DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES and BUSH POWER

[condor22]

Wife's new car has it all lol. Lane departure warning, lane keep assist, auto wipers, auto lights, auto hold handbrake, radar active cruise control that actually stops you if the car in front stops etc. Doesn't leave much for the driver to do. Of course my new 4by also has most of that, but not sure I want the car nudging me back into a lane when towing 2 ton of caravan. That feature will get turned off.

 

[Nightjar]

Wife's new car has it all lol. Lane departure warning, lane keep assist, auto wipers, auto lights, auto hold handbrake, radar active cruise control that actually stops you if the car in front stops etc. Doesn't leave much for the driver to do. Of course my new 4by also has most of that, but not sure I want the car nudging me back into a lane when towing 2 ton of caravan. That feature will get turned off.

Scary stuff if an error comes up and you're out back and beyond. ***Carry plenty of water, it may be a long wait for assistance? **

 

[Ridge Runner]

Wife's new car has it all lol. Lane departure warning, lane keep assist, auto wipers, auto lights, auto hold handbrake, radar active cruise control that actually stops you if the car in front stops etc. Doesn't leave much for the driver to do. Of course my new 4by also has most of that, but not sure I want the car nudging me back into a lane when towing 2 ton of caravan. That feature will get turned off.

With all these fancy dodads it makes it very easy to go long distances in modern cars, Go back to the VH Commodore years or the XE Falcons and we thought they were flash,

I don't know if you have it there but Stability Control is another thing that works really well when you have to avoid something at highway speeds, I had to swerve to avoid some clown in a works Van at about 110k's and about to loose it with the guy and my Van just took over as if I was only doing 20K's with zero sway or correction, by cutting power to certain wheels and doing something with the breaks, and then pushing all the power through the other side, That was just Nuts how it did that, I was so surprized afterwards I wanted to do it again, .

You are really going to love Driving your new 4b, congrats on the new edition,

 

[condor22]

Got the new beast this arvo. Got everything but the kitchen sink. Fortunately most of the goodies can be turned off and stay off unless needed or wanted. Got traction control, stability control. However the van is fitted with an ALKO anti sway device. Even tho the 4by has the electric brake control, this thing auto applies the van brakes when a sway is detected, stopping the "death wobbles". I've had that happen once, I recovered thru some smart driving, but scary s**t, believe me.

I went for a drive just after dark where I could use high beam and the light bar, great, but... There is an auto dimmer when approaching traffic's lights are detected which throws back to normal beam. However, there were a few road signs on the road and the glare of my lights reflected and it kept switching high, low, high, low etc. I think I'll turn that off and do it myself, I know the difference between a reflection and another vehicle, the car doesn't apparently.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Got the new beast this arvo. Got everything but the kitchen sink. Fortunately most of the goodies can be turned off and stay off unless needed or wanted. Got traction control, stability control. However the van is fitted with an ALKO anti sway device. Even tho the 4by has the electric brake control, this thing auto applies the van brakes when a sway is detected, stopping the "death wobbles". I've had that happen once, I recovered thru some smart driving, but scary s**t, believe me.

I went for a drive just after dark where I could use high beam and the light bar, great, but... There is an auto dimmer when approaching traffic's lights are detected which throws back to normal beam. However, there were a few road signs on the road and the glare of my lights reflected and it kept switching high, low, high, low etc. I think I'll turn that off and do it myself, I know the difference between a reflection and another vehicle, the car doesn't apparently.

Good On Ya mate , are you sure it didn't come from NASA, thats a lot of kit all in one package,

With all this extra kit they have they come with bigger Alternators too which is a nice addition.

Again, Congrats and enjoy.

 

[condor22]

Thks, for the price paid, I'd want it to lol.

 

[Nightjar]

Found a photo of an old project from yesteryear that could have made me a fortune if I had had a brain.
Early days prospecting back in the 80's I had problems keeping the battery charged to run "old yella."
Bit of fiddling a farting around, came up with the "black box," a collection of relays.
With Honda 650 12V charging outlet connected to battery, the Engel connected to Honda 240V outlet, could start genny when walking away from camp swinging the old Garrett for hours with out worrying about battery going flat.
When the Honda ran out of fuel the "black box" enabled automatic switch over to Engel running on 12V.
This is where the lack of brain comes into the story.
I contacted Engel and told them in detail how I had successfully managed to auto swap from 240V to 12V running the Engel.
The following year the first Engel was released with auto changeover.
Did not receive any form of recognition from Engel.
Still have the "black box", should send it to Engel for their museum.

Footnote: Certainly didn't cause "Old Yella" any grief, purchased in 1983, still purring today.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Found a photo of an old project from yesteryear that could have made me a fortune if I had had a brain.
Early days prospecting back in the 80's I had problems keeping the battery charged to run "old yella."
Bit of fiddling a farting around, came up with the "black box," a collection of relays.
With Honda 650 12V charging outlet connected to battery, the Engel connected to Honda 240V outlet, could start genny when walking away from camp swinging the old Garrett for hours with out worrying about battery going flat.
When the Honda ran out of fuel the "black box" enabled automatic switch over to Engel running on 12V.
This is where the lack of brain comes into the story.
I contacted Engel and told them in detail how I had successfully managed to auto swap from 240V to 12V running the Engel.
The following year the first Engel was released with auto changeover.
Did not receive any form of recognition from Engel.
Still have the "black box", should send it to Engel for their museum.

