Quote:
Originally Posted by nevillebartos
Is optima yellowtop still my best bet for the aux battery? 55Ah doesn't seem like much and not even sure how much of that is truly usable, will anything bigger cram in the little space?
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The thing is they are spiral and not plate batteries and they recharge much more efficiently (reach full charge much quicker).
However they are now owned by johnson controls and there is very widely reported reliability issues with the batteries that are all now proudly made in Mexico.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nevillebartos
I was considering solar to help sustain the juice especially on sunny days when the fridge is really going to cop it, are there any controllers I can just jack a panel straight into and leave them to sort the rest out? Do panels work reasonably well on most days?
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The reality is if you have in mounted in the jeep, you take it with you when you move and solar on the move is not the best.
Problem with allot of small solar kits is they are woefully underpowered and or have complete junk for an inverter. I use a 3 panel foldable with a victron 7515 which is bullet proof and runs upto 75v from the array (which is how i run mine).
Quote:
Originally Posted by nevillebartos
Should I consider a battery box somehow in the cargo area to get more capacity rather than trying to cram something into the engine bay?
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Like has been suggested, hardwiring an anderson to the cargo area you can then use when you need to is awesome, you plug and go and when you get to camp you take the battery out and leave it with the fridge and solar so it is convenient. Unless you do allot of winching in which case you want it hard wired with very large gauge wire.