Andre307’s New Tug... MU-X

Andre307

Active Member
May 18, 2016
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233
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Adelaide
Hey mate, how are you finding the Arkpak mate? Finally got a battery for mine, just working out different wiring combinations and then best way to charge it whilst in the car/solar.

Hi Mate, sorry for the late reply haven’t been on the site lately.
I was just using cigarette socket charger in the back of the car for charging on the move, plugged into the 240v charger when available and topped up with a 120w panel in the sun when stopped. That routine got us through our big trip ok but there was a couple of times we got s bit low on charge given the built in charger is only 7 amps.
Did have an issue with the cigarette socket plug coming loose and not charging on some of the rough roads. Other thing was it refused to charge off the van socket when free camped which I thought it would (too low voltage to start charging I assume).
The fridge I hardwired to the arkpak terminals via a merit socket and fuse to stop it falling out. Solar was plugged into the Anderson on the side via regulator supplied with the panel.
Was only running the fridge off it and occasionally a light strip.
If your not on the move a lot you would definitely need to supplement with solar/240v or a dcdc charger as 7 amps isn’t a high charge rate to recover the battery very quickly and any loads attached at the time eat into that too.
 

Smergen

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2014
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4,716
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Bacchus Marsh
Cheers for the update mate. It's a little disappointing to hear that charger wasn't up to scratch as it was one of the reasons I picked it up. I was going to run the panel through the regulator and battery terminal. The Anderson socket was going to be for the travel buddy which has a high draw so I do need the battery being charged well whilst in the car. If I wired the car charge through the terminal points as well I wonder if that would help boost the charge, but like you said, that would require another charger to regulate the volts I suspect.

It's going to require a bit more thought I think.

Did the solar keep up with it alright?