ArkPak battery box

[Mick Young]

I'm seriously thinking of buying an ArkPak battery box instead of opting for the dual battery set up under the bonnet. Does anyone know of any reason why I shouldn't. Has anyone got one and can tell me what they think. I've seen videos on them and they seem to work great and a lot cheaper.
Cheers.

[rocmic]

Hi
I have one with the LCD display etc. Overall it is cheaper than a dual battery set up, but not that much cheaper.
Balance that with the weight and the space required to house it in the car. An advantage is that you can stick it on a charger when it is not in the car and you are preparing for a trip. I find that the plug from the charger to the battery box can fall out and usually use insulation tape to hold it in place. Even with that on rougher tracks where you load moves it can fall out, if you don't check regularly you can end up flattening the battery.
I would also consider changing the cigarette lighter type plug for a Hella or Anderson plug, which means that you have wire these into the vehicle.
All in all I will move to a dual battery set up eventually, but in the meantime it does work for me but is a bit of a pain at times
Cheers
Mike

[101RRS]

Whats the difference between this and a $70 battery box that has external connectors and has a battery charger attached - they seem a lot of money for what is just a box.

[rocmic]

You are right they are somewhat expensive. They do have a smart charger built in. There are also two cigarette lighter type outlets, a couple of USB outlets, a 150W inverter and a couple of terminal posts for alligator clips etc. Also have an isolator switch.
I went with it because everything is in there and no safety concerns from SWMBO :D
Cheers
Mike

[bob10]

I'm seriously thinking of buying an ArkPak battery box instead of opting for the dual battery set up under the bonnet. Does anyone know of any reason why I shouldn't. Has anyone got one and can tell me what they think. I've seen videos on them and they seem to work great and a lot cheaper.
Cheers.


I have the latest one, an advantage is you can take it out of the vehicle, hook it up to solar panels, so far we have had 7 days power, haven't really stretched it beyond that, but no problem so far. The advantage in one way is, if you don't need it , you don't have the extra weight. And the extra expense, of the gizmos needed for a 2nd battery, just my thoughts, Bob

[drivesafe]

Hi Nippa, and if you are planning on using a battery to power a fridge at a campsite then a portable battery in a box like the ArkPak is the way to go.

But you need to have an idea of just what you want to do with a battery pack.

For instance, if you don’t have a need for a small inverter built in to the battery pack, then an ordinary battery box is a far cheaper option.

A drawback with the Arkpak is that if your battery is low, you may need to drive for up to 20 hours to be able to fully charge the battery.

Or as rocmic posted, you can charge the pack via the Anderson plug but to do this properly, you need to run some thick twin cable from the cranking battery to the battery pack.

This again, can be done with a standard battery box.

You will also either have to disconnect the battery pack every time you finish driving for the day, to avoid accidentally flattening the cranking battery, or fit a dual battery isolator with the thick cabling.

If you don’t need the battery pack to be transportable and are planning on leaving in the vehicle, then a full on dual battery system has loads of advantages over a battery pack and comparing the cost of the Arkpak and setting up to charge it properly, not much difference in cost.

[blue_mini]

I've just used an ark pack for a long expedition and it was great. We had ours sitting on th back seat between the 2 passengers so could use the inverter and sub plugs on it to keep phones/tablets/laptops charged up and working.

Also got a haircut with it when someone we met pulled out the clippers.

Portability is the best reason to have it, we lent it to another car in the convoy to charge their laptops and run their cooler everynihht so we could get cool water in the desert.

Had no problems with it other than a dc dc charger died on us. But it was 48 degrees and piled under clothes and bags and all sorts of rubbish.
I'd get another one.