{"id":8000,"date":"2021-05-15T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.4wdsupacentre.com.au\/news\/?p=8000"},"modified":"2021-05-14T17:09:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T07:09:46","slug":"why-a-dual-battery-system-is-a-necessity-in-modern-camping-setups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/why-a-dual-battery-system-is-a-necessity-in-modern-camping-setups\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY A DUAL BATTERY SYSTEM IS A NECESSITY IN MODERN CAMPING SETUPS!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Decades ago you could get away with an icebox for your food and by day three or four of a long trip you\u2019d just have to resort to eating dry food. These days though with portable compressor fridges<\/strong><\/a> being so affordable there\u2019s no reason to suffer with packaged food anymore! The only thing you need to consider is that you have enough power to keep it running happily \u2013 and the best way to do that is with a dual battery setup. A second battery<\/strong><\/a> in your vehicle means you can run your camping fridge<\/strong><\/a>, camp lights<\/strong><\/a> and other accessories with your car off, without worrying about flattening your starter battery and being stuck in the bush!<\/p>\n

The basic idea of adding an auxiliary battery<\/strong><\/a> to your rig is to leave your car\u2019s starter battery just for starting duties \u2013 there\u2019s no risk of running your starter battery flat overnight by leaving your camp lights<\/strong><\/a> on or on those hot days when your portable fridge<\/strong><\/a> is running hard to cool down your food and drinks. Instead the second battery<\/strong><\/a> provides you with power on tap ready to run your 12V gear. Starter batteries are able to deliver a lot of power for a very short time period in order to start your car, but for a aux battery<\/strong><\/a> what you want is a \u2018deep cycle\u2019 battery<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 these are better suited to slowly being used for a long time without damage \u2013 so they\u2019re much better suited to running low power devices like camping fridges<\/strong><\/a> or camp lighting<\/strong><\/a>. The other thing to look for is the type of battery \u2013 AGM batteries<\/strong><\/a> are one type that actually suspends the internal electrolyte in a fibreglass mat and in the case of Adventure Kings AGM deep Cycle batteries<\/strong><\/a> because they\u2019re sealed in means they won\u2019t gas or leak and they\u2019re safe to use inside your vehicle \u2013 they also can charge a lot faster than flooded type batteries which are more suited for under bonnet or external use.<\/p>\n

The best way to ensure your camping battery stays charged is with a DCDC charger<\/a> \u2013 <\/strong>these connect the starter battery and the auxiliary battery<\/strong><\/a> into one system while the vehicle is on or running, and then disconnects the two batteries when you turn off your car \u2013 resulting in two separated, distinct 12V systems. The first system connected to your starter battery sits fully charged and ready to start your car when you need to, while the second system is connected to your camping battery <\/strong><\/a>and is able to power all your camping electrical gear. <\/strong>The main benefit of course is when your car is off you\u2019re not going to flatten your starter battery but the second big benefit is that while the vehicle is running, you\u2019re actually charging up both batteries! This means that if you\u2019re driving for a few hours every 2 or 3 days you can keep your second battery<\/strong><\/a> charged up without even thinking about it!<\/p>\n

Another excellent way to keep your second battery<\/strong><\/a> charged up is with a portable solar kit \u2013 this way you can charge up the aux<\/strong> battery<\/strong><\/a> without even needing to run your vehicle. Say you chose a 250W Folding solar blanket<\/strong><\/a> you can connect it right up to your camping battery<\/strong><\/a> and because it comes with everything you need including the solar regulator, you can set it up first thing in the morning and let it charge all day without a worry. The regulator will adjust the charge to ensure the battery is charged efficiently without overcharging \u2013 and AGM deep cycle batteries<\/strong><\/a> prefer to be kept topped up so camping solar<\/strong><\/a> is a perfect way to extend the length of your camping trips and extend the life of your battery. if you choose the right DC\/DC charger<\/strong><\/a> with a built in solar regulator you can even plug your solar panel<\/strong><\/a> directly in to it \u2013 that way you\u2019re using one system to charge your batteries while you\u2019re driving and while you\u2019re camping. That means you can add permanent solar<\/strong><\/a> to your rig and it\u2019s always charging whenever you\u2019re parked in the sun. You can also use a simple dual battery isolator<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 but these don\u2019t work with a lot of modern vehicles with smart alternators and even on older vehicles a DCDC charger<\/strong><\/a> is a great idea because it will ensure the second battery is receiving the right amount of charge, even if your alternator isn\u2019t delivering the right voltage. All good DCDC chargers offer you the option to select different battery chemistry types, whether it\u2019s an AGM battery<\/strong><\/a>, a flooded or calcium deep cycle \u2013 some even offer lithium.<\/p>\n

The last thing to think about when setting up a second battery<\/strong><\/a> system is the size you need to run the fridge and lighting you want to run \u2013 in reality it\u2019s always better to choose a bigger battery as it offers you more of a buffer and allows you to camp for longer. A good minimum size is around a 100Ah deep cycle <\/strong><\/a>which will allow you to run a small camping fridge <\/strong><\/a>for around 48 hours in typical conditions. <\/strong>Stepping up to a 115Ah AGM<\/strong><\/a> or 138Ah deep cycle<\/strong> <\/a>will allow you more power in reserve. Plus, the other thing you can do is join two same-sized deep cycle batterie<\/strong>s<\/a> in parallel (that\u2019s connecting red to red and black to black) and you get double the power capacity! This is commonly utilised in vehicles that are going a little bit further remote as it not only gives you double the power reserve, but allows you to spread the weight of the deep cycle batteries<\/strong><\/a> around your vehicle as well as gives you a backup if one of the batteries does have any issues \u2013 that\u2019s better than one big battery failing and leaving you with no power. Of course the easiest way to keep on top of your reserve power and any potential issues is with a battery monitor<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Decades ago you could get away with an icebox for your food and by day three or four of a long trip you\u2019d just have to resort to eating dry food. These days though with portable compressor fridges being so affordable there\u2019s no reason to suffer with packaged food anymore! The only thing you need…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123456,"featured_media":7604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8000"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8012,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8000\/revisions\/8012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}