Wiring for Anderson Plug for Camper

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10th August 2016, 05:03 PM
BMKal

Another happy Traxide customer here. :D

Tim and Scott have answered it all, but one additional point ............

In your original post, you asked "Is it ok to run a single 6 B&S cable to the rear Anderson plug and connect an earth at the back of the vehicle...if so is there a preferred earthing location near the towbar area? Or is it best to run twin core directly from the pos and neg battery terminals to the Anderson plug."

NEVER, EVER connect ANYTHING (especially jumper leads) directly to the negative post of the original (cranking) battery in your D4. This is a sure fire way to cause some potentially serious problems. Always use a body mounted earthing point (there are two on the side of the engine bay just in front of the battery / fuse box, and if you need a larger one, Tim can sell you a stainless steel adaptor with a large earth post which bolts directly to these two original posts).

As far as running a third battery in the back goes, I also run an ENGEL portable battery pack in the rear of mine as suggested in Scott's post. I simply plug it in to one of the two permanently powered 12V sockets that I installed as part of the Traxide kit installation, and this has always kept the third battery charged without problems. I run an ENGEL 40 litre fridge permanently in the back of the vehicle, connected directly to this third battery. When I plug in my CTek battery charger to the Anderson plug at the rear of the vehicle to top everything up once a month or so as recommended, this charges all three batteries. Similarly when camping, I plug an 80W solar panel into the Anderson plug and it charges all three batteries as required.
10th August 2016, 06:47 PM
D4206

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMKal

Another happy Traxide customer here. :D

As far as running a third battery in the back goes, I also run an ENGEL portable battery pack in the rear of mine as suggested in Scott's post. I simply plug it in to one of the two permanently powered 12V sockets that I installed as part of the Traxide kit installation, and this has always kept the third battery charged without problems. I run an ENGEL 40 litre fridge permanently in the back of the vehicle, connected directly to this third battery. When I plug in my CTek battery charger to the Anderson plug at the rear of the vehicle to top everything up once a month or so as recommended, this charges all three batteries. Similarly when camping, I plug an 80W solar panel into the Anderson plug and it charges all three batteries as required.

BMKal, thanks for that information.. Am I correct in assuming that when you plug your third battery into the system, that in effect the fridge uses all three batteries equally, so in effect your spreading the load across the 2 aux and starting battery? Sounds like a good solution to me as I also have a portable 80hr Thumper battery that I could plug into the cargo area.

Cheers,
Bill
10th August 2016, 06:58 PM
scarry

Similar issue for me,and another question.

I have 8b&s going to rear,as supplied in standard traxide SC80, D4 kit,to a couple of merit plugs in the rear compartment of the vehicle.

If i now want to fit an anderson plug to charge two batteries in a camper,do i need to replace the cable with 6B&S?

If so will 6B&S go through the firewall where the 8 goes through?

And also,as per the OP post,can just a single 6B&S be run to the rear,and a negative post at the rear of the vehicle be used,instead of running two cables from the front of the vehicle?
10th August 2016, 07:47 PM
drivesafe

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4206

Tim, how would your control unit work with a third battery (only used on extended free camping trips- in conjunction with solar panels) in the back of the car? Would it be just a matter of providing another Anderson plug in the cargo area (to charge the third battery whilst driving) as a branch from the cabling going to the rear Anderson plug?

Can you also clarify the advantages of the USI 160 over the SCI80 LR. For me it seems as though the ign mode of the former might be an advantage in that I can choose to seperate the batteries at a higher voltage. Is this correct?

Hi Bill, since the 1st of April this year, all SC80 and SC80-LR isolators and kit with these isolator, have been supplied with the new SC80 MKII.

While the new standard SC80 operates in similar manner to the original SC80-CB, the new SC80 has REVERSE CHARGING and TIME-OUT features added to it.

The REVERSE CHARGING allows for solar panels ( with a regulator ) or a battery charger to be used via the Anderson plug at the rear, to charge and maintain both batteries, even while the vehicle is locked up.

There is also a new SC80-M isolator ( the M stands for In-Cab Module )

Over the last few years I have had many requests to add a means of turning off an SC80 when a vehicle was not going to be used for some time.

The new SC80-M isolator can be used in the same way as the USI-160.

But the In-Cab Module with the SC80-M has additional features.

You can set different TIME-OUT periods from 72 hour ( normal setting ), 24 or 6 hours.

There is a small toggle switch on the In-Cab Module, similar to the USI-160.

When set away from the LED the SC80 runs the TIME-OUT settings you have selected.

When the switch is set towards the LED, the SC80 now operates in STORAGE Mode ( similar to the USI-160 IGNITION mode ).

Unlike the USI-160, the new SC80 isolators come with a Bicolour LED and the LED not only shows what mode the isolator is in, but it also displays a very basic battery capacity indicator when the motor is off.

From the beginning of this week we started supplying all D3-BS, D3-DS, D4-2S and D4-5S with the new SC80-M isolator.

These new isolators are being supplied at the existing kit price but this is for a very limited time. I have not increased my kit prices for quite a few years but I will be doing so in the very near future.

One more bit of info. I have been asked on a number of occasions to set up one of my kits to allow for an additional REMOVABLE battery, usually one of the portable battery packs, to be recharged while driving.

I now offer an upgrade where there is "T" junction for the standard 6mm AUTO twin, for connecting to the ABG-25 Low voltage Cut-Out and a second 8B&S twin with a 50 amp Anderson plug fitted, to allow connecting to the portable battery pack.
10th August 2016, 07:54 PM
drivesafe

Quote:

Originally Posted by scarry

Similar issue for me,and another question.

I have 8b&s going to rear,as supplied in standard traxide SC80, D4 kit,to a couple of merit plugs in the rear compartment of the vehicle.

