Dual Battery Setup (1 Viewer)

[Cruiserdrew]

Better yet, you can run Anderson Power poles. The 15/30/45 amp connectors all interchange and are perfect for this kind of use.

 

[weejub]

I have room for two of these in the place of the current battery - Odyssey PC1100.

PC1100


Pulse (5 second) Hot Cranking Amps (PHCA) 1100
Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) 500
20Hr Nominal Capacity (Ah) 45
Reserve Capacity Minutes 87
Dimensions L x W x H (in) 9.8 x 3.8 x 8.1

The 4runner space is tight.

I would think that two 500 CCA 45 Ah batteries in the front, plus a PC680 in the back would be OK for my truck.

I know I am looking at as much as 20 Ah per day from a fridge, but I think that will be OK, especially if I can get a solar panel up, etc.

Thoughts?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Are you set on buying those overpriced and too small batteries? THey have no particular advantage unless you are mounting on their side and just increase your costs.

Get the biggest single starting battery that fits. Currently I like Napa batteries (made by East Penn). Just use the recommended size probably a 24.

For your #2 battery a Deep Cycle/Marine/RV will work great and cost less than $100. Use a group 27 if it will fit. Those will be about 100 ampHours which gives you 50 amp hours to work with. Much better. A 2 day stay, no sun, kids constantly in and out of the fridge.

As you can tell, I am not a fan of AGM batteries. All batteries last 4 years or so, AGMs just cost 3 times more. Regular batteries are nice because you can add water if low, they tolerate an occasional discharging mistake better, and don't have a picky charging profile like an Odyssey. Use your Odyssey dedicated to your CPAP since you've had good success with that. You could even charge in in parallel with another ACR-Blue sea makes a little inexpensive one ($45)that would be perfect:
m-Series Automatic Charging Relay - 12/24V DC 65A - Blue Sea Systems

Just in general, don't take lead acid batteries of any type below 50% charge and they will lead a reasonable life. So that's 12.2 volts at rest-ie no load in 30 minutes or so.

 

[weejub]

Well . . . I have no $$ so, yea - - need to do something cheaper if I want to do this soon.

My issue is just room in the 3rd Gen. The previous owner put a nice Group 34 Red Top Optima in that is < a year old now.

I need to move a radiator overflow bottle and the winch controller, but that makes more sense than spending a LOT of $$ on batteries that are a little too small.

Good advice, Andrew, thanks.

 

[weejub]

Back . . . new truck ( Considering Upgrading the Taco to a Tundra ) same needs, though



Based on everyone's feedback, etc, we are settled on dual battery under hood using the Blue Sea relay:

SI-ACR Automatic Charging Relay - 12/24V DC 120A - Blue Sea Systems


In the back, I am working on a custom plywood board set up that will wedged/secure into here:

Thinking about going with circuit breakers vs fuses based on the idea from @NC LX .

This would allow me to swap different amp fuses in and out:

ST CLB Circuit Breaker Block - 6 Position with Negative Bus - Blue Sea Systems

Amazon.com : Blue Sea Systems Push Button Reset Only Quick Connect 15A Circuit Breaker : Thermal Circuit Breakers : Sports & Outdoors

They would be mounted on the board along with the following for the fridge and other things.

Amazon.com: ARB 10900028 Threaded Socket/Surface Mount Outlet: Automotive

Will get this for the winch I plan to install.

Amazon.com : Blue Sea Systems m-Series Battery Switches : Boating Battery Switches : Sports & Outdoors

More to come.

 

[NC LX]

I've been running a Duracell Marine and rv Battery since the beginning of December. SL127MDC. It cost less than $100.

I haven't driven my 80 since last Thursday and the fridge was still running this morning, holding the temp at 32. It's was pretty warm over the weekend and it hasn't been charged in 3.5 days now. I'm thinking about flipping the breaker to see how long it will run.

Saying that, I've got a few of these small sealed batteries I want to add in the rear quarter panel. I started building a batterybox but the project is on the back burner.
Demensions are roughly 7"x 2.95"x 6.5, so lots of mounting options.

 

[weejub]

Plan on doing double marine batteries vs a starter and a house battery. The marine batteries have the second set of posts, which I like, plus they have the CCA to start the truck, so why not have double deep cycle?

 

[NC LX]

To be honest, I've always wondered the same thing. I asked one of my EE professors once about it and with in a few min he had lost me. Guy was a genius and could prove the math all day but had a hard time breaking it down to real world.

 

[weejub]

. . . I've got a few of these small sealed batteries I want to add in the rear quarter panel. I started building a batterybox but the project is on the back burner.
Demensions are roughly 7"x 2.95"x 6.5, so lots of mounting options.

View attachment 1429360

Would like to see how you end up mounting these!

I have an old AGM motorcycle battery and an Oddysey PC680 that I keep charged for back up batteries, too. I bought a battery box for the PC680, just to avoid issues with the shorting the studs, etc, as I will remove it each night for a CPAP.

