National Luna Dual Battery Install

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This wire is NOT a fusible link. it is just a wire. I know its redundant as the twisted bracket will pass the electrical flow to the factory fusible link (the one that is big and black that attaches to you positive terminal). I just wanted to make sure I had proper current to the primary factory system.

see picture installed and connected to the factory fusible link.
Unfortunately as you have painted that small bracket, you have increased the number of interfaces the power has to pass through. You should have left the bracket unpainted, or put the short cable on the other side, so that it was in direct contact with the battery terminal block. I can't tell exactly how you have done it on the other end, but a similar principle applies: Create the minimum interfaces in any current path.

You could just use star washers either side of the bracket to cut through the paint and ensure good electrical contacts, or move the short cable to the other side of the small bracket.
 
Get rid of the small cable that is now replaced by the buss bar.

OOOPs!
If the buss bar it is not a "tinned buss bar" and is a piece of "steel" then replace it with a piece of solid copper strap and make it exactly the same.
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Installed my 24R Red Top Optima battery as my primary. I had to make a new chases ground wire. The one I had made was too short due to the terminals being a bit further away with the red top. Everything seems to be working correctly, so now its time to start hooking up accessories under the hood and running a line to the back of the rig... More to come!
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Your wiring quality is spectacular, it looks better than factory.

Does anyone know if it is possible to fit a group 31M in the stock location? I know it wouldn't just drop in and fit, but has anyone ever modified their 100 to fit one?

Im seems like a cheaper, short term alternative to doing a dual battery kit.
 
YES search group 31, stock battery, etc, Sears, optima, odyssey etc
 
I wish my engine bay was as clean as yours.

The picture is a bit misleading and is not as clean as it looks, but I will take the nice comment! :p
 
As I have time I have been working on the in-cab electrical work. I have now installed the second fuse block for all the accessories I want to run off the yellow top from inside the truck. I went back and forth on where to place the fuse block and I choose not to put it in the very back of the truck for several reasons. I didn't want to have to pull my drawers, remove all the side panels, remove seats, etc.. just to add something else to the fuse block. I looked at placing it under the pass seat. didn't like that idea.. Then I decided to place it inside the center console. This gave me easy access to the fuses and all i have to do to add another accessory to the block is remove the rear panel of the center console to run the wire to it. I'm very happy with the outcome. I removed the 12v power outlet that was in the center console and used that hole to run my main power line into. I had a bunch of cable left over from my National Luna kit so I used what I had left to run the power to the fuse block. More than likely it is WAY overkill as it is some big stuff, but I don't think I will need to worry to much about voltage drop.. :)
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To protect the system I added a circuit breaker to the line. I built another little bracket so that I could get the circuit breaker as close to the battery as possible so that I would have the shortest line to it as I could. This gives me easy access to the breaker and can easily turn the whole line down by switching the breaker off if I need to work on it or if I have any issues.
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Zane: do mind sharing the cost of the the NL dual-battery kit? Also, did you move all of the factory accessories such as the cab lights, 12V outlets, etc. to the secondary battery (i.e. with the new fuse box)? Or is the new fuse box just for accessories you have added yourself?
 
Zane: do mind sharing the cost of the the NL dual-battery kit? Also, did you move all of the factory accessories such as the cab lights, 12V outlets, etc. to the secondary battery (i.e. with the new fuse box)? Or is the new fuse box just for accessories you have added yourself?

See link above for pricing. Couldn't be happier with the set up as well as the customer service I have received from Equipt.

I did not move any of the factory accessories to the secondary battery with the exception of one of the 12V outlets (far right one) on the dash. I wired a new hot wire to that outlet that is always hot running off of the secondary battery. The new fuse block in the engine bay and in the center console are all for new accessories that i have added and are not factory.
 
Zane - above you mentioned:

so now its time to start hooking up accessories under the hood and running a line to the back of the rig

What accessories do you plan to run from the back of the rig and do you have pictures of your install in the back?

Thanks - great writeup!!
 
What accessories do you plan to run from the back of the rig and do you have pictures of your install in the back?

I was going to add a fuse block to the very back of the truck but the more I thought about it, it would have been a major pain to have to remove my rear storage drawers each time I wanted to run a new accessory to the fuse block. So, I decided to add a fuse block in the center console. Its a perfect place for it because its in the center of the truck and I can run lines out to any accessory with little effort.

So far, I have my CB Radio, 2 additional 12V power plugs, Fridge Power hooked into the fuse block.
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Zane,

This is really nicely done. Thanks for the detailed write-up and commentary.
 
Very nice work.
 

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