If summer camping on Moreton Island is on your agenda this holiday season, it’s time to prepare. At Bainbridge Technologies, we have come up with some helpful tips to make sure your 12V power system is up to scratch, ensuring more good times are had by all.

Moreton Island boasts some of the country’s best camping sites, just a stone’s throw away from pristine beaches and natural bushland. Offering the ultimate summer holiday break away, you can sit back with your mates, a coldie in hand as the day’s local catch cooks on the BBQ.

 But before you throw the fishing rods and cook top in the back of your rig, completing a few simple checks on your dual battery system before you board the ferry, can save you from being stuck in the sand with a flat battery, when you should be relaxing in the sun.

1.Check your charge

Before heading off to Moreton Island on your holiday, it’s essential that you make sure your batteries are fully charged. You should check the health of:

– Your vehicle’s starter battery

– The auxiliary battery

– If you have a flooded or ‘wet cell’ battery check its water level is correct.

If you don’t have a DC-DC charger, then an ideal charger to service your battery before you go away is the CTEK MXS 5.0.

The CTEK MXS 5.0 offers features such as battery diagnosis that shows if your battery can receive and retain a charge, a special reconditioning function that restores stratified and deeply discharged batteries, unique maintenance charging and the charging of demanding AGM batteries. It is suitable for 12V batteries from 1.2-110Ah.

2.Where should you mount your charger?

If you are installing a new DC-DC charger such as the CTEK D250S Dual, then where you install your charger can make a lot of difference. When camping or 4WDing on Moreton Island, especially in the Summer heat, you need to be aware of where you position your charger, so that it isn’t exposed to the sand, dirt and sea spray. A good tip is to keep chargers well clear of hot exhaust manifolds and turbos. Ideally the best place to mount your charger is inside your vehicle. If you must install your charger under your vehicle bonnet, then make sure it is kept in an area that is away from the heat of the engine. You can still run 12V equipment under the bonnet, you just need to be aware of where they are positioned.

3.Connections and cabling

Whether you have invested in quality cabling, it doesn’t hurt to check your connections before you hit the sand. Your first point of call is to check for dirt, corrosion, and wear and tear on battery terminals. Next step is to check on:

– Spade connectors

– Anderson connectors/plugs.

– Ring terminals on your batteries or lugs.

– Make sure the connections are tight and correctly torqued, this is important, loose connections can result in power loss and can cause electrical fires.

– Check along the length of the cabling to ensure there is no wear and tear or breaks in the cable.

– Make sure there’s no exposed cabling and check that cables aren’t rubbing on any external items.

4.How to power on for more good times under the sun?

Before you head off to Moreton this summer break, work out the load on your 12V system and how long the battery will last before it needs recharging. This can be done by making a simple list of the devices you are taking with you and then work out how many hours a day you will be using them and how much current they consume. A dual battery system is perfect for remote camping and 4WDing locations like Moreton, so you don’t get stranded with a flat battery with the incoming tide rapidly rolling in. The Baintech Dual Battery kit is an affordable, easy DIY kit that will power up the good times.