Battery Isolators...

[JamesR]

Here is how I would (will, when I get more ambition) do it. Blue Sea marine dual battery switch. Has 4 positions, bat 1, bat 2, both, and off. Run the positive cable from each battery to the switch. Ground both batteries together. Connect all electrical loads to the output from the switch. Now you can choose to run everything off of either battery, or both batteries. When you want, you can switch all power off by turning the switch.

When you winch, if you want to use only one battery, the turn the switch to the battery you want to use. You get to choose either battery or both if necessary.

In order to charge both, you need to have the switch set to both. This is the simplist setup, but requires you to manually combine or isolate the batteries as needed for use or charging.

With the addition of a single solenoid, also from Blue Seas, you can set it up so both batteris are paralleld for charging when the engine is running. With this addition, both batteries get charged when the engine is running, regardless of the main switch setting. If you do this, then you need to wire up a disconnect for the solenoid if you want to be able to winch off of a single battery with the engine running.

I am in the process of deciding which way to go to wire 2 batteries in my 60. I have read this thread many times the last few days. The BlueSeas switch is very appealing but I am sure I would mess up and have 2 dead batteries when it came to leave camp. In order to remember to switch to the correct battery for a given purpose, or to be reminded which battery is “on”, it seems a small LED could be added to battery “A” and battery “B” circuits. So if battery “A” is on the LED would light up. When the switch was moved to battery “B” another LED would light up. These LEDs would be in the cab.
Does this make sense?

 

[1911]

I am in the process of deciding which way to go to wire 2 batteries in my 60. I have read this thread many times the last few days. The BlueSeas switch is very appealing but I am sure I would mess up and have 2 dead batteries when it came to leave camp. In order to remember to switch to the correct battery for a given purpose, or to be reminded which battery is “on”, it seems a small LED could be added to battery “A” and battery “B” circuits. So if battery “A” is on the LED would light up. When the switch was moved to battery “B” another LED would light up. These LEDs would be in the cab.
Does this make sense?

Yes. If you buy any kit with an isolater, most of them have something like a three-way switch with an LED that lights up with different colors or more than one LED to indicate which battery is being charged and which id isolated. So yeah, it should be easily possible to do.

 

[JamesR]

Yes. If you buy any kit with an isolater, most of them have something like a three-way switch with an LED that lights up with different colors or more than one LED to indicate which battery is being charged and which id isolated. So yeah, it should be easily possible to do.

Thanks for the reply.