Electrical Dual Battery question
- Thread starter Capt. Gadget
- Start date
I have a 150 series Prado. I am running the CTEK D250S, from my aux batt I have an Anderson plug plus hard wired 12v sockets in rear to run fridge. I am not running a alternator voltage booster or similar and have not had an issue thus far.
I intend to discard the 12pin plug and run a 7pin with the Anderson plug for the remaining pins 9 & 10. As for the Jayco SETEC I will simply unplug it, fit my Projecta IC1000 and wire it to the van batteries myself for effective charging. I will also bypass the regulator on my folding panel kit to a dedicated Anderson which I will wire straight to the Jayco solar regulator. This will work in conjunction with the standard 120w panel.
While I am on 240v I use my Anderson extension lead to link the Jayco to the Prado keeping the aux at full charge. Simple way to describe it is the aux battery becomes part of the charging circuit of the van. Has worked for me quite well over the last couple of years.
I intend to discard the 12pin plug and run a 7pin with the Anderson plug for the remaining pins 9 & 10. As for the Jayco SETEC I will simply unplug it, fit my Projecta IC1000 and wire it to the van batteries myself for effective charging. I will also bypass the regulator on my folding panel kit to a dedicated Anderson which I will wire straight to the Jayco solar regulator. This will work in conjunction with the standard 120w panel.
While I am on 240v I use my Anderson extension lead to link the Jayco to the Prado keeping the aux at full charge. Simple way to describe it is the aux battery becomes part of the charging circuit of the van. Has worked for me quite well over the last couple of years.
I got it all installed on the weekend, all went good. It is hard to see what amps are getting to the battery as I don't have any meter on it apart from my multimeter but I was measuring around 20v coming in from the panel at the d250s, on the battery side it only reads what the battery is at, I thought it would jump up with the load from the charger but from what I've read this seems to be right. I ran the battery down a fair bit and over the last couple of days it has gone up even though the panel is in the shade for the best part of the day where I have it parked. I tried to test what charge was coming from the car tonight, I connected it up and while idling and the fridge turned on, I measured 13.4v on the alternator side of the d250, then I tried to measure the current by putting the multi in the circuit by disconnecting the negative battery lead on the d250 and going between the 2. Not sure if that is the best way but measured 5 amps. I am assuming that will go up when driving and not just idling or does this seem low to you guys?
Also noticed that the fridge on DC does not draw off the caravans battery, pretty sure it does when connected to the car but not sure how to test it as nothing on the fridge indicates that it is on.
Also noticed that the fridge on DC does not draw off the caravans battery, pretty sure it does when connected to the car but not sure how to test it as nothing on the fridge indicates that it is on.
Hey Ryan
Glad to hear you have had a win.
The D250 will supply a varying amount of current depending on how flat your battery is and on what part of its charge cycle it is on. So unless your battery was very flat you would not see it putting in anywhere near its max amount. Just one thing please do make sure all your live connections are fused, I have seen many wiring burns over the years and nearly all could have been avoided if the correct fuse was in place.
Hey Ryan
Glad to hear you have had a win.
The D250 will supply a varying amount of current depending on how flat your battery is and on what part of its charge cycle it is on. So unless your battery was very flat you would not see it putting in anywhere near its max amount. Just one thing please do make sure all your live connections are fused, I have seen many wiring burns over the years and nearly all could have been avoided if the correct fuse was in place.
OK cool, that answered the other question I forgot to ask, does it need a fuse? I had a sparky mate help me install it and he said not to bother with the fuse but looks like I will bother. Assuming 20a would be the go?
Ctek recommend a 30 amp fuse. that will give you a little head room from the 20A max the d250 can put out but will still blow if a short is encountered. The fuse needs to be placed in the wiring as close to the power source (the battery) as is practical but not inside the battery box.