If i now want to fit an anderson plug to charge two batteries in a camper,do i need to replace the cable with 6B&S?

If so will 6B&S go through the firewall where the 8 goes through?

And also,as per the OP post,can just a single 6B&S be run to the rear,and a negative post at the rear of the vehicle be used,instead of running two cables from the front of the vehicle?

Hi Paul, while 8B&S is fine for short cable runs, over the length of a vehicle there is just to much voltage drop if the caravan/camper trailer batteries are low, so they will never fully charge unless you drive for many, MANY hours.

As for running a single POSITIVE cable to the rear and using the BODY as the earth return, you can only try. I have never done it so I can't give you advice one way or the other.

Just note, you must earth to the body and not the chassis as the body is lifted off the chassis if work needs to be done on the motor.

If you want to run a new 6B&S cable through your disco, send me an E-mail and I will send you a PDF with the full installation instructions to make it easier for you.
10th August 2016, 08:13 PM
D4206

Hi Tim, thanks for the response.

Could you provide further clarification/ definition of some of your terminology.

"turning off" the SC80..does this mean the aux batteries are all isolated from the start battery?

Does "storage mode" mean all batteries are connected?

What do the "time out" settings actually do?

I'm assuming that the USI-160 is made for people who want to be able to connect their batteries for winching purposes, and that if I don't need that function the new SC80 is more suitable?

Cheers,
Bill
10th August 2016, 08:58 PM
drivesafe

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4206

"turning off" the SC80..does this mean the aux batteries are all isolated from the start battery? YES

Does "storage mode" mean all batteries are connected? No. This DISCONNECTS the batteries while they are fully charged and is used when the vehicle is not going to be used for long periods.

What do the "time out" settings actually do? The TIME-OUT feature is used to turn the isolator off after a given number of hours after the motor was last on. This removes the wasted power when the vehicle is not in use for some time

I'm assuming that the USI-160 is made for people who want to be able to connect their batteries for winching purposes, and that if I don't need that function the new SC80 is more suitable?, Correct, if you do not have a winch then there is no need for the higher current capability of the USI-160.

You can find more info about the TIME-OUT feature on my website.
11th August 2016, 12:36 PM
BMKal

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4206

BMKal, thanks for that information.. Am I correct in assuming that when you plug your third battery into the system, that in effect the fridge uses all three batteries equally, so in effect your spreading the load across the 2 aux and starting battery? Sounds like a good solution to me as I also have a portable 80hr Thumper battery that I could plug into the cargo area.

Cheers,
Bill

Yes, fridge would draw on all three batteries, except for when cranking battery is isolated from the Traxide system.

I also have a "Thumper" battery out in the shed and have used that in the same application in the past. I mainly use the ENGEL battery pack now because it is a better "fit" where I have placed it between the rear seat backrest and the drawer system in the back. The ENGEL unit also has more power outlets than the Thumper with all outlets individually switched and LED illuminated, and has an in-built voltage meter.
11th August 2016, 05:09 PM
D4206

Quote:

Originally Posted by drivesafe

You can find more info about the TIME-OUT feature on my website.

Hi Tim, I do have a winch being installed in a few weeks time. Should I get the UCI-160, or would the latest SC80 be ok if I isolated the 2 aux batteries when I need to use the winch... Which would be infrequent.

I don't really understand the benefits of having the aux batteries connected when winching, given the motor would be running...(although I do understand that if connected the cabling needs to be thicker)
cheers,
Bill
12th August 2016, 08:11 AM
drivesafe

USI-160 operatins.

Hi Bill, if you are fitting an electric winch then I recommend you fit a USI-160.

Even if you are only planning to use the winch infrequently, there are advantages to both having two batteries supplying the winch while it is in use and to using the USI-160.

Best practice winching is to have your motor on high idle and winch for 60 seconds, then rest for 90 seconds and then repeat for as long as you need.

The short winch period means the winch shouldn't get too hot while in use and the rest period both allows the winch to cool a bit between uses and to allow the battery, or batteries, to recharge.

By allowing the battery time to recharge, between uses, the voltage going to the winch, while in use, will be higher. Higher voltage at the winch means the winch will not have to be used as hard to achieve the same amount of work.

This reduces the heating of the winch and ware on the winch.

By adding a second battery to a winch setup, firstly the voltage at the winch is going to be even higher. The load the winch is pulling is going to be spread over two batteries, so less stress on the cranking battery.

While in the rest cycle, you will replace more of the used battery capacity and again, this means higher voltages at the winch while it's in use.

Instead of fitting a USI-160 isolator, you could link the batteries either with a marine battery switch or a heavy duty solenoid, controlled by a switch in the cab.

The problem with using either a marine battery switch or a heavy duty solenoid is that if when you have finished winching, if you forget to turn the marine battery switch or a heavy duty solenoid off, and you go off camping, you could end up with two flat batteries.

The USI stands for Ultra Smart Isolator and here are a few reasons why.

Under normal operation, the USI-160 would be in the recommended SHARED Mode, and this has a minimum pre-set Cut-Out ( turn off ) voltage of 12.0v but when you select WINCH Mode, the USI-160 automatically resets the Cut-Out voltage down to 10.0V.

The 10.0v voltage allows for both batteries to be used while winching, but if you are not taking care while winching and you operate your winch down to a stall situation and don't stop winching, the USI-160 will disconnect the auxiliary battery so that if you damage the cranking battery, you still have the auxiliary battery as an emergency backup.

Next, if once you have finished your winch operations but forget to switch the USI-160 back to normal operations, if you turn your motor off, 5 minutes after your motor is turned off, the USI-160 automatically resets the Cut-Out voltage back up to 12.0v, removing any risk of you flattening both batteries while camping.

Hope this answers your questions.

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