During the week i picked up one of the new Waeco CFX65DZ's and now i'm looking into wiring it up for my Triton, however i have NFI about it all and i'm too much of a tightarse to go to ARB & co and get a dual battery setup done.

The tray is going to be kept open so my plan is to keep it in the garage as a beer fridge and then transfer it for 4wding / camping when required which leads me to a simple installation...

Can i install a weatherproof 12v socket in the tub that the fridge can plug into and run that to the main battery for the time being? No idea on wire sizes and fuses but would that be enough to run the fridge once the car is running? Any other options for the standard cigarette plug given it could come loose when 4wding?

I have a spare deep cycle battery i can throw in the tub for when the car is off until i decide what dual battery path i go down. Reading newtriton.net seems to suggest that dual batteries in Tritons arent a simple setup like other 4wds.

Am i sort of heading in the right direction?

Yes you can run a 12v socket to the tub...( I ran mine directly from the battery this enabled the fridge to run when the ignition was off...... yes I had a few flat batteries... if you provide the cold for the beer ... you should have plenty of offers for a jump start in the morning

cant imagine why why a dual battery setup would be more difficult on a triton.

if you have a deep cycle battery just put that under your bonnet and use a dual battery relay from super cheap auto. Don't ever risk running your fridge on your starter battery (like the guy above), especially not remote camping. That is insane (unless u have a jumpstarted pack). You want at least 100ah deep cycle if you want to run a 12v fridge all night. Buy a <150w panel and you will be sweet. Oh and don't buy in to that deep cycle battery not good under the hood bull****, it's rubbish unless your on AGM and have your bonnet temps at like 500c lol

no more than $300 and you are set for day/night cooling.

https://www.ebay.com.au/p/?iid=352067464968&&&dispItem=1&chn=ps

www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/SCA-12v-Dual-Battery-Isolator-Kit/326830

I doubt theres room for a spare battery under the bonnet. Thats why there are so many on try and under tray installs. U can prolly get away without it. Key is to use heavy wire so you get minimal voltage drop. Your waeco has a liw voltage cut out so the frij will stop before flattening your battery (so your car will still start) but you need thick wore to minimise voltage drop otherwise your frij will be cutting out too soon.

Cheers guys,

That's exactly why most guys go tray installs. In tray is no good for me, under tray is a possibility but water crossings etc surely would be no good? I have seen batteries mounted behind the rear seat which looks like a good spot but i believe it has to be a particular type of battery?

Is heavy wire about 6mm?

DrewP, is that kit from Supercheap all i need to run between the batteries? No need to worry about redarcs, ctek and all this fancy other stuff?

No need for all the tech stuff, all you need is an isolator between the batteries.

There are 12v waterproof plugs and the partnering male twist locks which I changed on the fridge plug to stop coming undone or poor connection which wrecked my first waeco fridge ( now have an Engel), waecos do not like running under low voltage it stuffs the CPU, Engels have low voltage cutoff.

Nah u need bigger. Min 8b&s. 6b&s better. Fuse right at the battery. (Must). And yes cig plugs are a bit shxt but i just lecky tape them in. Helas break eventually i have found, and its too convenient to have as cig plug. As i said u will be right for at least a day and u can set your waeco to the mid or even lowest low voltage cut out and u can still start your car. Depending on what u want to keep cold, (ie chicken not so good if fridge cuts out, but beef, beer/drinks etc probably not so bad. If u wire straight to batt later you can put a VSR in there and put tge second battery beside tour frige. (Can use boat style plastic battery box)

8 mm wire and Anderson plugs.

As everyone's said get some heavy wire, maybe pay an auto elec to crimp up some quality terminals to it, unless you have the tools. I've just used a voltage sensitive relay which is much cheaper and has been working great for over a year, only about $30 from eBay. Put a 50amp fuse in at the battery and your good to go. Don't go less than 100ah, you can't swap cig plugs for Anderson plugs too, if you want more security.

Thanks lads,

Is there a way i could wire it up so i can plug in a removable marine battery box and run the fridge off that without it dropping charge?

