Redarc Product Range

Redarc Product Range

by | Feb 1, 2024 | Auto Electrics, Batteries, Blog, Brakes, Dual Battery Systems, Inverter Systems, Solar Panels

Enhance Your Ride with Redarc: Your One-Stop Solution for Auto Electrical Accessories and Spares

As the summer heat intensifies, it’s time to gear up your vehicle for the ultimate driving experience. At Monteltham Auto Electric, we’re proud to offer a comprehensive range of Redarc products that elevate your ride to the next level. From cutting-edge accessories to essential spares, we’ve got everything you need to stay powered up and ready for any adventure.
Explore the Redarc Product Range:

Dual Battery Systems:

Keep your accessories running smoothly without draining your main battery. Redarc’s dual battery systems efficiently manage power distribution, ensuring your fridge, lights, and other electrical devices stay powered, even in the most remote locations.

Solar Solutions: Harness the power of the sun with Redarc’s solar panels and regulators. Whether you’re camping off-grid or embarking on a road trip, solar solutions provide sustainable energy to keep your batteries charged and your devices running.

DC-DC Chargers:

Ensure efficient charging of your auxiliary battery with Redarc’s DC-DC chargers. These advanced chargers adapt to the input voltage of your vehicle, maximizing charging performance and extending battery life.

Battery Monitors: Monitor your battery’s health and performance in real-time with Redarc’s battery management systems. Stay informed about voltage, current, and state of charge, giving you peace of mind on every journey.

In-Vehicle Chargers:

Charge your devices on the go with Redarc’s in-vehicle chargers. Designed for rugged conditions, these chargers provide fast and reliable charging for smartphones, tablets, cameras, and more.

Tow-Pro Electric Brake Controllers: Ensure safe and smooth towing with Redarc’s Tow-Pro brake controllers. Featuring proportional and remote options, these controllers deliver precise braking control, enhancing safety and reducing wear on your vehicle and trailer brakes.

Our Expertise in Repairing Faulty Systems:

At Monteltham Auto Electric, we understand that even the most reliable electrical systems can encounter issues. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing expert repair services for faulty Redarc systems. Our team of skilled technicians has the knowledge and experience to diagnose and fix a wide range of electrical problems, ensuring your accessories operate at peak performance.

Whether it’s a wiring issue, component failure, or calibration problem, we have the tools and expertise to get your Redarc system back up and running in no time. We pride ourselves on delivering prompt and reliable repairs, minimizing downtime and keeping you on the road with confidence.

Why Choose Us?

Expertise: Our technicians undergo rigorous training to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in auto electrical technology, ensuring top-notch service and repair for your Redarc products.

Quality Workmanship: We prioritize quality workmanship and attention to detail in every repair job, ensuring lasting performance and reliability for your electrical systems.

Customer Satisfaction: Your satisfaction is our top priority. We strive to exceed your expectations with friendly service, transparent communication, and dependable solutions tailored to your needs.

Experience the Redarc Advantage Today!

Elevate your driving experience with Redarc’s innovative range of auto electrical products, available at Monteltham Auto Electric. From dual battery systems to solar solutions, we’ve got everything you need to power your adventures and keep you on the move.

Don’t let electrical issues hold you back—trust the experts at Monteltham Auto Electric to repair and maintain your Redarc systems with precision and care. Contact us today to learn more and schedule your service.

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Redarc Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Redarc Battery Systems

Redarc Battery Systems

by | Nov 16, 2021 | Batteries, Blog, Dual Batteries, Dual Battery Systems, Inverter Systems

REDARC Lithium Deep Cycle Batteries

These batteries offer great performance, meaning that they deliver exceptional power they are designed to and the life of the battery is unrivaled.

Dual Battery Systems

Using a second battery in your power set-up allows you to use more pwer hungry devises like a portable camping fridge for example. Redarc 12v lithium batteries will build a battery bank ideal for caravans, boats, camping vans and four wheel drive vehicles. These batteries are designed for the tough Australian outback conditions and provide longer lasting power and are both light-weight with large capacity.

The Redarc lithium range (LifePO4) are quick to charge requiring little or no maintenance perfect for camping, trouble free. The just do what they are suposed to.

