What thickness wire

Hi again Andrew, check what sort of plug you have on your fridge, if it looks similar to a cigarette type plug, it may be a combo plug that can be used in a cigarette power socket or in a Merit power socket.

Merit plugs usually have a red tip and this can be removed to use in a merit power socket or left in place so the plug can be used in a cigarette socket.

As to the battery, there is no reason why you can not use a deep cycle battery for an emergency jump start, just don’t use it to jump start all the time.

my self i would not have a deep cycle battery within a bulls roar of a vehicle , waste of money

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Originally Posted by richard4u2

my self i would not have a deep cycle battery within a bulls roar of a vehicle , waste of money

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Hi Richard, and while the choice of battery is your prerogative but why wouldn’t you have a deep cycle battery?

For me it was mostly a budget issue, I got an 80amp hour wet cell deep cycle for under $200 and I had a choice of the allrounder battery start/deep cycle of the same size for a little more.
It is my understanding you will get a larger usable amount of amp hour capicity out of the dedicated deep cycle than the combo battery of the same size (based on advice from battery retailers given to realitive novice, myself), and I will be driving on average 6hrs a day in the car so should get a decent charge and when home it will have smart charger attached. I see a lot of positive to my choice.
Down the track I will get an agm in a box for portable power that will sit in the cabin.

Drivesafe you are probably the best to answer this. I have a 97 tdi disco my alternator is a 100A? Is this a good size alternator? In terms of adding more electrical gear down the track eg. winch, spotties, 3rd battery in the back possibly for extended touring, also already have 2 sterio amps running as well. I don't read of to many people up grading their disco alternators.

Andrew

Hi Andrew, anything 80 amps or over, is fine, the trick with keeping batteries full has little to do with how many electrical accessories you run, it’s more to do with how long you drive for when you do drive.

So your 100 amp alternator will easily meet your needs, especially when winching.

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Richard, and while the choice of battery is your prerogative but why wouldn’t you have a deep cycle battery?

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i only buy australian made and a good brand name and in the n70 class , i have always had 2 batterys in 4wd's , i have the oldest as the starter and the newer as the 2nd so when i am out and the starter grunts on a start up i just swap them over and get a new battery when they are next on special usually around $100 to $120, i have spent a few mounths at a time away from the mains power and found these batterys did the job aokay with the help of a 650 w generator for recharging . with a deep cycle you have to be carefull with some with the amout of amps that you can recharge them with and some car alternators are way to high and you run the risk of long term damage . a deep cycle battery $300 and how often would you use it, a few weeks of the year plus a few weekends so are they really worth the extra cash out lay , deep cycle do have a place and that is for long term with no excess to mains power or back up for places like a telstra exchange . anyways that is just my opinon

Mentioned it before but I got a very good run out of my semi-deep-cycle battery, Exide Extreme N70EX. It's 8 years old and still in use, has been run down a few times with the fridge. I replaced it only because of a few acid leaks, it's in the old ute now. About $155 last month when I got one from Bridgestone.

Hi Richard and while I actually agree with much of your post, the problem is that the label “Deep Cycle” is an insufficient description for batteries.

There are two main types of deep cycle batteries, the type you are referring to, AGM type batteries.

The original and in my opinion, still the best deep cycle batteries are the flooded wet cell type.

These batteries will take every type of charging situation you will get in automotive use and with the the occasional check of the water level, need no more maintenance than an AGM needs when used the way Andrew intends to use them.

I went and saw an auto lecky today, mate of a mate who is going to make me up some battery leads for next to nothing which is cool. He suggested not to worry about fuses between the batteries and the isolator. Do I need to fuse between the batteries and the isolator?? Redarc instructions say 100A fuse between aux battery and isolator and 100A fuse between starting battery and isolator. There seem to be two schools of thought on this I am reading equal amounts for both camps online and have had both advive from "professionals" in the auto power trade. I even got told by the guy at batter world that without fuses I risk frying all my electrics in the car due to voltage spike or something can't remember exactly.

He did have a very good point though I already have very large wires, almost battery cable size running from the battery to my amps in the back for my sterio so I can just take a postitive and negative feed off them where they meet the amps. The wire will be ample and then I only need to run 30cm of cable to a plug. Saves running more cable. Of course I will re route the power for the sterio from starter battery to aux battery

Andrew