Wizard
SupporterMany moons ago, I paid for a fabricator to modify the battery box. He cut out the rounded profile on the door side of the battery box and welded in a squared off section of panel. The battery box can hold 2 x N70 sized batteries in an East/West orientation with both batteries sitting on the box floor. The negative terminals are under the lip on the door side, but gives more head room to get to those terminals. Becuse my battery box is less pretty than Tombie's but just as busy, getting a battery out is precise and systematic process that works only if you follow the steps from A to Z in sequence. I recently was introduced to the world of MIL spec wiring and now am all inspired to pull what i have apart and design it again with a degree of structure and consolidation. I mention the last comment as a word of wisdom to design your system with expansion in mind. The other thing in Tombie's box that i did at the beginning but abandoned with time was labelling wires. it makes such a difference 5 years down the track to read a label than crawl around the car tracing a wire.
As for battery selection, while i don't intend to traverse the wisdom of Tim as it is his product, i've always had great results using the Varda OEM spec battery as my cranking battery and a generic marine battery as my aux. The marine battery has thicker plates, extra M8 posts, +80Ah, is cheaper than a branded battery and available at every Supercheap, Repco, BCF or any other like store. With heavy camping use i get 3 to 4 years from a generic marine battery and 5+ from the Varda. I'm sure an Optima or other fancy battery will give more life, but i'm prone to running the aux battery low so paying for a fancy battery to break it doesn't make economic sense for me.
It's been a long time since i fitted the Traxide isolator, but memory serves me that there are labels on the isolator for which lead to goes to which battery and then an earth wire. It's as simple as they come to wire in. I mount my isolator under the back lip of the battery box out of the way.
Pic of the underside of the battery box.
Battery box underside.jpg
MLD
Current: (Diggy) MY10 D130 ute, locked F&R, air suspension and rolling on 35's.
Current: (but in need of TLC) 200tdi 110 ute & a 300tdi 110 ute.
Current: (Steed) MY11 Audi RS5 phantom black (the daily driver)
Gone: (Dorothy) MY99 TD5 D110
OldBushie
Good writeup MLD.
I suggest the SSB HVT rage of batteries because of the feedback I have had from hundreds of customers using them.
They are proving to be ultra reliable and because they can be cycled down to 0% SoC, they tolerate heaps of abuse and bounce back.
I also strongly recommend against using Optima batteries these day because they now seem to have a very short lifespan, 2 years being commonplace.
Wizard
Hi Tim,Originally Posted by drivesafe
I've just had a look at the specs for this,
They state
"Initial Charging current less than 18A"
What is meant by "Initial charging current"
Is it some sort of soft start?
How do you achieve this when connected to an alternator, other than use a pathetically small DC DC device.
As always thanks for your input to AULRO.
Tony
OldBushie
Hi Tony, and that was a bit of a mystery to me too.
When I first started using the HVT batteries, I got in contact with Super Start Battery's technical devision and asked about the maximum charge current tolerance of these batteries and was told, because they are a cranking battery, they will take everything an alternator can produce.
The "Initial charging current" relates to longevity, where if you always charge at the lower current, the battery will have a longer lifespan.
This is something that does not really apply in our usage, because we are after fast recharging.
Member
Bolt stud.jpg
Just checking that this is the correct bolt stud for all the ground attachments for the aux battery?
IMG_7966.jpgIMG_7965.jpg
Also, there is the extra piece of metal in the battery box attached to the bolt stud - what is it for?
I will need to shift the cranking battery across to the left to fit the aux battery - do you have a suggestion on the best way to secure the batteries once in place?
Many thanks
ChatterBox
*that stud you hi-light is to hold that extra piece of metal, i dont think its a great earth.
*crawl under your defender and have a look at the inside of the chassis from where the battery box is and you will see the main earth point that also has a cable from the transfer case. This is the best earth point.
*that extra piece of metal, turn it up the other way so its a hump, its a wheel chock.
Regards
Daz
Member
Thanks Daz, was scratching my head there on that piece of metal!!!!
OldBushie
Check out where the Negative ( - ) cable from the cranking battery is earthed.
YarnMaster
Hi,
I took a wire to a gearbox bolt and gained 0.5V on the Aux battery charging voltage.
Cheers
ChatterBox
while you cant see it as its under the seat rubber, the main earth has a right angle on it and it runs out the battery box to the earth point i mentioned
Regards
Daz
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