Traxide dual battery system, camping and solar panels

[JamesH]

I sometimes take a while to get to my point. If you find your eyes glazing over please skip to last paragraph. I thought I would tell the whole story so anyone in a similar situation out camping doesn’t make a mountain out of a molehill as I did and they can enjoy their camp. When I bought my Traxide DBS there were two pieces of advice Tim (Drivesafe) gave me which I did not follow. He suggested getting an Anderson plug to the tow hitch compartment and he told me once everything is installed not to worry.


Last weekend I was at the Kulin Bush Races and I had the Engel in the back. I was leaving straight from work at lunchtime so I installed the Engel, plugged it in and turned it on the night before. It was running all night, and all the next morning in the sun on a reasonably hot day. I did not know what the charge state was before either. So I hop in the car and head out to Kulin, a 3.5 hour drive thinking I was there for two nights, the batteries would be fully charged and I need not worry.


You know how camping works with a D3/4, you’re going to and from the car setting up camp, getting things out, putting things away and then you’re up and down to the Engel getting beers out. I am aware of the dangers and minimised this as much as possible so it was a bit of a shock to get a low battery warning on the first night of the camp telling me to turn off the radio not three hours after completing a four hour drive!. That took me back a bit and the next morning after one night camping I popped the bonnet to see if the DBS had isolated (flasshing light). It had. Well I was pleased that it worked but shocked that it had stepped in so fast after a long drive.


So after isolating, the Engel and the Versalite, were no longer an issue, the cranking battery was protected. They would work until Drivesafe’s number 2 battery protector in the back for the accessories stepped in and c’est la vie as far as my beer temp goes. What worried me was another 18 hours of unlocking the car, locking again. Popping the back window to get at things, etc. All that stuff was coming from the cranking battery so being a worrier I stressed about whether the car would start the next day and if I was going to be stranded out bush, and if I got some jumper leads I’d get something wrong and fry the ECU or something. I’m a stress-head.


Well the Traxide unit did its job, even though the car had been unlocked and stuffed around with a number of times, there was plenty in the cranking battery to fire it up with no noticeable affect and I drove home and lived happily ever after – I need not have stressed.


Ok, my point, I think I’m going to buy a solar panel to trickle in some power to extend my time running an Engel, a Versalite, getting in and out of the car etc between running the car engine. My question, is 120A overkill? Could I get away with a smaller 80a unit? Do I need to buy a controller separately to ensure the panel does not overcharge the car? Can I get a set-up so that I plug it into the white capped plug back in the towbar panel rather than get an Anderson plug? Anybody recommend a supplier? Ive heard that WA prices for this gear are much higher than Eastern States.

Thanks for reading and for any advice and another thumbs up for Traxide.

[snowbound]

You could buy one of those little 2 stroke generators, they take up minimal space and are great for lighting your camp AND they usually have a 12VDC take off so you can charge your battery in an emergency or while you are lighting your camp. Solar is no doubt awesome, but if you need it after the sun goes down I'm thinking it aint gunna work crash hot! Probably not totally necessary but if you are a stress head (join the club) it's peace of mind.

[LandyAndy]

Hi James.
Solar panels are cheap.I bought 2x200W panels for my camper trailer,$570 delivered.
I have recieved my DBS,yep I got the rear anderson option for the camper trailer.
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

You could buy one of those little 2 stroke generators, they take up minimal space and are great for lighting your camp AND they usually have a 12VDC take off so you can charge your battery in an emergency or while you are lighting your camp. Solar is no doubt awesome, but if you need it after the sun goes down I'm thinking it aint gunna work crash hot! Probably not totally necessary but if you are a stress head (join the club) it's peace of mind.

The 12V ouput on those gen sets is pretty ordinary,if you are running it you are better off using a 240 battery charger to top up.
Andrew

[JamesH]

Thanks Snowbound but I have an aversion to genies and do not want o carry fuel etc. Also I think if I have a solar panel working away during daylight it will be enough to handle my camping set up or at least extend the time between car runs.

It sounds like my car is running around not fully charged at the best of times. This is not surprising given other threads Ive read. I have a ctek charge but no safe place to leave it on the car (I live in a complex) for extended periods of time.

[LandyAndy]

Live with a complex????

Andrew

[drivesafe]

You could buy one of those little 2 stroke generators, they usually have a 12VDC take off so you can charge your battery

The 12V output on those gen sets is pretty ordinary,if you are running it you are better off using a 240 battery charger to top up.
Andrew

Hi Snowbound, Andrew is spot on the money.

The 12v output of a generator is a POWER SUPPLY and is not suitable for charging batteries.

As Andrew posted, you need to use a battery charger powered by the generator, to charge batteries from a generator.

[BobD]

Tim, you didn't answer his question about a controller for the solar. However, my understanding is that he would need a controller to reduce the high solar panel voltage to the correct charging voltage and that the Traxide unit won't act as such a controller.

I would use a MPPT controller to maximize efficiency and give the battery a proper charging cycle.


Bob

[irondoc]

Hi James

I've got a dual battery with fridge and also have 3x Rhino Rack crossbars. I recently installed a 90W solar panel in between two of the Rhino crossbars. I can still put stuff on the bars as the panel sits just under the bars.

Works well, second battery is always topped up as car is usually outside.

Cheers
Lucas

[JamesH]

I'd be looking at one of those folding kits. Would they have the controller built in?