What dual battery setup do you have?

I know its probably been covered a million times, but what brand/type of dual battery setup do you have?

I am currently making a box to house the aux battery in the tub of my ute, and will be running the wires through the chassis rails up to the front battery. I don't so much want to do it on the cheap, I would rather the 'do it once, do it right' theory.

Also has to be nice and simple for me to do myself. I looked at the TJM kits and it looks nice and simple if not a little over priced?

I just want to be able to run a fridge and camping lights and maybe a winch down the track.

Any thoughts?

I looked at the TJM stuff before I did my DB install and I nearly choked at the cost. I bought a tray, I had a battery, went to ARB and bought there Shure Power systems Solenoid for about $160 and wired the batteries up myself using 4gauge (I think, about 10mm dia) car audio power cable ( nice and flexible, good current handling) I ran a power cable into a distribution block behind my back seat and I can tap into it whenever I like. Also ran a cable out to a hella plug in the tub. works excellent, never had a drama and it cost bugger all.
My tray was from 4wd systems and cost $125 but I could have got the ARB one for $89, spent about $70 on cable, connections, convoluted tubing etc. My install pics are in my gallery thingo...
Butts

I have an AC Delco deep cycle in a box under the tray with a VSR solenoid unit near the starter battery under the bonnet. Actually not wired up yet, but is the same as the last set up I had and worked a treat.

I had a couple of 12v sockets in and under the tray, as well as a couple of work lights in and under the tray. I also ran an inline pressure pump for a 70lt under tray water tank all off auxillary battery. I bought most of the gear from a marine supplier - all heavy duty/allweather.

Tim

Out of interest guys, what did TJM want for their systems ?

cheers,
James.

I'm running a Pirhana tray, RedArc solenoid and Exide ED5 Battery, all self installed. Works great.

Matt76 said:

I know its probably been covered a million times, but what brand/type of dual battery setup do you have?

I am currently making a box to house the aux battery in the tub of my ute, and will be running the wires through the chassis rails up to the front battery. I don't so much want to do it on the cheap, I would rather the 'do it once, do it right' theory.

Click to expand...

Yep, sounds similar to mine. Apollo 100a/h AGM tucked behind the passenger wheel arch. 4 gauge wire wrapped in split tube through the passenger chassis rail. Redarc soleniod.

Matt76 said:

I just want to be able to run a fridge and camping lights and maybe a winch down the track.

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

If you want to run a winch later on, you will need a decent soleniod to handle the current (>200amps) and fat wire (0 or 2 gauge)

im running a Full river AGM 110a/h under the bonnet wid redarc isolator all conected wi 6mm auto cable runs fridge and camp lights never had a problem. if ur going to run winch should be off your start battery cause deep cycles arnt designed for the high current draw of the the winch

has anyone got a DIY diagrams to upload coz im looking to do my own. is there any problems i need to know that my occur i need to know?

Go the redarc, cheap, simple to install and reliable.

I also run a Pirhana tray, RedArc solenoid and Exide ED5 Battery, self installed. Works a treat, runs fridge, front & rear spot lights & toolbox work lights easily.

Here is the spec sheet for the RedArc, has a wiring diagram on the second page.

http://www.redarc.com.au/pdfs/Specs/Smart Start Instruction Sheet-A5-2.pdf

In my older 4wds i have always used a redarc isolator and made or used the 2nd battery tray, for the d22 i have made the batt tray and bracket for the lift pump but have not fitted it yet.. i got too slack (work) and now there are kits from abr (nope not arb) to do them, i was planning on selling the kits for around the $185 basic or $250 complete, but hey no point in trying to compete with the bigger dollar markets as they just have some things better for not much more $ (plating of the steel for starters and not just paint), i will get around to fitting it one day as it will run the audio system (sold my fridge)..

cheers mark.

Over the years we've set up a few different dual battery systems in different vehicles so it was one of the first jobs undertaken on the new D40.
I had the car over the pits last week to check out the cable runs but in the end we decided to go internal with the whole lot and I have to says it's easy.
Some might disagree with going internal but having done it on other vehicles and considering just how many wires run inside a car I am not bothered by it.
Once we found room under the bonnet to mount the Isolator we simply dropped the cable in through the firewall on the passenger side along the floor past the B pillar then out the grommet on the rear of the hut straight into the grommet in the tub.
Apart from not having to worry about any connections being waterproof running internally also gave me the opportunity to connect things like the CB, phone chargers and the GPS to a live wire off the second battery so that in a situation where the main battery is dead I still have communication.
I also ran the video feed for a reversing camera along the same path, with the RCA plug still connected it was that easy to run. I even managed to do it without taking any skin off my knuckles.
Gotta say the Nav is heaps easier to wire up than some of my previous cars