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WHICH REDARC BCDC CHARGER SHOULD I CHOOSE?

The answer to this question is purely based on the size and type of battery bank you are charging. For the answer we are going to break the battery types into 2 categories - Lead acid, this includes all lead based batteries such as agm, deep cycle lead acid etc. and Lithium.

Lead Acid

Always check with your battery supplier as to the recommended charge current of the battery you are using The REDARC BCDC 1225D is the most popular unit and is designed for a single aux battery bank of the standard 80-150ah up to 200ah. Redarc recommend the 1225D for all application up to this size bank. A lot of people think bigger is better and that is true in electrical in a lot of cases such as cable size, battery bank size but when we talk about charging current it’s not true. For instance the BCDC 1240D or 1250D connected to a single 100ah agm battery found in a wide range of dual battery systems would be way over the rated max charge current for that battery. We would recommend not to even consider the BCDC 1240D or 1250D unless you have a lead acid bank of over 150ah and if you do, check with the battery manufacturer to see what their recommended charge current is and select a charger that is below that current rating.

Lithium

There are many great things about lithium batteries but we are going to focus on the great things about charging them. Firstly a lithium battery accepts a lot more current than its lead acid counterpart and secondly a lithium battery doesn’t need to go through an absorption stage which is the slowest stage of charging in a lead acid battery. A lithium battery can accept a high current all the way until it reaches full charge, unlike lead acid batteries that when it hits absorption stage it derates and slows down the charge rate taking a lot longer to reach full charge. This makes charging a lead acid a much longer process than charging a lithium battery. The second thing that speeds up charging a lithium battery is that they typically can be charged at a much higher rate. For instance a single 100ah lithium could handle the rate of the BCDC 1250D which will decrease the time needed to charge the battery. Please check with your battery supplier as to the recommended charge rate of you chosen battery.

what type of alternator does my car have?

Vehicles with “Standard” alternators:

Toyota Hilux

Toyota LandCruiser

Toyota Prado

Toyota Hiace

Holden Colorado up to 2017

Holden Colorado 7 / MUX up to 2017

Nissan Patrol (gu/gq) up to 2017

Nissan Navara up to 2010

Mitsubishi Triton

Mitsubishi Pajero up to 2011

Ford Ranger up to 2010

Isuzu Dmax up to 2016

Mazda bt 50 up to 2010

Volkswagen Amarok (4cyd) up to 2017

Models with a “SMART” alternator requiring ignition wire:

Ford Ranger (2011 on)

Holden Colorado (2018 on)

Vw Amorok V6

Nissan Patrol v8

If you’re unsure whether your car is suitable, please contact us.