Dual Battery Setups! Let's see them! Multiple Batteries Thread!

What are you actually trying to wire up? Is it a battery meter or a status LED? You said status LED in the first post and now you're calling it a meter. Post a picture of what you're trying to make work.

 

Do you have the isolator black wire bolted or screwed to the truck body or frame? Then are the battery negative terminals both connected to the truck body or frame somewhere? You should only need three ground connections for it to work.

I don't understand what you mean "meter", there's an LED indicator shown in the diagram but no meters. Both the LED and switch are optional, the isolator should work on its own even without them.

 

I have an battery level indicator




I also have the negatives set up as well to the truck frame.

 

This is not shown in your diagram. Assuming you're trying to measure the auxiliary battery you would connect the (+) side the meter to the (+) on the battery and the (-) side of the meter can go to the (-) of the battery or the body or frame *if* you've also connected the battery (-) also to the body or frame.

 

Just hook one side of that to the battery that you want to monitor and the other to ground. If the battery itself isn't grounded, that could be part of the problem. Just touch the leads straight to a battery to see if it reads. Then you'll know it works and what the correct polarity is.

 

Thank you both for your help. Ill have to check again when I get home and check my ground.


Edit: I dont need a switch or an ACR if i have the smart isolator correct?

 

An ACR is just a smart isolator, 'A' = automatic C = "charging" R = "relay". Different names for the same thing. It's a relay that automatically connects the two batteries when the truck is running and will disconnect them when the voltage starts to drop. The optional switch on it lets you manually override the automatic function and the optional LED is just so you can see what's going on rather than trusting or listening for the relay to click.

 

I dont need a switch or an ACR if i have the smart isolator correct?

Thank you I really appreciate your help.

 

correct

 

Hey dave, so Ive since added a anl fuse to the positive from alt to pos of batt. I did have another question though. Is there any reason I cant connect to solenoid instead of batt terminal? I have it going to batt as of now but it would be shorter and more aesthetic if I could run to solenoid instead. Thanks again for the input.

 

I did the big 3 upgrade a while back and was wondering if anyone would know a reason I shouldn't run the pos. from alternator to my relay rather than straight to battery terminal? Its working fine the way it is but I dont like how many wires are coming off my batt. Looks like an octupus

 

It wouldn't matter that much as long as the wire to the battery can handle the extra load you're gonna add.

 

Cool, thats what I was hoping for. Thanks

 

Thanks to some advice here, I bought the Solid Kit Dual Battery Voltmeter. VERY happy with the results. Should have done this a long time ago.

 

Is the alternator in the 2nd gen considered a smart alternator?

 

Yes

 

And what exactly is a "smart" alternator?

 

https://www.redarc.com.au/alternator-vs-fixed-alternator

 

Thank you.

 

Are you familiar with the Ctek D250S? If so I have a question regarding it.