Gladiator Expedition Rigs

[Mules]

To my knowledge (not that much) Renogy is a quality product. My build is so far all Renogy.
Edit:
From what I've read. As far as batteries go. Battleborn batteries are the best. Renogy comes in a close second. Check out their eBay store. I've bought all my stuff from there. They run a lot of sales on eBay.

The Ebay Renogy store rocks!

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[Free2roam]

The Ebay Renogy store rocks!

Wait till memorial day. I bet you can get it cheaper on there. I saw the batteries at 383$ shipped for free.

 

[Zybane]

Just FYI, all Renogy stuff is made in China.

 

[Mules]

Just FYI, all Renogy stuff is made in China.

Yeah, its hard to find North American made electrical products. Redarc is Australian and National Luna is South African. Battleborn is made in Reno Nevada, though.

 

[Free2roam]

Yeah, its hard to find North American made electrical products. Redarc is Australian and National Luna is South African. Battleborn is made in Reno Nevada, though.

800+ for a Battleborn battery. They are literally right down the street from me. Now owned by some large corporation. At least by the sign on the outside. When you call. It says I believe. Dragonfly energy.

 

[ttn333]

Yeah, its hard to find North American made electrical products. Redarc is Australian and National Luna is South African. Battleborn is made in Reno Nevada, though.

Renogy, from my own research, is an ok product, with poor customer support. It's just a well known branded Chinese product. So I guess its better than some random name brand chinese direct, nothing like National Luna or Battleborn. I have a National Luna dual battery system in my 4runner that has been running for years. With that being said, I have there 100ah LiFePo battery. It has been running just fine but their bluetooth module/app is atrocious, though the lastest update seems to be working. That is compared to my victron ac-dc charger bluetooth app. that just simply works every single time. I ended up with a 20amp Richsolar mppt charger, which from reviews is the same unit as Renogy but with better wire terminals that can take larger gauge. 20amp should be plenty for my use since I dont see myself running more than 3x100w panels (about 18A in parallel and maybe 60v in series) or 2x200w panels (20A parallel, 40v series).

 

[Mules]

Alright, we talked Lithium, solar, DC DC charging, and battery boxes vs. built in. I want to hear more about under hood dual battery systems. Any good or bad experiences. I still like the clean idea of keeping the batteries out of the way, under the hood. Only problem I've found is that I don't think you can use Lithium batteries in this setup. That means the old school batteries won't be as fast charging and pretty heavy. You can fit (2) 750Ah batteries in there.

By the way, the Gladiator already has a smaller second battery for the Start/Stop ESS system, that runs the accessories when the ESS kills the engine. Too bad this second battery is only 12Ah and not big enough to power my fridge for long.

 

[ttn333]

Alright, we talked Lithium, solar, DC DC charging, and battery boxes vs. built in. I want to hear more about under hood dual battery systems. Any good or bad experiences. I still like the clean idea of keeping the batteries out of the way, under the hood. Only problem I've found is that I don't think you can use Lithium batteries in this setup. That means the old school batteries won't be as fast charging and pretty heavy. You can fit (2) 750Ah batteries in there.

By the way, the Gladiator already has a smaller second battery for the Start/Stop ESS system, that runs the accessories when the ESS kills the engine. Too bad this second battery is only 12Ah and not big enough to power my fridge for long.

There's just not a lot of advantages to agm over lifepo4. Agm is only good for about 50% discharge vs 80% for lifepo4. Combine that with charge rate and it's not really a contest. Your battery wont last very long running a fridge in warm weather. Plus you have to replace agms more often. The only advantage foe me is the ability to self start when my main battery died. But now I carry one of those battery starter pack. I guess the other big thing is the extra work of packing and unpacking the lifepo4. Of course you can use this excuse to get yourself something like an rsi or alucab cap. then you can permanently mount it in the bed nice and clean.

 

[Mules]

Too bad someone hasn't figured out a Lithium dual battery under hood solution for JT. This video is excellent at explaining that a 100AH Lithium battery has twice the capacity, charging rate, discharge rate, and life span of AGM. A dual Lithium under hood setup would be a great product for one of you smart guys to figure out!

 

[Rummie]

Too bad someone hasn't figured out a Lithium dual battery under hood solution for JT. This video is excellent at explaining that a 100AH Lithium battery has twice the capacity, charging rate, discharge rate, and life span of AGM. This would be a great product for one of you smart guys to figure out!

From what I have read standard lithium batteries do not do well in high heat environments like under the hood. They make high heat versions but I expect they are pretty expensive.

For my needs the dual battery system under the hood works well. It keeps our fridge, shower pump, and charging ports working. We generally are driving somewhere new each day so it is automatically charged. We don't use a solar setup.

If you are staying stationary for a few days you may want lithium and/or solar charging.

One big advantage that I see in the dual battery system is it gets rid of the troublesome second battery in the Gladiator. I like any modification that makes my rig more reliable when we are by ourselves in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Mules]

Just connect to your starter battery, add lithium battery, and go.

 

[Mules]

Maybe I could fit Lithiums under the passenger seat or back seats. Here's a couple Optimas under a JK rear seat.

 

[AXISJT]

I really dont understand Jack shit about electronics and power supplies but I'm a fan of this guys vids and i know he has a pretty strong set up

 

[Mules]

Sorry if I'm Geeking out a bit on batteries. But hey, I'm an Engineer.

Now, here's a really cool option, if it will work. Dakota has a 135Ah Group 24 Starter Battery (smaller in size than my Gladiator's battery). The biggest complaint I've heard about Lithium Starter batteries is that they don't like the cold/heat. Dakota says theirs works from -20F to 150F.

How cool would it be to have 135Ah of power available for my accessories, in my truck's starter battery! I'll have to check charging rates, but my 240 amp alternator might be able to fully charge it in about 40 minutes. All that power, and no second battery, no DC DC charger, or solar setup. Change the battery and go.

It can't be that easy? Anybody try Dakota Lithium Starter batteries yet?

https://dakotalithium.com/product/d...ar-truck-battery-plus-deep-cycle-performance/

 

[FitfulGoat]

Sorry if I'm Geeking out a bit on batteries. But hey, I'm an Engineer.

Now, here's a really cool option, if it will work. Dakota has a 135Ah Group 24 battery Starter Battery (smaller in size than my Gladiator's battery). The biggest complaint I've heard about Lithium Starter batteries is that they don't like the cold/heat. Dakota says theirs works from -20F to 150F.

How cool would it be to have 135Ah of power available for my accessories, in my truck's starter battery! I'll have to check charging rates, but my 240 amp alternator might be able to fully charge it in about 40 minutes. All that power, and no second battery, no DC DC charger, or solar setup. Change the battery and go.

It can't be that easy? Anybody try Dakota Lithium Starter batteries yet?

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