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I'm heading away for 6 days to the far west coast of SA fishing next week and have just had a dual battery installed on the Hilux.
I'm taking a 60 litre Engel with me which brings me to my question:
How long should i leave the fridge plugged in for once i get to the campsite, baring in mind my vehicle will pretty much be sitting in the 1 position once we get to the camp and won't be driven around much at all.
Should i leave it plugged in the entire time and simply turn the car on for a little while each day to recharge the battery or are there other more appropriate ways of keeping the fridge/freezer cold?
I freeze mine before i go away and then leave it on about 2. it only cycles a few times a day then therefore not using battery.
I also bought a solar charger from BCF and and just have that hooked up to the second battery to trickle charge for those longer stays.
For most trips I freeze all meat items prior to packing the fridge.
Frozen items thawing help reduce power consumption.
depending on number of people using the fridge, & what you intend to put in it I wouldn't expect more than 36-48 hrs out of the 2nd battery
while parked.
Solar panel trickle feed would help.
Could also run the engine for while each morning & night?
It'll take a few trips but you will soon find the best practise.
cheers
A few people have told me that turning your vehicle on for short periods to charge the battery will actually damage the life of the battery..... any thoughts on this... ?
gravel wrote:A few people have told me that turning your vehicle on for short periods to charge the battery will actually damage the life of the battery..... any thoughts on this... ?
I call BS
I'm no electrical expert, but I cannot see running the car for battery top up purposes would shorten their service life?
I'm talking 20-30 minute duration here.
cheers
Recently finished a 6 month trip in my patrol fitted with twin battery and a ARB split charger. running a 60 engel fridge freezer.
I found a I could comfortable run the fridge for 2 days and start the car. 3 days at a push.
Whilst driving I would turn the fridge down as low as possible and then set at the desired temp once I had reached camp.
If need be i would start the engine to charge the battery. The alternator on the patrol only charges properly at and above 2000 rpm. I think its the same for most alternators, diesel alternators can charge at lower revs I think. Just starting the car and leaving it ticking over would use more battey power than it create. So it nessasary to up the revs 2100 rpm to get the battery to charge.
Later I fitted to two 30 watt solor panels. this would run the fridge very well if there was good sun. Or would allow the fridge too run for 4-5 days without starting the engine.
Hope this helps
Anything is possible, it just comes down to time and money.
Ferals build www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic164570.php
it depends on the amp hourage of your second battery as well, by the way your second battery should be for acc's like a fridge only, so you should be able to run that down (to whenever the fridge automatically cuts out, they will cut out before your batt is totally dead) and still start your car from the 'starting battery' do this and you can work out the life of your battery, but not good to do too many times.
Also depends on weather the fridge is out of the heat i find with my 55l ebay jobbie it will go 8 days with a short run each day but my fridge sits in the back and i need tinted windows to help also i run my fridge as a freezer most of the time keeping stuff at -5 and i use a 120 AH supercharge allrounder
Cheers
Chris
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Lots of variables to consider like outside temp and how often you open the fridge. Do you have dual batteries? If not it might be worth while taking a set of jumper leads or one of those cheap jumper battery packs.
I have a 50L Waeco, constantly on in my Patrol. Single battery (no room for dual set-up under bonnet)
I run an Oddyssey 1700 battery and get about 3-4 days before it flattens the battery, but by running the car for 20mins every 2-3 days, provides enough charge in the battery to keep it going.
my evakool runs in my car all day every day for about 3 years, i will if going camping for extended times turn it up while driving there to really cool it then drop to its lowest setting to coast for a day or so but then must drive car etc as only running 1 battery. The everkool being an icebox as well if i have to i can turn fridge of for a day or 2 and it will hold good fine at fridge temps. then turn on as driving off.
obviosuly keeping freezers and friges fairly full with goods at correct temps will save allot of battery.
If your planning on parking for a week you will have to find some other power source or go for a drive mid week to give her some charge.
obviously if raping the cars battery eg camping lights stereo etc these lifecycles will be shortened.
eg if i run everything and runamuck till ealry hours of the morning up beach there is very limited hope of the patrol starting on 1 battery.
2015 200 Series Gx TTD - ................ Fark 3L's -
def90 wrote:by the way your second battery should be for acc's like a fridge only, so you should be able to run that down (to whenever the fridge automatically cuts out, they will cut out before your batt is totally dead) and still start your car from the 'starting battery' do this and you can work out the life of your battery, but not good to do too many times.
This is correct. If your batteries are setup right you shouldn't have to stress at all. It shouldn't effect your cranking battery. Some fridges (waeco) have an adjustable voltage cutoff, so make sure you look into that one.
I went away a few weeks ago with an "old banger" Engel (30 or 40L i think) and didn't quite get around to hooking my dual batteries up. I've got a fairly big cranking battery, but its pretty close to being stuffed. While driving i had it cranked right up (or is that down...), then before i hit the swag i'd give the truck a run (over 2000rpm) to top the battery up and supply 13.7v (whatever it is) to the fridge for about 10-20 min.
