Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

[samstruck Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close samstruck]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

There is spot for the earth just nxt to the side of the air-box. 8mm hole i think. It might even be 6mm.

[samstruck Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close samstruck]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Quick question. I've got my arb battery tray in and redarc solenoid. Can i get away with using 16mm cable to link up both batteries? I have some off cut welding cable and really like it because its so soft and well insulated. I was thinking of using 60 amp circuit breakers instead of fuses as well. Plse give me feedback.

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Hi Samstruck, with two batteries under the bonnet, one cranking battery and one auxiliary battery, you could use 8B&S ( 7.9mm2 ) ( minimum recommended size cable for under bonnet DBS ) as dual battery cable and while 8B&S is rated at a maximum of 65 amps for a continuos load, like the continuos current loads found in a dual battery set up but the same 8B&S cable is rated at over 170 amps when used as starter motor cable.

Your 16mm2 cable is rated at around 115 amps for your dual battery set up and rated at over 250 amps when used as starter motor cable, so you will be fine with the 16mm2 and a 60 amp auto resetting circuit breaker is the largest safe size you can use with 16mm2 cable.

[samstruck Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close samstruck]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Hey Paul,

What did you do to fit your LED in the blank on your dash. I see the are not very flush behind them.

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Samstruck,

To install the led I pulled the blank out and drilled the necessary sized hole (12mm to make sure it was tight) for the led to go through. I then used a scalpel or craft knife to cut out enough of the back of the blank to allow the led to fit when pushed through. The wires connect via blade connectors at the back of the led. I used a Narva red led pilot light (62029BL)

http://www.narva.com.au/products/browse/pilot-lamps
Looking back now it would have been easier to fit a 12 Volt Pilot Lamp Pre-wired with Red L.E.D (62075BL) as the hole and led would be smaller


Both the pilot light just push in and are held it by pressure and clips at the rear.
Hope this helps.

I was going to say pop over and I'll give you a hand until I noticed that it could take awhile to get to Brisbane from Perth.

[samstruck Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close samstruck]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Thanks for the tips Paul. Are you going to install the push button?

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

I was still deciding as I installed the battery over Christmas for our camping trip early this year. I still have to finish off my circuit breakers, I have a manual switch 40A circuit breaker for the power to the boot for the fridge, http://cgi.ebay.com.au/12V-DC-CAR-AU...ht_2326wt_1034

and a manual switch 60A circuit breaker for the power to the rear Anderson plug. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/12V-DC-CAR-AU...ht_2326wt_1034

I also have to buy the cable and run this for the rear Anderson plug. I also purchased a 6 gang fuse box for running power into the cabin for CB, GPS, Phone and additional power outlets.

So when I pull the dash apart and install all of this I will probably install a momentary switch for the push button connection. I can't see myself ever needing this but another button to fill in one of the blanks will give me another mod to do. Throw some pictures up of your install so that we can see any different ways you did the install so that it gives some ideas of different options.

[samstruck Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close samstruck]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

I jst bought the kit from abr sidewinder for the rear plugs. I thought it looked neat in Derek's prado. Probs would of worked out cheaper for me to source the stuff my self but liked Derek's idea. I have bought the smallest Narva push button
(Part No./Description
60038BL Blister Pack
Micro Momentary (On) Push Button Switch
SPST, solder type terminals
Amperage rating 6A at 12V, 3A at 24V
Mounting opening 12.5mm dia.)
I was hoping to fit it in one of the blanks but did not realize there was no room behind them to lock the lock nut in. It would have been perfect size otherwise.

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Hi Paul,
I'm in the process of getting a dual battery system up. Your setup is the most sensible way without messing around with the aircon pipe, hence, I've just ordered an ARB battery tray. The ARB salesman I spoke with quoted a kit that they sell which includes: battery, tray, redarc sbi12 and wiring for the redarc and between the two batteries (wiring to rear cargo not included) for $415. I laughed lol :lol: then again $142 for a metal tray was a kick in the gut too.

Anyway, he was telling me that they've had problems with the sbi12 solenoid not producing enough charge on the 150 series alternators and that redarc were developing a dc to dc charger that would replace the sbi12 in the ARB kit. Oh and I haven't decided on which battery to go for yet...

So my question to you is... how have you found the redarc sbi12 with your current system? Did you fit one of those alternator booster mods from ABR? Also, how has the MRV50 been performing?

