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

Assuming this Hilux has a 1KZ or 1KD and that's a left hand side snorkel.

 

what do we think about these? pretty fair price, seems to have good specs.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/marine-and-boat/deep-cycle/bci-group-34m/sli34magm

 

The steering wheel is on the wro.. right side of the truck

 

Yes and it is a 3.0 turbo diesel...

Im overseas

 

Probably drive on the other side of the road too! Ok back to batteries n stuff

 

Alright guys, I have been reading and culling this thread for a good part of the day and I want to make sure that I have my switch wiring in order before I burn my truck down.
1. The only wires I have to fish through the firewall are the ML-ACR Red, ML-ACR Yellow, and 1 wire from the House battery (via a 2amp fused line) to connect to post 8+ on the switch.
2. When I wire up the fuse all I have to do is follow the blue sea diagram and ensure the house battery wire is connected to +8 and then 3.
3. Can I avoid fishing the house wire across the engine bay and into the cab via the drivers side firewall nipple? This doesnt seem like much, but it is for me and I am trying to avoid it if possible. Thoughts? Can i connect an acc hot line via fuse tap from the driver footwell fuse panel INSTEAD of going from house battery?

 

I put mine here:

 

I installed the meso and don’t want to change it for the sdhq Mount now. So I’ll have to find another way. I like yours tho. That is clean looking.

Also this is happening. Might be spending some more overtime money. Anyone have experience with north star 35s? Looking into those. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/northstar-battery-group-buy-7-0.579865/

 

It actually doesn't fit stock, I had to do some dremelling to get it to fit. If you have any 'tall toyota' switch openings, you can modify them to fit.

 

@BEAR_KNIFE_FIGHT i got ya. Yea we’ll have to figure something out. Preciate your help

 

Here's neat piece of kit i stumbled across last night. 1000w true sine wave inverter, up to 40A battery charger, shore power passthrough, as well as built in GFCI for the 120v outlets. price isnt bad at all considering its three systems in one. am i missing something here? almost seems to good to be true.

https://www.waytekwire.com/item/80140/EATON-s-Bussmann-Series-12-110-1000-B4-True-Sine/

 

Sorry for the late reply. Not sure if you've already tackled this.

1. Correct. Although technically you don't have to have a separate wire for the House battery. You can simply tap into anything under your dash since they are all connected to your house battery. I recommend going into the fuse box under the steering wheel and use a tester to see which one is a constant hot, then use one of

Uriveusa 12V Car Add-A-Circuit Fuse TAP Adapter Fuse Holder with 10A, 20A Fuse [Upgraded Fuses] - (2 Pack)

these to tap into it.

2. See #1

3. See #1

Good luck with the install.

 

Ive been reading through this thread for a few days, thanks to everyone that has contributed more info than I'll ever understand hah! Im putting together a dual battery setup for my Taco with the intent being that the aux battery is basically the house battery for my Four Wheel Camper, but kept underhood instead of inside the camper, for weight distribution and easy of maintaining its charge. Im planning to use a Blue Sea SI-ACR so that the battery will always charge when I drive the truck. At this point in time the camper is the only thing the aux battery will be used for. I included a greyed out section for future use, using a Blue Sea 5511E switch and fuse block. I don't see myself needing to jump the truck off the aux battery and if I do, I can just unbolt the ACR and hook up jumper cables. I don't have a winch, lights or any other real accessories, save for a CB which is why I am not planning to run the switch and fuse block right now.

My only real concerns at the moment are wire and fuse/breaker size for the positive wires connecting the batteries to the ACR. I plan to put the ACR on top of the fuse box next to the factory battery and the aux battery will go in the empty space behind the stock intake. Is #2AWG and 150amp fuse or breaker enough? Blue Sea recommends #1AWG for charging capacity of 120amps. Since my alternator is 130amp does that mean I need to run larger wire? Everyone on here seems to use 2/0 but that is SO much larger than the factory wiring. Is this just a "better safe than sorry" situation? running 2/0 and 200amp breakers gets really farking expensive.


This is the power converter in my camper. The wires coming out of it that connect to the house battery are small, I think only 16awg. I hooked it directly to my deep cycle battery and everything works just fine but thats only a 3 or 4 foot run. Im not about to rewire the converter but I need to run the power wire all the way up to the engine bay and I imagine that will require a larger wire. Its my understanding its not ideal to run different diameter wires.


This is my diagram right now.

 

For a 6’ run I would beef up the wiring. Stock wire is 2awg but the run is less than a foot or so. With that long of a run the wire will heat up. I personally went 1/0 and 150 amp fuse (IRC) for the run from the engine area to the back of the truck (bed) where the second battery is. I am under the assumption that your second battery is 6’ away therefore could be under the 150amp load of starting. Therefore when they are connected similiar charges will be occurring so you want the appropriate wire.

 

@Atl-atl The chart on this page might help you.
http://www.offroaders.com/technical/12-volt-wiring-tech-gauge-to-amps/

 

Thanks, yes, the aux battery will be 6' away from the factory battery. Stepping up to 1/0 seems reasonable for connecting the batteries and ACR.

Thanks, that does help, I think. On the left side of the chart it shows "Amps @ 13.8volts" is this referring to the output(charging) capacity of the alternator, or the output(cranking) capacity of the battery? Those numbers are significantly different and they don't specify what the chart represents. If its alternator output, the chart says I would only need to run 6awg or 4awg which is significantly smaller than what everyone on here recommends. If its battery output, the left side of the chart doesnt go nearly high enough in amperage.

 

@Atl-atl You need to determine the max amp draw on your circuit (add the max amperage use of all the components that will be powered). That’s what the left side of the chart is.

Another similar tool from Blue Seas: http://assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/newsletter/images/DC_wire_selection_chartlg.jpg

 

Thanks for the clarification about the left column. The max amp draw from my camper is low, 15amps if I were using all the electronics at the same time. Thats not my concern though, the wiring connecting the two batteries is my concern. All the charts I see online show that 6awg or 4awg wire is sufficient for my alternator (130amp) and the length of run I need (6') but everyone on here says to use at minimum 1/0 and ideally 2/0. Why? Is this because the batteries are capable of much higher amps for shorter periods of time, cold cranking amps for example?

 

@Atl-atl i haven’t noticed any issues with mine, I’m running 2awg with no fuse.
It’s thick enough to start the truck solely on the aux battery. I added grounds to the frame and engine block of the aux battery.
Also not a bad ided to run a thicker cable to be back(camper) for accessories. For instance I bough 50’ of wire and used most of it.