First thing in the morning i'd start the truck again to top up the battery/give fridge a stable voltage/pump up flat tyre. Never had any issues. As said earlier, i have mates with 40L engels/waeco's in their utes that get left on 24/7 since the day they were bought. No issues.
def90 wrote:by the way your second battery should be for acc's like a fridge only, so you should be able to run that down (to whenever the fridge automatically cuts out, they will cut out before your batt is totally dead) and still start your car from the 'starting battery' do this and you can work out the life of your battery, but not good to do too many times.
This is correct. If your batteries are setup right you shouldn't have to stress at all. It shouldn't effect your cranking battery. Some fridges (waeco) have an adjustable voltage cutoff, so make sure you look into that one.
I went away a few weeks ago with an "old banger" Engel (30 or 40L i think) and didn't quite get around to hooking my dual batteries up. I've got a fairly big cranking battery, but its pretty close to being stuffed. While driving i had it cranked right up (or is that down...), then before i hit the swag i'd give the truck a run (over 2000rpm) to top the battery up and supply 13.7v (whatever it is) to the fridge for about 10-20 min.
First thing in the morning i'd start the truck again to top up the battery/give fridge a stable voltage/pump up flat tyre. Never had any issues. As said earlier, i have mates with 40L engels/waeco's in their utes that get left on 24/7 since the day they were bought. No issues.
Coxy
You do realise that unless you actually go for a drive your battery wont charge, it will maintain its charge on idle. The only thing you achieve is that you probably pissed the people off that are camping next t you.
def90 wrote:by the way your second battery should be for acc's like a fridge only, so you should be able to run that down (to whenever the fridge automatically cuts out, they will cut out before your batt is totally dead) and still start your car from the 'starting battery' do this and you can work out the life of your battery, but not good to do too many times.
This is correct. If your batteries are setup right you shouldn't have to stress at all. It shouldn't effect your cranking battery. Some fridges (waeco) have an adjustable voltage cutoff, so make sure you look into that one.
I went away a few weeks ago with an "old banger" Engel (30 or 40L i think) and didn't quite get around to hooking my dual batteries up. I've got a fairly big cranking battery, but its pretty close to being stuffed. While driving i had it cranked right up (or is that down...), then before i hit the swag i'd give the truck a run (over 2000rpm) to top the battery up and supply 13.7v (whatever it is) to the fridge for about 10-20 min.
First thing in the morning i'd start the truck again to top up the battery/give fridge a stable voltage/pump up flat tyre. Never had any issues. As said earlier, i have mates with 40L engels/waeco's in their utes that get left on 24/7 since the day they were bought. No issues.
Coxy
You do realise that unless you actually go for a drive your battery wont charge, it will maintain its charge on idle. The only thing you achieve is that you probably pissed the people off that are camping next t you.
T_Diesel wrote:You do realise that unless you actually go for a drive your battery wont charge, it will maintain its charge on idle. The only thing you achieve is that you probably pissed the people off that are camping next t you.
Is that correct?? I would beg to differ. Obviously the 5 years i spent working with an auto electrician was wasted. You dont need to drive a car to recharge the battery, you just need to have the alternator spinning at enough RPM's to excite the charging regulator. From memory my trade books recommend something like 2250RPM for a petrol motor, but i've got no idea of what a diesel should be held at to test alternator charge output. Probably a bit lower due to the nature of the diesel motor. Alos depends on the type of regulator, and the condition of the brushes etc.
Cheers - Coxy
PS. Midi73, we don't use "normal" camping areas, and generally i wait till everyone is up and about before starting the car. The only people i've ever upset were incredibly hung-over mates.
Its a good idea to disconnect solar panels overnight as they can discharge the battery. Most will have diodes on them to prevent this, but I have one that doesnt and it does partially flatten the battery if left connected overnight.
RN wrote:pussy is out, its the log for me... Thank you Jesus.
and maybe a regulator on the solar panel. Depends how long you intend to use it for. We had a small one that charged a battery for a generator that was in the sun for long periods of time and it used to over charge the battery and boil all the fluid away.
Another note. If you have a simple solenoid set-up with dual batteries and you completely flatten your non cranking battery should you disconnect it when trying to start as it will drain the the good battery's potential diff?
At first I thought it was a sea anemone, upon closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.
cruiser60series wrote:and maybe a regulator on the solar panel. Depends how long you intend to use it for. We had a small one that charged a battery for a generator that was in the sun for long periods of time and it used to over charge the battery and boil all the fluid away.
Another note. If you have a simple solenoid set-up with dual batteries and you completely flatten your non cranking battery should you disconnect it when trying to start as it will drain the the good battery's potential diff?
We had a solar panel probably 1 foot x 2 foot that was hooked up to a big 12v truck battery to run an electric fence, we had to put a regulator on it as it cooked the battery.
I would disconnect/isolate the batteries, as it would be trying to equalise both flat batteries to start the car, as opposed to only having to equalise one battery to crank off.
