the the tjm snorkel fitted was $570 (or there abouts) in any event it was a full $200 less than a safari... ive had safari's in the past but i could not see $200 in it + i like how the snorkel runs down the inner guard rather than outside it... as for under the bonnet i think ive seen about 3 different ways the airtec is installed ... no idea why that is!
another angle of the under bonnet..
on the A pillar ... thats what your looking at the wonder of tec-screws ... nice black ones!
the redarc i have is
this one... i actually think for the $$ its very basic the display extends to a couple of red led's i think the cteck would do an excellent job and i considered it as it is cheaper and they do show solar hooked up (i recon the recarc could do panels too but i dont need to try it... other than to cut back on wires!) as an input.
i doubt any of these devices would jumpstart a car... but you cloud pull the deep cycle and jump off it in an emergency! one big benefit of DC/DC charging is the lighter gauge wire you can use to make the longer runs, the redarc will charge a 12v battery off 9v (at a lower current but will do it properly) so voltage drop is not mission critical .. my unit sees above 12v as an input so has some 'head room'
i also went redarc because the unit is silicone filled... not sure its 'waterproof' but is well up to under bonnet installs and can easily cope with a dusty ute! as for 7 stage v's 3 stage i think as long as you have a multi stage charger (that is boost, absorption and float) you will look after your battery properly, xantrax, cteck, redarc, plasmatronics and the other big names in 12v charging all have variations on the multi-stage charging system ... my plasmatronics reg. has about 5 charging stages, my xantrax 240v charger has 3 and the morningstar reg., the simplest of the lot, has 3 stages as well.
i think the days of the 'smart solenoid' or diode battery isolator are coming to an end, they dont do the job properly and many modern alternators and associated electronics are not compatible with these older style systems (the new parado is a good example of the way its going)