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

Bit the bullet and ordered a 50 amp hour Battle Born to mount behind the back seat. Going to be a big project getting everything moved around but should be a nicer install all around.

 

Only need cable that heavy if you’re planning on either starting the truck or winching with the house battery as well. If that’s the case then be sure the house battery is both deep cycle AND high drain. If not it’s better for lithium to charge at a much lower rate which doesn’t require the heavy cables and the monitor will take care of limiting the charge current.

 

If you don’t have a tig welder but just a small torch you can use Super Alloy’s stuff for aluminum, pot metal, or galvanized steel. Like anything, results improve with practice and I wouldn’t use it for structural welding but for some things it’s convenient.

 

By "lower rate", 8AWG @10-15' around 25-30A draw?

 

This is pretty much what I envisioned for my build-- maybe even less real-estate taken up (but, storage!); I really want to have the electrical pretty much smashed up against the front bed (as deep as the thinnest LiFePO I can find) and some distribution much like yours toward the tail. What materials did you use (if I didn't miss it)? Thanks!

 

I bought a piece of 1/8" aluminum to mount everything on. Its not done yet, hopefully soon

 

And the surfaces?

 

You need to size it for whatever your power needs will be. I would go a step higher to account for any upgrades later. If you expect and fuse the system for 50amps the wiring needs to be sized for that.

Do you have a basic wiring schematic done? that will tell you what size wiring you need and where.

 

What do you mean?

 

Awg 8 would be fine at 25-30A draw but not great at 50A. I use the chart on this page to decide what wire to run. https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
Using the ohms per unit length to figure the voltage drop incurred for a given current. For 10’ of #8 it would be .006282 ohms times 50A equals .31volts but a ground return doubles that length. If you actually draw 50A on a frequent basis #6 would save some of that. #5 would cut the drop in half but weigh twice as much. If realistically you aren’t going to use 50A at any given time(it’s a lot of current btw) #8 would be reasonable.

 

The mounting surfaces, plates, flat areas.

 

This is what it will look like. Its not done yet

 

Went back a few posts— I mean what are the flat /textured black surfaces here?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...atteries-thread.295653/page-170#post-27221141

 

Oh I dont know. I was going to use those as inspiration, but I didnt want to build an enclosure. My guess is bed lined wood or steel..

 

Anyone using a Cutting Edge Power Eco Overlanding Solar Generator Box tied into a kickass-plug-play-dual-battery-system-wiring-kit to power a fridge in the bed of their truck? if So what type of battery are you using in the CEP box? I am trying to decide between a deep cycle marine battery and an AGM battery I don't want the hassle of battery maintenance or worrying about leaking acid.

 

I'm considering a Group 27 EverStart Lead Acid Marine/RV Deep Cycle Battery, supposedly it's maintenance free "under normal conditions". it's only $93 and 109 amp hours. Thoughts?

 

Alright, my turn I guess.

I went with the BatteriesPlus X2 AGM batteries, choosing to replace both my starting battery and also use another, larger X2 for the house battery. While I originally looked at running dual batteries in the original starting battery location, I quickly shied away from that for two reasons:

1. The weight of dual batteries in that spot is known to cause metal fatigue and cracks under the aftermarket tray.
2. The setup of the aftermarket system that allows you to run dual batteries in the original starting battery location has a wiring system that looks like smashed a$$ in my opinion.

As much as I wanted to keep the passenger side area between the air box and the firewall clear for a compressor, I decided that ultimately, that's where my house battery needed to be.



Being a cheap-a$$, I also couldn't stomach the high priced, bling aluminum mount for the passenger side. So, I rented a 110v mig welder from Home Depot ($50/day) and made the mount myself. Bought some simple 1" angle and some flat strap, and went to town.

I don't have a picture of the battery mount I ended up with, but trust me, it's not pretty. It holds a battery well though, and is plenty capable of supporting the weight of the battery.

This is what I ended up with for the house battery:



It's a pretty tight fit height wise, the positive terminal cover had a slight rub mark from the washer nozzle hose. It's a complete PITA to get that battery in and out, btw.

That battery outputs through an ANL fuse holder over to my driver's side fuse block.



Also over at the driver's side, I welded a thin sheet of metal onto the factory front hold down rod. I used this plate to mount an ANL fuse holder, as well as the Blue Sea ML-ACR automotive charge relay. The relay detects when the batteries have differing voltage, and then isolates them entirely from each other when that situation is detected. This allows you to, in theory, always have enough charge to start your vehicle.



This Blue Sea unit has a remote switch in the cab as well. While it was a bit of a pain to mount in this location, I think it turned out well. I can fully connect the batteries, isolate them, or leave them in auto mode from this switch. Honestly, the switch will rarely be used.



Just to the left of the red ML-ACR switch, I installed a digital dual voltage, which conveniently fits into a standard rocker switch cutout. The voltage on top is the starting battery, the one on the bottom is the house battery. I waited this switch though the center round button switch, so that is not in all the time.

I've got my own 3D Printer, so I made switch plate that I customized to my needs (two rocker switches with the round switch between them). Using carbon fiber PLA, the finish came out nice, I think:



So far, all this has been dedicated to powering my 2500w pure sine inverter that I installed behind the driver's side rear seat. The wiring feeding it is 4AWG, and since it has a hard wire connection as well, I ran a 12/3 cord to the factory bed plug location. Now, I finally have real power.





So yeah, that's my install so far. My next step is going to be running 10ga back to the small bed cubby on the passenger side in order to install 12v power there for a fridge and any other needs.

Oh, get yourself some under hood LED lights. These things make being under the hood SO much nicer:



They're switched by a really simple plunger switch installed over on the fender. When the switch is 'up' (hood open), the circuit is grounded, turning the lights on. When the hood is closed, the ground is interrupted, turning the lights off.





If y'all have any questions or comments, for away!

 

That's a nice clean install. You might want to consider doing a 180 on your house battery to get the + post away from the fender a little.

 

What plunger switch did you use? Something generic from Amazon or more specialized from McMaster?

 

This is the one I'm using:

$7 DaierTek Door Pin Switch 12V Alarm Hood Pin Switch Momentary Universal Adjustable Door Jamb Flange Light Hood Switch 20A 12 Volt Nickel Plated with Rubber Boot for Car Boat

DaierTek 3Pcs Door Jamb Flange Light Hood Mount Pin Switch Nickel Plated Universal with Rubber Boot for Car Truck Boat 20A 12VDC