They weren’t free, but i got them pretty cheap. I’ll stick one in the ute and I guess we’ll find out soon enough how well it lasts.
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I went through this a few years ago, decided to get a lithium battery box and a seperate jump starter ( i wanted to be able to jump the ute in remote WA if needed ) but so far so good. Powers my fridge and canopy lights and chargers. The main reason i went with a box is its plug and play just need to run cables up to the front crank battery, the dcdc in the box takes care of everything. Solar input, 12v and 240v input and a heaps out various outputs. I can take it car to car or out of the car if needed, it can power my fridge for about 3 - 4 days remotely. I didn’t want to spend huge $ on a permanently wired in setup
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Good way to go.
Why should someone buy a 40Amp DCDC instead of a 25 Amp one?
More current draw to charge your battery quicker
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Im still trying to wrap my head around the DC to DC charger idea/concept…
Basically your car is electically setup to charge your lead acid crank battery 14 volts under load is where it should be, modern cars can detect when your battery is charged and will ’ electrically disconnect ’ your alternator which takes load off the engine kind of like a switch.
What your car doesn’t know about is your aux battery which is a load on your crank battery. All is good if you use a lead acid battery similar to your crank battery ( then you need an isolator ) but why would you with the age of lithium. Lithium charge input/output voltages are way different to your lead acid.
Think of your dcdc like a ’ brain ’ for your aux battery something your car already possess for your crank battery. The dcdc controls the voltage and current to your aux battery, if its drained say running a fridge over night it’ll draw the full 40A or whatever your dcdc is capable of. If its just topping it off it’ll trickle charge it to keep it charged. Then when you turn off the car it’ll isolate the two batteries so one can’t drain the other.
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Downsides, if any?
I have a modern VW ute, it has all the bullshit electronic stuff that installers always have to work around.
None really besides being not cheap and being permanently wired into your vehicle which is alright if you intend to keep it for a long time
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Im gonna be like all those $200k 79 Series wankers from down south with an instagram sticker and hot blonde in the passenger seat (mine will be inflatable of course). Solar, fridge, drawers, recovery points and winch.
…and inflatable Karen. 
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You’re better off with an inflatable Shazza, they whinge less and root more…
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Inflatable Karen, wont keep her mouth shut…
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So I had a good look at those Redarc dcdc chargers and weighed up the options, then I bought this
And a 30-06 with the change (& I still have enough to replace the relay several times) , yeah I’m getting old, so I think its expected that I get a 30-06.
I’ll post it in an appropriate thread…
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I bought the BCF kit, it worked worked fine in the Pajero.
120ah deep cycle in the back for camping that I pull out when I need the rear seat again for soccer mum duties.
Just replaced the engine battery with a 100ah so should be sweet.
But I don’t think WAPOL will let me have a 30-06 right now (and I’m not willing to spend $396 to find out).
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300ah in the back of the ute now, I reckon that should keep the fridge running for a minute!
@sungazer had some concerns about me using stationary AGM batteries, that they may shit themselves getting bounced around. To combat that ive chopped up some thick yoga mat type stuff and packed it under,between and all around the batteries, hopefully that should protect them.
I have the isolator installed and I’ve run all the wire, i am however still waiting for some 100amp fuses to arrive.
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I had 2x120AH AGM batteries in the camper, i flogged around the country. Had it airborne at 120kmh, numerous river crossings, and the Gibb River road. They survived…
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My high quality/high flammable Kings lithium in on the way.
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ffs
here’s your dual battery kit… Now move on, this is a gun forum!
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Are you sure?
I thought it was a 3D printing/ whiskey and cooking forum!
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Oooh sir, without a moments hesitation he comes out swinging.
I like.
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