Footnote: Certainly didn't cause "Old Yella" any grief, purchased in 1983, still purring today.

View attachment 6204

Yep nice setup for sure, You trend setter you,

Wish I could get an Engle over here, No more Engle dealers in the UK anymore. Next brand will have to a National Luna, Dear AS but I don't have any other choices apart from cheap Amazon models.

 

[condor22]

Nice NJ, it's simple, it works. Engel should send you a new fridge for the write up, lol.

BTW I decided to go away from a standard Aux battery setup in the Prado. Using one of these;

https://baintech.com.au/product/12v-75ah-slimline-lithium-battery-with-in-built-20a-dc-dc/

 

[condor22]

FYI - It is a prismatic cell Li-oN with inbuilt 20A charger. The blue Anderson connects directly to vehicle power. I had a 180amp solenoid installed by the dealer, with 3 runs to the rear. Two x Anderson on the rear bumper, 1 for the van power the other for Antisway. The 3rd is a 1.2M cable in the rear ready for the Auxiliary. The anti sway has a 30A midi fuse, the other 2 are 40A. IGN off no power to any of them.

The battery comes with 4 x alum angle mounting brackets + screws and my dealer threw in a blue Anderson as it is keyed differently to the standard grey one. All I need to do is pop the pins from what the dealer installed in the rear and insert to the blue plug, plug it in and ready to go with charging. I will be installing battery monitoring and plug in solar. This requires a little mod to the way it plugs in so if any one is interested I can upload a wiring diagram showing shunt and rewire details. However, everything will be plug n play with Andersons including the Engel and T/Buddy oven loads.

I'll be installing one single drawer and the battery will be fixed to its outboard side, out of the way. The Engel will occupy the other side of the rear. My reason for going 75Ah, I've used a 100Ah AGM for many years, for cycle life I never use more than 50% (50Ah) of that. The 75Ah lithium can be drawn down to 20% state of charge which = 60Ah usable over 3,000 cycles.

Also saves 18kg of weight. 5 year warranty.

 

[Nightjar]

Nice NJ, it's simple, it works. Engel should send you a new fridge for the write up, lol.

BTW I decided to go away from a standard Aux battery setup in the Prado. Using one of these;

https://baintech.com.au/product/12v-75ah-slimline-lithium-battery-with-in-built-20a-dc-dc/
View attachment 6211

40 years ago Condor, don't believe in my chances.

 

[user 22230]

Nice NJ, it's simple, it works. Engel should send you a new fridge for the write up, lol.

BTW I decided to go away from a standard Aux battery setup in the Prado. Using one of these;

https://baintech.com.au/product/12v-75ah-slimline-lithium-battery-with-in-built-20a-dc-dc/
View attachment 6211

Sounds good just make sure the vehicles insured for fire ? But @ the price of the battery it should come with it's own automatic sprinkler system I'd reckon. Sorry bloke just in honesty I cannot fathom how you can justify thousands of dollars to run a fridge and a pie warmer ? Especially given the same can be achieved at a fraction of the cost Ok now shoot me for my honesty I'm sure Ridgy Didgy will as soon as the sun rises in his part of the world

 

[Ridge Runner]

FYI - It is a prismatic cell Li-oN with inbuilt 20A charger. The blue Anderson connects directly to vehicle power. I had a 180amp solenoid installed by the dealer, with 3 runs to the rear. Two x Anderson on the rear bumper, 1 for the van power the other for Antisway. The 3rd is a 1.2M cable in the rear ready for the Auxiliary. The anti sway has a 30A midi fuse, the other 2 are 40A. IGN off no power to any of them.

The battery comes with 4 x alum angle mounting brackets + screws and my dealer threw in a blue Anderson as it is keyed differently to the standard grey one. All I need to do is pop the pins from what the dealer installed in the rear and insert to the blue plug, plug it in and ready to go with charging. I will be installing battery monitoring and plug in solar. This requires a little mod to the way it plugs in so if any one is interested I can upload a wiring diagram showing shunt and rewire details. However, everything will be plug n play with Andersons including the Engel and T/Buddy oven loads.

I'll be installing one single drawer and the battery will be fixed to its outboard side, out of the way. The Engel will occupy the other side of the rear. My reason for going 75Ah, I've used a 100Ah AGM for many years, for cycle life I never use more than 50% (50Ah) of that. The 75Ah lithium can be drawn down to 20% state of charge which = 60Ah usable over 3,000 cycles.

Also saves 18kg of weight. 5 year warranty.

