A 12V fridge, lights, pumps and computers - but how do you keep them running in the bush? A Christie Engineering Outback Battery Charger – that's how!
Words and photography by Mark Allen
You're out camping on the banks of a river just a short stroll to the best fishing spot a fella could wish for - the barra are biting, muddies are snappin' and the serenity – oh the serenity! One fridge is busting at the brim with three days' catch, and the other is chock-a-block with grog and fine food. Mum and the kids are having a ball playing in the dirt, swimming in the streams and staying up late at night burning up the amps with the fluoro lights and various 12V accessories. Why would you want to leave a place like this? Fridge, lights, 12V accessories – power! That's it - power - almost every campsite in this day and age relies on power to run all our little luxuries (necessities). When the power's gone, so to is our serenity. So then, the question is how to maintain that power supply to enable longer stops at your favourite campsite.
The more power you have, the longer you can stay put in one spot and the more power tools you can utilise. Imagine being able to crank up an angle grinder, drill, TV or computer though an inverter all in the comfort of your own campsite. 'Dual batteries, solar power, generator', we here you yell. Yep, it's all fine and dandy to have a dual-battery system (they are worth their weight in lead), but they'll still run flat after a few days' use. Solar - great if you want to rely on sunny days every day and have enough panels at your disposal, but it's big bucks and not 100-percent reliable due to the weather. You could start your engine and let it run to recharge the batteries - eventually! Generators - yep, they'll also do the job of charging up dead batteries - eventually! You see, running your vehicle's engine or running most gennies will take the good part of a full day to totally recharge a flat battery. That's fine if you need to drive a fair distance or are happy not being engulfed by the quietness of the bush for long periods and listening to a gennie around the campsite.
THE FIX
Step in Christie Engineering with its Outback Battery Charger. These petrol-powered battery chargers have been designed specifically for - as the name suggests - charging batteries - and do this they do, much faster and economically than your normal gennie. Put simply, the Outback Battery Charger is the coupling of an automotive alternator and a Honda engine - too easy, except for all the behind-the-scenes development work Christie Engineering has put in. What's the difference between a standard gennie and the Christie Engineering version? The Outback Battery Charger utilises exactly the same engine as the Honda EU10i and Honda EU20i - so you know you'll have one of the world's best powerplants.
The Bosch alternator is pretty much what you'd pick up from your local automotive sparky, spare parts shop or that old Holden dumped on the side of the road - so you can be assured spare parts are a dime a dozen. But that's where any similarity with any other product on the market ends. Christie Engineering has made its own tweaks to the alternator to enable a full 15V output as compared to the general 14.2V output of a gennie or vehicle alternator. Without giving too many secrets away, it's this voltage upgrade that enables the Outback Battery Charger to charge a flat battery to full in just over an hour and a quarter.
ADVANTAGES
These include one-and-a-bit hours to fully charge a dead battery, instead of nearly a full day for a gennie, less time to annoy your camping neighbours or your own group and only using a squirt of fuel each time - what more could you ask for? The other big plus for this little ripper is that it can pass enough charge into a dead starter battery in just five minutes to allow a vehicle to crank over. So, there you are stranded in the morning with no action from the ignition key - no problems if you happen to have an Outback Battery Charger on board. If you don't, you may be up you-know-which creek without a paddle. While the Outback Battery Charger is a little noisier than the big-name gennies, to only have it run for such a short time each day and only use less than a litre of unleaded at a time, it's got to be a winner. This is especially when it costs nearly half the bucks to buy in the first place.
MODELS
Christie Engineering manufactures four models of its Outback Battery Charger, of which the two smaller ones are ideally suited to an average campsite. For the serious tourer or tour companies with a lot more charging requirements, there are the larger units that would be more suitable. All units come with a 12-month unconditional warranty.
1) 2.5hp, 50cc Honda 4-stroke, 12V, 55A, hi/low charge switch, 12kg, $880
2) 2.5hp, 50cc Honda 4-stroke, 12V, 55A, hi/low charge switch, digital LED ammeter display, 12kg, $990
3) 3hp, 100cc Honda 4-stroke, 12V, 80A, hi/low charge switch, 22kg, $1180
4) 5.5hp, 160cc Honda 4-stroke, 12 and 24V, 120 and 45A, hi/low charge switch, 26kg, $1350
BATTERIES
While talking to Mick and Les about their Outback Battery Charger's abilities, they also mentioned that in order to be able to quick charge a battery, it should preferably be a cranking-type battery or a more hi-tech absorbed glass mat (AGM). It should not be a lead-acid deep cycle, and it should be in good order. Why a cranker? They accept a fast charge more readily than a deep cycle.
CHRISTIE ENGINEERING
Christie Engineering is indeed a family affair; dad Les is a fitter and machinist, son Mick is a mechanical engineer with solar power and alternative-energy qualifications, son Peter is an electronics engineer and mum Anne ensures all the books are up to date. What's the advantage here? When you ring with any question, you can bet the fella on the other end of the line can answer you with first-hand knowledge of the product. The man that owns the store does indeed run the store. Christie Engineering can be contacted on (02) 9620 1208, or visit 123 Delaware Road, Horsley Park or www.christieengineering.com.au. |
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