Below we have created a chart which will give you some idea of what kind of power output you require for different loads. The first chart is for small loads and require only 12 volt where as the second chart will reveal what you need for larger loads and a 240 Volt appliances. Here you will need an inverter to change the power from DC to AC.

12 Volt

Devices you
want to use?

Phones
Tablets

Basic
LED
Lights

Water
Pump

Caravan
LED 
lights

Portable
50 Litre
Fridge

60 Ah
Slimline
Battery

1
Battery

1
Battery

1
Battery

1 or
possibly 2
Batteries

1 or
possibly 2
Batteries

100 Ah
Standard
Battery

1
Battery

1
Battery

1
Battery

1 or
possibly 2
Batteries

1 or
possibly 2
Batteries

240 Volt

Below is a chart to show you what you might need to run AC appliances like fridges, microwaves, hair dyers and the like.

Devices you
want to use?

Laptops
or Drone
Battery

2 slice
Toaster

Hair
Dryer

Microwave

Electric
Kettle

60 Ah
Slimline
Battery

2
Batteries

2
Batteries

3
Batteries

5
Batteries

100 Ah
Standard
Battery

1 or
possibly 2
Batteries

2
Batteries

2
Batteries

3
Batteries

5
Batteries

100 Ah
Heavy
Duty
Battery

1
Battery

1
Batteries

2
Batteries

2
Batteries

200 Ah
Heavy
Duty
Battery

1
Battery

1
Batteries

2
Batteries

2
Batteries

Inverter

350w

1000w

1500w

2000w

3000w

Redarc LiFePO4 batteries come in capacities ranging from 60Ah to 200Ah.
They all an internal BMS (battery management system)
The Battery Management System allows battery connection in parallel. This will increase the storage times and capacity

It is possible to set up to four 60Ah batteries together and up to 6 * 100Ah or 100Ah-HD or 200Ah batteries together. This will give you a great deal of energy!

Redarc Batteries

Dual Lithium Batteries – B-TEC 200Ah 12V Generation 2 Batteries

Dual Lithium Batteries – B-TEC 200Ah 12V Generation 2 Batteries

by | Sep 30, 2021 | Auto Electrics, Batteries, Blog, Dual Batteries, Dual Battery Systems

Dual Lithium Battery Systems

The B-TEC 200Ah 12V Generation 2 Battery

 

B-TEC 200Ah 12V Generation 2 Batteries is one of the latest produced by Enerdrive. The first thing to notice is that there are screws all around the top lid of the batteries which enabling the removal of the top  for maintenance should it be required sometime in the future. The warranty has now also been extended and Enerdrive offer a 3 year warrantee with a 2 year pro rata.

This 2nd generation 200Ah battery has another great new feature, which are the raised terminals, as opposed to recessed terminals, which, previously, presented issues with connecting cables coming in at odd angles making it difficult for proper connection.

This battery now also has an easily accessible reset button. For example, if you flatten the battery completely, by mistake or circumstance, by depressing the reset button you can wake the battery up again, enabling the battery to accept a charge.

Re-setting the battery is easy and right next to the reset button on the top face of the battery are clear instructions on exactly how to do this. In addition to these instructions, you will also find on the front face of the battery clear instructions and specifications of charging requirements.

Connecting B-TEC 200Ah 12V Generation 2 Batteries in parallel

These batteries also allow you to connect another battery in parallel so effectively if you connect 2 of these 200Ah batteries together you will get 400Ah bank output. However, it is important to do this correctly as we do not want to over-run the capacity of one of the batteries.

You will be interested to know that there is an Phone App available for Gen 2 B-Tec Enerdrive batteries which you can monitor your battery anytime giving you information like state of charge left in your battery, How many amps you are using from you battery, how many amps you are putting into your battery, the rate of capacity of your battery, including how many cycles you have put your battery through. A handy feature of the app on the last page of the app, is contact details and easy access to tech support for any issues what so ever you may have with your battery.

Enerdrive Battery Monitor
Enerdrive Battery Monitor
Enerdrive Battery Monitor

Here at Monteltham AutoElectric we can help you with every facet of your camping and auto hardware requirements. We can do all the work for you giving you the best advice possible with everything auto electric. If on the other hand you want to do all the fitting and planning yourself we can provide you with everything you need from batteries, inverters, regulators and more.

Mentioned above was the idea of connecting in parallel, two batteries, to give you double the Amp hours available in the form of a parallel bank.