Cheers

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

William,
When I bought the tray from ARB I was considering just buying the plastic tray and a set of factory battery clamps but that was about $70 so I thought the tray at $140 wasn't a bad investment as it included the mount for the Redarc.

I have a Redarc installed in my work Kluger running a 75AH Thumper 2nd battery and have not had any problems with it at all. I have checked the charge rates and when hot is charging at 13.8 to 14V. I do charge the battery pack every 3 months using a CTEK 7000 to fully top it up and condition the battery. I will be doing the same for my Allrounder before Easter. The Allrounder is holding a charge of around 12.7v and the Prado puts out about 13.8v when I have checked. The start battery is around the same voltage which is what I would expect as the batteries stay connected until the voltage drops to 12.7V then the redarc isolates the second battery from the start battery. It is not the Redarc that Produces the charge rather the vehicles alternator. The Redarc just connect the 2nd battery to the charging system when the voltage reaches 13.2V. I did a bit of research into the DC DC chargers and for my circumstances I believed the Redarc SBi12 was more suitable as well as cost effective. My understanding is that when you are only doing shorter drives the DC DC charger will not be as effective as the solenoid. I know that it's personal perception but my experience in using the Redarc SBi12 has been extremely suitable for my application.

I was looking at the ABR fuse replacement as I know the Allrounder do like a higher charge although I think it is a good Practice to charge your batteries regularly. I have also purchased an Allrounder 105AH for the camper trailer. For me I got the Allrounders for the right price so went with them. I was speaking to the boys at Wynnum Towbars and they used Allrounders due to their durability under a bonnet. AGM might have been a better option for the camper trailer but that would have been 4 times the cost of what I Paid. There is newer lighter battery technologies out there that will become more available as more hybrid and electric cars are released. They are a Lithium Iron Phosphate cell. At the present time they are very expensive.

Hope this helps

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Sorry what I meant was, using the redarc sbi12, the prado does not produce enough charge. I do know what the redarc sbi12 does :mrgreen: I have done my research and yes, the dc-dc chargers just aren't worth it for what I do.

I agree that batteries need to be charged regularly. I have a battery box with a fullriver 105ah AGM, I look after it well by not discharging it past (50%) and charging it immediately after coming back from camp. When I don't use it for extended periods, I often hook it up every month or so, but I'm usually out camping at least once a month so it get's a thorough workout. AGMs are awesome, but like you say, they cost a lot

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Paul, I have another question for you. I read in the redarc wiring diagram that the cable length between the starter battery and the redarc should be as short as possible.... I don't see how this can be possible when the ARB tray has the redarc and auxillery battery mounted next to eachother. How did you do your wiring?

Cheers

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Hi all, the reason for mounting isolator, Redarc and others, except the Traxide SC80, is to stop the isolator oscillating on and off if the auxiliary battery is very low and the cable between the cranking battery and the isolator too thin and/or too long.

This problem occurs because when the motor is started and the alternator voltage rises above the isolator’s cut-in threshold and it turns on, connecting the auxiliary battery to the cable via the isolator.

As soon as the auxiliary battery’s low voltage is connected to the cable, the voltage then drops the isolator below it’s cut-out threshold and the isolator turns off.

As soon as the isolator turns off, the voltage at the isolator’s input rises again and so on and so.

By making sure the isolator is mounted close to the cranking battery, you pretty well remove the voltage drop, caused by a low auxiliary battery and thin/long cable, effecting the isolator.

Because of the way the SC80 works, this problem will not occur and the SC80 is so stable in this kind of situation that it can be and is fitted in caravans or camper trailers instead of the tow vehicle, and SC80 will still operate as designed.

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Hold on, so if what you say is true, why have ARB packaged the redarc sbi12 and even made a mount for it on the aux tray? If you're right, wouldn't everyone with arb dual battery kits be suffering this problem you speak of?

I'm going to have a look under the bonnet tomorrow and see how hard it is to perform an main/aux battery swap... The dual battery setup at the moment doesn't seem to be worth the money. $500+ on a setup that can only offer a mere 80Ah using an Allrounder (or in my case, 65Ah using a Century battery).

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Re: Dual Battery TD 150 GXL

Hi William and before you do any forced modifications, I stated caused by thin and/or long cable.

If you have decent sized cable then you shouldn’t have a problem.

The point is that Redarc are wisely pre-empting any potential problem by recommending the isolator be fitted close to the cranking battery.