duel battery advise

[rambo71]

Hi guys just after a bit of advise i have a redark duel battery in my patrol which i think my 2nd battery is cactus only will run my fridge for about 1 hr so ,i have had my gu patrol since oct last year which i run a 60 ltr weaco out of my question what is a good battery to have in your car to run the fridge and how long should a battery run a 60ltr weaco for as the longest this one has was about 24hrs when i first bought the car and with every trip it has been getting worse which i havnt that concerned with as i wasnt using it much then.Just had a drifta drawers installed witha dropdwn fridge slide so we are going to start doing weekenders more often and now want to get the battery setup runnung properly

[rambo71]

hi guys just had a look and noticed that the redark light is not flashing what does this mean.
battery dead
redark not working properly
or does the red light only flash if the battery is charging
 

[GGV8Cruza]

The light on my Redarc tells me that the two batteries are connected, this only happens when the main battery is up to full charge. I would take the Patrol to someone who can check your batteries to ensure they are ok. I run a 60l Engel in the Patrol and get a weekend out of it with a drive or two thrown in, I also have solar now so keeping th drinks cold is not a problem

GG

[HKB Electronics]

What redarc have you got, the following is for the SBI type

Question:  What does the red LED indicate?
Answer:   The red LED indicates the solenoid is activated and both batteries are connected together and therefore are both being
charged simultaneously.  A flashing red LED during operation indicates a faults:


Code 1, 2 flashes over voltage.
Code 2, 3 flashes voltage drop or excessive current draw fault.

Cheers
LeighW

[rambo71]

thanks took it to a battery place today checked battery said it was OK down a little on charge but not bad .Topped battery up a little terminal was a little lose (GOOSE) which also didn't help and he also reckon when auto electrician ran the the wire he reckons the wire might be a little light on any way got the fridge running now will see what happens during the week if it doesn't work will take it to a auto electrician to get it checked out.
Thanks guys

[jeb1900]

Hey Mate,

Just wondering, what battery protection setting have you got your Waeco on?  I reckon where you're running into trouble is that you've got your fridge on the highest battery protection setting and it's stopping operation because of that.

Your Waeco fridge will have three levels of battery protection, high medium and low.  This is so that you can use your fridge in a few different scenarios. 

High - if you're running the fridge on your starter battery, and want to be able to start as your highest priority.   
Medium - if you're running the fridge on your starter battery, or second battery where protecting your battery health is important but starting is not critical. 
Low - if you're running the fridge on a isolated second battery, and you want your fridge to run as long as possible.

IMO - I would change it to the LOW setting, as the reason you have a fridge with a second battery is to run it as long as possible.  I would avoid allowing the fridge to fully discharge the battery wherever possible however.

If I was you, I would go to Jaycar and buy yourself a cheap $20 voltimeter.  That will help you tell if your battery has any charge left in it or not. 

Hope this helps,

Jon

[rambo71]

ok thanks mate didnt even no about settings on fridge will check it out and also jaycars as well thanks put battery on charger last night so will check when the wife comes home from work if the fridge is still running.

[rambo71]

well just checked fridge you were right had it set on high so now we will wait and see how that goes......Thanks heaps

[jeb1900]

No worries mate.  I reckon that will have gotten you out of trouble. 

Here is a helpful article on how to get the most battery life with your fridge too:  http://blog.tentworld.com.au/2011/11/optimise-your-engel-or-waecos-fridge.html

I will have to take you up on that  because I reckon you'll have no dramas at all now.  Cold beers, all the time!

[rambo71]

Thanks Jeb1900 i think ya just saved me some coin as i was just about to buy a deep cycle battery just got home from brissy and just went down to check on the fridge which the car has not been started since 3pm wednesday and to my happy suprise its still going,

[jeb1900]

No worries mate, glad I could help!