mnicolosi

Sorry if this is answered elsewhere -- I'm having a hard time finding it. I want to do a SIMPLE second battery solution for powering my laptop, cooler and coffeemaker on a three month trip. What I'd like to do is get a deepcycle battery, plug it into the dc outlet to power it when I'm driving it, then use it when I'm parked. I can't follow all the instructions on wiring circuits and etc and relay switches and stuff, and I dont want to pay for that work to be done. Can I simply put the battery in the back of my element, plug it in and go? If I use the Optima Yellow Top, will it spew fumes over night and kill me?

Thanks much!
Michelle

pir8radio

no you wont die. Most fumes come off the battery when charging. and not enough to worry about.

greatwhite

some reading

More reading
(the product name in the link is Guardian, but it's generically called a "battery isolator")

You can't just plug in a second battery to positive and negative in your vehicle. All sort of funky things can happen from eletronics issues to dead batteries. You need to wire it properly so your charging system will charge both batteries while you're driving.

You also need to mount it properly. If you get inot an accident, that suker will take your head off! It doesn't take much of a hit to get it airborne either.......

As to killing you, the poster about is right. Batteries give off hydrogen gas when charging anddon't when discharging. Even so, hydrogen given off by the battery isnt going to kill you, but it can explode! I've seen a battery go up in the shop once, had to change my shorts after that. A guy was charging a battery, sparked the charger cables and the hood damn near came off the car.

Best advice I can give is get a battery box (boat stores carry them cheap) and vent it properly if you're going to keep it inside the car.

There's a reason they're outside on cars and campers.............

Cheers

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mnicolosi

Thanks great white. This is my set up in the back of my element:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolosi/2346496779/

I was thinking I could strap the second battery to the platform (solving the flying battery problem) and charge it while driving in the dc out let back there. But it sounds like that's a bad idea, if the battery's giving off death fumes while charging. Guess I'll look into getting it put under the hood -- unless you can think of some other solution I'm not thinking of.

Michelle

greatwhite

Death fumes?

Well, no.

Explosive?

Yes. But only in a confined area. Keep in mind, it's not going to fill the cabin with explosive gas. But if you have a spark close to it, there is a possiblity of explosion. This is usually a problem with a battery being recharged from a very discharged state.

Truthfully? Your stock system is probably adequate for what you want. Just add a voltmeter so you can watch the battery and stop using it before it drops too low.

Look into an optima battery too. Good stuff there...............

Optima Batteries

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