Those military terminal adaptor plates are slick! Did you fab those up yourself or are they readily available for purchase somewhere?
Got mine from Slee.........
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Those military terminal adaptor plates are slick! Did you fab those up yourself or are they readily available for purchase somewhere?
Got mine from Slee.........
As others have said, they are from Slee. They are not cheap at $49 us. The mil spec terminals are easy to find cheap other places. I have not been able to find the extensions anywhere else.Suddenly those arent desirable at all. $100 cad for some terminals and adaptors...will stick to bolting my eyelets directly to the terminal. 6 of 1 half dozen of the other..... either american wages are better or the canadian dollar is terrible
Ideally with electrical install locations, you want it as clean, dry and cool as possible. The BCDC also wants to be mounted as close as possible to the auxiliary battery in order to reduce or eliminate voltage drop. in my testing and experimenting, I have mounted the BCDC in an 80 in 4 different locations with no charging issues. My personal one is behind the PS headlight and it stays very cool there. Others near and around the aux battery or the starting battery. Taking temps throughout the engine bay, I’ve found the hottest place to mount would be high up, closer to the firewall. I’m sure a bracket can be made to mount it in front of the radiator, but I’d prefer, at least on an FZJ80, not to block airflow thru the radiator. I wouldn’t be afraid to mount the BCDC 10’ away from the aux battery either. With the 25amp unit, I run 8awg, but if you have longer runs, Redarc suggests a 6awg cable.
what Is that red cover on top of your batteries?I mounted mine next to my Aux battery. I fabricated a plate from polycarbonate and mounted it on the side of the Slee Aux battery tray. I have been happy with the performance of the BCDC so far. Not familiar with under the hood of and 80.
View attachment 2148179
View attachment 2148181
I think you must be talking about the MIDI fuse holders in the middle of the battery.what Is that red cover on top of your batteries?
I installed a pretty basic dual battery system. I really wanted to isolate power used by accessories, like a fridge, when parked to a dedicated house battery. There are many possible routes to achieve a functional dual battery setup; this is how I did it.
Objective:
Install a simple and cost effective dual battery system
Goals:
System should operate automatically, manually or be switched off
Ability to self jump start
Keep it safe
I like to draw basic diagrams when doing electrical work, for home or vehicle. This helps keep me organized and greatly reduces the chance of me wiring in a short circuit or having and un-fused power source. Below is a basic diagram for this dual battery system.
This works as follows:
Voltmeters - I can view the battery voltage anytime. With the solenoid deactivated the voltmeters will show the resting voltage of each battery. With the solenoid active the voltmeters will display the voltage of the batteries combined. Obviously if the rig is running and the solenoid is active, the voltage displayed should be the charging voltage and the same.
Charge/Solenoid control
- AUTO, the solenoid is activated when it receives power from an ignition power source. This setting automatically ties the batteries together when the vehicle is running and isolates them when it is off.
- ON, the solenoid is activated when it receives power from the house battery. This allows a self jump start in case the starting battery has died.
- OFF, the solenoid will not activate and the batteries are isolated from each other.
The control center for the batteries is fitted to my overhead console. The primary switches replaced the useless sunroof controls in my 100 since the sunroof hasn't operated in years. The small digital voltmeters were cut into the console.
The 2nd battery tray I am using is an old style Slee Offroad tray, which is designed for an Optima battery. Since I was trying to keep costs down, I found a Group47 AGM battery that fit the tray. As a bonus the terminals are recessed into the battery case.
At both the starting battery and house battery, I installed Bussman fuse holders and 300A MEGA/AMG fuses to protect the vehicle and batteries from a massive short circuit in the event a cable breaks. I used 2AWG welding wire, tinned copper lugs, braided loom and adhesive backed heat shrink to build the battery cables.
I tucked the solenoid against the firewall directly in front of the driver's seat. The solenoid engages with a solid audible 'click'. I made sure to cover all positive terminals in the whole system.
I could easily add a solar charge controller + panel to the house battery if desired. With my current use of driving daily and only relying on the battery overnight, I have no problem maintaining a charge.
Amazon. Drok brand. Looks like the ones I used are not currently available, but there are others that are similar.Where are the little digital voltmeters from?
Yeah, the fridge is actually connected to the load output on the solar controller. When the solar output is insufficient the power is taken from the second battery.Is the fridge connected to the same battery that the solar is charging? Maybe just some small variables like fridge temp, outside temp, shade or battery condition made a difference? I run my half full 50qt ARB 24/7 with 100watt solar panel on my roof with no problems, but again environmental differences may be the factor.
I am kind of worried about this happening to me. I have not gone solar yet but I plan to. I am about to add a house battery and I am looking into ways to switch it. I have an 80 series so no complicated alternator, but if my starting batteries are fully charged then I suppose it is possible that my house battery will not charge and I will be dead in the water or I won't be able to use my house battery because it is dead and won't charge. I plan on switching the house battery to isolate it when using it for extended periods and I have an ACR to charge, but that won't be of much use if the starting batteries are fully charged right? Is a Redarc about the only way to guarantee I get all my batteries charged to full capacity? I was going to ask if Irish Reiver's solar panels were before or after the ACR. Would there be enough amperage (or would it have to be a total wattage?) to open the ACR and charge the house battery? Just a thought.