which dual battery kit????

[jason84]

Hi everyone,

I was looking at a couple of kits that are on ebay like the piranha, redarc etc. What other brands would you guys recomend? all I am looking at doing is mainly running the fridge, lights etc when I go fishing. Also where abouts have use fitted the isolater? Keep in mind I have no canopy.

It all seems pretty straight foward to fit it myself so I thought Id give it a ago. Also I already have a optima yellow top from a previous car but if this is no good as it being sitting around for a year or so. what type of battery would be recomended?

Thanks heaps!

 

[bm0]

Hi Jason,

Personally I like the red arc. I have the SB12 (I think that's what its called) in my D40 and not only is it nice and simple, the service you get from Red Arc if you do have a problem is amazing.

I had a problem with mine because I acquired it second hand, it turned out to be a slightly different version to what is sold retail. Even though I had acquired it second hand and Red arc has made no money from me, I got a PHONE CALL reply to my email. The guy explained exactly what to do, and I was up and running in no time.

I have mounted my red arc on 1 bolt just behind the main battery(under the bonnet) I dont recall exactly what the bolt holds in, but i basically undid it and put the red arc on the same bolt. I can take a picture if you cant find a spot.

Hopefully that might help, I am sure someone else will have a different opinion or a different brand that they like.. but that's the beauty of this forum... more than just one opinion

 

[longy509]

i have a projector i got of ebay pretty cheap its been running without a problem now for 3 years

 

[Old.Tony]

Try borrowing someone's C-Tek charger for that yellow-top and give it a "Recycle" charge. It may well recover the battery for you.

Yellow tops (spiral wound AGM) are hard to kill. You might be able to save some money there.

 

[jason84]

Thanks for the replys!
I think I am going to lean towards the redarc 100 amp isolater.
Also am I better off buying it in a kit or sourcing the cable and bits and pices seperate?
And if I mount the isolater next to the battery in the engine bay what size cable should I use to run to the second battery mounted in the tub?
and what other stuff do I need to buy?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[KraftyPg]

Thanks for the replys!
I think I am going to lean towards the redarc 100 amp isolater.
Also am I better off buying it in a kit or sourcing the cable and bits and pices seperate?
And if I mount the isolater next to the battery in the engine bay what size cable should I use to run to the second battery mounted in the tub?
and what other stuff do I need to buy?

Sorry for all the questions!

Redarc 100 will do the job just fine.

When I brought mine I sourced the bits separately but I got different discounts on different parts so that was better for me, in most cases the kits they sell are more than adequate and of a reasonable cost compared to sourcing all separately. You need to weigh up time, costs and effort to value their worth to your situation but don't expect to save a huge amount going either way.

Wire size if you buy a kit will be whatever is in the kit on the grounds that they don't often supply under rated cables in the decent kits. If your buying separatly look at the kit and find out what cable redarc recommend I think they might say 6mm but having not used redarc I can't be sure.

You need atleast one fuse and some connectors, once again look at the kits, even if you don't decide to buy a kit the kits have all your need to get a more than adequate install running therefore you buy what is in the kit and you've got enough bits.

Stuff like extra fuses, oversized cables, anderson plugs inverters etc are all a matter of preference and a matter of which internet theorist you follow, they aren't required to make a system work though.

 

[4 naving]

i have the projector isolator. no probs over two years. Brought the kit with wire fuses and everything needed to install. around $200 from memory at auto barn. Chose this unit because it had the jumpstart overide button built in making it easy to use if needed...

 

[jason84]

for the guys that run with the projecta kit was it the 100amp or the 150amp electonic kit?
Looking at the kit all I need to buy extra is another length of cable long enough to earth back to the starter battery. instead of the chassis.

 

[KraftyPg]

Yeah I got the 100AMP because anything over that on a Nav is pretty much wasted, the 100 can handle spikes of about 135amp and there is very little chance you'll ever get that sort of current on a D40 and even less on a D22.

 

[Old.Tony]

Don't skimp on the power cable to the tub. You're not trying to guarantee that it will handle the current - 6mm cable can handle any fridge you can throw at it.

You need a heavier conductor to reduce voltage drop over distance. Thin cables drop voltage dramatically. I'd go 8sqmm cable (that's not 8mm cable, it's 8 square mm cable). Going too big is just throwing money away, although the heavier cable DOES reduce the voltage drop further, cost must be considered.

Why prevent voltage drop? Mostly because some fridges will be watching your battery and when it falls below a certain voltage, the fridge will stop drawing power. A small cable will unnecessarily make that happen a lot sooner.