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baute


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Thank you so much!!!! Learning the 12volt lingo
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Okay I said previously I dont post much unless I have something I really want to say, so I really want to say thanks to all those who do share their knowledge here.

If you were a fly on the wall, you would have been cracking up laughing.

I headed into Battery world determined to solve my battery issues.

I said to the guy working there, I have a 35 litre fridge, a blue ark power pack and 80watts of solar panel. I want a battery that will give me a couple of days camping. I want a battery I can lift by myself as I need to be able to transport it to camper trailer if need be.

Well he showed me the obligatory 100Ah 30 plus kilo battery and said that is what I need. I tried to lift it and couldnt budge it. I said thats no good I cant lift it. He then offered me no alternative and was ready to dismiss me. We discussed weights and he could see no other option.

 I explained I had been using my 60Ah dual purpose cranking and deep cycle car battery and was getting a day and a half camped up. I asked why with my 80watt solar panels I could not have a lighter battery with lower agm that would do the job. He was baffled and started talking lithium. I said that is no good they are worth a fortune! He was beginning to realise I knew something.

Any way to cut a long story short we discussed depth of discharge, AC/DC chargers, DC/DC charges, Anderson plugs, volt meters, dual battery, parallel batteries etc. I predicated the next option before him; he kept saying I was just going to move onto that idea.

The funny part was he said about 3 times to me, you have done your homework havent you. The other guy working there he told at least 3 times that this lady knows what she is talking about. He was surprised at my ability to discuss 12v with him.

What my system now looks like you ask: 35litre fridge, 80AH deep cycle battery, 80 watt foldable solar panels and regulator, ctek AC/DC battery charger.

So I can lift my battery (26kg) in and out of vehicle charge it on solar and 240volt. I run the fridge on the car battery when travelling.

Eventually I may link it as a dual battery through the alternator but have not had the need yet.

Anyway thank you Grey Nomads one and all (too many to name) through all my reading here even when there are disputes you have given me a good grounding in knowledge to be able to talk 12v with some sense.



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oldtrack123


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Hi
You probabaly left them up in the air[knew more than them]
They are usual just a lttle better than salesmen.
Know the sales speil & not much more.

PeterQ

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baute


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oldtrack123 wrote:


Hi
You probabaly left them up in the air[knew more than them]
They are usual just a lttle better than salesmen.
Know the sales speil & not much more.

PeterQ

 Yep the sad part is I know very little, the look on his face was priceless, he was genuinely shocked and said that they spent many hours trying to explain it to people. I only know the basics, battery with enough amp hours and some way of charging it. Most of it I learn't here.



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TAJ


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he could have been a new starter on the job

we are all on a learning trip

      TAJ



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we dont have the best of everything  we make the best of everything we have
Cloak


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When you graduate to AC remember that 50Hertz but 100Hertz twice as much.

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baute


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Cloak wrote:

When you graduate to AC remember that 50Hertz but 100Hertz twice as much.

 okay I am a bit slow here, think I read this 4 times before I clicked. ha ha ho ho ha funny



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baute


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Now I said I didn't know much and have come back for some more learning.
I fully charged my new battery and it had a resting rate of 13.6volts with no load on it.
I have been running my fridge to test it out.
The fridge has been running 8 hours and the resting rate of the battery is now 12.9 volts.
My googling tells me that 12.8 to 12.9 is considered a fully charged battery.
So tell me what is the resting rate I should be looking at to figure out when I have used 20% of my 80ah battery?
What is the maximum percentage I should EVER take the battery down to to give it a long life?

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baute


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This is the thing I am using to read volts, I am assuming it is doing an ok job.
www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp


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SnowT


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I have seen a few of them Floating around...

they seem to do the job without having to hard wire in a meter...

State of charge

Hope this helps you...

 

Juergen



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IF I say something Dumb.. Just Smack me..

 

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Let's see what mischief I can get up to..

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baute


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Thank you Juergen, that link confirms the information I was working from. What surprised me was that after running the fridge for 8 hours the battery is still essentially full. I have it at the lowest setting as I would when using the fridge when camping and on this battery only. Seems I will get a good few days out of it without worrying too much about recharging it. Considering I was getting nearly two days from 60ah the 80ah will likely give me 3 days.

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SnowT


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You said something about going the alternator to second battery to keep the battery charged..

Me I would go that way...

It will give you longer time to play in the sun..

Juergen

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IF I say something Dumb.. Just Smack me..

 

I'm full of Knowledge.. I don't profess to know EVERYTHING, but I'm constantly Learning new thing's..

 

Let's see what mischief I can get up to..

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baute


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SnowT wrote:

You said something about going the alternator to second battery to keep the battery charged..

Me I would go that way...

It will give you longer time to play in the sun..

Juergen

 Yes connecting it to the alternator is something I will do, have solar panels at the moment which I plan to test out to see how well they work. It is all fun testing and learning how it all works. Only a sometime camper at the moment getting ready to retire in about 20 years :(



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exa41


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You star , you have done well . Putting a VSR into your system would be an advantage on cloudy days whilst travelling . Not sure of you battery type so really can`t comment on resting rate sorry.

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Dennis and Yvonne .

Have fun and keep safe on the roads.

Retired sparky of 50 years.

JUST COASTIN`
baute


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exa41 wrote:

You star , you have done well . Putting a VSR into your system would be an advantage on cloudy days whilst travelling . Not sure of you battery type so really can`t comment on resting rate sorry.

 Thanks slowly but surely I am getting the hang of how it all works. I drive and camp in a ute so have been undecided about where I want to place a fixed battery. I was having a look underneath today thinking some creative thinker could make a bracket and place it there. Anyway the battery is a Ultimate 80ah N50AGM. I understand that the resting rate can vary from battery to battery and brand to brand, age too I guess would be a factor.



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