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Thread: overnight/days charging

  1. #1
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    overnight/days charging

    Hi all,

    Will be moving down to Tassie soon and I wont be using my beast as often as I do up here.

    I have a ctek mxs10 to trickle charge it.

    What is the best way to go about it ?

    a) get some battery cable connected to main battery connections and come out thru the grill.

    b) go thru the tailgate to ciggie light at rear.

    c) go thru the trailer wiring.

    d) any other suggestions welcome.

    Would like to lock car up so its not draining anything.

    TIA

    disco gazza

  2. #2
    DiscoMick Guest
    Directly to battery, I think.

  3. #3
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    L322 tdv8 poverty pack - wow
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  4. #4
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    I’m not convinced leaving a battery charger on 24/7 is a good idea.....based on my experience with my now sold camper trailer.

    I ended up using a timer

    These days for defer I use a solar panel

  5. #5
    Homestar's Avatar
    Homestar is offline Super Moderator & CA manager Gold Subscriber
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    While I have installed literally hundreds of float chargers on generators and vehicles over the years, I don’t use one anymore - while the risk is low, I’m not altogether sold on the quality of most. I do what Weeds does - I use a solar panel. Auto cut off when the sun goes down. 👍
    If you need to contact me please email homestarrunnerau@gmail.com - thanks - Gav.

  6. #6
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    I have solar panels fitted on my boat, 79 series and the Navara ( I have yet to mount one on the D2a) and the batteries are always at a good state of charge and they all have a 12v fridge running 24/7 on them.
    If you only need to keep the cranking battery at a good state of charge when it is parked up a tiny little 10w panel sitting on the dash ( with a controller) will do the job with ease as long as the truck is parked outside.
    No need for complex/fancy fittings on the outside of the truck and NO need to plug in a battery charger in at all and you can leave the truck locked up for months at a time, Cheap too
    You only get one shot at life, Aim well

    2004 D2 "S" V8 auto, with a few Mods gone
    2007 79 Series Landcruiser V8 Ute, With a few Mods.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by trout1105 View Post
    I have solar panels fitted on my boat, 79 series and the Navara ( I have yet to mount one on the D2a) and the batteries are always at a good state of charge and they all have a 12v fridge running 24/7 on them.
    If you only need to keep the cranking battery at a good state of charge when it is parked up a tiny little 10w panel sitting on the dash ( with a controller) will do the job with ease as long as the truck is parked outside.
    No need for complex/fancy fittings on the outside of the truck and NO need to plug in a battery charger in at all and you can leave the truck locked up for months at a time, Cheap too
    Have thought about solar, I have a small panel that keeps my spare battery at around 14v.
    The problem is I'll be keeping the beast garaged( have 2), so how long can the leads be before voltage drops ?

  8. #8
    Homestar's Avatar
    Homestar is offline Super Moderator & CA manager Gold Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by disco gazza View Post
    Have thought about solar, I have a small panel that keeps my spare battery at around 14v.
    The problem is I'll be keeping the beast garaged( have 2), so how long can the leads be before voltage drops ?
    Can go a fair way - if you mounted a panel on the roof outside that garage and had say a 10 meter lead you’d be fine.
    If you need to contact me please email homestarrunnerau@gmail.com - thanks - Gav.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by disco gazza View Post
    Have thought about solar, I have a small panel that keeps my spare battery at around 14v.
    The problem is I'll be keeping the beast garaged( have 2), so how long can the leads be before voltage drops ?
    As long as you have the controller close to the battery you can get away with 10m or so of heavy cable
    Lots of the fly in fly out crew have the little 10w panels in their cars when they leave them at the airport parking so that they don't need a jump start when they get home 2-3 weeks later.
    You only get one shot at life, Aim well

    2004 D2 "S" V8 auto, with a few Mods gone
    2007 79 Series Landcruiser V8 Ute, With a few Mods.
    4.6m Quintrex boat
    20' Jayco Expanda caravan gone

  10. #10
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    Hi Gazza, I sell one of the worlds best brands of battery chargers, and I do not sell solar gear, but if I was setting up, as you are trying to, then go with weeds and Homestar’s suggestion.


    Solar is the simplest way to charge and maintain batteries, of any form, that are not in regular use.


    As Homestar pointed out, solar turns on in the morning and off at night.


    This type of charging is ideal for maintaining batteries, with out damaging them, and the solar panel can be quite small. A 5 watt panel will easily meet your needs.


    Because of the type of use you are planning, you can have as long a cable run as you like, while it will take longer to fully charge the battery, because of the voltage drop, but the battery will eventually reach a fully charged state.


    Once the battery is maintained in a fully charge state, it will draw very little current and as such, cause much less voltage drop.


    Just run thicker cable for longer distances, and as Trout suggested, to to locate the regulator as close as practical to the battery.

    NOTE, you can use something as small as a 2 watt solar panel and you would not need a regulator.



    If you must use a battery charger, then use a low current charger and power it through a timer.


    Bunnings have timers from as little as $10 and you can set it up to run for no more than say 4 hours in every 24.


    This to may take a long time to charge a low battery, but once fully charged, 4 hours of charging per day is more than enough to keep you battery in good nick, without the risk of damaging it.

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