[striker99]

Hi All,

Jimny Bits Created a battery tray for ABS model Jimny's but it specifically states that it is not compatible with Air-Con models as the hose from the condenser appears to be in the way..

http://www.jimnybits.co.uk/shop/jimny/a ... _1254.html

I am wanting a second battery to simply run a few lights or accessories while camping (mostly overnight trips, but also to be able to run a small fridge for 1-2 hours.
The purpose of this is really just for convenience of not having to carry a second battery in the cab for day trips to places.

When doing overnight/camping trips a larger 130amp battery is taken but this is very heavy to move about/uses lots of space in car for short day trips!

As a result i have been considering a 12-18 Ah SLA battery such as those available from Jaycar as this may potentially fit in this battery tray. Obviously with such a small battery a low Ah Ctek DC to DC charger or something of the like would be required.. Thoughts anyone??

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... TID=997#12

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... TID=997#12

[Jezza86]

know anyone in the IT field? get some second hand 12 volte gell batteries. their not light but their fairly small and you could position mulltiple batteries under seats and whatnot in paralell to up the AH.
i use a small gell cell battery in myboat. powers the radio and lights all night and i just manually switch it for charging.

[striker99]

Hi Jezza,
Thanks for the Gel battery idea, I have been looking at some 26 Ah Gel batteries that look like they would fit nicely under the seat, does anyone have suggestions of what to store the battery inside of?

I have been thinking of getting a small battery box and then cutting down to the required height and potentially running a small piece of flexible conduit back to the engine bay to ensure the box is effectively vented...

[Jezza86]

gell batteries are sealed and don't vent. i know, i fly gliders full aerobatic and never once have i had sulfuric acid join me in the cockpit, which is handy cos the battery cradle is between my legs.

[shep]

It is fairly easy to move the AC lines, I managed to get a 60ah battery under the bonnet of mine

[striker99]

I did some rearranging with the washer bottle and what not under the bonnet today and there seems to be ample room for a half decent size battery if it wasn't for those AC lines.. Did you move them yourself or get it done by some sort of mechanic as that seems to be looking like the best option currently... If not, under the drivers seat I'm thinking!

[woo603]

Shep,

Can I have a photo of how your battery sits under there ?

[squibby]

Get a Piranha Battery tray. Can't fit a decent battery in it though, so doesn't really answer your question. Best I could do was an Optima Yellow top and that was flat long before morning on my camping trips. I was running a cooler though, and I believe a decent fridge would draw less power then a cooler, so depends a lot on your appliances as well as the battery size.

[striker99]

A quick update on this thread.. I am now look at installing a gel battery in the boot area, making it removable through the use of an Anderson plug connection if need be.

For running accessories..I.e. uhf, led lights, cigarette lighter I have wired these to a fuse box.

I would like to however wire these accessories up to run off the secondary, but still be able to use them if this battery were to be removed... The solution, an On/off/on position switch connected to 2x 40 amp relays... haven't added fuses to the diagram yet... see below...

[jimny_timmy]

Are you putting an isolater between the 2 batteries also for charging?

[Mike57]

I can't see the diagram but I did something similar and used an Anderson plug before the secondary battery so I could plug an outlet directly into that feed from the main battery to power up the fridge in the back if I wanted to take the secondary battery out. I put the isolator in the battery box at the rear so when it is removed anything I plug in is connected directly to the main battery.

[striker99]

jimny_timmy wrote:

Are you putting an isolater between the 2 batteries also for charging?

Yeah, will be installing a red arc dc to dc 6amp regulated charger..they aren't one of their most popular units, but perfect for using with a small gel battery..Costs around $230 mind you

[royce]

Why not a changeover relay? accessories to pin 30, start battery to pin 87a so you don't need the relay energised to supply power and aux battery to pin 87

And also consider the Ctek 250s Dual thingo, same money as the redarc, 20amp charging and solar control, its a good but of kit.

[striker99]

royce wrote:

Why not a changeover relay? accessories to pin 30, start battery to pin 87a so you don't need the relay energised to supply power and aux battery to pin 87

And also consider the Ctek 250s Dual thingo, same money as the redarc, 20amp charging and solar control, its a good but of kit.

Thanks for the idea Royce, change over relay looks like a good option to me! However, I was hoping to be able to have an "Off" position, with this setup it would appear turning the switch on/off would meerly change the relay between 87/87a and therefore you cannot totally cut power to the circuit on the same switch?...

Would it be possible to have the +12v that connects to pin 85 connected up to the on position on the switch, with 12v from this fed through the "power" on the switch? And therefore, if the Switch is in the off position this would cut power to the relay, or does pin 85/86 only control the actual switching?

