Is oex circuit breaker at repco as good as narva and what about lv from auto one

[car10002]

Hi

Looking to fit a dual battery and wondered if it’s better to use narva circuit breaker or if it’s ok to use a oex brand.

Is oex brand circuit breaker as good as narva, also seen a lv brand at auto one, would that be ok as well

If anyone is able to answer that’d be good

Thanks

[aussiblue]

..or perhaps https://www.jaycar.com.au/12v-125a-d...sort=relevance or https://www.altronics.com.au/p/s2682...-isolator-kit/ and https://www.altronics.com.au/p/s2695...olator-switch/ Altronics and Jaycar also sell circuit breakers of various amp ratings if that is the way you prefer to go.

[car10002]

Originally Posted by aussiblue

..or perhaps https://www.jaycar.com.au/12v-125a-d...sort=relevance or https://www.altronics.com.au/p/s2682...-isolator-kit/ and https://www.altronics.com.au/p/s2695...olator-switch/ Altronics and Jaycar also sell circuit breakers of various amp ratings if that is the way you prefer to go.

is oex brand as good as narva and the lv brand that auto one sell

[aussiblue]

s oex brand as good as narva and the lv brand that auto one sell

Don't know as I have only used the Altronics and Jaycar products.

[wodahs]

i suppose first you have to ask your self what your fitting the second battery for as to what to use
im guessing this the falcon i knew you had or have you since changed vehicles ?
is this to run a fridge or appliances or to start the vehicle if the main battery goes flat ??
if its not required to be used as a starting battery it may open options as you only need to have it charge independently from main and drain via say fridge or tools or other appliances/accessories fitted to the vehicle whilst not draining the main battery at the same time

[Franco Cozzo]

You need more than a circuit breaker my Copper Coast caravanning, looking for friends friend.

I love giving unsolicited 'advice', its crap, but at the price you pay for it, you can't complain.

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

You shouldn't use 12V to heat things, you need an absolute ****load of current because the voltage is low, think of trying to use a 2000W kettle, then take into account inverter losses going from 12V DC - 240V AC.

Circa decade ago I helped build a vehicle for Boral, their staff demanded that they have a microwave in their van they could use out on the road, against our recommendations our state manager insisted we could do it, we put in an inverter and a couple of 120AH AGM deep cycle batteries for the battery bank.

The microwave worked for about 45 seconds before it absolutely toasted the batteries, the current draw was massive on the battery bank, imagine holding your car on the starter motor, that's about the equivalent in current draw what you are doing to the batteries.

Better off using gas to cook/heat stuff.

Usually laptops take a DC input anyway, they have a transformer to go from 240V AC at your wall to some DC output for the laptop - there might be a 12V car adaptor to use it in your car without needing the inverter to go from 12V DC - 240V AC - X DC.

You'll want a fridge and a deep cycle battery - lead acid is good value for money and suitable for mounting in engine bays, but cannot (shouldn't) be mounted inside the cabin unless you seal it in a box and vent it outside.

Century N70T (or N70ZM - same internals, fancy blue case) is cheap as chips,

To keep a lead acid deep cycle to live a decent life - 50% depth of discharge (100AH battery, 50AH usable maximum so it lives)

Redarc SBI12 (or SBI12D if you want to have the smarts on both sides) is the go to for a cheap dual battery system, will automatically connect the aux battery when the alternator charges, then automatically disconnect when the car is off to protect your starting battery.

Or you could do it with an N/O solenoid and trigger it from the oil pressure switch on the car if it has a switch rather than a sender, might want to relay it though as the 100A solenoids can use a bit of juice on their switching coil - it will do the same thing as the Redarc SBI12 but cheap and dodgy.

I use 2BS wire between both batteries, so worst case scenario you can jump start the car from the aux battery should your main one crap out.

Chuck a 225A AMG fuse on both sides of the solenoid, to protect you from yourself.

I've only done two cars with solar panels (Thailand Specials), owners were happy with it, I'm suspect on how well those foldable ones work - Redarc SBI12D will allow you to charge both batteries (aux and start) with a solar input on the aux battery, it works in both directions.

As far as camping goes, I'm not sure what else you'd need as what you spend on a caravan and a 200 series Land Cruiser buys a lot of flights and very nice hotels

Also there's nothing wrong with OEX branded stuff, comes from NAPA, formerly known as 'Ashdown-Ingram' before being a casualty of a couple mergers.

You could probably use 2x manual reset circuit breakers on both sides of the solenoid close to the positive terminals on both batteries rather than AMG/MEGA fuses, someone here on AFF had mentioned they do that on their installs and it makes a lot of sense.