CTEK D250S or D250S Dual - Which do I need for this situation

Submitted: Friday, Feb 11, 2011 at 21:16

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Tim Owen

I will have a cranking battery 'under the bonnet', and then a battery (well 2 wired together actually but will act like 1) in the camper unit on the ute to run fridge/acc etc.

I have a 120W solar fold-out kit. The Solar will never be used when the vehicle is running.

Can I simply add the solar input to the same terminal on the D250S as the main battery (ie. supply from alternator), or do I really need to get the D250S Dual.

My plan would be to just connect the solar via anderson plug when 'at camp'.

Is seems the D250S Dual is really designed for when charge is being received from both the alternator and solar at the same time- is that right?

Tim

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Reply By: Member - Boeing (PER) - Friday, Feb 11, 2011 at 21:58

Friday, Feb 11, 2011 at 21:58

Hi Tim, have you asked the retailer where you seek to purchase either CTEK unit?
Or had a look on the website applicable.

Cheers

Mark

AnswerID: 445130

Reply By: Member - John and Val - Saturday, Feb 12, 2011 at 13:20

Saturday, Feb 12, 2011 at 13:20

Tim,

The D250S Dual would be ideal for your purposes, as it provides proper MPPT management for the solar panels. The non-Dual one does not do this. Both versions provide dc-dc charging from the alternator, which is to be recommended, but the Dual provides the extra functionality.

You should NOT simply connect your panels in place of the alternator when stationary, as you must have at least some simple solar controller to avoid overcharging your batteries. Further, the dc-dc charging ability of the non-dual will get very confused!

The D250S Dual is the way to go.

Cheers

John