Electrical Power problems

[OZTRITON]

Hello everyone, long time reader first time poster.
I have just upgraded from a camper trailer to a 2010 14 ft expanda and have a question I hope can be answered.
The van has no batteries fitted and as far as my research tells me the Setec charger in the van is only of any value if you have a 240V supply, as we free camp all the time (never been to a van park) it seems to me the best thing to do would be to rip it out and start again with a redarc or ctek battery system, would this be correct?

I have a Ctek in the tug now and it charges my second battery and runs the car fridge very well, would it be ok to put another one in the van and run it from the one in the car?

Hope this makes sense

 

[boots33]

The setec will charge your van battery (If fitted) when it is connected to 240v, even if you never use powered campsites it is still handy to be able to keep the van battery charged up when at home. It also provides low voltage cutout protection for your van battery so is worth keeping for that alone. You can still fit a dc to dc charging system to work in tandem with the setec, that is a very popular add on these days.

 

[Crusty181]

@OZTRITON welcome aboard. The Setec is a smart chargerband designed to attach a DC battery directly to the Setec unit, which will charge via 240v or via the car If you have a hotwire.

The terminals to connect the battery to the Setec are shown in the user manual which you can download ... it may well be on here somewhere as well. All outbacks with batteries from that era have the identical Setec units ... just with a battery. In 2009 Expanda Outback 16.49.x came wired with a empty battery box but without a battery ... go figure

The 12v via the car is a very low charge rate tho. You would get a better charge rate from the car with a Ctek250 (i think thats the model), and the Ctek can run in conjunction to the Setec too.

 

[ShaneT]

I am going to rip mine out also because all it is at the moment is a poorly labled fuse box. I have unpluged the Setec from the powerpoint as I dont want it charging my lithium batteries.
I have 2 narva fuse boxes to go in its place aswell as my BMS, current display for inverter, solar reg display and some extra switches and gauges for the 80amp charger and permanently mounted generator. Just waiting on the solid state relay and the fun should begin.

 

[Bluey]

Maybe unplug dont remove for resale if u eva sell the van ?????

 

[Drover]

As@Crusty181 said, it's all there just have to set it up properly.
I can see no need to change the Setec unit at all , mine keeps the battery well charged when at home and when on the road will charge up the battery in quick time when driving connected to the tug, you do need to go over your wiring harness and have a decent connection to the tug as I have found the main problems people encounter is the wiring.
When free camping solar panel keeps the juice flowing but then all my gear is 12v and doesn't eat heaps of power.