Dual battery in the engine bay is a lot of work due to space and there are sealed batteries being installed behind the rear seats but is that a little risky?

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MDSXR6T said..
Thanks lads,

Is there a way i could wire it up so i can plug in a removable marine battery box and run the fridge off that without it dropping charge?

Dual battery in the engine bay is a lot of work due to space and there are sealed batteries being installed behind the rear seats but is that a little risky?

Been thinking about same issue, just picked up a Triton dual cab. For ideas have a look at the various setups on YouTube, portable DIY battery box systems and dual battery systems. The benefit of a portable second battery is you can set up camp, move the portable battery, hookup fridge, lights etc and go for a drive or whatever which you cant do with a dual battery system in the car.

At the moment ive got a small waeco RAPS battery ( paid about $200 for the raps and in hindsight probably could have done a DIY 120ah setup in a portable battery box with plugs etc ) I only get about 24 hrs running the waeco 40 fridge before it needs recharging, ok for a weekend trip and can charge waeco battery from cig lighter point when on the road while the fridge is on a second cig lighter point, but id also like a 12 v plug in the back too, my waeco 40 has the auto low voltage cutoff so you can have it running directly off the car battery without fear of flattening it.

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beerdead said..
8 mm wire and Anderson plugs.

Yep.

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DARTH said..

beerdead said..
8 mm wire and Anderson plugs.

Yep.

And chuck a fuse in ?

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Surfer62 said..

DARTH said..

beerdead said..
8 mm wire and Anderson plugs.

Yep.

And chuck a fuse in ?

Yep for sure 25amp. Auto elect might have better ideas on that tho.

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DARTH said..

Surfer62 said..

DARTH said..

beerdead said..
8 mm wire and Anderson plugs.

Yep.

And chuck a fuse in ?

Yep for sure 25amp. Auto elect might have better ideas on that tho.

Any point in tapping into tow bar lights wire loom for 12v instead of from battery ?

How old is the Triton?

As per some previous posts:

Starter battery , 50amp fuse, 6b&s cable, isolater/relay, more 6b&s to wherever you want to have the fridge or portable battery box, end that circuit with a 50amp anderson plug, then portable battery connected with 6b&s and another 50amp fuse, then connect your fridge via a fused cable, preferably with another anderson plug.

You can then use this set up with or without the portable battery, depending if your camping or just day tripping. Put an anderson plug on the end of the fridge cable, they don't come loose very easily

The age of your triton is relevant , if its say preish 2013 should have a stock alternator, if its a variable voltage alternator it wont give the best charge to your aux battery, but will still charge. You can muck around with this with a few things like a voltage booster from HKB electronics or ARB.

Don't worry about going an AGM unless you plan to wire your battery in your cab. I just use marine batteries. Batteries are a consumable so you'll go through one every two or three years depending in use and maintenance.

I have a Thumper with the auto detect switching and run a Waeco 50l in my Challenger. easy to wire off the battery with an isolater. Be running it since 2012
www.home12volt.com.au/the-thumper-battery-pack.html they have a pre made wiring kit with isolator that doesnt need a dual battery controller
These battery boxes are good value - www.aussiebatteries.com.au/batteries/Australian-batteries-direct-online
Was going for the tray but this was easier works a treat
offroaddownunder.com.au/product/dual-battery-tray-mitsubishi-pb-challenger-ml-mn-triton/

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Surfer62 said..

DARTH said..

Surfer62 said..

DARTH said..

beerdead said..
8 mm wire and Anderson plugs.

Yep.

And chuck a fuse in ?

Yep for sure 25amp. Auto elect might have better ideas on that tho.

Any point in tapping into tow bar lights wire loom for 12v instead of from battery ?

Nope. Not heavy enough. 8mm from the battery. With isolator and fuse of course as stated above. Standard vehicle wiring harness is too fine for heavy loads, particularly more modern cars.
Although it's a little daunting for the average bloke, you can find a pathway for the wiring from the engine bay to your battery and outlet.

