see also:

• solar power for camping
• 12V batteries, battery boxes and power stations
• looking after your batteries
• overnight hiking camping checklist
• overnight ultralight bushwalking shelters and equipment
• going off-road / 4WD
• taking the Subaru Outback off road
• tips for camping in the rain
• how to reduce your risks in lightning storms
• treating water to make it potable / drinkable
• shelters and tents for car camping or alpine 4 season use
• car over-heating or losing coolant
• Victron's pdf on electricity, wiring, batteries, etc

• one of the main issues when camping off-grid for an extended period is power supply to run fridges and other devices
• for short periods, lithium ion batteries or lead acid battery may suffice but for extended periods these need to be re-charged and one does not want to rely upon running the car to re-charge them.
• caravans often have gas powered fridges

• 12V battery - usually 100Ah deep cycle to fit a standard battery box (preferably LiFePO4)
  • NB. these CANNOT be used to jump start the car!!
• battery box with voltmeter and various plugs including at least 2x Anderson plugs (these are bidirectional 50A)
• Anderson plug cables to your devices with an inline fuse in the system to avid short circuits damaging your battery or starting a fire
  • optionally have Anderson plug cable with cig lighter female port on other end (or two of them)
  • optionally have one plug to two Anderson plug cable
  • optionally an amp meter with Anderson plugs on either side to measure voltage, current and total power used (or supplied) through the cable
  • optionally a connection from boot to externally mounted Anderson plug at rear of car to provide power to your tent, etc via an Anderson plug extension cord
• battery charging systems such as:
  • 240V AC battery charger for your type of battery (usually 15A or 25A)
  • DC-DC charger if charging from your car's alternator
    • need to connect this to the car battery with an inline fuse
    • need to connect to auxiliary battery via cable with Anderson plug
    • may need to connect a wire to the car ignition system
  • solar cells and solar charger (this may be included in your DC-DC charger) with Anderson plug

• general rule:
  • 12V best for small systems with less than 300Ah
    • easier and safest to use
    • plenty of accessories available
    • can be charged from your car alternator using a DC-DC charger
    • not great for high wattage devices over 500W
  • 24V best for RV's where you need more power
    • cheaper as has half the amp requirement and thus less copper needed than 12V
    • more efficient as less voltage drop across long wires
    • can still use 12V accessories via a 24 to 12V converter and these generally have 90% efficiency
    • BUT solar panels need to be at more than 24V to charge them hence you may need group parallel panels into pairs of series panels to overcome shading issues etc whilst still giving the needed voltage
    • cannot be charged via your usual 12V car alternator
    • still relatively safe as under 30V so 24V is a nice sweet spot for larger more demanding systems
    • you need to connect two 12V batteries in series to get 24V - not all 12V batteries allow that
  • 48V is best for solar power homes or cabins
    • when you need lots of watts, 48V is much better at achieving it

• red is positive
• black is negative / earth (connect black wires before red wires to a charged system)
• 6 BSB / AWG is rated for over 50A and has resistance of 1.3mOhm/meter
  • this is used when wire lengths need to be longer than 5m with high currents
• 8 BSB / AWG is rated for around 40-50A and has resistance of 2.1mOhm/meter
  • this is the most common wiring for main car battery to DC-DC converter
  • 5m with cross section 8.37mm² at 15A 12-14V will result in a voltage drop of 0.3V along the wire (0.5V if 25A)
• 10 BSB / AWG is rated for around 30A and has resistance of 3.3mOhm/meter
  • this is a common wire gauge for solar panels
• 12 BSB / AWG is rated for around 20A and has resistance of 5.2mOhm/meter
• 14 BSB / AWG is rated for around 15A and has resistance of 8.3mOhm/meter
• 18 BSB / AWG is rated for around 10A and has resistance of 21 mOhm/meter
• 22 BSB / AWG is rated for around 3A and has resistance of 53mOhm/meter

