c-tek 250s dual 12v to 12v charger

[mick087]

matt these links might help a bit mate. I dont know if they are with or against what tony and the others are saying but a little more information to make your choice harder haha.

http://www.jtsonline.com.au/facts/wiring-diagrams/

http://www.jtsonline.com.au/facts/cable/

 

[miner-matt]

There's actually no need for a fuse near the DC/DC charger, which will not send power back up the line and should have a fuse on it for its output. If they're mounted in proximity to the battery you might consider not fusing near the battery but if something goes wrong, it's the battery in the back that will have the juice to cause problems not the DC/DC charger so you'd move the fuse (40A ought to be enough) to the line between the battery and the DC/DC charger.

Do you run a separate negative wire? Good question, some say no, some say yes. If you don't, then every joint between the DC/DC charger and the battery up front becomes a possible failure point. It becomes a matter of risk - do you take the risk, or go to the expense of removing the risk?

Thanks Tony, cheap insurance then...

 

[miner-matt]

matt these links might help a bit mate. I dont know if they are with or against what tony and the others are saying but a little more information to make your choice harder haha.

http://www.jtsonline.com.au/facts/wiring-diagrams/

http://www.jtsonline.com.au/facts/cable/

cheers mick, good info there

 

[Old.Tony]

Good find, Mick. The "dual battery" diagram is exactly what I was talking about.

You'll notice that he's drawn a separate cable for the negative rather than just relying on the chassis. He's also got the fuses close to every battery (the small square black box). This is to protect the cable from the power source - the battery!

 

[mick087]

No worries fellas. Just out of curiosity what brand batteries are you running for you secend batteries and where have you go them located? I've got a king cab D40 and there isnt much room up the pointy end so i was thinking obviously the tray. Is there any other little nooks or crannies you know of? cheers, mick.

 

[Old.Tony]

I have three different kinds of batteries. The one that I depend on the most (runs the fridge in the caravan) is my best battery - an Optima D31A spiral-wound AGM, 75Ah and reliable to the max. The next (which was in the tub, but has now moved to the caravan) is a Century 100Ah Gel deep cycle. I don't like gels as a rule, they're finicky with charge voltages and shouldn't be over-discharged, but I paid a pretty penny for it so it runs the (LED) lights and the toilet/main/aux water pumps. Lastly, I have the first deep cycle I ever bought - a 50Ah flooded cell deep cycle, and THIS one now lives inside the tub. I've used my C-Tek on it a couple of times to rejuvenate it - and it happily runs the Engel 60L fridge for a day and a bit.

If I'm to buy another - if it were my ONLY battery, I'd look at the Optima, but there's also something nice about having 200+ Ah in a single battery to run everything for days without worry.