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

Garmin's PowerSwitch stuff might work for you.
You'd need two, one powered by your main battery and the other by your aux.
You can use a total of 4 PowerSwitches and each control 6 things.
They use a phone app for switching things on/off or one of their products like the Overlander tablet things.
Doesn't require you to have physical switches.
Also can use carplay and android auto for turning things on/off.
You can hardwire some individual switches.
Each PowerSwitch has two input triggers.
Usually used to detect ignition on, reverse, lights on, etc.

 

Hey thanks for the suggestion. After I put my brain back in active mode I solved my own question. I have a 1/0 wire that runs from a 200a breaker under the hood to a marine switch in the cab (rear seats are deleted) and a distribution block for everything in the rear, eg. inverter, compresssors, powerpole plugs for fridge, additional lighting, etc. That marine switch is a dual power switch so when the auxillary batteries are not in the truck, if I "need" power for the bed I can switch it to draw from the front. I just need to put the power module of whatever brand I decide to go with within the control box and route a multi wire to the front for all lighting. I don't have any high current draw items up front, but even if I did, I'd need a relay/solenoid and the 30" light bar may need a relay anyway, didn't look at specs. I'll also switch the ignition wire such that if I need panel switching power with the ignition off, I can easily have it.

 

1/0 is quite small for 200amps at that distance.

 

I figured I’d post my dual battery setup, just got it kinda together on my 3rd gen. It’s not the cleanest install but it’s good enough for me for now. So I made a bracket to put my house battery behind the airbox, as pictured. I liked the idea of having the house battery on the opposite side as far as weight distribution. And the three studs already there ready to bolt something to.



I went with a 20 amp renogy dc-dc charger. I couldn’t really find a nice place to mount it, so I ended up mounting it behind the grill in front of the radiator, above the winch. I am a little worried about it being exposed to the elements there but it should be okay, time will tell. If I kill the charger with water I’ll put the next one somewhere in the cab maybe.



Right now the only thing I’m running off the house battery is this panel in the bed that I wired in. It’s a voltmeter, USB outlet, and 12v outlet to run a 45qt fridge/freezer. I didn’t like the idea of running a fridge off of the main battery while camping. Plus, now if I ever want to add anything else it is easy to do so! I also have a fuse block wired into the main battery for lights plus feeding the dc-dc charger.

 

I'm looking for a place to mount a DC-DC charger under the hood as well. I had ruled out near the front bumper because it could short in a minor collision. Downside is I'm still looking for a mount spot.

Anybody know if there much expected decrease in lifetime to mount a LiFePo4 and battery/charger in the engine room vs in the improved space? I found varying opinions searching, and am not convinced either way yet.

 

Never understood the infatuation with strapping expensive stuff (lithium batteries, dc-dc chargers, compressors) in the hot ass engine hole. Despite Internet "data" I am convinced that it would be better to not subject expensive stuff to 200 plus degrees and filth.

 

Thanks. From a technical perspective I totally agree. Analysis paralysis has me wondering if the putative lifetime reduction is worth the 1-2 cubic feet of improved space reclaimed by relegating to the engine. But then again under the back seats isn't a bad option. I'll check if the Renogy dual-input (solar and alt. charging) and a 100 Ah LFP would fit there.

The cost diff between Renogy's 30A or 50A dual input MPPT is negligible, is there any reason to get the 30A eg to stress the charging system less or make substantially less heat? I've got the higher current Tow Package alt (~150A) but would the 50A DC-DC be too much load in real life?

Dual charger: 30A or 50A?

$140 Renogy 12V 30A DC to DC Charger with MPPT & Multi-Stage Charging - Smart On-Board Battery Charger for Solar/Alternator Input - Charges Lithium, AGM, Gel, Flooded Batteries in RVs, Cars, Marine

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Charg...0812374&sprefix=renogy+du,aps,541&sr=8-3&th=1

 

Shorter cable runs means you can use both less length and lighter cables to carry the same current but I agree, the engine bay is already hot, crowded, and more exposed to water spray. Long bed just in front of the RR wheel is good for balance.

