Charging D4 battery when camping

[theins]

G'day,
I have only recently upgraded to the D4 and during a trip to the Big Red Bash I experienced the low battery warning - being stationary for 2 days camping at Big Red.
I ran the engine for 45 min and all was OK. Just did a search and realised that the discharging issue of the D4 seems to be common... :(

Question I have though - I do have an Anderson plug at the back of the car to charge the Camper when travelling which is wired directly to the battery terminals (fused, but no isolator). I usually travel with a solar panel - can I connect the solar panel to the Anderson plug to charge the battery when stationary? I asked LR, but have so far not been able to get a straight answer.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[Ferret]

... can I connect the solar panel to the Anderson plug to charge the battery when stationary?

Provided you have a solar charge regulator between the panel and the rear Anderson plug then yes.

[ytt105]

(which is wired directly to the battery terminals (fused, but no isolator))

If this is correct, it is the wrong way to wire anything in a D3, presumably a D4 as well.

Nothing should be connected to the negative terminal of the starting battery as it upsets the battery monitoring sensor.


On my recent big trip I met a guy in Kakadu in a D3 who had troubles with his aux battery system. He was left with not enough charge to start the car and all batteries being very low.

He had an isolator system (which consisted of 3 boxes) and it was wired to both battery terminals. I tried to get him to remove the wire from the terminal and relocate it to an earth stud.

He wouldn't do it because he wanted to wait till he got to Darwin to ask the dealer.
Oh well you can only try.

He said the 3 box system was a DC-DC system which has worked well for years on previous trips.

But when quizzed it appears previous trips were across the Simpson where he would drive for many hours at a time.

This trip was basically an hour or so driving then camping overnight so the batteries never got a chance to fully charge, (would have been better being charged direct from the alternator ala Traxide.)

I have a Traxide system and had NO problems with my batteries being charged even though I was travelling the same way as him.

[eddy]

I have a Traxide dual battery system in my D4 and have often charged the batteries using a mains charger connected through the anderson plug.
When camping over a couple of days my intention is to use a solar panel mounted on the roof rack to provide charging, via a regulator and 12s plug, connected to the white trailer plug[pin3 earth/pin4 positive] and the anderson plug to power lights etc.AFAIK this should be ok.Tim your valued opinion?

[drivesafe]

Hi eddy and that is the ideal setup.

[theins]

(which is wired directly to the battery terminals (fused, but no isolator))

If this is correct, it is the wrong way to wire anything in a D3, presumably a D4 as well.

Nothing should be connected to the negative terminal of the starting battery as it upsets the battery monitoring sensor.

.

Well, I had LR install the Anderson plug at the rear of the car. I will open the battery box and have a look how they connected the leads... :confused:

And yes, I do have regulators on the panels (1 at 100W, the other 140W).

I do not have a dual battery system in the car.

[LRD414]

And yes, I do have regulators on the panels (1 at 100W, the other 140W).


Something to consider .... if you want to run both panels at the same time I believe you'll need to go through a single regulator, which will need sufficient capacity to handle the amps coming from both panels.

You don't want a setup where the regulators fight each other.

Regards,
Scott

[theins]

Something to consider .... if you want to run both panels at the same time I believe you'll need to go through a single regulator, which will need sufficient capacity to handle the amps coming from both panels.

You don't want a setup where the regulators fight each other.

Regards,
Scott

I am not particularly experienced in car electrics - hence would not consider connecting both at the same time - would always be either or....

[drivesafe]

Hi Scott and theins, you can run two separate solar setups through two different solar regs and have then connected to a common point, like the terminals of a single battery.

If the battery is low and the sun is high, both panels will supply what they can.

Once the battery best near a full charged state, the solar reg with the lowest maximum ( simplified statement ) voltage setting, will simply turn off ( usually by going into float mode ) while the other will continue to charge the battery until it too goes into float mode.

This is no different to having a battery charger and a solar reg connected to the same battery, and this is a VERY common type of setup.

[LRD414]

?...you can run two separate solar setups through two different solar regs and have then connected to a common point, like the terminals of a single battery...


Thanks Tim. So could the common point be the rear Anderson plug that's connected to a Traxide system aux battery? Using a 2 into 1 piggyback cable?

Scott

[drivesafe]

Hi Scott and Yep sure can.

You could have T junction made up and have one solar array on top of a van or camper trailer and plug in a second solar array via the T junction and both solar setups would provide power for the whole system.

Just as long as each set of solar panels has a regulator, there will be no convict of interests any where in the system.

If you were on mains power as well, you could even have a battery charger running at the same time as well.

[LRD414]

Right that's good Tim. I have this (see photo) ......
98087

I had been led to believe two panels into a single reg was required, so purchased a good quality 15A MPPT reg & this cable from Jaycar.

Sounds like you could use this cable in combination with a reg on each panel.

But I'm still happy because the 15A reg seems to work well with my 120W and 150W panels. And I can still use it if only carrying one of the panels (one is a heavy fixed frame and the other is a light foldable).

Thanks,
Scott