid feedback without trying to flog his products.
Will certainly give him a try.

By the way the KK factory gave me the impression they supply the electronic brake controller and would send it to me before I took delivery so I can get it fitted to my vehicle? Maybe I've stuffed up again........?

Will call you also on the mobile in the next day or so if that's ok? Any preferred time?

Cheers

Pete
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FollowupID: 486174

Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 22:53

Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 at 22:53
Pete, you really shouldn't have any problems if you have any sort of electrical bone in your body doing it. KK actually supply the electrical pump and control unit but you will need something like the Voyager as suggested by Garth above if you selected the option for electronic controlled brakes.

The control is amazing actually. In the High Country if the control was turned up I could hear the chirp of the tyres on the dirt as they scrabbled for grip.

Garth in the posts above I was interested in the discussion. I think I have tested the local mechanic a bit on the charging of different battery systems. The AGMs in the KK and deep cycles DO have differential charge rates...... Getting somewhere now.
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FollowupID: 486218

Follow Up By: PeteS - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 17:48

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 17:48
Garth
I will contact you on your mobile in a day or so however I noticed KK's website list under "What's New" a new range of options and a $4.2k increase in the LD price.... ouch.

Wonder if that includes those on order like me?

They seem to have reduced batteries to 9 x 35 a/h and have some options added including a regulator.
Heck, I was still trying to get my mind around all the battery optionsfor the Prado let alone some more twists with the KK options.

I would be appreciative of you comments after you have perused.

My email is "cetnos @ yahoo . com"

Peter Steer
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FollowupID: 486365

Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 19:49

Monday, Mar 05, 2007 at 19:49
Pete, I have flicked my email response to you to Garth and the other guys. You will be protected from the rises having paid the deposit. We were. See what you may need to option up though. We decided on one or two things just before the build.
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FollowupID: 486399

Follow Up By: PeteS - Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 06:37

Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 06:37
John, thanks for the feedback. I sincereley hope the deposit does hold the $ firm.

I will have to talk to KK re more specifics on the "charge isolator & regulator' as this may affect the exact type of gear I use on the install of the 2nd battery in Prado. I'm more than curious how they can take a voltage variation of 8-16v!

Also wondering why they have dropped the batteries from 10 to 9 x 35a/h. Possibly had to reduce space to get more options in?

I feel the remote control PowerGlide is a bit of a waste and certainly will not be ticking tht box on the final selection.

The jury i out on the velour seat inserts. I can'r really imagine them being practical, espicially for a trip up the Kimbereleys etc

Cheers

Pete
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FollowupID: 486467

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