Trying to overhaul my bed config. LiPO4 help plz.

[PuddleJumper]

So I want to get my fridge out of the cabin and into the bed. But i need a way to power it. Even with the truck off. So this rules out just putting a plug in the oem bed location. I want to get a amazon special 100ah LiPO4 battery as they are pretty small and light and by my calculations should run the fridge 10hrs plus in eco mode. aside from a stout battery box, I need a way to charge that battery via alternator. But I know one shouldn't mix AGM and LiPO. How would one go about getting charging 12v to the bed battery then? I've already committed to drilling my bed for d ring brackets to hold my shit down. I just need ideas here. I like having my cabin bare, with all my tools and recovery gear under the back seat. As much as I wan a seat delete, I have passengers to often to take it in and out all the time. I have a battery bank but its not water proof enough for me to leave it in the bed. I've been slowly stream lining my camping setup and I shaved a lot of unnecessary weight. Looking to keep that ball rolling.

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[Nobody]

I have a slide out for my fridge in the bed “passenger side”. While driving the fridge is plugged into the bed electrical outlet. When at the campsite the fridge gets plugged into a portable battery “Jackery”. Never had any problems. And I have even used the bed outlet to charge the jackery while the fridge was running off the battery.
IMHO hard mounting accessory purpose batteries is very expensive for the amount of usage. As most of us daily drive the trucks.

 

[PuddleJumper]

I have a slide out for my fridge in the bed “passenger side”. While driving the fridge is plugged into the bed electrical outlet. When at the campsite the fridge gets plugged into a portable battery “Jackery”. Never had any problems. And I have even used the bed outlet to charge the jackery while the fridge was running off the battery.
IMHO hard mounting accessory purpose batteries is very expensive for the amount of usage. As most of us daily drive the trucks.

I see. I don't have an AC outlet in the bed and it would be blocked by my water can as well. any other thoughts?

 

[Mr._Bill]

To charge a non-AGM battery using the Jeep electrical system, you need a charge controller. Redarc is one of the better known, but there are others available.

Where you put the battery, and how it's mounted, are dependent on your needs and preferences.

I put a 12v and USB ports in the back instead of spending $300 to add the 120v outlet.

I have a AGM deep cycle battery mounted to the frame behind the right rear wheel. It's connected using a Warn cable kit and a Smart Isolator. It provides the power for devices in the bed.

With the first truck, I connected the fridge to a battery pack that was charged by the 120v outlet while driving. With this one, the fridge plugs into the 12v port that's connected to the rear battery, which is connected to the Jeep electrical system.

 

[PuddleJumper]

To charge a non-AGM battery using the Jeep electrical system, you need a charge controller. Redarc is one of the better known, but there are others available.

Where you put the battery, and how it's mounted, are dependent on your needs and preferences.

I put a 12v and USB ports in the back instead of spending $300 to add the 120v outlet.

I have a AGM deep cycle battery mounted to the frame behind the right rear wheel. It's connected using a Warn cable kit and a Smart Isolator. It provides the power for devices in the bed.

With the first truck, I connected the fridge to a battery pack that was charged by the 120v outlet while driving. With this one, the fridge plugs into the 12v port that's connected to the rear battery, which is connected to the Jeep electrical system.

Ok that’s a great setup. Thanks

 

[rharr]

see if you can find some sort of metal box to put the LIPO in, especially the cheaper no name brands. If lipo decides to ignite for what ever reason they can't be put out easy and they will put out lots of heat and smoke, can't really stop the smoke, but a metal box will contain the fire.

Maybe a padded ammo can?

 

[Slipshodman]

I should start with I am no expert and can only offer what I have done

I don't know if you have the Aux switches from factory or if you have one unused.
So may or may not work for you.

Similar concept to those with the power outlet in the bed, I ran power from one of my 40amp Aux switches to the bed adn added an Anderson plug to it, currently when out camping that is plugged into a portable 40A/H LiPO4 (similar to the Jackery mentioned above) and my fridge plugged into that.
When the car runs it charges the LiPO4 (which also keeps the fridge running) and when engine off the fridge runs purely off the LiPO4. the fridge on its own is quite low power draw per hour, mine is about 1.2amp so can easily get 24 hours without starting the car, just about to add a solar blanket (or panel) so when stationary can plug the solar into the LiPO4 (instead of the aux cable) to extend that engine off time. (solar controller etc is built into the portable unit)
Makes it very user friendly to remove everything when its back to the day to day.
And I can use the 40amp DC circuit in the bed for other 12v uses like my air compressor etc so I don't have to be opening the bonnet when airing up for a day on the trails.

