Canopy Control Panel + Redarc Charger

Why purchase a 12 Volt Control Box?

Why do you need a 12 Volt Control Box? Well, whether you’re heading off for a short camping holiday or biting the bullet and taking a road trip around Australia, you still need power. Well, there are some people who must be happy to forgo technology and camp without using any power, but most of us like to keep our phones and laptops charged, and then, of course, there’s the mighty fridge and even a fan, coffee maker and LED lights!

Power becomes a commodity when you’re camping or travelling around in your 4WD. That’s why you need a Control Box. Of course, you can fiddle with the car’s cigarette lighter (if it has one) or charge your tablet or phone using the plugs on the dashboard (if you have this option), but it all becomes rather tiresome, doesn’t it? 

This type of piecemeal setup becomes a problem when you’re ready to set up camp and you turn off the engine. Suddenly, you no longer have any power and your fridge starts to warm up and there’s no way to power your fridge or anything else.  

This is then you need deep cycle batteries, but these need to be recharged and you also need to monitor their available charge, voltage and real-time power draw. You can install a battery monitor to do these jobs, but you still need to recharge the deep cycle batteries with a DC-DC Charger, even if you’re using solar panels with a regulator. However, once you’ve sorted your power needs and how you’re going to recharge and monitor your deep cycle batteries you need to distribute all this power to your appliances. 

The simple solution to all of your power needs is to install a 12 Volt Control Box. 

Benefits of the Dunn and Watson 12 Volt Control Box

The advantage of a 12 Volt Control Box is that you can easily power all your appliances, like the fridge or coffee maker, when you’re on the road, camping and off-grid. Having all the creature comforts of home when you’re travelling and camping makes life so much more enjoyable!

This type of system is very easy to install and setup, and is a safe, reliable and compact system. However, if you want to run 240V appliances, you’ll need to include an inverter as they consume much more energy and quickly drain your batteries. 

The Dunn and Watson control box includes 2 twin USB sockets, 2 cigarette sockets and 2 Anderson plugs. These sockets give you plenty of options to charge and run your auxiliary batteries while driving and your appliances when at your campsite. It’s so much easier when you can plug everything into the one control box, instead of having cables running everywhere.

So if you’re setting up your 4WD, Ute or truck for your next camping trip, it’s definitely worthwhile checking out the benefits of our 12 Volt Control Box to organise all your power needs. At the same time, if you want a deluxe, customised canopy, made at our Australian factory from sturdy 3mm aluminium, then we make those as well!

For help deciding if the Dunn and Watson 12 Volt Control Box suits your needs, call us on 1300 210 549 or send us an email enquiry. We’d love to hear from you!