Dual Battery - Traxide - Real company?

[schafari]

I have been trying to order the LR3 dual battery controller set up from an Australia company called Traxide. Not having real good luck. Can't really get a hold of nor get response to email. A couple of members have use the Traxide set up.

Has anyone in the US contacted this company, successfully gotten their order, etc.? I know in Australia some have, but how about in the US? I simply want to place an order by the phone sounds like it is a personal answering machine, not a business. Email contact has not been successful either.

Any suggestions?

 

[craiglud]

I have the setup and it works great. I sent all my information to them via email. It is a smaller company but transaction went well for me. Here is a link to a recent thread regarding the battery setup.
http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13204

 

[phurley]

Yes - Traxide is a real co. & there are definitely US installs.

However, I put in the Hellroaring isolator (which was recently reviewed in Overland Journal). The Hellroaring isolator is solid-state, minimal voltage drop (<0.02V) and high current - the best of all worlds. The Hellroaring isolator is rated 150A in both directions (or 300A in 1 direction). In the isolated-in-both-directions configuration, aux loads go onto the backup battery. In the isolated-in-one-direction configuration (rated for 300A), the backup battery has NO loads (because the main battery is not isolated in this configuration) but imagine the power to an electric winch!

Plus, they're in Montana and very responsive to technical questions.

There was also another solid-state isolator reviewed which received good marks but I don't have any personal experience so I can't comment.

 

[trevorrigiron]

OK, I know that this is going to be a dumb question but what is dual batteries going to do for you? Is it so if one goes down you can get the truck started or what? Just curious.

Thanks,
Trevor

 

[tommithy]

It's more, "Now I can run all kinds of extra accessories and not worry about having trouble starting my car"

 

[trevorrigiron]

You can run more when? When the car is running or when the car is off? I mean is it so that you can run an Engle type fridge when the car is off and not worry about starting the car for the return home. I guess I just don't understand but I went camping in a pretty remote area once and left an Engle type fridge plugged in (dumb thing to do) and then spent half the day walking to a main road and waiting for someone to come by that had a pair of jumper cables to give me a jump. Is this the kind of thing that it helps with because if so it would be cool to have that capability. Does it only draw down the Aux battery and leave the main alone? Does a guy have to mount it in the engine compartment or could a guy just carry a deep cycle battery to run these types of things and then recharge it in the garage when you get home?

Thanks,
Trevor

 

[phurley]

OK, I know that this is going to be a dumb question but what is dual batteries going to do for you? Is it so if one goes down you can get the truck started or what? Just curious.

Thanks,
Trevor

Sure, one plus is accessories - like a refrigerator for beer at your Mens-O40 Sunday soccer game.... But that's just me.

Another reason is that electrical winches demand alot - current loads can approach or exceed 500A. So you could switch to combine both batteries, giving the winch more to work with, or you could reserve the backup battery so that if you **** the main with the winch, you can still start the vehicle.

Another reason to have an isolator in the vehicle is for camper trailers. The LR3 charge voltage can be more than 15V which is too high for most camper trailer charge circuits (and most batteries for that matter). So with a properly rated isolator in the vehicle, you can replace the camper trailer charge system with a bank of Yellow Tops instead, which could also recharge the vehicle in a jam.

 

[phurley]

.... Does a guy have to mount it in the engine compartment or could a guy just carry a deep cycle battery to run these types of things and then recharge it in the garage when you get home?

Thanks,
Trevor

The LR3 comes with a dedicated aux battery compartment - where the brake booster is. A D34 Yellow Top fits in there. The aux battery tray even has hold-down threaded inserts - a set of replacement bolts for your main battery with a hold-down bar from Pep Boys is all that's required there (comes with the Traxide kit). Still need the isolator & wiring though if you want to have things work automagically.

You could still do things the manual way by charging with a charger and using the aux battery that way, keeping the vehicle circuits totally separate. But my thoughts there are that one will eventually forget to charge it and when one really needs it, one will be walking instead.

I would not recommend driving around with a battery in the vehicle cabin. It could easily **** or maim everyone in the vehicle in an accident.

 

[nwoods]

...which was recently reviewed in Overland Journal...

I knew there was a reason I liked your posts!

Cheers,

NWoods
OJ Fan (the magazine!)

 

[schafari]

The LR3 is already "prepped" for a dual battery setup from the factory. Depending on your vehicle (left hand drive or right) you will have an extra space specifically for a battery. A number of standard size deep cycle batteries (or normal) will fit.

The set up that I am putting in will have an automated isolater/combiner between the AGM deep cycle and the LR3 battery. It will also have a power run to the rear cargo area. In that area I will have a new 12v outlet and then a quick connect/disconnect plug as well. The deep cycle battery will provide live power to the rear at all times. (Something the LR3 is missing from the factory)

The secondary benefit of this is of course, it is now almost impossible to **** both batteries and not be able to start the engine. We do a lot of camping, hiking, etc., which usually entails hanging out with the truck in some sort of discharge state.

The primary benefit will be the high-current power available at the rear of the truck. This will be up to 30a or 50a depending on the isolater. This will power a portable refrigerator. It is not an Engel, as those are not "portable." The portable fridge I have is a Dometic just like in most RVs. It can run off 120v, 12v, or propane gas. It is about the size of a large cooler. The key thing is that with no ice required, it can hold a ton of critical survival items like ice cold beer, perfectly maintained steaks. . .oh, and other things like milk for the kids. . . I run the fridge on gas (standard camping propane canisters) during the day when I can have the windows cracked, and 12v at night when it is all closed up. The gas lasts for ever. . .the 12v not so much.

In addition to the permament deep cycle under the hood, I'll also have a matching deep cycle AGM in the cargo area as needed only. With the quick connect/disconnect, this will become part of the overal circuit and double dischage time. Having the 30a/50a connection will also allow periodic charging of both batteries direclty from the alternator. (However, most of the time the cargo batt will be charged from a normal batt charger)

Of note. . .a fantastic AGM deep cycle battery that I found, that also fits in the factory location under the hood, is the Sears Platinum AGM, PM-2 34M, $199. This is actually an Oddyssey battery, one of the best you can get. It is also reportedly better than the spirals. It has a 3yr free replacement warranty on it. Odyessy has confirmed that it is their battery, just a different case. The Odyssey equivilent is about $100 more. I am not fan of Sears at all, but this battery is awesome.