1st Traxide Discovery 4 specific dual battery kit

Drivesafe,

I am interested in your D4 Kit 5.
I have a battery box (100ah 780cca AGM) already fitted with a 50amp anderson plug for charging, which will reside in the D4 rear.

I also am waiting for an ARB winch bar & Warn 9.5XP winch, expecting install by end-August.

Looking at your website I noticed several wiring schematics showing multiple battery installations for winch operation.

What would you recommend as a multiple battery circuit?
(I am prepared to do the modifications necessary to fit an additional battery in the engine bay as described elsewhere on the forum if you believe that would be beneficial.)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinion.

Cheers,
Marc...

Hi Marc, you would be looking at a special set up but thats what I do.

If your planning on putting the second battery in what was the auxiliary battery compartment in a D3, I already have a pre assembled kit for the D3, that was never put into production, but gives you a 250 amp marine battery switch with 35mm2 cable to allow the second battery to be connected to the cranking battery for winching and jump starting.

Let me know a few more details and I‘ll give you an idea of what can be done.

Cheers, Tim.

Hi Tim,
Rather than trade posts, I'll call you during business hrs on 07-5569-2557 (unless advised otherwise).
FYI: I still would like the equivalent D4 Kit 5 set-up in the rear cargo area and plug for caravan AND the second battery under the hood linked to the main battery for winching. Also advice re what battery for the second battery under the hood.
Thanks & cheers,
Marc...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duck's Guts

Hi Tim,
Rather than trade posts, I'll call you during business hrs on 07-5569-2557 (unless advised otherwise).

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Works for me and it ends up being a lot quicker sorting all the questions at once.

Cheers.

Hi Tim,

Sniegy and the boys at Melbourne Landrover fitted the dual battery kit into the D4 for me a couple of weeks ago and it's an absolute cracker. I'm just building a base for my fridge slide and the battery so that everything is tight and secure.

Just a quick question though. I have an 80w fold out solar panel that I used for camping quite a few years ago. If I whack an Anderson plug on the end and plug it into the Anderson socket installed externally at the rear of the vehicle (for charging the caravan) will it charge the aux battery in the rear of the D4 without interfering with any other electrics? Does your unit isolate the main battery or does that accept a charge as well?

Regards, Ron

I have a question about location of the aux battery box. I was wondering if it might fit under the rear seats? If you fold the bas forward, there is a lot of space under there. Was also wondering if a battery pack could be constructed that would fit under the blanking panel that the 5 seaters have? I have an expired 'thumper' battery that uses 4 x 20 amp batteries and some electronic wizzbangery to controll things, so by building a block of these in a tray, say 8 x 2 with some expert made/supplied circuits.... would this be feasable?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watpub

I have an 80w fold out solar panel that I used for camping quite a few years ago. If I whack an Anderson plug on the end and plug it into the Anderson socket installed externally at the rear of the vehicle (for charging the caravan) will it charge the aux battery in the rear of the D4 without interfering with any other electrics?

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Hi Ron, if you connect the solar panel the way you are suggesting, it will charge both batteries and this is actually a better way of charging.

You will not effect the electronics in the vehicle unless the batteries are over charged and that is highly unlikely when charging two batteries of a single 80 panel.

Cheer, Tim.

Hi Disomania, if the smaller batteries fit, then you can wire as many 12 volt batteries together that will fit in the location.

You could even place the batteries in different spots just as long as they are wired in parallel, it doesn’t matter how many you fit.

Kimberly Kampers use to come with as many as 10 small AGMs, all wired in parallel and although the location is different, the principal is the same.

No matter how many batteries you put in a parallel set up, they will all charge as one single battery.

If you don't go the 7 seat option in the 2.7, they just have this fixed floor with a large hollow space underneath that is accessable from under the rear seat (tilt the base forward but not the backrest). It's too long for storage so I was thinking of unbolting/clipping the blank floor, and putting 2 or 4 or 6 smaller batteries in there to create the amps I want. A box could be made to keep it all from moving.

I was also reading about the lithium iron posphate (LiFePO4) batteries and they may be ideal as I should be able to create a package of voltage/amperage I need. Do you have any experience with these? They seem to have great potential as a starting battery, but how about longer term use for a fridge etc?

Hi Drivesafe,
Sending you an email about the D4-5U = USI-160 + ABG-25 + FPC kit
Confirming that this kit definitely works with the new "Smart" (not too sure about that) alternators?

Kind Regards
GreenGoofy