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

Better fit for me. 25 extra lbs in stock location and 50# on passenger side. Still room for an air intake routed through firewall, maybe. 120amp hr. reserve. In a pinch could give someone a replacement battery on the trail and still gave an aux.
May end up having to ditch passenger side battery if it interferes with putting air intake through the firewall so this way will also let me do that easily.
Wanted lots of reserve amps to try some all electric cooking.
Also trying out electric heater and blanket in my shell.
And gotta keep my ice cream and ice cubes frozen.

 

replaced a 31M and a 35 for two 35's this morning. great to shed ~30lbs on the driver side. HKB voltage booster placed.

 

For those who have their second battery in the bed...

How are you routing cables into the bed? Are you drilling holes in the composite bed? Where are you passing them through?

I recently got a canopy and plan to add a second batter near the front of the bed on the driver side.

 

For cable pass throughs into the bed, I use Cable Clams from Blue Sea - https://www.bluesea.com/products/1001/CableClam_0.68in

Drill a hole for cable, and 4 small holes for the screws to secure the clam. They work great, and are, of course, water tight.

You might want to consider placing the battery on the passenger side. The driver's sides of these trucks are heavier (stock battery, fuel tank, driver) so any weight you can move to the pass side is good.

 

Thanks for the pointer. Those seem similar to these.



Did you pass through on the bed sides, between cab and bed or floor?

 

I passed through the side of the bed, about 4" back from the front, and maybe 4" above the floor.

Wherever you go through, before drilling any holes, make sure you have sufficient access/room to the backside.

 

I have run a cable from the front passenger side back along the frame and entered the bed thru the right rear "cubby" box. This cable connects a DC-DC charger, for the third battery.

 

My 100ah battery install behind the rear seat

 

What Redarc did you use?

 

1225D

 

Nice finish work with the crimps, loom, and shrink tube.

 

I used these in the front passenger side corner of the bed up on the wheelhouse area. The cables run behind the wheelhouse liner. Those cable glands hold everything tight.

 

What are yalls experiences with lithium house batteries in cold weather (10- 15° nights in colorado). Been running an x2power agm house battery and looking for more capacity for heated blankets and whatnot. Trying to decide on adding another agm or going lithium. Ive seen the heated batteries. Just not sure on the performance when it gets near 0°

 

I have 4 Battleborn batts in my 18ft trailer in the "basement" (i.e. under the bed). Though that area is not heated, I find that the conductive heat through the rest of the trailer keeps the battery space well above any concerning temps even when outdoor temps are in the single digits. Plus, lithium batts are good for low temp discharge (at least Battleborns are...down to -4 degrees F). It's just charging that gets limited as the temps drop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTeoweIkKgc

Lithium is superior to AGM in just about every way, but they're pricey. One 100Ah lithium is equivalent to 2 AGMs, and weighs half as much. Do you think the space where you'll have the batts will fall far enough to be of concern?

 

Well they are in the truck bed under a diamondback bedcover. Better than outside, but not by much lol. Im leaning towards staying with agm for price and ease of adding a battery. Just curious on yalls experiences.

 

There's a ton of information in this thread, and I'm having a hard time reading through it because I don't really know what I'm reading. Can somebody pointed me to an idiot's guide to a dual battery set up with what is essentially a secondary fuse panel?

 

Give it time. Start by taking notes on each part with its name, function, and where it sits in the circuit as doing so will help you internalize and really understand it. Even an idiots guide will still take time and multiple rereadings to absorb. Since there are many different ways people use them reading this thread along with build threads you come across will provide a broad range to inform your design choices. Bookmark those threads you like but try not to simply copy the first one you like and understand. Let it sink in. You’re messing with the electrical system of a sizable investment so diving in with only an “idiots” understanding can cause problems. Reading is free.

 

Dumb question, maybe! If install a new AGM battery can I use my existing OEM battery as a secondary battery in a dual. Battery set up?

 

@GrahamJ That is how mine is set up. Did my install in April 2016 with a Deka Intimidator AGM battery. At the time I had a Costco-Interstate lead acid battery. Both are still functioning. In 2017 I added the diode to bump up the voltage regulator output to 14.2 volts.

 

Not finding the answers to questions for what I probably already know. I run a dual battery setup with a 200ah LiFEp0 as an auxilllary for rear components and that stays fresh with a DC-DC charger with power from alternator or solar. I have manual switches for rear lighting, compressors, etc. that draw power off of the auxillary battery, and use OEM style switching up front for light bars, pod lights, etc. Is there a switching panel solution that can conrol everything from a single panel, but derive power separately? I can easily install a cheapo Auxbeam that is powered from the starter as a standard install, but I'd need to have relays in the rear (compressors are on a heavy duty 200amp solenoid anyway). I've reached out to switchpros and auxbeam and they're scratching their heads...