{"id":8319,"date":"2021-08-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.4wdsupacentre.com.au\/news\/?p=8319"},"modified":"2021-08-20T16:33:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T06:33:03","slug":"3-ways-to-keep-your-deep-cycle-battery-topped-up-at-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/3-ways-to-keep-your-deep-cycle-battery-topped-up-at-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Keep Your Deep-Cycle Battery Topped Up At Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re heading away camping<\/strong> <\/a>soon and you\u2019re planning on staying at camp<\/strong> <\/a>more than one night, you\u2019ll need to consider how you are planning to keep your deep-cycle auxiliary battery<\/a><\/strong> topped up. A rough rule of thumb is that a 100Ah battery<\/a><\/strong> will comfortably run a portable camping fridge<\/strong> and all your camp lighting<\/a><\/strong> for one night and well into the second afternoon, but by about the 24 hour mark of relying on your deep cycle<\/a> battery<\/a><\/strong>, it\u2019s going to need recharging in one way or another. There are three different ways you can reliably recharge your deep-cycle 4WD battery<\/a><\/strong> or your deep-cycle AGM battery<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 by going for a drive, by using solar power<\/strong> <\/a>or by using a generator<\/a><\/strong>. Here\u2019s a comparison of each of the three different options, with each option\u2019s strong-points and drawbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. GOING FOR A DRIVE<\/strong>
    It\u2019s definitely the most basic way to recharge your     auxiliary batteries<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 rely on your alternator and your dual-battery system<\/a><\/strong>. When you see that your deep-cycle battery<\/a><\/strong> is running low, you can put more charge into it by taking your 4×4<\/strong> <\/a>for a drive for a couple of hours to pump some voltage back in. Some systems, depending on the battery charger<\/a><\/strong> used, can do this just by idling the vehicle but it\u2019s not recommended as a method for charging a deep-cycle battery<\/a><\/strong> for a couple of reasons. Firstly, many 4WDs won\u2019t produce full charge at idle but instead will need at least 1500rpm to properly charge deep cycle batteries<\/a><\/strong>. Leading on from that is the fact that it\u2019s noisy and wasteful to simply have your 4WD<\/strong> <\/a>idling at 1500rpm at camp, because all you\u2019re doing is using your 4WD<\/strong> <\/a>as a generator<\/strong> <\/a>essentially when it isn\u2019t designed to be one. Lastly, idling your 4×4<\/strong> <\/a>for extended periods of time can be detrimental to its long-term health as diesel 4×4<\/a>\u2019s<\/strong> need to be worked hard to stay in good shape, and if you have a suspect cooling system you may overheat your motor. However if you want to go for a proper drive somewhere then you can use a couple of hours of driving as a way to charge your deep-cycle battery<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 if you\u2019re prepared to pack away your rooftop tent<\/a><\/strong>, 4×4 awning<\/a><\/strong> and the rest of camp<\/strong> <\/a>to extract your vehicle!

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  2. SOLAR POWER<\/a><\/strong>
    This is definitely by far the quietest, cleanest and greenest option of all     deep-cycle battery recharging<\/a><\/strong> Plug a folding solar panel<\/a><\/strong> or portable solar blanket<\/a><\/strong> like any of the Adventure Kings solar panels<\/a><\/strong> into your deep-cycle battery<\/a><\/strong>, and as long as it\u2019s facing the sun, you\u2019ll put power back into your 4WD auxiliary battery<\/a><\/strong>. The best time to recharge your deep-cycle battery<\/a><\/strong> with solar power<\/a><\/strong> is early in the morning when the sun is shining but the day hasn\u2019t heated up yet. Heat is actually, and ironically, the enemy of solar panel<\/a><\/strong> power production as heat causes voltage drop<\/a><\/strong>. Keep your portable solar panel<\/a><\/strong> and or portable solar blanket<\/a><\/strong> wiped down and clean of dust, and continue to move it every couple of hours so it faces the sun all day. Aim for at least a 110w portable solar blanket<\/a><\/strong> or panel, if not 160w<\/strong> <\/a>of solar power to put as much power back into your batteries as possible. It\u2019s also beneficial to make sure whatever solar blanket<\/a> <\/strong>or solar panel<\/a> <\/strong>you choose utilises an MPPT Solar Regular<\/a><\/strong> over a PWM Regulator<\/a><\/strong> as they are far more efficient when it comes to keeping your auxiliary batteries<\/a><\/strong> topped up and in good condition.

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  3. PORTABLE CAMPING GENERATOR<\/a><\/strong>
    The most reliable way to recharge your     batteries <\/a>is with a portable camping generator<\/a><\/strong> and a 240V battery charger<\/a><\/strong>. This is more of an investment than a portable solar<\/a><\/strong> option- however there\u2019s no method of deep-cycle battery recharging<\/a><\/strong> that\u2019s more reliable short of camping at a powered caravan park<\/a><\/strong>. Run your portable camping generator<\/a><\/strong> for about three hours of an early afternoon, and assuming you are running at least a 20 AMP battery charger<\/a><\/strong>, you\u2019ll be able to fully recharge your deep-cycle battery<\/a><\/strong>. Downsides are that many campsites<\/strong> <\/a>have restrictions on generator usage<\/a><\/strong>, and that in close quarters your neighbours may not love it if you\u2019re constantly running your portable camping generator<\/a><\/strong>. However, a couple of hours per day is all it takes and if you do it around midday when everyone is out doing things anyway, you\u2019ll rarely have a drama. Carry a couple of 20m extension leads<\/a><\/strong> and put your portable generator<\/a><\/strong> just over the hill or behind a cluster of bushes. Also requires you to carry a jerry can of unleaded fuel to keep the camping<\/strong> generator<\/strong><\/a> running for multiple afternoons in a row.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So there you go- those are the 3 most common and easiest ways to keep your auxiliary batteries<\/a> <\/strong>topped up while you are out camping.
    Here at     4wd Supacentre<\/a> <\/strong>and Adventure Kings<\/a><\/strong>, we offer just about every option for you to keep your secondary batteries topped up and in good nick- From Dual Battery Systems<\/a>, DCDC Charger with built in MPPT Regulator<\/a>, portable folding solar panels<\/a>, <\/strong>portable solar blankets <\/strong>and portable camping inverter generators<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>We offer these incredibly useful bits of gear for just about unbeatable prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    All of the gear offered by 4wd Supacentre<\/a> <\/strong>and Adventure Kings<\/a> <\/strong>is incredibly high quality but just without the ultra high quality price tag. We pride ourselves on making 4wding<\/a>, camping<\/a>, touring<\/a>, <\/strong>and all of the above better, easier and more affordable for everyone. We reckon you\u2019d be hard pressed to find any competitor who can match our unbeatable prices while maintaining such a high level of quality like you\u2019ll find in all of the gear offered by Adventure Kings<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you\u2019re heading away camping soon and you\u2019re planning on staying at camp more than one night, you\u2019ll need to consider how you are planning to keep your deep-cycle auxiliary battery topped up. A rough rule of thumb is that a 100Ah battery will comfortably run a portable camping fridge and all your camp lighting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123456,"featured_media":8320,"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\/8319"}],"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=8319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8321,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8319\/revisions\/8321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.emgcloud.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}