Electric woes

[WayneSchalk]

So as it goes, trade your car and you have to kit everything again, and go through the teething problems again

I went camping at Rust de Winter the past week, and soon ran into some problems with my dual battery system.

My setup is as follows;

102Ahr Deep cycle battery under the bonnet, with a Ctek Dual DC-DC charger with a 80 watt solar panel and the NL 50lt weekender running off it with nothing else at the moment, not even LED lights.

1st problem, I had the HCDP 12a charger just before we went camping, then replaced it with the 20a Ctek. So the 15a fuse from the main battery blew without me knowing. And I think I was in a hurry when I originally did the wiring on the HCDP, I have 4mm cables between the main battery and the Ctek and then 6mm from the aux battery to the Hella plug at the back. Perhaps that is ok, but I do not feel comfortable with is as it is, so I am going to change out the 4mm cable from the main bat to the Ctek with 6mm. And the cable running from the aux bat to the plug at the back will be changed out from 6mm to 16mm, I will use the National Luna in line fuse at the back to reduce the 16mm back to 6mm for the plugs.

2nd problem, I almost forgot to pack the solar panel. So in the rush I did not realise how short the cable on the solar panel was, that with the trees around the camp reduced my charging time a lot.

Needles to say, I ran out of power by day 2 , and most of this could have been avoided if I spent more time preparing.

So I guess I will have to spend a bit more time in the bonnet and under the tuna, let this be a lesson to all. Make sure of your connections, cable thickness and lengths. Hot beer is not lekker

[ChrisF]

NEVER rush electricery ....

[Mr_B]

:wth: Shocking!

[Thunder02]

To add to your statement, i'm still kicking myself for buying an 102Ahr bat. Had a 115Ahr, same size as the 102 but lasts longer(obvious), not much price difference either. :roll:

[WayneSchalk]

For the guys who knows,

how do I test a deep cycle battery, normal load test? I bought mine new from National Battery about a year ago, I noticed it is wet on top, does that spell trouble? :?

[Haboob]

Wayne, The wet on top can be from:-
1) Overcharging which can damage the battery...
2) Over filling the batteryb with water, which will also cause it to boil over when charging normally, which will not harm the battery, but can dilute your acid mixture.

[WayneSchalk]

Wayne, The wet on top can be from:-
1) Overcharging which can damage the battery...
2) Over filling the batteryb with water, which will also cause it to boil over when charging normally, which will not harm the battery, but can dilute your acid mixture.

Now the only charger I had on this battery is the HCDP, the Ctek was fitted last week only

[yotaman]

For the guys who knows,

how do I test a deep cycle battery, normal load test? I bought mine new from National Battery about a year ago, I noticed it is wet on top, does that spell trouble? :?

Take it to your nearest battery outlet for a check. The leaking if not from the sources mentioned here can also be from a crack around a pole. This happened to me under warranty and was replaced by Trysome.

[WayneSchalk]

Thanks guys

I have a long trip coming op in December and don't want any of this issues if it can be avoided.