Will have to set my vehicle up for towing a van pretty soon, the vehicle is a Mazda BT50, and the van is a Jayco, with a 12volt fridge, two 130 watt solar panels and two 100amp batteries.
The way I am thinking is to install another battery in the ute, between the vehicle battery and this battery install a DCC1225ACK-RPIn-Vehicle DC-DC Battery Charger made by intervolt. This unit can be programed to do various functions such as delaying the connection between the two batteries until the ECU has done its routine checks etc. It also cuts out the aux battery when the voltage drops below pre-sets etc.
A panel mounted on the dash shows vehicle battery voltage, aux battery voltage, and the unit is solar ready, as I intend to install a panel on the canopy roof. In essence I am separating the vehicle battery from the dirty electronics i.e. the van etc.
What this means is that when I pull up, I don't have to unplug the van to avoid a flat vehicle battery, and by having an auxiliary installed in the vehicle, I am not interfering with the ECU.
Question am I on the right track here?
-- Edited by iana on Friday 11th of September 2015 07:35:18 PM
My journey has begun, originally after a fifth wheeler, but succumbed to the price of a standard van. That is now on the production line, and now I have to get my vehicle ready. Electrics on the Mazda BT50 and Ford Ranger seem to be in the "Do not touch" bracket, so I have decided to take all the dirty electrics off an auxiliary battery. This will be powered by the vehicle alternator via the vehicle battery, or a solar panel as required.
To day I went and purchased the auxiliary battery, the battery staff advised that I should get a Stingray marine battery, 950 marine cranking amps, 105 amp hour suitable for starting or deep cycle. The marine battery being more resilient to the bouncing on the roads. It is a calcium battery, not AGM or Gel.
My next task is to somehow mount it in under the tray of the ute, forward of the rear wheels. My vehicle is a tray top ute, not a well body.
Spent part of my day installing the "Tow Pro" remote knob assembly. mounting and feeding wires through for the inter-volt display, and mounting the "Tow-Pro" module. That was not easy. The BT50 does have a grommet hole in the fire wall for cable to be feed through. I suppose that's a plus.
-- Edited by iana on Tuesday 29th of September 2015 08:22:36 PM
