Discovery 2 Dual Battery

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

All cranking batteries have been safe to discharge down to 20% SoC and many of the newer ones, as stated by the manufacturers of these batteries, can be safely cycled down to 0%.

Particularly with their rapid recharging capability, this makes AGM cranking batteries ideal to use as auxiliary batteries.

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So, can you recommend a budget battery for this? I need a "house" battery for my OKA. It will have the SC-80 I got from you for my D1 fitted to it. I won't have much power draw, fridge/freezer, device charging and probably StarLink with a laptop or Mac Studio. No TV. It has a 180 watt or thereabouts solar panel, with a MPPT40 solar controller. I am mindful of what you say about a cranking batt. Would an AGM that is capable of starting amps for a few seconds do? The OKA starts almost instantly, usually. It has and old school alternator, albeit with a high output ( have to check how high ). I will also carry a generator for emergencies, like keeping the campsite awake.

I ask because Kings and a few others have affordable AGMs. I know where they sit on the quality ladder, but even if I get a couple of years out of one.... the 115 ah one apparently can deliver 920 amps for 5 seconds.

Seems i have forgotten all I used to know about batteries. And battery tech has forgotten about me.

Very happy with the Red Arc 50amp DC2DC with my lithium battery in my tub. The Lithium is an great quality battery built by Mr Wei in Slacks Creek. A man who knows quality cells and battery builds. I have another of his in my boat. Blue tooth BMS so I can see what amps are going in. If the battery is down the Red Arc puts in over 50 amps. I have accidentally let the battery drop to shut off twice and each time the Red Arc triggered charging when the vehicle was started. The Red Arc's built in MPPT solar charger works very well. It will prioritise solar when the alternator is spinning but I only use solar when stationary camping. Spent a few weeks up at Cape York and the 65 litre Evakool, camp lights, 12v camp cooker etc worked great with this set up. Cheers

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Originally Posted by Tins

So, can you recommend a budget battery for this? I need a "house" battery for my OKA. It will have the SC-80 I got from you for my D1 fitted to it. I won't have much power draw, fridge/freezer, device charging and probably StarLink with a laptop or Mac Studio. No TV. It has a 180 watt or thereabouts solar panel, with a MPPT40 solar controller. I am mindful of what you say about a cranking batt. Would an AGM that is capable of starting amps for a few seconds do? The OKA starts almost instantly, usually. It has and old school alternator, albeit with a high output ( have to check how high ). I will also carry a generator for emergencies, like keeping the campsite awake.

I ask because Kings and a few others have affordable AGMs. I know where they sit on the quality ladder, but even if I get a couple of years out of one.... the 115 ah one apparently can deliver 920 amps for 5 seconds.

Seems i have forgotten all I used to know about batteries. And battery tech has forgotten about me.

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Hi Jay Tee, I personally like the SSB HVT range of batteries but they are nearly twice the price of the Kings batteries, so go with them and see how it lasts.

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Jay Tee, I personally like the SSB HVT range of batteries but they are nearly twice the price of the Kings batteries, so go with them and see how it lasts.

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Thanks Tim. Those have been recommended before, probably by you and I think Mike ( tombie ). In an ideal world I would go with them I think, but circs are that I need to do something soon and cheap. If circs are better than they appear atm I'll upgrade.