THE installation would have
taken me an age to complete
by myself, so I delegated the
huge job to my local sparky
at Camden Haven Auto
Electrical in NSW.
Thanks
a rubber cap to keep dust and water out
when not in use.
The foldable Projecta solar panel came
with alligator clips, so I cut them off,
installed an Anderson plug and reinstalled
the clips. This way the panel can be used
via my on-board charge system with the
Anderson input plug or via the alligator
clips onto my camper trailer battery.
Given I kept the FYRLYT Nemesis 9000
driving lights from my last Cruiser, I had
my local sparky wire up a custom heavy-
gauge driving light loom complete with
12W to 24W converters to tackle these
24V halogen driving lights.
I have future plans to install camp
lights, an on-board compressor and
various other lighting, so I fitted a bank
of five Narva toggle switches. These
things are beaut, as you can utilise as few
or as many switches as you like by making
up a bank that then slots into your dash,
console or any other panel. I have gone
for five switches, but I’m not sure what I
will run off them – just future-proofing
the system.
To keep track of what each battery is
charging and discharging, I’ve popped
a Projecta dual-battery volt meter into
the dash next to the steering wheel. The
meter has a bar graph and digital readout
to within 0.1 of a volt for each battery. It
also incorporates a user-set audible alarm
to warn of over- or under-charging.Given the need to tow my own camper
trailer, heavy loads including a Kubota
tractor, a tandem box trailer, and various
caravans, I figured the 3500kg tow-rated
Troopy needed as much help as possible
to help pull up without over-stressing the
brakes. For this, a Redarc Tow-Pro electric
brake controller was installed.
The main body of the Redarc unit
fits neatly under the dash and out of
the way of my knees. Hence it doesn’t
take up any real estate on the fast-filling
dashboard. The only tell-tale sign of this
Redarc system is the small rotary dial
fitted to the dashboard. Since fitting the
unit, Redarc released an ‘Elite’ version,
which eliminates the initial calibration
process the standard version needs. To
read the full specs of both units visit:
http://www.redarc.com.au.
There are plenty of set-ups that are
fancier, more technical and more
comprehensive than what I’ve installed,
but my set-up will do everything needed
for personal and work-related use. Plus it’s
reliable, simple to use, maintenance-free
and will enable (almost) endless power
usage. I’ve gone overboard with
a few of the centre console switches,
but that’s for ease of adding accessories at
a later date, so all up the system is future-
proof and will return many
12-volt benefits out on the tracks
and campgrounds.Projecta dual-battery monitor
keeps me up-to-date with
both batteries’ voltages.My local sparky wired
in a custom wiring loom
for the spotties.GEAR DUAL BATTERY SYSTEM