I searched, but the answer still eludes. Best aux battery for the FZJ80 for today.

[LS1FJ40]

OK, good to know I'm hoping to do a lot of several day boondocking. Guess I should put the money towards a good solar setup rather than a $300 battery

For about $200 you can get the Renogy 100watt solar panel with controller. It's expandable. Guys have mounted one on top with another they plug in on the ground pointed in the direction of the sun. Would give you virtually endless power with a dual battery system.

 

[landtank]

my advice is to structure your build so you don't need an aux battery. That is what I do.

 

[LS1FJ40]

my advice is to structure your build so you don't need an aux battery. That is what I do.

Interesting. How do you mean?

 

[landtank]

Interesting. How do you mean?

Dump the electric winch for a hydraulic one. Ditch the ARB fridge for a new Pelican cooler. What is left that you need an aux battery for?

 

[LS1FJ40]

Dump the electric winch for a hydraulic one. Ditch the ARB fridge for a new Pelican cooler. What is left that you need an aux battery for?

Interesting concept. Hadn't thought of hydraulic. You'd have to have a pretty good size reservoir and cooler for it wouldn't you? So the hydraulic oil doesn't overheat.

I don't do coolers anymore. And I like having ice cream on the trail.

 

[landtank]

Interesting concept. Hadn't thought of hydraulic. You'd have to have a pretty good size reservoir and cooler for it wouldn't you? So the hydraulic oil doesn't overheat.

I don't do coolers anymore. And I like having ice cream on the trail.

not really, I ran one on my first 80n and it's still in service today. I just bought a use hydraulic for my current truck.

I'm a minimalist, a pelican cooler will keep ice for 7 days in 100* weather. It's not only a cheaper purchase but doesn't hinge on electricity to keep your food supply eatable.

Ice Cream? What's next? A roof top tent and a hot shower?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

If you never go out more than a day or two at a time, then a cooler is fine. But if you go more than that, a fridge is really nice.

It's all about what you do, and what you need. If you're on the East Coast, in MA, you likely don't need a fridge. If you get out a bit, you need more than an ice chest.

A second battery is a really good thing. Really good. Using it to run a fridge is great. Using it to run camp lights is great. Using it to jump start yourself in the desert is awesome.

my advice is to structure your build so you don't need an aux battery. That is what I do.

This is not good advice. There are many, many reasons a second battery is desirable. Hydraulic winches are complicated to hook up and a pain in the ass in use because they are endlessly slow. Nothing wrong with them, but not an upgrade over an electric winch. The're just different.

 

[landtank]

If you never go out more than a day or two at a time, then a cooler is fine. But if you go more than that, a fridge is really nice.

It's all about what you do, and what you need. If you're on the East Coast, in MA, you likely don't need a fridge. If you get out a bit, you need more than an ice chest.

A second battery is a really good thing. Really good. Using it to run a fridge is great. Using it to run camp lights is great. Using it to jump start yourself in the desert is awesome.



This is not good advice. There are many, many reasons a second battery is desirable. Hydraulic winches are complicated to hook up and a pain in the ass in use because they are endlessly slow. Nothing wrong with them, but not an upgrade over an electric winch. The're just different.

Hydraulics aren't more complicated. And as I have stated a the new coolers will keep ice for 7 days. Sure a hydraulic winch is slower but you don't have to worry about duty cycle and personally I like the more controlled pull of them.

Running camp lights is great and I don't see leds killing a battery all that quickly.

I'd like to hear the many many other reasons for a second battery, really I would.

 

[LS1FJ40]

Inverter so you can power the rice cooker! Amirite @jtwopark ?!?!

 

[SmokingRocks]

Running camp lights is great and I don't see leds killing a battery all that quickly.

I'd like to hear the many many other reasons for a second battery, really I would.

Have you ever run leds and a ham radio all night? You'd be surprised what it draws

 

[MODist]

It's out of here, deep into left field. Getting far off topic, it would be a great thread on it's own.

