Cheap secondary battery setup

Ping me anytime. I'm not on much on weekends, but very often during the week.

 

Couldn't I use the secondary battery to power my amp and subs so only the head unit and stock rear speakers are being powered by the starting battery? Also then I could have the option to link the batteries for starting up if the starting battery happened to get too low and the secondary still had juice?

 

Yup! That would work. And I looked at that isolator again, and it does have the manual override. It would just need a small switch connected to it and you'd be able to self jump.

 

So if I decided to just get a good priced deep cycle battery that would still work for starting the truck in down to -15 weather what would be a good option or do those exist?

 

Optima Batteries 8040-218 D35 YellowTop Dual Purpose Battery

$283 OPTIMA Batteries High Performance D35 YellowTop Dual Purpose Sealed AGM Car, Truck and SUV Battery, 620 CCA, Maintenance Free, Versitile Mounting

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000MSDKMA/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_VVP62Z26KWK9D0F43S9M

This is more than I would like to spend if possible but is this the best one around? Some of the Amazon reviews sound a little worrisome.

 

Optima used to make good batteries, not anymore. There’s tons of threads on replacing with an agm battery and replacing something so it charges properly.

 

Should I look at something like an Odyssey or a Northstar? I found this one but definitely breaking the bank now

https://saskbattery.com/ecommerce_488.htm

 

Wow, yeah not cheap.

 

This is the battery that Costco.ca comes up with for my truck, should I be trying to get 27F instead? Anyone else tried one of these batteries? Are AGM batteries ok to be accidentally drained or drained down often if I use on ferry or my driveway?

https://tires.costco.ca/Batteries/P...ive-Battery&BatteryType=Automotive&lang=en-ca

 

I never suggest a brand of batteries, simply cause I only have experience with one brand, and it's Optima, hahaha. People really have negative feelings towards them so I usually keep my mouth shut. I had three 27Fs in my truck, two blue top and one yellow top (starting battery). The blue and yellow are actually identical internally, only difference is the Blue have an extra set of smaller terminals to make hooking up accessories easier. But in regard to the "replacing something so it charges properly", YUP, some AGMs need higher voltage than a Toyota Tacoma smart alternator puts out. You have to trick the alternator into putting out more voltage to fully charge the Optima.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/224393420344?frcectupt=true

I went with this guy from HKB Electronics out of Australia. All you do is replace a fuse under the hood with it. From my understanding, the fuse is on the line for the sensor that tells the computer how much voltage the alternator is making, and lies to the computer telling it that it's putting out less 0.5-0.6 volts less than it is, so the computer tells the smart alternator to pump up the voltage by that much, thus pushing the correct voltage needed into the battery so it can be fully charged. The fuse replacement is still a working fuse, and is just as simply to replace as any standard blade fuse.

But again, I'd like to say I'm not suggesting anyone goes this route unless they need to. Not all deep cycles or even AGMs need it. So battery research is a must when deciding. I'll keep my Optima, but it may not be for everyone!