• these are generally DC and 240V AC powered and should have a 3 stage battery protection system to turn the fridge off in the event the vehicle battery is going flat (if the fridge is being powered by the main vehicle battery)
• most have a digital interface which allows user to dial in the desired temperature from 10degC down to minus 10degC
• some have dual compartments - one as a fridge and the other as a freezer
• the best size for most families is a 60L capacity but 45L may suffice for a couple
• a 45L model will generally draw 1A to maintain contents at 5degC in 32degC ambient temperatures
• fruit and veges are generally placed in the warmer upper parts to avoid spoiling by freezing
• a 45L model will cost $AU399-$AU699 - check to see if it will fit a wine bottle standing up if this is important to you
• Dometic CF models are budget level fridges which are more likely to have issues including failure of the lid lock mechanism
• Dometic CFX models tend to be the favored models for their better build quality but are more expensive
  • my tests of a Dometic CFX 45 on a hot 37degC summer day in the shade:
    • fridge had been filled with drink bottles in main compartment and kept cold in fridge running overnight prior to tests
    • lid not opened
    • fridge set to minus 4degC:
      • probe amongst the bottles in main compartment remained -4 to -5degC
      • probe in empty top section steady at 5.5degC
    • fridge then set to 0degC:
      • probe amongst the bottles in main compartment increased to -2degC by 1.5hrs
      • probe in empty top section steady at 7.5degC at 1.5hrs!!
  • my tests of a Dometic CFX 45 at average 25degC summer day in the shade fridge set to 0degC:
    • probe amongst the bottles in main compartment averaged minus 0.5degC range minus 0.2 to minus 0.7degC
      • probe in empty top section averaged 7degC with range 5.7 to 7.5

• there are a variety of components required

• fast charge, high capacity but heavy and expensive
  • eg. 120AH LiFePO4 battery (~13kg) or 55Ah 8kg in a high end battery box (~4kg) with BMS with 20-100A charge rate
• fast charge, medium capacity
  • HardKorr Heavy Duty Battery Box $AU219 3.2kg
  • 15A battery charger designed for LiFePO4 with Anderson plug connection modification $AU250-300
  • Drypower 12.8V 55Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) 8kg $AU799 or a 100AH battery for same price but 13.5kg
    • distributed from Every Battery, Kensington
• slow charge, medium capacity, light weight and compact power station
  • eg. Companion 40Ah Rover (~7kg) but only 5A charge rate which limits solar charging

• see 12V batteries, battery boxes and power stations

• jump starter battery pack
  • see lithium jump start batteries and other jump starters

• DC-DC car charging
  • newer cars may not generate enough power to charge a battery so you may need to wire directly to the cranking battery with a DC-DC charger and a voltage sensitive relay (VSR) to stop draining your car battery when the car stops
  • iTechWorld 40A DC-DC and solar MPPT charger
  • RedArc BCDC1225D 25A DC-DC and solar MPPT charger
  • Youtube - install tips
    • crimp don't solder as solder gets brittle and breaks on corrugated roads
    • cover wires with corrugated pipe to avoid wires rubbing away on sharp edges
    • fix wires to chassis every 30cm
    • charger should be near aux battery to avoid charge voltage drop over a longer distance and a fuse on the positive wire between them
• dual battery wiring kit without DCDC:
  • https://www.australiandirect.com.au/Battery-Systems/Wiring-Connections/KADBWK8MMPP 6m with plugs and a KICKASS® Maxifuse Cable to connect to main battery with 80A Maxifuse pre-installed $55

• see solar power for camping

• MC4 connectors
  • weathersealed single wire connectors usually used on solar panels
• Anderson 12/24V socket
  • a specialized socket designed to handle a high, continuous load which allows charge from your car battery or solar panel to flow to your accessory battery in dual battery systems and hence can be used to connect car to caravan
  • can also be used powering high-draw 12-volt accessories such as fridges and air compressors
  • they come in different current sizes eg. 50Amp
  • tow bar extension wiring:
    • https://www.australiandirect.com.au/Battery-Systems/Wiring-Connections/KA8M2.5A2A 2.5m with plugs $25
• Merit 12/24V plugs
  • similar to cigarette lighter plugs BUT smaller in size and have the advantage of a superior rugged construction and higher current carrying capability
  • can be converted to cigarette lighter plugs