Amazon.com: Group U1 Battery Box for Pv Solar Panels, Wind Turbine - Mighty Max Battery brand product: Automotive

 

[mtweller]

Plan on doing double marine batteries vs a starter and a house battery. The marine batteries have the second set of posts, which I like, plus they have the CCA to start the truck, so why not have double deep cycle?

Even though a marine battery will be rated high enough CCA for starting, you'll find in the real world they don't supply the same "umph" for cranking. In really cold weather, you will notice the difference. It comes down to the battery construction and how they flow current internally.

They do make a hybrid marine starting battery, that's not the best at either, but pretty good at both.

 

[weejub]

Even though a marine battery will be rated high enough CCA for starting, you'll find in the real world they don't supply the same "umph" for cranking. In really cold weather, you will notice the difference. It comes down to the battery construction and how they flow current internally.

They do make a hybrid marine starting battery, that's not the best at either, but pretty good at both.

So using Optima as the example because the colors make it easier - could go with this as the starter battery:

34M | OPTIMA Batteries

and this one as house battery:

D34M | OPTIMA Batteries

 

[Cruiserdrew]

You could, but that isn't much "house battery" power storage and it's expensive. 55 amp hours means your can really only use 27 amp hours before you'd want to recharge it to avoid long term damage to the battery.

I use Marine batteries (which are not true deep cycle batteries) as both starting and house batteries in my FJ60 and FJ62. Works just fine.

 

[Rice]

Plan on doing double marine batteries vs a starter and a house battery. The marine batteries have the second set of posts, which I like, plus they have the CCA to start the truck, so why not have double deep cycle?

You absolutely can have both be deep cycle. In fact, deep cycles are perfect for this application.

The main difference is deep cycle batts have thicker lead alloy plates in them. This is the feature that allows them to be drawn down to a lower charge and still be okay. The trade is that buy using thicker plates there is a loss of overall surface area .... This is what allows a "starting" batt to produce so much current. IF you were running the batts in parallel you would never need to draw a huge amount of current since each batt would be supplying half.

If your plan is to separate the batts and have one for start and one for house it just means you would want to compensate for the loss of "plate surface area" by using larger batts.

 

[mtweller]

I'm personally not an Optima fan, due to my own anecdotal experience. YMMV. However, yes - that's the concept. You could go with a true deep cycle marine for house, and a dual purpose (marine starting) for your cranking duties. That way you have a bit more reserve in the tank if you deplete the charge on your house, with lower risk of killing a battery not designed for slow discharge. Clear as mud?

Take this all with a grain of salt coming from a guy that has terrible luck with batteries.

 

[JohnVee]

......The main difference is deep cycle batts have thicker lead alloy plates in them. This is the feature that allows them to be drawn down to a lower charge and still be okay. The trade is that buy using thicker plates there is a lose of overall surface area ....

If the plates are thicker, how do they lose surface area? What am I missing here?

 

[mtweller]

You absolutely can have both be deep cycle. In fact, deep cycles are perfect for this application.

The main difference is deep cycle batts have thicker lead alloy plates in them. This is the feature that allows them to be drawn down to a lower charge and still be okay. The trade is that buy using thicker plates there is a loss of overall surface area .... This is what allows a "starting" batt to produce so much current. IF you were running the batts in parallel you would never need to draw a huge amount of current since each batt would be supplying half.

If your plan is to separate the batts and have one for start and one for house it just means you would want to compensate for the loss of "plate surface area" by using larger batts.

I wouldn't run them in parallel - although many get away with that without issue. But if you have 2 x $200+ batteries and one drops a cell, it get's expensive quickly. JMO. Battery discussions often go like engine oil debates.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Deep cycle batteries do have thicker plates, Starting batteries have more thinner plates(In parallel), thus more surface area. If it gets cold in NC (which I know it does) you want a real starting battery. You also want a deep cycle for your house needs.

If you're using an ACR, they will only be paralleled during charging, and separated when discharging, so it's perfectly fine to mix battery types.

Great source for East Penn USA made batteries is BatteriesPlus. All flavors too and excellent size selection. They go by the "duracell" brand name but they are the real deal.

Charlotte Batteries Plus Bulbs Store - Phone Repair - Store 175 - NC - Batteries Plus Bulbs

@JohnVee I was just in Charlotte last week and didn't see any Land Cruisers except for an FJ62 parked in someone's side yard and my brother's 200 (which almost doesn't count) parked in his garage. Almost a Cruiser free town! My dad and I went for a beer at NoDa Brewing (that's really the name) which was excellent and I'm going back next visit.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I just discovered Batteries Plus Bulbs and was wondering about their Duracell brand batteries. They're high quality? I was eyeballing their AGM batteries the other day when I was in the store.

 

[JohnVee]

@Cruiserdrew Its not nice to visit without giving fair warning. We'd have put something together for you! NoDa is right near many of us.

You must have been blindfolded if you didn't see any LC's.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Those Duracell batteries are rebadged Deka batteries. Excellent batteries.

Next time in Charlotte, I'd love to meet up with some NC cruiserheads. I'll bring my brother so at least we can show up in a Land Cruiser. My rental Hyundai won't cut it!