Dual battery setup (1 Viewer)

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Why is this wire backwards? The wiring diagram on blue seas website says the house battery should be hooked to the A(left) side of the ACR.
I think he's pointing out one end of the cable has a bend at the terminal, and he should flip the wire around. Same connections, just reverse the wire.
 
Why is this wire backwards? The wiring diagram on blue seas website says the house battery should be hooked to the A(left) side of the ACR.
The 90 goes to the ACR, the straight terminal lug goes to the battery.
 
What exactly is the ACR screwed to in the first picture? If I want to screw mine down there what length screws should I use? Also I'm curious what people did for connecting the 20 awg wires to the rocker switch? I bought some 6 connector wire that is exactly like what is coming out of the acr. I bought some connectors I think they are called molex but they are too small for this old man to mess around with.
 
Let's say you want a bombproof dual battery setup and a high-capacity alternator, with provision for adding toys later: inverter, fridge, lights, audio etc. Also provision for adding solar input. How do you design that? Which cables/wires need to be upgraded, where do the fuses go, do you have to recreate the fusible link on a bigger scale? Is it a total PITA to buy bulk cable and do your own cable ends, or can an amateur do a good job with that? Obviously every rig is different, so premade kits aren't going to cut it for much of this. Any pointers to folks who've already done this kind of thing?

Also, component recommendations? XS Power cables (1/0?), Odyssey batteries, RedArc management(?), Blue Sea buses maybe, who else?
 
Let's say you want a bombproof dual battery setup and a high-capacity alternator, with provision for adding toys later: inverter, fridge, lights, audio etc. Also provision for adding solar input. How do you design that? Which cables/wires need to be upgraded, where do the fuses go, do you have to recreate the fusible link on a bigger scale? Is it a total PITA to buy bulk cable and do your own cable ends, or can an amateur do a good job with that? Obviously every rig is different, so premade kits aren't going to cut it for much of this. Any pointers to folks who've already done this kind of thing?

Also, component recommendations? XS Power cables (1/0?), Odyssey batteries, RedArc management(?), Blue Sea buses maybe, who else?
It's really not that difficult as long as you PLAN before you spend your cash.

Invest in a decent crimping tool for the cables you'll be using.

I have a simple VSR but if I were starting from scratch I'd start with a quality DC-DC unit with the required fusing and solar regulation built-in.

Find a suitable spot to mount the DC-DC unit.

You want a big fuse between the DC-DC/VSR and the auxiliary battery, as close to the Aux Batt as practical. Then fused from the output (+ve) of your Aux Batt to your services circuits. I have a large fuse in line to a fuse block, then each circuit individually fused. Don't try to take a multitude of cables directly off the Aux Batt terminals as it gets messy and makes removing that battery a PITA.

Consider running a big figure 8 cable (+ve and -ve wires) down to the cargo area feeding another fuse block, or at least a pair of posts/bus bar so you can take rear power off that rather than running a million smaller wires all the way to the engine bay. Mine are behind the cargo bay trim. Make sure the bus/posts are insulated in the event a panel gets crushed against the live posts.

Try to run both +ve and -ve cabling to services with higher/more sensitive current requirements (trailer power, fridges etc) rather than relying on a chassis earth/ground.
 
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It's really not that difficult as long as you PLAN before you spend your cash.

Invest in a decent crimping tool for the cables you'll be using.

I have a simple VSR but if I were starting from scratch I'd start with a quality DC-DC unit with the required fusing and solar regulation built-in.

Find a suitable spot to mount the DC-DC unit.

You want a big fuse between the DC-DC/VSR and the auxiliary battery, as close to the Aux Batt as practical. Then fused from the output (+ve) of your Aux Batt to your services circuits. I have a large fuse in line to a fuse block, then each circuit individually fused. Don't try to take a multitude of cables directly off the Aux Batt terminals as it gets messy and makes removing that battery a PITA.

Consider running a big figure 8 cable (+ve and -ve wires) down to the cargo area feeding another fuse block, or at least a pair of posts/bus bar so you can take rear power off that rather than running a million smaller wires all the way to the engine bay. Mine are behind the cargo bay trim. Make sure the bus/posts are insulated in the event a panel gets crushed against the live posts.

Try to run both +ve and -ve cabling to services with higher/more sensitive current requirements (trailer power, fridges etc) rather than relying on a chassis earth/ground.
Thanks! Yeah, now, see, don't understand half of that. Not a quarter, really. But now I have someplace to start...
 
This is what I followed for my setup and it works great. Adding in a single 100w solar panel later on was cake. Being able to have it all fused and another fuse block to tidy it all up was key. I had done plenty of mechanical work, but running new battery cables and big fuses and relays was new to me when I did it. Not too hard. Just take your time and plan it all out. Making sure cables won't be rubbing on anything that could cause a problem, etc...
 
Never mind I found the fix...

Photo courtesy of @EngEngr

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