I have a new vehicle (Amarok) coming and I will be putting an aluminium canopy on the back. I'm looking for some advice/experience/recommendations around what sort of 12v power system to install. Looking to power the fridge, canopy lights, a few 240v appliances at times and of course charging a the phone via usb. Will be charging via the vehicle, solar and 240v if needed. Trying to keep the budget at a reasonable level as I'm well aware you can spend plenty on this sort of thing.
Depending on where you live, there are some great businesses that specialise in this. In Bundy there is Solar and Sat, have a chat to people who make a living out of this. Dont rush in, talk and take notes. There are some things that are best left to experts. The products change every day and there will be things that us more mature people dont know about. Phone calls are cheap.
My old tray back Ute I fitted an alloy shed on the back, to keep costs down I slung a deep cycle calcium battery under the tray, solar panel on roof , a Cetek D250s fitted inside shed to charge battery from solar or crank battery up front, fridge lived inside the shed and all cable from outside to inside had andersons fitted so removal of shed or equipment was kept simple, plug and play .................. led strip lights bought by the roll and cut to length and a bit of soldering to connect up were stuck to inside the doors and micro switches fitted so they came on when opened, a master switch outside to shut them down as experienced showed they not always turned off ............... lined the shed with insulation and fitted a 12v computer fan and vent in one corner at rear and a flow thru vent at front to try and keep temps down as 50 deg wasn't unknown, the fan turned on in woollies car park ensured the fridge wasn't fighting a loosing battle to keep cool ............
Fit out was done by myself and worked well for years, no real need to buy the catalogue and a new mortage as some fitters would have you do .....................
The Cetek D250s is brilliant did everything I wanted and all I added was a digital meter to see what was going on, some brands would have you throwing a grand at just a DC/DC charger with heaps of useless bling.
Using a wet deep cycle saved heaps and being outside venting isn't an issue and it has lasted as long as my AGM's, so couldn't see need to spend more $$$ in fact can get more storage for the price...........
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Checking out the places I drove past a thousand times................
I have a new vehicle (Amarok) coming and I will be putting an aluminium canopy on the back. I'm looking for some advice/experience/recommendations around what sort of 12v power system to install. Looking to power the fridge, canopy lights, a few 240v appliances at times and of course charging a the phone via usb. Will be charging via the vehicle, solar and 240v if needed. Trying to keep the budget at a reasonable level as I'm well aware you can spend plenty on this sort of thing.
Rob.
Hi Rob,
Firstly welcome to the forum.
You have two options. A portable power station or seperate components to make up a system. There is not one system that suits everyone simply because of differences in the way we travel and camp.
What is the make and model of your fridge as that will be the first consideration for battery sizing together with what 240v appliances are you looking to run and how long for. The wattage of the appliances will determine the inverter size and again possibly affect your battery requirements.
Last week there was a VoltX portable power station with good specifications such as a 2000W inverter on sale for just over $1000. You just have to keep doing looking.
There have also been specials on VoltX LiFePO4 batteries with 100Ah on sale for $289 and 200Ah around the $600 mark through Bunnings and Woolworths Market Place. Again you just have to keep looking regularly.
For seperate components such as MPPT solar controller, DC/DC charger etc Victron are a good brand and many of their products are not much more expensive than other brands. Again you just need to keep your eye out for the specials.
Giandel inverters are pretty good for an inexpensive one and they can be found on Ebay.
In terms of solar for free camping the recommendation is to install as much as you can`. Not necessarily the largest panels as sometimes it is better to fit smaller panels to cover more area. What you need to remember is that you need to replace the power that you use and that is not always easy on cloudy days. A portable panel can be a good addition if needed.
What ever you do, do not buy cheap Ebay batteries and solar panels.
Good luck
Tim
-- Edited by TimTim on Saturday 12th of October 2024 11:13:53 PM
i have similar set up in my canopy but have kept it separate from vehicle system by putting solar (160 watt) panel on roof via regulator to battery box with 115amp battery . more than capable of running 65 ltr fridge/freezer, lights, air pumps, charging battery packs via inverter ect ect cost was under $500 (4x4 super center) only tools needed couple of spanners, screw drivers , drill , has worked for a couple of years now no problem.
Thanks for the advice Tim, it's much appreciate. I've been down the very cheap battery path before, and not real keen about doing that again. I did see those VOLT batteries advertised.......priced well and 3yrs warranty got my attention.
i have similar set up in my canopy but have kept it separate from vehicle system by putting solar (160 watt) panel on roof via regulator to battery box with 115amp battery . more than capable of running 65 ltr fridge/freezer, lights, air pumps, charging battery packs via inverter ect ect cost was under $500 (4x4 super center) only tools needed couple of spanners, screw drivers , drill , has worked for a couple of years now no problem.
Thanks for that.....I'm thinking of doing something similar.
Thanks for the advice Tim, it's much appreciate. I've been down the very cheap battery path before, and not real keen about doing that again. I did see those VOLT batteries advertised.......priced well and 3yrs warranty got my attention.
Rob, when it comes to battery warranty it can be a minefield as it is easy for the supplier to say it wasnt maintained.
I build my own batteries with cells I buy from China but have followed VoltX and Aussie Batteries for a while now and at $289 for a !00Ah VoltX it was an opportunity to buy and test one. I have had 107Ah from mine.
