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

The ml-acr is on a switch so it can automatically connect/disconnect, or can be manually done (connected or disconnected) via the switch or latch on the unit itself.

currently have a voltage regulator to up the voltage. With the 1/0 wore I don’t see any voltage drop when batteries are connected and assuming the draw it holds a charge. something to consider with it in the rear though.

Dc to dc would be ideal but haven’t found a product that pushes enough amps that isn’t crazy expensive. The ctek unit is like $900 for the 140amps.

Biggest concern I have is the 2/0 supplying the winch. So from the battery in the rear to the front of the truck.

 

Not quite a "dual battery" question but still relevant. Is there an under hood device that will work on my gen 3 for a *single* AGM battery to bump up the charge voltage by 0.6v'ish and keep the battery topped off properly? I want to run a single group 31 AGM but don't want to plug the battery in weekly or nightly.

 

Nope.

 

I know there's a big debate about which battery to hook up the winch to, but after years of trial and error with both, I've found that it's most beneficial to have it hooked up to the starting battery because it's being charged by the alternator. Of course this is personal preference, but I've had my ML-ACR (and others with their dual battery system) fail on the trail and have had the winch (or other high amperage item like air compressor) completely drain the aux battery without a way for it to be recharged until you get home. And a winch is one of those things you want to be working when you need it. Just my $.02

 

When your ACR failed, were you not able to manually link the batteries together with the yellow button on top?

 

It would connect, but only for a moment. Then would go back on its own.

Imagine how stressful that was in a winch situation. Not to mention the drive home when it started to get dark, and EVERYTHING hooked up to the aux battery wasn’t available - including my HID headlights. Thank goodness I was in a caravan and had a friend go in front of me. I was able to to use a handheld HAM so he could give me a heads up on sudden brake situations.

 

Not to nitpick, but I think you mean "starting" battery (the one that runs the truck.) "House" battery is usually another name for the second or auxiliary battery. At least that is how I learned it...

 

Sure I guess so. Maybe I learned incorrectly. Oh well, at least you understood what I was saying

 

Hmm interesting. I know the unit has that feature to manually lock it off. Kinda wish there was a way to manually lock it on. Mine has been amazing so far but everything can and will fail eventually.

 

The good thing is Blue Sea CS replaced it super quick. Troubleshooted with one of their engineers and they shipped one out next day. I don't even remember them asking for a receipt.

 

Currently I have my winch on the main battery. Issue is when I relocate the main to the rear, is 2/0 going to be enough to support the winch.

 

Maybe I missed this but why are you moving the starting battery to the rear? And the rear of what, the truck bed?

 

That's the way I run mine. Also the main battery has a larger capacity in a lot of cases, compared to the house batt.

Im curious though. The yellow manual override on your ML ACR didnt work? I thought that was supposed to override the in-cab switch no matter what.

 

Supposedly a software tweak is being worked on and has been tested. I dont have a 3rd gen so I dont follow that as much, but you can read up on it all for yourself in these threads:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/vf-tuner-for-the-3-5l-tacoma.662948/page-27#post-23289347
The 1st post in this thread has some good info in general
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-booster-upgrade.604478/page-33#post-23289702

 

Fenders are cracked, avoid taco lean. Both batteries will be in a tool box that I’ll be making for the flatbed.

so I have a dual setup already. Just wondering if 2/0 would be enough to supply a winch in the front of the truck.

 

Ahh I missed that you were moving the main battery to the rear. I would measure how long the wire would have to be and use this chart below. Someone smarter than me can probably give you a more accurate total amperage, but seeing how the OEM alternator (w/ tow pkg) is 130A, I would use maybe the 140A row on the chart.

It worked, briefly. As soon as I started to use the winch more, the battery drained, and the ML-ACR has a safety feature that if it senses low voltage on one battery, it auto-disconnects so both batteries don't drain.

 

So this sounds promising, but it requires OVTune correct? Is this even for sale anymore?

 

Was interested in using the REDARC BCDC unit for my dual battery set up in conjunction with a solar panel but I had alot of confusion with meeting the optimal charging requirements of my AGM batteries with this set up. Since I bought my dual battery set up from OGE I sent Matt an email asking for his recommendations and this is what I got back from him. Super helpful guy BTW. Any thoughts? Recommendations on a solar charge controller like he suggests below?

My original email to Matt:

"Hello Again Matt,

I have some additional questions I could use you help with if you don't mind. I have your dual battery setup fully installed and functional in my 2nd Gen tacoma and I am running (2) Odyssey Group 35 AGMs. I know you are no longer on tacomaworld but I am sure you've seen the threads regarding the optimal charging requirements for these premium batteries in order to avoid sulfation. I am looking into the HKB MK2 Micro blade 7.5A (Electronic fuse version) but started looking a different routes. With that being said, I also just inherited a new 130watt solar panel and now I am trying to figure out the best system to utilize inline with you DB setup with MCLR. I started doing some research and when I googled "Solar Charge controller for Odyssey Group 35" the 4th search return took me to this page on your website: REDARC/ OGE Complete Dual Battery System with DC to DC Charging Technology - For Toyota Trucks and SUV's.

Can you please confirm if I am reading the item info correctly related to the RedArc unit? So it sounds like the

$465 REDARC BCDC1225D REDARC 25A in-Vehicle DC to DC Charger with MPPT — Dual Input for Solar & Alternator Charging, Green Power Priority - 12 or 24V Battery Charger Suitable with AGM, Gel, Lithium LiFePO4 Batteries

REDARC BCDC1225D would solve both of my issues.. (1) Meeting the charge requirements of the G35 AGMs. (2) And having a Solar charge controller to correctly utilize my new Solar panel. It's that correct or way off base? Also, would the use of this Redarc unit render my MCLR useless? Other than the misc parts and cables needed for the solar set up, is there anything else I would also need?"

His response:

"Since you already have the dual battery system with the ML-ACR, I would suggest adding a simple, cheap, solar charge controller under the hood and utilizing the panel that you just inherited. Attach the charge controller to the auxiliary battery so it receives the charge first. The benefit of having the ML-ACR in this situation is that it will share the charging source with the starting battery and top them both up at the same time. The Redarc can not do this. To be honest, you will have the best of both worlds if you go this direction. I would also suggest picking up the HKB fuse. This way, you will have all of the voltage, all of the time. Your batteries will thank you."

 

I agree with him. It's the same setup I've been running and it's been working flawlessly.

2 batteries
ML-ACR
Solar panel(s)
Solar controller connected to the aux battery

 

Glad to hear it! What Solar Controller did you go with?