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Forum Index : Other Stuff : charging batt from car
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| jack fork stik Newbie  Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
hi all just want to know can i charge a 40 or 100ah battery ill be usingto power my barrel water cooler im using in my camp trailer from the ciggy lighter socket in my vl commodore wagon whilst driving along,im thinking of using a spare engle fridge cord with aligrator clips on it as its fused and has decent size cable in it.will this be good enough and wont catch my old car on fire? |
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yahoo2 Guru  Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
The trusty ol vl has a bit of a reputation for melting fuse panels and less than perfect wiring looms. Given the cars age and that a lighter sockets wiring is built for relatively low current for very short periods, I would think that your chance of toasting something is pretty good. The other issue to consider is voltage drop. With less than stellar wiring the battery will never see the full charging volts. low volts-> low charge -> short battery life -> $$$$. The way to go for the perfect setup would be to run some heavy duty twin core wire with soldered ends from the charging circuit in the engine bay to the back of the car and use small anderson connectors for the break-away fittings. There will still be some voltage drop so using a gel or agm battery in the camper, with its slightly lower charging voltage, will give you a battery to use that is a lot closer to fully charged after a drive. I usually keep a couple of prebuilt temporary power cables in the workshop for emergencies, very quick to fit up to a vehicle and its reliable. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
There are Dc to DC devices on the market that boost the charge voltage to around 14.2 volts for charging camper/caravan batteries. Don't know what their input current is but it might be worth a look. David M David M. |
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| jack fork stik Newbie Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
hi Mobi yeah those vl fuse blocks do get abit hot thats why i never put the a/c and heater fan on high nowdays and i had to replace the high beam fuse with a aftermarket 60 amp fuse holder yrs ago.ill go down to the auto sparkies shop today and get the right gear for the job as want to get another few more yrs out of the old car |
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| yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
ARB- sidwinder are doing a special online at the moment. 10x 50A anderson plugs for $20 that's about as good as it gets these days! 10 meters of 4mm auto twin core $20? that's 1.84mm2 wire core size, rated at 22 amps. Should be plenty of margin. Unless you plug in a 12 volt air compressor, wow, they can chew some power! you can buy a lighter socket for $5 and wire it to an anderson plug, it makes a handy adapter. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| jack fork stik Newbie Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
thanks for the advice and link Yahoo2 on the anderson plugs,so ive got ten coming soon.ive found a 4 mm2 peice of solar cable as its got a good outer cover just right for under car work and will carry abit more current as well and ill put it on a fuseable link in case something shorts out one day.im thinking of puting in 2 relays connected to the oil pressure switch so theyll turn off when the motor is off and the trailer batt wont feed back power on start up either. |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
4mm is a little light to me, i would say 6mm is about as low as i would go for cable size, in reality 10mm would be better, but that becomes costly and higher current to work with. Most trailer charge systems work through the 7 pin lighting plug, and not through a separate Anderson connector, but that is the better way to do it. I do like the oil pressure switch idea......... bugger why didn't i think of that! Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| jack fork stik Newbie Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
hi Pete yeah 6mm2 cable would be better and wont blow out the budget too far but i doubt if 10mm2 cable would fit in the 50 amp anderson connector terminals though and im only trying to charge batteries not make it so they can start the engine if the car battery is down on power.just looked at the 10mm2 multistrand household wiring i brought at the scrappies before xmass and that will do the job so ill report back with how good it works once the anderson connectors get here |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
I have connected my traytop slide on camper battery to the vehicle battery via a Redarc MCU controlled contactor. I used 10mil cable (about 4mm in diameter) and 50amp andersons with no problems. I can disconnect the anderson and connect 100w solar panels to either the camper or the ute. Had it for a year or two with no problems. David M. David M. |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Also you can trim back some strands at the connecter if needed, as its the voltage drop over the cable length thats the bigger issue and the reason for using the 10mm2 cable, not so much the copper conductor into the Anderson connector. Sounds like you have it sorted anyway. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| jack fork stik Newbie Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
yeah your right Pete about trimming some of the cable to get it to fit in the terminal and ill work some solder in the the cable after the terminal,just looking on ebay and they sell 10 and 16mm2 terminals for the 50 amp anderson connector as well as the complete thing in those sizes |
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| jack fork stik Newbie Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
well got the 10 x 50a anderson connectors and thanks for the link yahoo2 as their a good buy at that price.i also noticed the pins are good for 16mm2 cable so ill use some power to house cable i brought at the scrappies last year for scrap value and rig it up when we get a cool change here coz currently on 44c oven temp and no sign of cooling off.now to find some small jobs i get do on the kitchen table as not to waste the day surfing the net.finished off the control box for my barrel water cooler yeasterday and that and the battery is currently outside getting load tested and to see how much water it will consume over a day.it came in handy when the power goes down for hours too as ive always got plenty of charged up batteries ready to go  |
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| yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
No problems, the link was my way of saying,"don't pay $20 each for fittings". Looks like you have gone beyond heavy duty to SUPER DUTY. I thought the solar cable was a really good option. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
I should mention that these anderson connectors, like most things these days, are probably not the genuine article. The ones I have, come out of the Ningbo Clipol factory and the epoxy that they are made out of will split with a lot of use or if the spring clips are tight. If the job needs to be professional it would be worth spending a couple of extra $ on the real thing, they are quite a bit stronger. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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