 

[Dragos80]

Using HAM all night long? WOW!

 

[jtwopark]

Inverter so you can power the rice cooker! Amirite @jtwopark ?!?!

800 watt pure sinewave inverter

 

[SmokingRocks]

Using HAM all night long? WOW!

Not necessarily using it but leaving it on. When you're out there with multiple parties all in different locations you don't turn off the radio even through the night. I've even received destress calls from other people on the trail just because I leave my radio on. Your no help if you have your radio off and can't hear a friend or anyone really calling for help. You just might be their only hope. So yea I leave my Yeasu 8800 on all the time.

Plus I use APRS on a secondary ham in my rig.

Those combined with interior red led's, rear hatch led'a and maybe a dabble of stereo... yea dual batts make sense.

 

[The Raven]

Whoa guys. This is for my FZJ80...I.e, full time home as of 12/01. The secondary battery will be to run all secondary accessories for weeks at a time backed up by solar. The primary is for all OE and starting. My winch is a manual MorePuller.
The fridge is priceless for saving coin.

 

[MODist]

Not necessarily using it but leaving it on. When you're out there with multiple parties all in different locations you don't turn off the radio even through the night. I've even received destress calls from other people on the trail just because I leave my radio on. Your no help if you have your radio off and can't hear a friend or anyone really calling for help. You just might be their only hope. So yea I leave my Yeasu 8800 on all the time.

Plus I use APRS on a secondary ham in my rig.

Those combined with interior red led's, rear hatch led'a and maybe a dabble of stereo... yea dual batts make sense.

The ft-8800 pulls about .5 amps on rx. If you aren't on the move you don't need to keep txing beacons. What power level are you using for your APRS tx?

 

[SmokingRocks]

Correct, further the specs for the radio say it consumes 0.5 A on Rx and 8.5 A on Tx. If I assume a 10% Tx duty cycle this is how it would boil down.

Rx = 0.5 A X 90% X 24 Hrs = 10.8 Amp Hours
Tx = 8.5 A X 10% X 24 Hrs = 20.4 Amp Hours

Total power usage per 24 hours = 31.2 Amp Hours

Deep cycles can regularly be discharged to 60% max of 80% then recharged right after. So if you have an 80Ahr Reserve Cap Deep cycle this would apply:

80 A/Hrs X 60% = 48 A/Hrs
80 A/Hrs X 80% = 64 A/Hrs

Which yeilds;

48 A/Hrs divided by 31.2 A/Hrs = 1.5 days (~36 hours) estimated usage
64 A/Hrs divided by 31.2 A/Hrs = 2 days (48 hours) estimated usage

Just if we are using the Yaesu 8800r without recharging. You can work that backwards and realize that if you pull into camp and stay in camp for half a day you can theoretically drain your main battery a third of the way to 60% discharge. With just the radio.



Point is .5 amps may seem insignificant but it all adds up.


My APRS is tied into a FT-2900 set to 10w, have bumped to 30 occasionally and 75 once.

 

[MODist]

Yea that RX does kill you when the hours add up. Depending on your location and proximity to digi's 10w should be plenty. One problem we have here is too many digi's and people over-beaconing. I run FTM 350's in my rigs with the tx set to 25w. It uses smart beaconing so the rate drops to once an hour when I'm not moving.

 

[SmokingRocks]

I need to check my set up, I've only transmitted packets on a handful of outings and mainly just for my practice. Still working some bugs out.

But to further my point above, 80% discharge leaves the battery at around 10.3 volts, 60% is maybe 11.2 +/-. Most 12v items won't operate at below 11. Food for thought.

If you don't want a dual battery set up then I suggest buying a Li-po rechargeable jump pack.

 

[MODist]

An alternative to the monitoring power draw I would recommend a hand held scanner or HT. The baofengs with extended 3800mah battery and power saving will listen for a week.