Derek
recently purchased a new Holden Crewman cross six 4x4 and set it up with a local auto leccy with a dual battery system and electrc brakes etc the dual battery sytem including the biggest deep cycle battery case all wiring and fitting cst me $470.00 cheapest way to go and included a connection for my 60watt solar panel I find that it will keep my 40lt Waeco fridge running 55 hours without recharging the battery and with the solar panel I can stretch that to 70 hours well worth the outlay

I also have a 4' fluro light setup 40 watt tube same as a house fluro that works on 12 volt and a 2100 watt 12volt to 240 volt inverter this is all set up on my deep cycle battery to feed power to my 17' Coramal Excel van this is suplimented with a 3.5 kva 240 volt generator for any long term off mains power needsbut find that a 20km drive fully charges the deep cycle battery and the best part about the deep cycles are the more you flatten them the more they love it as well an old 12 volt alternator fitted to an old lawnmower engine running on low revs charges the battery with 1 litre of fuel so can work isolated from mains power for unlimited time periods

Oh and also have the Waeco 48 hour 12 volt Thumper power supply for camp use etc so camping can mean having all the comforts nowadays with these accessories

yEAH dEREK ITS PRETTY SIMPLE YOU JUST NEED A LITTLE LIGHT BULB TO EXCITE THE ALTERNATOR A GOOD AUTO LECCY WOULD WIRE IT UP FOR YOU IN 10 mIN THE ALTERNATOR i PICKED UP FROM A WRECKER FOR $40 THE MOWER WAS AN OLD ONE i HAD JUST PUT A $12 pully where the blades used to be and then just twist the Vee belt from hosizontal on the motor to vertical on the alterator after mounting everything on a piece of 19mm ply board I used the tank from an old Victa mower and when its empty the battery is charged and with the exhaust pointing toward the ground its very quiet as well you will find that the deep cycle battery will run your camp without any problems but a solar panel will not keep up the charge for a fridge as it draws more than the panel can give thats why an alternator charger used every second day will say a lot of hassle

Derek.
Here is a pic of my (home made) 12v. battery charger.
It is bolted into the back of the truck and "hard wired" into the dual battery circuits. I can charge one or both aux. batteries and/or the vehicle starter battery.
It has a max. 50a. output, but I usually set it at about 12a. for 1 battery or 28-30a. for 2. I have a variable current output as well as a regulated output designed in. Works a bit like the inverter 240 volt sets now popular.
Fuel use is around 5l./week running a couple of fluro lights and the 60l. Trailblaza set on freeze, ambients around 26 to mid 30's.
cheers mikel

Quote:


Murray, take the _ out of the name of the photo.


Derek