HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST DUAL BATTERY SET-UP
the Best Dual Battery Set-up
Your first question may be, ‘do I need a dual battery set-up?’ This is the right question. The main purpose of a dual battery system is to isolate your main battery from all of the electrical devices that are running, which could draw it down to the point where you can’t start your vehicle. As you can imagine, this is bad. If you’re in a group you could always ask someone for a jump, but every time you drain your battery you could be damaging it as it continually carries less of a charge.
The electrical system in your vehicle is designed to handle everything that comes with it in stock form, while your engine is running.
However, weekends on the trail and overlanding have a camping component, which means you may be running fridges, lights, a coffee maker, stereo, GPS, fans to cool your tent at night, and even charging accessories like power tools, cell phones, laptops, and tablets.
As mundane as it may sound, the best way to choose a dual battery set-up is by first determining the electrical draw you plan to use. It’s the same as knowing how much fuel you will need every day throughout your trip and knowing how big of a tank you will require.
Read the sidebar in this article to help you determine your electrical draw. If you’ve decided you need a dual battery system, here are some options that we have tested and still use.
Solution #1: Weego 66 or similar
For minimal use like running some LED lights around camp and charging your laptop and cell phone, you can get away with your vehicles existing battery and charging system. Our safety suggestion is to purchase a battery back-up like the Weego 44 or 66. This is a case of more is better and we carry the Weego 66. These are jump starting power backs that can be charged from your wall outlet at home and recharged from your auxiliary outlet while you’re on- or off-road.
66 has a smart USB port that automatically detects and applies your devices fastest charge rate, and can recharge your phone up to seven times before it needs to be recharged itself. Aside from juicing up your cell, tablet, laptop, and other USB devices like a GPS or a Zoleo Satellite communicator, it has a 12V port to run small camp accessories and portable compressors. There is also a built-in 600 lumen flashlight, which has the typical steady beam, and also has a strobe effect (campfire dance night?), and will auto flash Morse code for SOS.
In addition, it has a 600 cranking amp (CA) jump starter in case your battery gets below the starting threshold. The Weego won’t start your vehicle on its own, but it will assist a somewhat rundown battery to get your engine going. Cables for everything except USB are included along with a handy carrying bag to keep everything together.
The key feature here is portability. Weighing in at 1.13 kg (2.5 lb) and dimensions of 23.5 x 8.3 x 3.8 cm (9.25 x 3.25 x 1.5 in) you can move it from vehicle to campfire to backpack to motorcycle if the need arises.
While not a ‘full on’ dual battery system it does offer a layer of powered convenience and safety that will separate your power consumpThe
tion from your main battery. Weego says it will last through 1,000 full charge cycles, but we’re still testing this claim. We’ve had it for a few years now – only about 850 charge cycles to go.
The MSRP is $149.99 USD but it is often on sale for $105. Smaller models like the 44 and 22 start at $49 USD.
Read the full review online:: https://suncruisermedia.com/4WDrive/accessories/orange-is-self-reliance/
Solution #2: Dometic PLB 40 (or similar)
A step up is the Portable Lithium Battery (PLB) from Dometic, which is designed to run a portable fridge/freezer like Dometic’s CFX40 for 40 hours. In addition to running the fridge, it has a couple of USB ports, and a standard 12V, 15A auxiliary port (aka the cigarette lighter of pre-historic days). Slip a small 150W inverter into this port and you can power small electronics with an AC plug.