Do i need to run an isolater if i'm just running power from battery to a point in the tub to run fridge once the car is on?

I'm thinking a powerbox with my existing DC battery is the most suitable option for me at this stage given i also have a suitable charger.

Cord, the triton is MY15.

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beerdead said..

Surfer62 said..

DARTH said..

Surfer62 said..

DARTH said..

beerdead said..
8 mm wire and Anderson plugs.

Yep.

And chuck a fuse in ?

Yep for sure 25amp. Auto elect might have better ideas on that tho.

Any point in tapping into tow bar lights wire loom for 12v instead of from battery ?

Nope. Not heavy enough. 8mm from the battery. With isolator and fuse of course as stated above. Standard vehicle wiring harness is too fine for heavy loads, particularly more modern cars.
Although it's a little daunting for the average bloke, you can find a pathway for the wiring from the engine bay to your battery and outlet.

Cheers

Ended up buying a waeco wiring kit ($80 on gumtree) that i can install myself and will run it with the waeco raps battery i already have, built in fuse, isolator and power drop cutoff, option to run off starter battery or not, has cig style and hella style plug outlets. Can also hookup to a solar panel for extended camps.

Waeco part number: waeco raps-12r-u2

So the disadvantage qith smaller wiring (like on that waeco POS part) is that when ur engine is not running, u might have 12.8 volts at the battery, but draw 5 amps over the cable at that length and you will drop nearly a volt (approximate) and your waeco low voltage fridge cutout might kick in at 11.5 volts (so u can still start the car and not damage frij or battery. So instead of 50ah useable amps, because you have a resistor in the circuit (small cable/dc) you only get less than half what you have to use before your frij stops. (As u use amps from batt voltage drops) Also loss in heat (cable). So if u are being cheap, spend money in cable to maximise run time. Its far cheaper to increase cable size than battery capacity.
Yes u always need fuse. You can start a fire if not. Poss void insurance. Waeco only draws 5 amps so 25amp fine.

Cord is spot on.
That's exactly how I have set them up previously. The 50a Anderson plug in the tray also allows you to run a compressor so that can reach your trailers tyres. You must use 6b&s cable as stated. The Triton has a fixed voltage regulator so you don't require a voltage booster. Setting up this way also allows you to remove the battery to regain room in the tray and also cutting down weight.

The cheaper VSR's i've been looking at include 6m of 10mm cable. Is this ok or is 6b&s an absolute must?

I'm thinking i'll run it to an anderson plug and then run that to a power box mounted like this? Removable when its really wet, unneeded or around camp. Would that affect VSR?

Anderson plug fine. 10mm getting there if have some but the bigger the better performance (longer run time) u will have. Id go bigger if u havent bought.

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myusernam said..
So the disadvantage qith smaller wiring (like on that waeco POS part) is that when ur engine is not running, u might have 12.8 volts at the battery, but draw 5 amps over the cable at that length and you will drop nearly a volt (approximate) and your waeco low voltage fridge cutout might kick in at 11.5 volts (so u can still start the car and not damage frij or battery. So instead of 50ah useable amps, because you have a resistor in the circuit (small cable/dc) you only get less than half what you have to use before your frij stops. (As u use amps from batt voltage drops) Also loss in heat (cable). So if u are being cheap, spend money in cable to maximise run time. Its far cheaper to increase cable size than battery capacity.
Yes u always need fuse. You can start a fire if not. Poss void insurance. Waeco only draws 5 amps so 25amp fine.

Thanks MUN, good points, the waeco battery is in the back as the first power source for the fridge, fridge will only be in ute for weekend camping/trips but am thinking about getting portable solar panel kit for extended camping.

I'll use the waeco switch to isolate main battery when engine off, I get at least 24 hrs from the waeco battery running the 40lt fridge so this setup should suit my needs 99% of the time.

2 more dumb questions,

Is it ok to continually charge the second battery when not drawing power to use the fridge ? and

Anyone running their fridge off solar when camped, is a portable 160 - 200 amp hr solar system enough to keep 2nd battery topped up and fridge running ?

Cheers