Use your start battery to run accessories? What do you use?

I think I have decided against dual batteries to run my camping stuff and just upgrade the start battery to run some LED’s and my Iceco fridge that draws about 35-40 watts. For those of you who only use the start battery to run accessories what battery do you have and what’s a good solar setup to maintain a charge?
Was thinking of wiring up a fuse/relay box up to the start battery then run what I need off of that

 

I have a dual battery set up but I would suggest Renogy or Victron for the MPPT and Renogy 100 watt monocrystaline panel. You can get all of the above and a solar cable for less than 200 bucks on ebay. You can get a little 6 fuse block on Amazon for 10 bucks or so. You can go even cheaper if you want to test out the cheap chinese MPPTs and panels.

 

Are you going to be parked in the same spot for an extended period of time without running the truck? If not, you might consider just getting a jump pack from a reputable brand like Noco or similar. Keep it charged up and under the rear seat to use as needed on your truck or someone else. Much simpler and cheaper.

If you are parking for extended periods of time then the solar charging makes sense. If I were to do it all over again Id run a single battery and keep a jump pack on hand as a safety net.

 

Single battery connected to Blue Sea Fuse Box mounted to a DIY panel. I am still running off my OEM 2015 battery though so cant comment on that... Still wont give out on me somehow! lol

 

I used to run a large AGM and solar. That combo is solid. With a larger one and solar your hood for days given you’re not in shade for more than a couple of days. I have a dual now but much still uses the starter (need to require). 2nd VICTRON mppt. 100 watts is solid. 200 watts is ideal for 100ah or less. If you only use it here and there on trips that’s more than enough. I have mine running 24/7 and 200 watts was a must but with 100 and. Larger battery it was greet all year but middle of winter.

 

I’m not sure how much I’ll be moving around. I did pick up a Noco jump pack from Amazon during Black Friday so I’m set there.

Running a AGM in place of the factory battery and solar was what I was thinking. What AH battery? I was looking at a 63 ah Interstate

 

I’m taking notes, good info, thanks!

 

Will that mess up the alternator? I just bought a diehard 24f AGM and I like your idea of the charger instead of solar.

 

After looking at your pic it is exactly what I had in mind. How did you mount the fuse panel and what is that device to the right of the fuse panel?

 

You do need to do some research on the alternator. the newer ones use a smart alternator so you likely will have something or battery die prematurely. I think I saw for later 3rd gens that you can change the voltage setting with something like HP tuner or the like.

On 2nd gen Tacomas you can increase the voltage. I bought some deal from Australia that increases it 6v or more. My understanding this does not work with smart alternators though.

Is the 24F a smaller batter? I would at least stick with the same size 27F or larger battery. I had a 31M Northstar initially (110AH AGM). My current one @Brex69 is a 27F Northstar AGM. I did have a 35 which is smaller and did not keep up after a couple years. (I think less than half). Just remember for AGM whatever the AH is you will only get half of useable AH before it starts to damage it. 60 AH would only be 30ah of useable power. This is why many folks go lithium down the line as you can use 100% and go down to 0%.

For weekend and even weeklong and only used then on a single battery the 27F is likely fine or go with a bigger one 31M. Even the smaller 35 was fine for weekend stuff. I leave my running 365/24/7 which started on how to see how long it would last but also it was used a lot. Ran mainly Fridge full time not much other draw during regular use.

My battery progress has been:
Stock Lead
31 AGM - 100 watt solar
31 AGM - 200 watt solar (upgraded to 2 100 watt renogy panels for winter time battery started to die) + RedArc DCDC charger
Dual 35AGM - upgrade to 220 watt flat panel after 200 watt renogy hard panels) + RedArc DCDC charger
Dual 27F and 35 (35 not being used at the moment only for basic lower power items) - same 220 watt sunpower panels. + RedArc DCDC charger
Researching Lithium 200ah setup with double solar (def not needed for regular use but looking at support for longer trips and possibly other items past fridge.

 

I know you have to adjust the alternators for sure with a Lithium but not sure on a AGM but I don’t think you do . OTT tune can adjust the alternator not sure about KDmax

 

Yes you do with AGM as well. That is what I run now. They want a voltage of 13.6 - 14.2 i think somewhere in that range. the stock one does not output enough. If they have access to the settings any of them should be able to just depends if they have it as an option. HP tuner its open so they can access whatever which OTT uses.

 

I'm not sure what you are asking.

Every battery type requires a certain charge voltage to effectively take reach full charge and maintain optimum service life. AGM batteries specifically are slightly higher than normal lead-acid auto batteries. In the 2nd gen trucks this was solved simply by using a voltage booster. HKB was the go to, raising the charge voltage by 0.5 volts (or you can get the adjustable version and set it at 0.4v). There are other homemade options too.

In the 3rd gen trucks the charging system is different. The same is accomplished by using tuning software to edit the target charge voltages in the ECU. I dont have a 3rd gen so Im not as familiar, but I think its a fairly simple edit, not a full tune.

 

I run a single battery set up. I have a AGM Deep Cycle & Starting Optima Yellow Top, a Voltage Booster upgrade, a Victron MPPT controller for my foldable 100 watt panels (that have an added 30' cable run to be placed away from the truck), and A Noco jumper pack as a just-in-case option. The only power I draw while camping is for my 56 qt. fridge that is constant, and a 12v water pump from time to time. My camp lights are either solar lanterns or rechargeable. This set up suits my needs perfectly.