 

Well as far as a short in a collision goes, my thought is that’s why I have fuses, and I trust the fuses to do their job. Also I have a steel bumper so it would take a decent hit before it got to the dc-dc charger. And if both of those fail, I carry a fire extinguisher.

i haven’t heard of failures from heat/moisture, but I’m sure it reduces lifespan. But, compared to the rest of the expensive crap I bought for this pickup, the dc dc charger was fairly cheap. I won’t be upset if it quits a few years down the road. I did my whole dual battery/aux fuse panel setup for like $250 total, including buying a battery. I just did 5 days camping and exploring with the pickup and it all worked perfectly.

 

Lot's of reading in this thread and I appreciate all the collaboration. Just wanted to share my thoughts with my next project ramping up....I just added a ICECO APL55 and now working on adding a second battery setup.

So far this is my plan:


I have thus far acquired the

$540 Redarc BCDC1240D REDARC 40A in-Vehicle DC to DC Charger with MPPT — Dual Input for Solar & Alternator Charging, Green Power Priority - 12 or 24V Battery Charger Suitable with AGM, Gel, Lithium LiFePO4 Batteries

Redarc BCDC1240D and ordered the Rago battery box for the passenger side engine compartment. I see various battery sizes ranging from 27/34/35/65 in this location and I know the Rago is only able to fit 34/35 so IF I stick with that box I plan on an X2 group 34. I still have to work on sourcing out the rest of batt terminals/fuses/circuit breakers/cables/aux panel/most everything.

Looking to go with the Victron smart shunt seeing as how its waterproof and can monitor the start battery unlike the Redarc which is neither. The Redarc SBI12 is optional (only thought is for jump start off aux if needed) and will probably not be part of the initial build.

I have a Yeti 1000 core of which I was thinking about adding a 3-way switch to be able to feed into the aux circuit in the event solar is not working out. This may just be extra work that isn't needed and just plug things directly into the Yeti.

Any suggestions OR monetary donations are appreciated!

 

Figured I would add my setup here:

 

About to start planning something like this. How are you running the wires out of the cab?

 

Power wire from the main battery to the DC/DC controller went through the front firewall driver side. Down under the sill/carpet up under the rear driver's side seatbelt.

Power wire from the solar panel to the charge controller went through a grommet on the wall of the rear of the cab. It's about a foot under the pressure vents and a few inches towards the door.

Other than that no other wires got out of the cab. Secondary battery connects to DC/DC controller and then there's just grounds.

I pulled panels to make it easier.

Said grommet:



Solar panel routing:

 

Thanks for sharing. That grommet is really convenient. Figured I'd have to drill my own grommet hole.

 

Nope. This grommet hole fits (1) 10 AWG wire...I believe its a 5/8" grommet. But a bigger grommet and a step bit and you could easily run 4 AWG or (2) 10 AWG.

It should be mentioned that the passenger side is a mirror image so there is a grommet of the same size on that side as well.

 

happened on my 2013, how did you fix yours?

 

Anyone have any experience with this setup or any opinions on it? Problems they see with using it? Just looking for general insight from those of you with more knowledge on 12v systems.

kickass portable power station:
https://kickassproducts.com/collections/batteries-systems/products/kickass-portable-battery-box-power-station-with-integrated-25a-dc-dc-charger-no-agm-battery

And a premade wiring kit with ignition wire:
https://kickassproducts.com/collect...ts/kickass-premium-plug-play-dc-dc-wiring-kit

 

I’m running the lithium power station as my house battery. Ran my own cable. Need to find out what gage that blue wire is. Have it mounted in the bed.

 

Hey man, I really like this setup and want to do something similar. I am curious if you built the system yet and/or how you did the switch that allows you to switch between the House battery and the the Yeti.

 

From their pictures it looks like you’ll need inline fuses for each circuit since I don’t see any inside their case. Fuse for the wire gage you use for each accessory rather than the rated output of each circuit from the box.