Going off-road generally means going “off the grid” to places where phone reception is a luxury and people are few and far between. Having the right equipment packed to help get there and enjoy the stay is important, but making sure the 4WD and campsite has enough power to sustain your time away is even more vital.
In situations like these, relying on a 4x4’s starting battery to power camp lighting, fridges, or recharge mobile devices is never a good idea. Starting batteries are designed to do exactly that – start engines – and using them to power equipment or devices with constant current draw has the potential to not only cause permanent damage to the battery, but also shorten its lifespan. Even worse, you run the risk of draining your battery beyond the point where it’ll no longer start the engine – stranding the happy campers far from help.
And this is where Deep Cycle batteries come into play. Deep Cycle batteries are designed to be regularly discharged and recharged, and are perfect for delivering sustained power over extended periods of time. Put simply, selecting an appropriate Deep Cycle battery and installing it into your 4x4 as a secondary battery will allow you to power items such like fridges or camp lighting, whilst still keeping your vehicle’s starting battery safe and fully charged.
Choosing the right Deep Cycle battery is vital, and luckily there’s a Century battery available to suit most situations and requirements. If it’s going under-bonnet, a Flooded Deep Cycle battery offers superior heat tolerance and vibration resistance to ensure it’ll be able to handle the extreme conditions often experienced within your vehicle’s engine bay.
For confined spaces such as in the rear of a 4x4 or inside the battery compartment of a caravan, an AGM (Absorbed Glass Matt) battery would be the preferable choice. One such battery is Century’s C12-105XDA, which is an AGM battery offering fast recharging capabilities and long cycle life. AGM technology acts as a sponge like material to suspend loose electrolyte within highly porous glass fibre mat separators. They’re also sealed maintenance-free and non-spillable, providing greater flexibility with mounting options – even side-mounting on angles up to 90°.
Regardless of which battery type and mounting location you opt for, keeping your Deep Cycle batteries fully charged when not in use is vital to maximising their service life and future performance. Deep Cycle batteries are not designed to be kept in a low state of charge, and will begin to degrade internally the longer they are left in that state. So always ensure you recharge your batteries if their open circuit voltage (OCV) drops below 12.5 volts.
To make battery monitoring easier, Century recently released its new BM12V Bluetooth battery monitor tool – providing you with a live view of how your vehicle’s battery is performing at any given moment. It monitors the battery’s charge percentage, cranking capacity during engine start-up, and the amount of charge being put back into the battery once you hit the road. It can also provide warning notifications when your battery is critically low on power, so you can organise a replacement before you’re left stranded.
To learn more about Century’s range of Deep Cycle batteries, or to calculate power requirements to suit your needs, visit