 

So here are the pros and cons of this idea. It is always better to use one battery but sometimes you just need more storage capacity, and a bank of batteries will provide this. On the downside you are going to compromise the longevity of your batteries by connecting in parallel.

So, what is the proper way to connect two Enerdrive B-TEC batteries in parallel?

Using a 2000 W  ePower inverter in conjunction with the twin battery bank.

2000W Inverter

There is a problem with using batteries with an internal BMS (Battery Management System)is the possibility to overrun a board. The board in each battery has a rating For example, a 100 amp battery,  two batteries in parallel you can assume you can run up to 200 amps. However, the problem arises when the batteries discharge. At some stage one of the batteries will switch off, the internal board will isolate and switch off before the other, to protect the cells which is what it was designed to do. In this case the inverter which is attached to the two batteries is still consuming the original load but now it is taking it all from a single battery. This will be taking the load from a 100 amp device and the inverter is taking twice that load. This will overload the board and shorten the life of that battery and ultimately destroy your batteries.

So a way of protecting your system for example in this example we have two Enerdrive B-TEC batteries capable of a 200Ah load each and an 2000W inverter using around 180 amps. So as long as you do not use anything that will consume more than 200 amps you should be fine. This system will support that load and you can expect many years of use out of it.

So the rule is, when connecting two batteries in parallel do not connect any device to it capable of using more that the capacity of one of the batteries. This will ensure the maximum life of the batteries.

Connecting the batteries
Connecting the batteries in parallel, connect the positive terminals of each battery together and then connect the negative batteries together.

Dual Battery System

Connecting the load
In this case the load is the inverter and what we want to do is share the loads as evenly as possible, and using a staggered approach, instead of using one battery to connect the load we will use the positive terminal from one battery and the negative terminal from the other battery to connect the inverter cables as in the picture below.

Connecting the Inverter

Other good advice is to make sure the cables connecting your two batteries in parallel are as short as possible. The cables connecting the two batteries also need to be adequate in size. In the example we have used the connecting battery cables need to be the same size or larger than the cables used for the inverter.

Another bit of keen advice is to make sure you do not discharge your parallel battery bank 100%. A 100% discharge is not advisable and a way to help prevent this is to use an ePro plus Battery Monitor.

You may need more advice from us of how to install this but briefly this device will shut down your battery system way before your batteries are fully discharged.

This example we have used provides loads of 200Ah but if you feel this is not going to be enough reach out to the team here at Monteltham AutoElectric, we will have a setup which will provide everything you need.

More information on Enerdrive Products here

Other articles on Dual Battery Systems

Deep Cycle Batteries

 

Landrover 3rd Battery Installation

Landrover 3rd Battery Installation

by | Mar 9, 2021 | Auto Electrics, Blog, Dual Battery Systems

Fitting a 3rd battery to a Landrover 

The is an ex-army Landrover we are talking about which comes fitted with two 12 volt batteries fitted in parallel as standard. Landrovers can have many auxiliary devices such as a VHF radio to power up hence the two batteries for extra power output. The second battery also adds some redundancy to the system. However, there are times when even two batteries are not enough. On the right-hand side of the vehicle is a compartment big enough to house a third battery.

Two Primary Battery Housing

Two Primary Battery Housing

 

When the vehicle is off-road there may be a need to power for example a small fridge and you do not want to place extra demands on your two main batteries which you are relying on to start your engine miles from anywhere. This is where fitting a third battery comes in handy and can provide that extra power requirement without placing extra demand on your main battery power source.

 

In this case, we do not want to rely on the main alternator to charge the third battery as this is a very inefficient method of charging the battery and will reduce the lifetime of the battery. The alternator is now being asked to power another battery, a task it was not designed to do in an efficient manner. We solve this by fitting an in-vehicle battery charger in the form of a REDARC Multi-stage auxiliary DC-DC battery charger, 12 volts, 25 amp and this is fitted discreetly behind the driver’s seat.

Dual Batteries

 

Checkout the video

 

The third battery we provide is a Full River DC105-12

The Full River DC105-12 is one of the best 105Ah (Amp-hour) AGM Deep Cycle batteries and one of the most popular batteries in Australia due to its reliability and an incredible lifetime of up to 7 years or more.