For a vehicle mounted system it is about the best money can buy, and Like you say what you were doing with the 100A AGM you can do with this and have power to spare as well as the massive cycle life, It's like an On-Board SoGen which is a very cool Idea but without all the garbage you won't use,

We are going to see some fantastic break throughs in new Tech, You must have the ultimate Off Grid Camping setup by now, Awesome

 

[condor22]

40 years ago Condor, don't believe in my chances.

Neither do I, when I needed a replacement switch for my 30yr old Engel, I didn't even get a reply to my emails.

 

[condor22]

Here's the wiring diag for my new setup (It's a Thumbnail, click for a bigger piccy)


I'll try to explain - The Baintech Blue Anderson is input only and to the inbuilt 20A charger. The Grey Anderson is both input and output i.e. a common negative internal to the battery. The positive Blue goes through the inbuilt charger then to the battery, the Grey positive goes to the battery. The simple connections are Car power to the blue Anderson and all loads from the Grey one.

However, if a shunt battery monitor is used and or solar charging, things need to alter. As the only direct connection is one Grey Anderson, it is assumed a busbar or distribution method for both + & - is used. So;
To connect a monitor all load and other charging negatives go to the shunt and the other end of the shunt to the battery. As such the battery and therefore the inbuilt charger gets a negative connection. The vehicle positive is via the Blue Anderson. To allow for proper Anderson connectivity a blank pin is inserted to the negative of the Anderson.

As shown, a fuse block with a negative bus makes it easy to add loads and solar input. I haven't shown a solar controller as I'll be using a solar blanket or portable panel with its own controller. (I have spare Li-oN 15A controllers with Anderson connectors that are portable)

 

[condor22]

When I traded the old van, I returned the 12V system to OEM. As such, I have a Projecta BM320 monitor I can use. A Victron Smart Shunt would be my preference, but hey, the 320 is in the shed, so no extra cost.

Note - The BM320 is for Wet, AGM and GEL type batteries, it does not have a Lithium profile. But, it will still measure amps in and amps out as well as voltage to give a State of Charge (SOC). So a non Lithium shunt monitor will still do the job.

A little known fact - most monitors will eventually over time, be less accurate re SOC as variations accumulate. The way to refresh them is;

Fully charge the battery (any chemistry) until it floats, leave the battery to rest for an hour with no loads or charging i.e. disconnect them all. Then remove the fuse power if used to the monitor, to power it down. Then reconnect everything, good to go. I refresh the BM320 around twice a year. This means a little reprogramming re capacity, date, time etc, a small impost for better results.

 

[shakergt]

Nice NJ, it's simple, it works. Engel should send you a new fridge for the write up, lol.

BTW I decided to go away from a standard Aux battery setup in the Prado. Using one of these;

https://baintech.com.au/product/12v-75ah-slimline-lithium-battery-with-in-built-20a-dc-dc/
View attachment 6211

Condor funny I should see this post as I pick up my new prado monday and was looking at these also. I was thinking if they will fit behind one of the back pannels as that would keep prying fingers away from it. How have you found it so far?

 

[condor22]

I have not yet fully installed it. However; I've designed a false floor that sits on top of the 3rd row seats using the 4 tie down bolt holes. I have that floor installed, but not finished yet. My next job is to fit T nuts on the underside to install the following - XTM fridge slide for the 40lt Engel Combi on the passenger side and a XTM single drawer unit on the driver side. Followed by carpeting the false floor.

I'm going to fit the battery on the side of the XTM drawer outboard side with the battery Andersons at the rear. Followed by a revised box containing a fuse block, Anderson plugs and the BM320 shunt, so that it is all plug n play. This will be designed once the above is installed, so I can view what space is left.

The box Anderson plugs will be - INPUTS x 2 - 1.Car negative only (Positive goes to the battery Blue 20A DC-DC input) and, 2. Solar mat input when needed. OUTPUTS x 4 - 1. Engel, 2. Travel Buddy Oven and 3/4 2 x spares.

The spares will be for things like Cig Socket/Merit/USB Jiffy boxes, my Jabsco pump when filling the caravan water tank, LED light, 150W inverter if needed, (GXL has a 100W 240VAC in the rear already) or any other 12V need.

I have CAD drawings of all of this install (CAD Manager before I retired . My way of "measure twice, cut once, lol.

 

[condor22]

Still to decide re the T/Buddy - I have 2 choices -
1. Use its 2 small tie down brackets on top of the drawer as I did in the last 4by.
2. Buy the Kaon upper shelf that fits at the grab handle level and also buy the KaonT/Buddy dropper brackets and hang above the fridge. That way the drawer top is still full area storage.

 

[Solid Luck]

Well I'm more of a keep it simple type of person.
As posted before it's been 2 years now with the nomad battery and its still going great.
I just keep it on the floor in the back and it runs the fridge on the back seat.
It's great to have a cold drink in the heat.
Enjoying a Coke and Coke at the moment.
Sometimes I even put beer in it lol
I also have a tarp behind the back seats in case I ever find a patch and need to stay with it overnight lol
Happy camping all