Done properly, once
Dual battery & 12V setups
A 12V setup either holds together on corrugated roads or it does not, and you find out which a long way from town. The difference is almost always in the fusing, the cable size and how the joins were made.
Recent work
Dual battery systems
Run a fridge, lights and a compressor without waking up to a flat crank battery. We size the cable to the run, fuse both ends properly, and fit a DCDC charger where the alternator will not do the job on its own. Lithium setups where they earn their cost, AGM where they do not.
- DCDC chargers and isolators
- AGM and lithium batteries
- Battery trays and secure mounting
- Anderson plugs front and rear
- Solar input for touring
- Fridge and accessory circuits
Lights, UHF and touring gear
Driving lights and light bars wired through proper relays and fused, aimed correctly and legal. UHF radios mounted where you can reach them with the aerial positioned somewhere it will actually transmit. Reverse cameras, work lights and accessory switching tidied into the dash rather than hanging off it.
Trailers, vans and brake controllers
Seven pin and twelve pin wiring, trailer lights, breakaway systems and electric brake controllers. Caravan 12V, van fitouts and camper wiring. If you are towing on the Tablelands roads, the wiring gets shaken harder than it does anywhere flat, and it pays to have it done once by someone who assumed that.
Common questions
Dual battery & 12V setups, answered
Do I need a DCDC charger or just an isolator?
It depends on the vehicle. Most modern 4WDs have a smart alternator that will not fully charge a second battery through a plain isolator, so a DCDC charger is the right call. Older vehicles with a conventional alternator can often get away with an isolator. We will tell you which yours needs.
Should I go lithium or AGM?
Lithium is lighter, holds voltage better and lasts longer, but it costs more up front and needs the right charging setup. AGM is cheaper and perfectly good for a fridge and some lights on weekends away. Tell us how you actually use the vehicle and we will give you a straight answer rather than the expensive one.
Can you fit an electric brake controller?
Yes. Brake controllers, breakaway systems, and seven or twelve pin trailer wiring, all wired and fused so it holds up on dirt.
Also from Nixon
What else we do
Farm machinery auto electrics
A machine that will not start in the middle of a job does not cost you a repair bill, it costs you the day. And on the Tablelands the alternative is a float and a tow into town, which costs more again. So we bring the workshop to the paddock.
Read moreAuto air conditioning
This is Far North Queensland. Air conditioning is not a luxury item, and a car with no air con in February is close to unusable. We fix the reason it stopped rather than just filling it back up with gas.
Read moreAuto electrical repairs
Something has stopped working, the dash is lit up, or the car will not start, and nobody has been able to tell you why. Electrical faults get expensive when they are guessed at, because you end up paying for parts that were never the problem.
Read moreMechanical repairs
Being an auto electrician and a mechanic in the one van is the whole point. Out here the alternative is often a tow into Mareeba and two separate bookings, and a fault that crosses the line between electrical and mechanical is exactly the sort that gets passed back and forth while nobody fixes it.
Read moreECU tuning & remapping
A remap changes how the engine actually behaves: where the power comes on, how it tows, and how much fuel it drinks doing it. Done properly it makes a vehicle nicer to drive and cheaper to run. Done badly it costs you an engine.
Read moreBased in Atherton and mobile across the Tablelands, including Tolga, Yungaburra, Kairi, Herberton, Walkamin, Malanda and out to Mareeba, Millaa Millaa, Ravenshoe. See the full service area.
Get in touch
Tell us what
it is doing
Send through a few details and we will get back to you with what it is likely to involve. If it is urgent or the vehicle will not start, ring us. That is always faster.
Call the workshop 0439 064 720