 

As the battery is completely sealed and dry, it is not possible to spill acid or to give off gasses while charging. Places you can fit these batteries are under seats in Caravans or Motorhomes. They can be used onboard boats as the house battery. Like all AGM and GEL batteries, we do not recommend under-bonnet installations. 

Deep Cycle AGM battery

Details:

 

Width: 169mm

Length: 307mm

Height: 215mm inc terminals (211 without)

Weight: 30.2Kg Approx

Voltage: 12 Volts

Capacity 105Ah at a 20hour rate (C20)

Screw down M6 terminals. 

The positive (+) terminal is on the left (= red terminal in the picture).

36 Month Pro-Rata Warranty (includes 12 Month Manufacturers Replacement Warranty).

Full River DC Series Product Brochure

 

With the new Full River DC105-12 and REDARC Multi-stage auxiliary DC-DC battery charger, the Landrover is now fully capable of powering the camping fringe without any worry of over-taxing the two primary batteries and alternator. You can now sleep easy miles from anywhere knowing your beers will still be chill in the morning 🙂

 

 

 

Deep Cycle AGM Batteries

Deep Cycle AGM Batteries

by | Dec 4, 2020 | Blog, Dual Battery Systems, Uncategorized

Lithium car batteries

Lithium is the lightest of the solid elements and is the most popular types of rechargeable batteries. The very first lithium batteries were not rechargeable.

It has one of the best energy/weight ratios. The self-discharge rate is also low so when it is not in use it does not lose its charge very quickly.

In fact, lithium batteries were initially unstable and unsafe and around charging times they were particularly unsafe making them unsuitable for the market. This is when they discovered that lithium-ion was the way to go.

Being twice the energy density of standard nickel-cadmium batteries they make an excellent car battery. Lithium-ion batteries do not require much maintenance and on top of this advantage, they do not require memory or scheduling cycling.

Traditionally Lithium Batteries have been used only for Hybrids but they can be used in normal petrol engine cars and especially in 4WD where a second battery is used to power camping utilities such as camping fridges and power inverters. In this case, a normal lead-acid battery is used for the first battery and the Lithium Battery is used for the camping or alternate use requirement. Where you are travelling for long periods you need a second battery so as not to rely on your main car battery essential for starting the engine.

So to be clear the advantages of a Lithium Battery is their weight, they are much lighter than lead-acid batteries. They also cope with the charge and discharge cycles a lot better than the traditional lead-acid batteries. However, there are a few disadvantages which should be mentioned. Compared with a lead-acid battery a Lithium Battery’ output will drop a lot faster when the temperature decreases. They do require proper charging and can have cell failure if not charged as manufacturers recommendations. They are also quite expensive in comparison. A well-designed Lithium Batteries however do not cause these problems such as the EnerDrive Lithium Batteries.

Deep Cycle AGM battery

An alternative to the Lithium Battery is a Deep Cycle AGM battery which is a lead-acid battery but with several differences. AGM is short for Absorbent Glass Material.
So the battery has 6 cells of around 2 volts each making 12 in total. The positive and negative lead oxide plates react with the sulfuric acid electrolyte producing electrons and this electrolyte is suspended by the sponge-like glass fibre maintaining an even distribution with the lead oxide plates.

Although the AGM battery is sensitive to over or undercharging it is basically sealed and needs no maintenance so you can not spill any of the contents. They are mostly shockproof and do not corrode. They also are more efficient at discharging and recharging. It is claimed they have higher starting power. In general, they do cost more.

Another advantage is they typically last sometimes more than twice the regular lead-acid battery. When supplying a twin battery for a camper or 4WD we usually provide and install the DC105-12 Deep Cycle AGM Battery as the second utility battery.

What is the Deep Cycle part of the name mean? Traditional car batteries were not designed for continuous draining and recharge as they are used to start the engine and are then used for small power uses while the engine is running and the battery is continually being recharged. However, if you are using the second battery system as a power supply for your camping fridge you will not have the car running at the time and there will be a constant drain on the battery. A deep cycle battery will have thicker plates which help it cope with constant charging and recharging. The thicker the plates the longer it will last.

Deep Cycle batteries are designed to provide a steady amount of current over a long period of time. Deep-cycle batteries can be repeatedly discharged and recharged without causing damage or shortening their life.