• these are important particularly if you need to run higher current draw appliances such as heaters and microwaves
• they can also be used to re-charge your batteries if the solar is not adequate
• make sure you get one with pure sine wave inverter to give clean AC outputs that won't damage your electronics
• also check how noisy it is as they are perhaps the most hated accessories at camp grounds due to their noise (as well as exhaust fumes)
• some have parallel stacking capability to combine units for greater power output
• examples:
  • Ryobi RIG2000PCB 2000W Petrol Digital Inverter Generator $AU999 - 24.4kg 2 x 15A sockets and 2 x USB outlets
  • DeWALT DXIG2200 2200W Inverter Generator $AU1299 - 22.5kg
  • Full Boar SD2200I 2200W Inverter Petrol Generator $AU798 - 21kg, 61db
  • Yamaha EF1000iS 1000W 1 KVA Silent Inverter Generator $AU1299 - 12.7kg, 47-57 dBA/7m

• https://www.deepcyclesystems.com.au/product/12v-basic-off-grid-system/ $AU3999
  • Victron 12v 1200w pure sine wave phoenix inverter
  • DCS 12v 200Ah lithium battery storage
  • 31.5A Votronic solar controller
  • Trina solar panels (2 x 310w mono)
  • Victron Battery Protect (low battery voltage protection)
• https://www.deepcyclesystems.com.au/the-dcs-off-grid-survival-guide-for-modern-day-living/
  • 333Ah 48V dual lithium battery system (2 x DCS PV 10W LFP batteries which provide total 15kW continuous load) = 198kg, $AU17,999 for batteries alone (cw 900kg of lead acid cells)
  • Selectronic 7.5kw SP PRO solar controller
  • Fronius 8.2kw Primo inverter
  • 10 ~ 12kw of solar PV panels - should provide around 19kWh even on the most cloudy days in lower latitudes and average winter evening usages for a house runs at around 10kWh.
  • +/- 5kVa diesel backup generator

• see wiring up a campervan for 300AH/day usage via solar
• battery packs wired in parallel (reds to reds and blacks to blacks)
  • red wire of 1st battery to main fuse which connects to shunt which connects to distributor box
  • black wire of last battery to shunt then to distributor box
• distributor box (eg. Victron Lynx Distributor)
  • earth wire to chassis ground
  • red and black wires to the DC fuse box in the AC-DC distribution panel to supply DC outs
• inverter charger (eg. Victron Multiplus Inverter Charger 3000 W 12V)
  • red and black to distributor box DC in
  • earth wire to distributor box earth
  • 3 wires (active, neutral, ground) from Shore power to AC in
  • 3 wires (active, neutral, ground) from AC out to AC-DC distribution panel with a breaker
  • thus the inverter charger can:
    • combine amps from Shore power AC (eg. 30A) with the amps from the batteries if usage exceeds the Shore Power amperage
    • if power usage is less than the incoming Shore Power AC, then unit can use this to charge the batteries via the same cable to the distributor box
    • provide AC outlets
• MPTT solar controller
  • red and black “battery wires” to distributor box
  • earth wire to inverter charger earth
  • red and black “PV” / solar wires“ to solar circuit breaker
• solar panels are wired in series (or 4S2P pending requirements) and wired to a circuit breaker which is used as a disconnect

• cutters
  • Hakko-CHP-170 Micro Cutter - for trimming smaller wires, etc
  • Triplett TT-242 CablCut Multi-Wire Copper Cable Cutter (but best use a dedicated stripper instead of the one included on this)
• strippers
  • Klein Tools 11063W Wire Cutter / Wire Stripper for 8-20 AWG Solid and 10-22 AWG Stranded Electrical Wire
  • Jokari 10270 Secura Cable Stripping Knife for All Standard Round Cables
  • IRWIN VISE-GRIP Wire Stripper
• crimpers
  • IWISS AP-50BI Cable Crimper for Copper Cable Lugs from 8-2AWG
  • Titan 11477 Ratcheting Wire Terminal Crimper Tool for Insulated Terminals
  • Klein Tools 1005 Cutting / Crimping Tool for 10-22 AWG Terminals and Connectors, Terminal Crimper for Insulated and Non-Insulated Terminals
• soldering iron
  • Hakko FX601-02 Adjustable Temperature Controlled Soldering Iron
• AC/DC current clamp meter
  • Klein CL390
• multimeter
• insulated ratchets for socket sets to work with battery terminals without shorting them
• see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbg4k0Oh55c