battery advice

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freebiker

freebiker

Well-Known Member
Posts
2,815
Location
Rebel County, Ireland
Ok, so i've been looking at solar power for my brief stint in Ireland lol.

Thinking of:

  • 12V 150W solar panel on the roof
  • 12V 10amp charge controller
  • 100mAh Gel battery
Then i could power my laptop, toastie maker and a few other bits and peices off the battery. Wouldn't need an inverter as you can get 12V toastie makers and i can get a 12v charger for my lappy.

My question is, would fitting a larger amperage battery into a freelander affect the car in any way? Apart from possibly taking the alternator longer to fully charge it. It wouldn't damage ignition components or starter motor? anything like that? If it has no effect whatsoever, would even fitting a larger amperage battery be a possibility?

I've seen some leisure batteries up to 250mAh but what would these be like running a car on?

BTW... i've easily got the space in the bay as i've not got an airbox anymore!
 
crewebiker said:
Ok, so i've been looking at solar power for my brief stint in Ireland lol.

Thinking of:

  • 12V 150W solar panel on the roof
  • 12V 10amp charge controller
  • 100mAh Gel battery
Then i could power my laptop, toastie maker and a few other bits and peices off the battery. Wouldn't need an inverter as you can get 12V toastie makers and i can get a 12v charger for my lappy.

My question is, would fitting a larger amperage battery into a freelander affect the car in any way? Apart from possibly taking the alternator longer to fully charge it. It wouldn't damage ignition components or starter motor? anything like that? If it has no effect whatsoever, would even fitting a larger amperage battery be a possibility?

I've seen some leisure batteries up to 250mAh but what would these be like running a car on?

BTW... i've easily got the space in the bay as i've not got an airbox anymore!
Click to expand...
They put a huge battery in the camel trophy freelander, they had to move the airfilter housing.
 
If they fitted a larger battery then i can't see it having any damaging effects on anything.

Airfilter housing has already been removed on mine as i've got an custom induction thingy. Would just need to make a longer shelf.

After reading on leisure batteries it'd be a bad idea to use one in a car, and car batteries aren't too good at discharging slowly. Hmmm, might opt for a multiple setup?
 
crewebiker said:
If they fitted a larger battery then i can't see it having any damaging effects on anything.

Airfilter housing has already been removed on mine as i've got an custom induction thingy. Would just need to make a longer shelf.

After reading on leisure batteries it'd be a bad idea to use one in a car, and car batteries aren't too good at discharging slowly. Hmmm, might opt for a multiple setup?
Click to expand...
Aslong as you keep it 12volts should be ok. I put a bigger batterry in my volvo and it was fine.
 
I've just been reading about Optima yellow top batteries, which would be absolutely perfect for the job, if they had a larger capacity. They only go upto 55mAh which is less than the battery i've got in at the moment but are perfect for cranking from and using for the deep cycle feature.

Does anyone know of any other batteries which are deep cycle, as good at cranking but have a larger capacity? Can't find any others on google.

This would be perfect as it would do away with needing a multiple setup and extra wiring / dual chargers etc.
 
crewebiker said:
I've just been reading about Optima yellow top batteries, which would be absolutely perfect for the job, if they had a larger capacity. They only go upto 55mAh which is less than the battery i've got in at the moment but are perfect for cranking from and using for the deep cycle feature.

Does anyone know of any other batteries which are deep cycle, as good at cranking but have a larger capacity? Can't find any others on google.

This would be perfect as it would do away with needing a multiple setup and extra wiring / dual chargers etc.
Click to expand...

thought you were going to Ireland not a trans Africa trek
 
Sean said:
thought you were going to Ireland not a trans Africa trek
Click to expand...

lol, true but being the green warrior that i am, i'll probably be camping. But i won't be able to work without my laptop and mobile at least, and a few toasted sandwiches.

Also don't want to run the battery down / have to sit using my laptop with the car engine running. Running the solar panel into the cars battery gives me optimum voltage efficiency to run my items on without need for an inverter and also stops my car battery from running flat, and even if it does... depending on the battery type sitting in the sun for a few hours should recharge it enough to crank over.
 
I removed my airbox and fitted a 110Ah battery. It makes no difference to the starting or running of the vehicle.

It does allow me to leave my side lights on for many hours and still start the engine.

I run an invertor and extra electrics whilst camping without any issues. When running my fridge (4amp drain) use a secondary battery (also 110AH) in the boot of the vehicle on a simple split charge system. (both batteries connected when engine running and isolated when parked)

Regards,

Steve
 
you need to have some means of isolating your additional battery from the main vehicle battery when the engine is not running, such as a split charge system as suggested by sean. Otherwise, you will end up with the additional battery back feeding to the main battery.

As an example, part of the kit I usually carry for work is one of those 10 million candle power torches, inside which is a 12v 7Ah battery, identical to those used in fire, security systems and the like. When the torch is connected to the cigarette lighter socket and the engine is turned off and the keys removed, the radio stays live, as if the ignition is on.

Not the only vehicle to do that though. I had an astravan, and you could remove the keys and lock the vehicle, but the engine would carry on running with the torch connected.
 
Hi Crewbiker,
Here is a circuit I used to wire in my 12S socket.
I also now have an auxilliary socket from the relay (12S) feed in the boot area to charge the Liesure battery when solo. :)
Ran all the wires in flexi conduit under the motor to the near side rear turret area - then on to the 12S. Relay and PRC mounted under the main ECU on the front turret. :D
If you swap the 70A (30A adequate) relay for a changeover type you could have alternator charging when running and plug in the Solar when switched off - sound usefull? :5bcoolgleamA:
The beauty of the PRC4427 is it allows direct connection accross the original car battery and won't affect any engine management functions monitoring the alternator or charging system.
All items available cheap on fleabay.
PS. make sure you fit proper fuses and use heavy enough wire for the loads. :doh:
Happy Camping TD John
 

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Sean said:
any split charge circuits with diodes in are very inefficient

this one is built to last

X-eng High Performance Off-Road Engineering
Click to expand...

The first system is adequate for the suggested use and apart from the odd relay failure (from about 50 vehicles) has proved to be reliable in my experience. But really I was drawing attention to the need for an additional leisure type battery to run the equipment and avoid non start situations. :)
 
There are caravan type split charge relays that are voltage dependant which don't require the connection into the alternator charge light wire. When the vehicle is running the battery volts are high enough to activate the relay and make the connection to charge the second battery. The wiring is simpler for this type.
Adding to TD Johns circuit information modern post '96 caravans only require a single switched feed as there is a changeover relay in the 'van so you have a spare feed for an "in boot" 12v feed anyway.

Allan
 
Chaser said:
The first system is adequate for the suggested use and apart from the odd relay failure (from about 50 vehicles) has proved to be reliable in my experience. But really I was drawing attention to the need for an additional leisure type battery to run the equipment and avoid non start situations. :)
Click to expand...

that's quite a high failure rate out of so few vehicles, the relay in the x-eng unit is significantly more robust than the more readily (and cheaper) versions, and certainly over specified for this intended use - but when installing a device that is designed to help avoid you being stranded shirlee it's false economy to fit a "cheap" device
 
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