Recommended In-Vehicle Battery Charger for House Battery on Ford Transit

Question:

I think Im starting to understand...maybe. I have a ford transit 150 and want to have a house battery. No solar panels. If I use the redarc smart battery isolator, it wont charge to 100?? So I should use the Redarc In-Vehicle BCDC Battery Charger - Dual Input - DC to DC - 12V/24V - 25 Amp or the CTEK D250S?????? Which one will do the job better??

asked by: David P

Helpful Expert Reply:

The Redarc Smart Start Battery Isolator # 331-SBI212D referenced in your question will install between your Ford Transit's start battery and house battery. This will essentially pull power from either battery in an effort to keep both charged. It can potentially charge the house battery to 100%, but this is dependent on the start battery being completely charged as well, which likely won't be the case for the most part. This particular product isn't so much a standard battery charger, but simply an isolator that will transfer power from one to the other, and vice versa.

In order to ensure full charge on your house battery, I do recommend going with the Redarc In-Vehicle BCDC Battery Charger # 331-BCDC1240D that you also referenced. What this will do is is basically amplify the charge that the Transit's start battery is receiving from its alternator and use it to charge the house battery (as opposed to simply removing power from this battery and applying it to the second). Solar panels can be added so that you can have power off the grid, but they aren't necessary for it to perform well. The built-in battery isolator on this unit will also prevent the charger from pulling power from the start battery when the vehicle is off. I recommend adding the Fuse Kit # 331-FK60.

I have attached a short video demonstration on this charger, along with its written instruction manual that you can also look through.

expert reply by: Chris R