The other option that I may do in the future is grab a DC to DC charger, the lower amp charges do not draw above the 40amp Aux circuit, so same principle as above but could change to larger batteries for longer off grid camping trips.

Good luck finding a solution that works for you

Oh, the only other thing I would mention is do not cheap out on whatever battery you get, the cheapies are the ones with crappy chemical compounds that are way more likely to explode, quality LiPO4 is the only way to go in my opinion

 

[Steven_B]

As mentioned above, REDARC is just about the easiest to install and the best on the market. I have been running the 40 amp version of their BCDC to charge my 200AH Amazon special in my Alu-Cab Canopy Camper.

And down the road, if you decide to run solar, it's got inputs for that also. No need for an additional solar charger.

25 Amp Version - https://trailrecon.com/products/bcdc1225d
40 Amp Version (what I have) - https://trailrecon.com/products/bcdc1240d

 

[Aleph]

My current solution for this doesn't fully apply to what you're asking here, but I did still want to share.
I have my fridge mounted on a slide in the bed and an EcoFlow power station in the cab with the cable running through the rear sliding window which is barely cracked open. It works for short trips but obviously isn't perfect - a minimal amount of water does enter the cab during heavy rain.

 

[Blucid]

Do some research, there are some really good battery companies that are cheap and have great hardware. This year for my electrical setup, I went with Li.Time great reviews from a lot of youtube battery testers.

There are also other really nice companies that offer great products for charging or what ever you want to do in the long run. REDARC is awesome but they are also super expensive, I went with Victron, but there are other good companies as well like Renogy.

The other thing I suggest is, put stuff under your seat. I am building my electrical under the rear seats and then im running stuff to the BED. 813.Fabrications has a lot of amazing products on his website, he also hangs out here in the Jeep Forums since he owns a Gladiator. Here is what I got and what im planning to do.

I have a video explaining what is going where but for some reason cant upload it.

But basically, plan is to run a proper outlet in the back of the bed. I have the regular one that comes with the Jeep right now, but I want to be able to plug in an extension cable and run it into the Roof top tent. So that during the winter I can run a heated blanket inside my sleeping bag or something of that nature. Also to power a proper fridge in the future as well.

Here is a video of Justin, just doing batteries. Basically the same just I will have 200ah and all the other components will be there as well. Link to Instagram

 

[m-l_johnny]

There's a lot of good info over on Expedition Portal forum under the electrical section. I'm an electrical moron,(beyond basic circuits) so the info was invaluable to me. I have a homemade battery box using a repurposed pelican case. I recently added a Wagan Tech 40 amp DC to DC charger that's also capable of utilizing solar.

 

[ttn333]

I use both victron and renogy. Renogy makes an affordable dc-dc/mppt controller. Kickass also has one prewired with andersons for easy connections. I've built a simple system for mobility reasons (but will go with a more permanent solution since I've gone to a more dediated build out of the truck). It's just stuffed inside of a portable battery box with built in 12v/usb connections and anderson connectors. Wired my controllers and other connections with andersons as well for easy disconnect. My original setup had a tractor supply tool box for some added weather proofing and theft deterrence. Ran it like that for about 6 months before adding a rack.

 

[fourfa]

In addition to the space under the rear seats - the plastic panel behind the rear seats conceals a ton of useful space for connectors, fusebox, ground bus bar etc. And the space taken up by the driver's side tray/pocket behind the seat is just about perfect for a large house battery. You can probably fit a 300 Ah battery back there and still be able to use the seats.

You do have to remove the plastic panel to make use of that space. And everyone is correct, you WILL break some connectors off removing that panel. (I'm going this direction as I need the space on the floor for other things with my particular seat-delete / dog habitat plan) I expect I'll fab up my own replacement cover from light plywood or coruplast.

On battery type /brand/ features, DC/DC chargers - it's a very fast-changing area right now. Any advice you find that's over a year old is probably out of date. I've found the DIY Solar Power forum and youtube channel to be really helpful - the guy gets enough traffic that he can afford to cut open every battery he gets for inspection. Very educational.

Also here's a pretty up-to-date page tracking DC/DC charger features. TL;DR: right now you can get DC/DC + solar + reverse charging (ie starter batt trickle charging from solar) all in a single unit, from 4-5 different makes. Or you can piece together 3-4 different victron or redarc modules to do the same thing at 3x the cost and complexity

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