Also, I like the look of those Ctek 250 chargers, but i am wanting to install a 24-38ah Gel battery, which are very sensitive on charging amps... most allowing a max of only 5-10 amp charging input... the tradeoff is they are very safe to use in a car if used correctly.

[royce]

When do you want to turn it on and off? not a fan of having something that can be accidentally left on to drain a start battery.

by Gel, do you mean AGM? or some other thing that needs as different charge voltage to what you'll normally get in a car? the Ctek regulates current to my AGM pretty well, remember you have the current draw of any accessories being powered by that aux battery as an overhead as well, 6 amp isn't much once you have a radio and lights hooked up

[striker99]

If you have a look at the diagram above, the 3 position switch has an off position, allowing you to totally disable both relays and thereby cutting power to all accessories in the car, rather than having them linked to the starter/or secondary battery.

By Gel I mean Gel cell battery, have a look below to compare the differences to agm... agm batteries can leak dangerous explosive gases in certain circumstances, with most manufactures stating "98% of these gases are recycled within the battery case"..

http://www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles ... s-agm.html

I am looking at a battery such as this one...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-12V-26AH ... 4d2&_uhb=1

Very compact, allowing it to be mounted in a case in the back of the car and sit level with my tool box!

The 6amp charging i'm not overly concerned about, this battery will only be running led lights on the back of the car = 0.005 amps?, uhf radio = 2 amps? (rarely used), fridge = 2-3 amps, and in the case a high load from the cigarette lighter it would not last long...

[royce]

striker99 wrote:

If you have a look at the diagram above, the 3 position switch has an off position, allowing you to totally disable both relays and thereby cutting power to all accessories in the car, rather than having them linked to the starter/or secondary battery.

And like I said not a fan of that kind of thing, what happens if you leave it on all day? I would think up of a better way to automate it off the key or something.

striker99 wrote:

By Gel I mean Gel cell battery, have a look below to compare the differences to agm... agm batteries can leak dangerous explosive gases in certain circumstances, with most manufactures stating "98% of these gases are recycled within the battery case"..

http://www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles ... s-agm.html

I am looking at a battery such as this one...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-12V-26AH ... 4d2&_uhb=1

Very compact, allowing it to be mounted in a case in the back of the car and sit level with my tool box!

The 6amp charging i'm not overly concerned about, this battery will only be running led lights on the back of the car = 0.005 amps?, uhf radio = 2 amps? (rarely used), fridge = 2-3 amps, and in the case a high load from the cigarette lighter it would not last long...

You are going to have a bad time if you think all that will be reliable running a fridge for more than half a day, recently I had a dodgy AGM that allowed 20 ah/hr out of it before it would die and I couldnt get dusk till dawn from my Waeco.
You'll also notice your link says Gel needs special charging voltage, why are cheapy China battery company listing normal AGM charge specs? also the redarc charger doesn't say its good for Gel

I think you might be trying to reinvent the wheel a bit when there are lots of already proven methods out there

[striker99]

Yes You are right in that respect, I am now considering running a Narva VSR to starter battery, run 8B&S cable to back of car with an anderson socket, connect to redarc unit which will be intergrated with battery box... either a 24 or 38Ah gel... not too concerned about running fridge off it for long periods though. As if i am using it for camping trips I have a 130Ah deep cycle, and should easily get 6-8 hours with a 38Ah with the car off so should be fine for general day trips places

Alternatively... I go with a 70Ah Gel battery, removing the need for the Redarc dc to dc charger... might be a better option!

[Blakey]

gel batteries can have a vent just like the one you posted does. so really you're saving nothing over an AGM battery as AGM batteries of the same size have more Ah.

better off going a truly safe battery like a Lithium battery. small light powerful.

if you can push the current in you can charge then in about 5min

most of them can charge straight off your alternator.

and as for batteries don't get them from ebay. you wont be buying what its says it is, unless your getting a proper brand name one.

[Jezza86]

Blakey wrote:

gel batteries can have a vent just like the one you posted does.

not all gell batteries vent. not all lithium batteries are safe, and some lithium betteries (mostly round cells) have atmoshereic vents.
LiFePO4 (lithium iorn phosphate) batteries are pretty safe safe, but can be more expensive then gell. upside is their lighter. downside is they become flamethroowers in a car fire.
http://www.allpurposebatteries.com.au/p ... cts_id=394 $2600.00 200ah
http://www.allpurposebatteries.com.au/p ... cts_id=333 $1300 100ah
http://www.allpurposebatteries.com.au/p ... cts_id=338 $695.00 40ah