Battery Box and Compressor - removeable

[Numb Thumbs]

I have just redone my battery box and compressor box for the Jeep. I have made them easily removeable as I only load them when needed. Either or both can be used.

The Battery Box is a Hard Korr Heavy Duty Battery Box, a strong and neat design. It has 4 x 50 Amp Anderson plugs, 3 x grey and 1 x black. I converted one of the greys to red. It also has 1 x 175 Amp Anderson plug and a master switch. There is a readout LED panel for Voltage and state of charge which you turn on and off manually so it is not on all the time. The state of charge part is useless with Lithium batteries...

It easily holds my Sentry 125 Ah Lithium battery and I have packed it into place inside the box. I have also fitted a Ctek D250S Dual inside the box, bolted to the lid inside. I disconnected the built in VSR and used the positive for the black Anderson plug to connect to the Alternator Input on the Ctek. I have a 6B&S lead with fuse running from the starter battery, under the floor mats and the end - with a black Anderson plug, which will also connect to a grey Anderson plug - is stored behind the cargo flap across the back of the back seat. I simply pull it out to connect to the battery box.

The red Anderson Plug is connected to the Solar Input on the Ctek - I use red Anderson plugs for all my unregulated solar connections and all my panels are unregulated (do not have a regulator attached). I can easily plug either of my 135 Watt or my 100 Watt solar panels to the red Anderson plug the charge the battery through the solar controller on the Ctek. I can even plug both 135 Watt panels to it using a Y cable.

That leaves two grey Anderson plugs which are connected directly to the battery via a circuit breaker and can be used for things like my fridge. The fridge, by the way, is a Waeco 45 litre CFX and fits perfectly between the door and the battery box.

There is a 175 Amp Anderson plug on the battery box. I use this to connect the compressor as it has a peak current draw of 110 Amps. The compressor current drops to around 80 Amps after the start up. I can also use it to connect this battery to the starter for a jump start as I have made up a pair of crocodile clips on a length of 6B&S cable with a 175 Amp Anderson plug on the other end.

The battery box with 125 Amp lithium battery inside weighs in at 19 kilograms.





This, I am ashamed to say, is my old battery box:




The compressor is a Thumper Max from the 4WD Supercenter. It is a twin cylinder compressor with a 300 litre per minute rating. I used to use a Bushranger Max Air. They are chalk and cheese. The Bushranger would take a few minutes to pressurise the air tank and 8 metre hose. The Thumper does it in around 30 seconds...

I used a 150 Amp automotive relay to turn the compressor off and on from the driver's seat. I simply have a run of speaker wire running from the relay to a switch by my right knee to activate it. That way I can turn it on and off from the drivers seat and not have to access the compressors own switch. I store the hose coiled up in a canvas bag which I can either leave on top of the load in the back or attach to the rear headrest and hang on the back seat backrest. The 8 metres of hose easily reaches all the car and camper trailer tyres and I have an extra 4 metres that came with the compressor and even has Nitto fitting to match my hose and fittings so I can extend the hose to 12 metres and pump up other people's tyres.

I have an 11 litre air tank to maintain pressure in the system. It has an over pressure release, drain plug and pressure gauge attached. A simple plywood casing holds the compressor inside and the air tank bolted on top.

The unit weighs in at 16 kilograms.





The lightbar, compressor and trailer brake switches:



The whole setup took around a day to make up. It takes a few minutes to put it in place and strap it all to the child seat restraints on the back of the back seat. I only install it when I need it so I am not taking up space and carting 25 kilograms around when I don't need it. The Lithium battery weighs less than half what the old 120 Ah AGM weighed, has 60% more useable energy, charges faster and maintains the Voltage to the end.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs

[GCDingo]

Well done numb thumbs. That's a neat idea. Don't worry about the old. How else are you supposed to work out what works and what doesn't.

I'm building a custom 65 mustang at the moment and somethings I have done maybe 5 or 6 times as when you change one thing, 3 others have to change for it to work. Then I don't like one of those changes and it just becomes a snowball effect.

[SnakeDoctor]

Cheers for the heads up on the battery box, i've been looking for one like that.

[JnK]

Well done and thanks for the great write up - good info there for others who are looking for similar.
In 2012 I built and installed my battery box into our first JGC, running the Engel on a module in the back, and it moved into our 2015 when we acquired our next JGC.
6 months ago I changed the battery in our removable box (not quite as sophisticated as Numb Thumbs) from an 80AH Fullriver AGM @ 28kg to an Enerdrive 100AH lithium @12.6kg. I also changed the DC2DC charger to an Enerdrive 40A unit at the same time.
Apart from the significant weight saving and insurance for my back on installation and removal, the performance of the lithium and the charger is a quantum leap over the AGM.
I was easily convinced to upgrade the van electrical to a full Enerdrive 200AH system - 2 x Fullriver 105AH AGMs @ 30.4kg ea were replaced by 1 x 200AH Lithium @ 25kg, plus a 40A AC and 40A DC2DC charger.

What impresses me is the way the lithiums hold their voltage above 13V all the way down the discharge cycle and how quickly they can be bought back to full charge.

Just back on the Gold Coast from a 7000k trip to Darwin and back - both systems are working well.
John

[drover]

As if I don't have enough mods to do with my new Jeep this is certainly on my list....Going from a tray back with alloy canopy where I had the same set up but no need to be compact or removable my gear has to be redone like this now.

[Numb Thumbs]

Thanks for the comments. If you have any questions, just PM me...

Here are some more photos.

The pair in situ:



The battery inside the box, room to spare:



The Battery Box label with specs:



Inside the lid:




Closeup of the Anderson plugs array:



Cheers
Numb Thumbs

[drover]

I do like that compressor set up, its very cool and functional which I like... Before in my WG I stuffed them in a crate and in the Colorado a rack under the tray carried a wet battery and with solar on roof the reg was on the wall in the canopy and once fitted never had to touch again, now I'm in a quandry as to how to make the WK as off grid friendly as my old Ute, you have helped answer that question, saved me a lot of trial and error....