battery charging/powering

Submitted: Tuesday, Jul 06, 2010 at 22:42

ThreadID: 79910 Views:4567 Replies:7 FollowUps:3

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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,

tastpa

Hi, just wondering if someone might be able to help me with a power/battery/charging issue. I plan to travel around Oz for about 6 months in my Nissan X Trail. I will be powering an Engel style fridge (50l)-which I will obviously need to charge when the car is not running also- and probably charging phone and running driving lights/music/air con when the car is running.
I have 2 questions.
1. will a battery pack suffice to run the fridge when we are not driving and not able to access powered sites? (I imagine that this would be overnight only) Also any advice on brands/types of/issues with battery packs would be appreciated.
2. will my alternator be able to manage charging all of that while I drive or will I need to reduce use of auxiliary items like music/air con etc while driving, considering that I will need to charge the battery pack on top of all the other battery requirements (fridge, lights etc)
I appreciate any thoughts/comments/ideas as I am not at all knowledgeable when it comes to things electrical!!

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Reply By: GerryP - Tuesday, Jul 06, 2010 at 23:32

Tuesday, Jul 06, 2010 at 23:32

Hi Tastpa,

While a good, reasonably sized battery pack would be OK overnight, they tend to be fairly expensive and with only a 40 or 50 amp-hour battery. You might consider making your own up as a cheaper alternative. For example, Derek from ABR Sidewinder (an advertiser on this forum) can sell you a very well equipped and wired battery box which will take a full size 100 amp-hour deep cycle battery.

If you make sure that you have sufficient sized wiring directly from your main battery, suitably fused and terminating in say an anderson plug to the battery pack, then you will have no problems charging it while on the move.

Cheers
Gerry

AnswerID: 423296

Follow Up By: tastpa - Tuesday, Jul 06, 2010 at 23:47

Tuesday, Jul 06, 2010 at 23:47

Thanks Gerry, that's very useful info!! I appreciate your time and comment

FollowupID: 693717

Follow Up By: Member - lyndon NT - Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 07:51

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 07:51

The size battery Gerry is talking about, will, if fully charged run your fridge for 2 days, this could be very helpfull as you will find lots of spots where you will like to stay longer than over night.
Charging things like phones uses such a small amout of power that they don't really need to be taken in to account.

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FollowupID: 693723

Reply By: Member - Toyocrusa (NSW) - Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 06:49

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 06:49

Hi tastpa. If you have enough room where your car battery is fitted you could replace it with a larger battery. Most of the good quality modern camper fridges have a low voltage cut out system so they switch off when the supply battery goes down to about 11 volts. This allows the vehicle to still be started. They should also run at least overnight without any problems. That way you only have one battery to charge and worry about. Regards, Bob.

AnswerID: 423301

Reply By: Ozhumvee - Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 07:27

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 07:27

The second battery similar to ABR's setup is the best bet especially if the Xtrail is auto, nothing worse than a flat battery in a bush camp out of phone range!
To make it a bit simpler I'd also fit a DC to DC charger to keep the second battery well charged in a far shorter driving time.

AnswerID: 423303

Reply By: Maîneÿ . . .- Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 09:35

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 09:35

tastpa,
If $$ has any influence at all and you would prefere to save some, then get a black plastic battery box and an AGM battery as large as possible that will fit the box, supercheep have box's @ about $69 with the cables and battery voltage guage fitted.

You then get a 120ah agm battery and you have a terrific portable system.

About half the price of the 'battery power packs' available and also more than twice the battery capacity for the low price too.

Maîneÿ . . .

AnswerID: 423312

Follow Up By: Road Warrior - Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 10:44

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 10:44

Or alternatively get one of those 'Ark' power boxes, has an inbuilt charger and isolation switch. Costs more but.

FollowupID: 693741

Reply By: tastpa - Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 17:18

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 17:18

thanks everyone for your comments. I now understand the whole battery-recharging-powering thing much better. Thanks so much for your time everyone

AnswerID: 423351

Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 18:46

Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010 at 18:46

Your XTrail has a 110 amp alternator, so no problems there.
An isolator and good thick wiring to the battery will help it to recharge quickly.

We occasionally take an engel in our Xtrail - usually secure it on the 1/3 RHS rear seat when it is folded forward. There still looks to be enough space for the big battery pack that people are recommending - just need to have it well secured. The other benefit of an AGM battery is that you can use it on its side.

AnswerID: 423357