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

Whatever the blue sea fuse panel is rated for is what I would base the fuse capacity on.

 

The fuse/breaker should reflect the max current of the panel and (+/-)cables that supply it, whichever is LOWER. Fuse panel ratings vary so first check that then size the wire to your requirements and that panel limit and then choose the fuse/breaker accordingly. It’s ok to oversize wire but doing so excessively is costly in money, weight, space, and connectors. However, longer runs should get a slightly heavier wire.

 

the max for the Blue Sea 6 fuse panel that I have is 125A. I dont think Im going to run with that.

The only info I can find for my fridge is:



0.269kw/h

Im sure the LED bed lights barely draw anything. I wasnt worried about the wire size. I think Im going to use 8 gauge, as that is what I have on hand. The wire between the breaker and the blue sea is going to be less than 6". I have already sized out between the starting battery and the DCDC charger to be 8 gauge (sized even bigger than they recommend) per the CTEK manual, so Im good there

 

The breaker is to prevent wires from burning up or a short from damaging things so make sure you size the breaker for the wires carrying capacity. I would note it somewhere on the fuse panel the breaker capacity so you don't overload it by accident based on what the panel is rated at by adding anything later.

The breaker/fuses are not supposed to trip all the time, they are an emergency feature. It should be sized to what your wires amp rating is not what your equipment pulls.

The individual fuses in the panel will protect the equipment

You should size the wiring based on what your power needs are.

47watts is 4 amps.

Figure 1-2 amps per light for smaller led lights (rock lights) and up to 30 or 40 amps if its an off road driving light.

 

you were right, 1.10 amps per string, 13.7 watts per string @ 12.65 volts on a fully charged 100 Amp/Hour deep cycle battery for the bed lights.

But I already have that setup, with no issues. I am adding a DCDC charger and a breaker to my already current setup. I have the wire sizes/upsized for the lenths that I am running.

I guess Ill just follow the recommendations from the couple people that I asked on social media, and post up when I get things in for final wiring. Then you guys can go through it/I will adjust accordingly.
Side note: can someone recommend a battery monitor that shows actual draw on what I am using at the time?

 

You will want a monitor that uses an inline shunt to measure current draw. I have the renogy one.

 

thanks, I will check those out

 

50A breaker should be fine for #8.

 

I’m really happy with my Renogy battery monitor

 

So I've been using the OGE/Redarc dual battery kit for about two years now, pretty happy with the performance. Unfortunately I recently discovered some big cracks in my DS radiator side support...apparently this isn't a super uncommon issue with trucks that see a lot of off road. Anyhow now I'm pretty set on using my passenger side mounted group 35 for the starter battery and relocating the house battery, BCDC, and fuse panel either behind the back seat (preferable) or under my Alu-Cab canopy (would like to avoid).

The current group 24f starter battery fits behind the seat fine, but the top of the case got dented by the stock battery tie down years go before I installed the OGE trays. It isn't leaking and that hasn't bothered me too much under the hood, but it's giving me pause moving it inside the cabin like that. I'm kinda waffling between replacing it with another deep cycle AGM or biting the bullet on a LiFePO4 battery. Anybody have any bad experience with LiFePO4 other than a bruised wallet?

 

I guess i will swallow that $85 bill, since so many people have recommended them.

I just got this Amazon version, and it seems like decent quality. 25lbs vs 60+ for my group 24 deep cycle, and it wasn't as much as a battleborn at $365 shipped. I think theres a 2 year warranty also. 100ah. It not in use yet though. Ive had it on a trickle charger.

 

I guess one plus for me with LiFePO4 would be that a 50 amp hour would be a great upgrade from my current 55 amp hour AGM house battery...which is usually enough power, but more is better.

 

Any thoughts on a phased build out?
235014

Thanks!

 

Absolutely worth it if you want to keep track of power usage.

You can find them for under 70$ on eBay

 

Thats what I did. Installed the battery and hooked it up to the aux fuse box first. Then installed the ml-acr, then finally the solar.

If youre going to switch between an agm and lithium I would just go lithium right off the bat and not waste money buying two batteries.

 

So, shopping list (man, this budget keeps growing more and more):

• 2AWG (?) cables to the bed
• 100A fuse
• Various wiring/terminals
• Redarc BCDC1225
• battery (SOK/Chins/Battle Born (?))
• voltmeter
• power distribution (I have a West Mountain 4004USB in the front for radio stuff)
• inverter

Bed build:

• hdpe enclosures bent/built, mounts for bed rail
• Remount Powerswitch to the rear

I'm envisioning some kind of really thin panel/control area in the truck bed housing the battery system/ controls/distribution. This sound about right?

 

Id try to compile the most expensive stuff first. Or you could get the easy stuff first, however your budget allows. Im learning slowly that a clean project takes time.

I already had solar/blue sea fuse panel, and I am not doing an inverter. My CTEK D250SE calls for 10 gauge for a certain length, but I chose 8. Wasnt that much of a cost difference. I think Im a couple steps ahead of you, but I am not at the wiring phase yet (I dislike wiring, and always try to push it back). But I think I have everything except a battery monitor, so Ill be getting that soon.

Im using a piece of 1/8" aluminum to mount things on in the bed. My bed is also going to be dry, so I dont need to have an enclosure (see a couple posts above). I have a couple examples saved of other clean mounting solutions.

Here is my breakdown so far:

• 8awg to go from house battery to bed
• 30 ANL fuse next to house battery
• various wiring/terminals
• CTEK D250SE
• 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery 100A BMS Lithium Iron Phosphate Deep Cycle Battery Pack for Trolling Motor, Solar Energy Storage, RV, Camper, Marine, Home Backup, Off-Grid System, Lead Acid Replacement
  12V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery
  
• Renogy 500A battery monitor - to be ordered soon
• 60A breaker
• Blue Sea 6 fuse panel
• 1/8" 6061 Aluminum piece for front of bed/bed rail attachments
• MAPP gas/torch/aluminum brazing materials to create places to attach wiring behind panel, etc

Most expensive being battery, DCDC charger, and aluminum piece. I gathered everything over winter spaced it out a bit so its not a $XXX bill (and you know you will forget some stuff, so will need to order more). Take your time, and post questions in here. Examples attached. I figured building a frame would be extra effort

 

will you just cut and solder?

What does the back of the Renogy monitor look like? Is it flat so I could mount a ram ball for adjustable viewing?

 

Its flat but its designed to be installed into a cut out for a flush mount, the back has one spot in a corner where the plug goes. I suppose you could velcro or double sided tape it to a ram ball.

To shorten the wiring I plan on re-pinning the plug with the shortened wires.

In reality you don't need to be looking at it while your driving since the car will be charging everything, and it has a built in alarm you can set for low power to alert you audibly. Once I knew the solar system was enough to support the power draw Ive stopped checking it.

 

Hmm, then maybe i don't need it. My battery setup is in the bed, so i wont have access to it while driving anyways. The voltmeter that i have now just shows percentage and total voltage. I don't necessarily need to know whats coming in/out of the battery.