Thread: Dual batteries, question for the sparkies

Originally posted by Pedro_The_Swift
Not sure on the nonclementure Tdi130dualcab???

my battery is measured in hundreds of cca's
and you are talking about little numbers,,, 7.9 ,,,,,
are these amp hours?


this is interesting,,,,,
[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

Cranking batteries are usually measured in CCA (cold cranking amp's) and this is an indication of the instantanious cranking output power of the battery.

Deep cycle batteries are measured in AH amp-hours. they are not designed for cranking a vehicle over, but for running accessories. (example if you have 1 camping light that is rated at 1amp current draw, you could runit for a period of 55hours on a 55AH battery. 2 lights will run for half that time etc.)

Does that help?
cheers 8)

Rightio,
Took me forever but here it is.
Ive had another squiz under the bonnet and it turns out ive got a YUSA 67 525CCA's main battery with a DC 65, 65ah second battery. Now i assume that the DC stands for deep cycle. beside the second battery is a solenoid? with ST80 12V marked on it. The wiring runs from the second battery along the top of the chassis to the rear where it terminates in a fitted plug and two cigar lighters.
Now it was my understanding that if a second battery was fitted that a management component was required ie. little black box. If this is the case i cant find one anywhere in the engine bay of the vehicle. Therefore how is the charging system to the second battery managed. Secondly what sort of power flow voltage wise would be coming through the fitted plug at the rear. It has one horizontal slot above one vertical if that makes sense. Id like to get to the bottom of this so i can propoerly manage it and maybe set up some form of solar charger before i start messing around with fridges etc.
cheers
Mick

Originally posted by Mick&#045;Kelly
Secondly what sort of power flow voltage wise would be coming through the fitted plug at the rear. It has one horizontal slot above one vertical if that makes sense.
Mick

The good news Mick is, thats a proper 12volt plug.
around 12 volts and whatever current the cable can carry should come out the end.
a 10-15 metre 12 volt extension lead is a good idea too.

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Mick&#045;Kelly
Rightio,
Took me forever but here it is.
Ive had another squiz under the bonnet and it turns out ive got a YUSA 67 525CCA's main battery with a DC 65, 65ah second battery. Now i assume that the DC stands for deep cycle. beside the second battery is a solenoid? with ST80 12V marked on it. The wiring runs from the second battery along the top of the chassis to the rear where it terminates in a fitted plug and two cigar lighters.

You are right the DC 65 is a 65 Amp-Hour Deep cycle battery. Without more info i'd say that the ST80 is a standard 80 Amp sonenoid relay that is active when the engine is running. depends on how often you use the second battery as to weather you need to upgrade the system or not. My older rangie had the same system and it worked for me with my requirements then.

If you are looking at going solar there are otherthings to concider also. If your battery remains unloaded you can overcharge and cook your battery if you don't have a regulator on the pannel.

lots of things to consider..........

keep us informed as to where you are going with it all

cheers

At the moment the deep cycle dosent get used at all because im not running any accessories but i hope to change this with a waeco at some point after tax time. I was thinking of a solar charger as i am the type of person to go somewhere and set up a base camp and just go out in the boat leaving the vehicle with the base camp for up to a week. It seems a waist of all the available sun up here not to be doing something with it.
cheers
Mick

The suggestion of wind turbines earlier got me thinking about those spinning cooling vents you see on vans and dog trucks. Hmmmm a bank of for or so of them might crank out some power from an all day drive at highway speeds.

Hi Mick-Kelly, before you do anything else, I would strongly recommend you put some protection on the wire running from the second battery to the rear of your vehicle.
This is a common oversight when so-called professionals wire up vehicles for dual battery operations.
Have a look at any vehicle on the road today and every single one has fusible links on the wiring coming off the main battery to supply power around the vehicle. Even though there is always one or more fuse boxes around the vehicle and many times one of the fuse boxes is located right next to the main battery.
The fusible link is there to reduce the chances of a dead short which can lead to a fire, occurring after and accident or if some does something wrong then working on the vehicle.
My own personal preference is to put circuit breakers on either end of the wire that runs between the two batteries but that's a personal choice and it also depends on the locations where the wire runs.
If you do decide to protect the wire coming of the second battery. Mount a circuit breaker as close to the battery as possible and then if you want to be sure, fit fuses on the other end of the wire. PS Use circuit breakers only on the wire running between the batteries because if you use fuses or fusible links, they will blow every time you start the vehicle.
You did not say what you intend to use the solar panel for or how big the solar panel is going to be.
If it is just for keeping the battery topped up then a small panel from one to 6 watts will do and you can make a great and cheap regulator using a diode and one or two festoon globes.
But if you are going to be using the panel to charge and supply power you will need a much bigger panel and a robust regulator.
BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE put some protection on that wire.
Regards.
8)

Originally posted by Mick&#045;Kelly
The suggestion of wind turbines earlier got me thinking about those spinning cooling vents you see on vans and dog trucks.

and you all thought it was sarcasm! :wink: