Planning a dual battery setup and accessories

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jeetS said:
Did you also get the unit that disconnects the starting battery when the voltage gets down?
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For when the second battery goes too low? no, I plan on monitoring it a bit first and see if it becomes an issue. I expect to do the same use (run 12 volt mattress heater) only, and so should get an idea. It takes about 1-6 amps, so there is little risk of depleating my 85 amp hour battery after a single, full nights use.

Also, that extra unit costs about $100 I think, and I'm cheap!

Gil
 
gil12 said:
For when the second battery goes too low? no, I plan on monitoring it a bit first and see if it becomes an issue. I expect to do the same use (run 12 volt mattress heater) only, and so should get an idea. It takes about 1-6 amps, so there is little risk of depleating my 85 amp hour battery after a single, full nights use.

Also, that extra unit costs about $100 I think, and I'm cheap!

Gil
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Haha..
Ya I like that idea as then I can wire everything up to the factory system and it automatically uses the aux battery...
 
now I'm getting sorta confused…the write up states:

"For example, you pull the truck in to a jobsite, turn the engine off and leave all the warning lights on.
When the isolator senses the batteries reach 12.7V it opens the solenoid relay to separate the two batteries and turns off the status light. This separation protects the starting battery while allowing the auxiliary battery to continue to power the auxiliary loads."

Except I don't see anything in the CH literature for the smart isolator that describes that… Is this what it does? Or do you need the low voltage disconnect to accomplish that?

The CH info talks about it charging them separately when they are low…


Because if it does those then thats all I care about I don't know what I'd use a low voltage disco for…


Thanks!
 
Yes, i think it does what you want.

The low voltage add on unit is just to protect the 2nd battery from being so far discharged that it is damaged over time. The primary battery is already protected. If you are not worried about that the second battery being totally discharged, then there are no more worries!
Gil

BTW, I just installed my Slee battery tray and found the Costco marine battery i bought (24) is too high! i will return it and see what I can do for a replacement - any suggestions?
 
RobRed said:
The Slee tray is designed for group 34.
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Good news, picked up a Diehard Platinum Marine group 34 today and also ordered the Slee 2nd battery tray. I saw your picture above of the same setup and that's what sealed the deal for me. Hoping for install next week, pics to come.
 
just bought the isolator, momentary switch and led.

now to figure out the wiring…. wonder if there is an easy way to wire the stereo into the aux battery….
 
jeetS said:
now I'm getting sorta confused…the write up states:

"For example, you pull the truck in to a jobsite, turn the engine off and leave all the warning lights on.
When the isolator senses the batteries reach 12.7V it opens the solenoid relay to separate the two batteries and turns off the status light. This separation protects the starting battery while allowing the auxiliary battery to continue to power the auxiliary loads."

Except I don't see anything in the CH literature for the smart isolator that describes that… Is this what it does? Or do you need the low voltage disconnect to accomplish that?

The CH info talks about it charging them separately when they are low…

Because if it does those then thats all I care about I don't know what I'd use a low voltage disco for…

Thanks!
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You are not charging them separately. To do that you would have to separate them starting from the alternator. You could disconnect the aux battery and charge the main separately, but you can't just charge the aux battery unless you rewire and make an electric disconnect from the alternator.
 
is it true that a group 65 battery will fit into the slee tray for the 100 as well?
 
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paflytyer said:
You are not charging them separately. To do that you would have to separate them starting from the alternator. You could disconnect the aux battery and charge the main separately, but you can't just charge the aux battery unless you rewire and make an electric disconnect from the alternator.
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Actually it doesn't connect the aux battery to the charging system (alternator) until the main is over a certain voltage (13ish I think)

It charges the main starting battery separately and then links the aux into the system


I found a PDF with the info on the isolator so its all clear to me now.
 
jeetS said:
Actually it doesn't connect the aux battery to the charging system (alternator) until the main is over a certain voltage (13ish I think)

It charges the main starting battery separately and then links the aux into the system


I found a PDF with the info on the isolator so its all clear to me now.
Click to expand...

Correct, but you'll never isolate the Aux battery and just charge that one alone. There is always some draw to the main battery. I looked into this a lot when doing my dual battery system.



For example: Lets say you drive to the trail and camp (truck off) with all your extra accessories running off the aux battery and completely drain it. Then, you get up the next day and drive 20 miles and camp again, your aux battery will have not charged because the alternator will be sending the initial charge to the main.



If you had an IBS or knock off system and your truck was running, the LED box would show BOTH batteries fully charged, when in fact, they're not. Even if you unhooked your aux battery those LED boxes would still show 2 batteries fully charged because it's reading the voltage from the alternator and not the batteries. In that case it wouldn't matter if you had 10 batteries, the LED box will always show the same thing if the truck was running.
 
Just unlink the aux battery to get it's true voltage. For the t-max, it is just a button press. I have run my aux down all the way and it charged up fine on the 3 hour drive home. Any intelligent battery system should handle this fine (IBS, National Luna, T-max etc)..
 
SanDiegoCruiser said:
Just unlink the aux battery to get it's true voltage. For the t-max, it is just a button press. I have run my aux down all the way and it charged up fine on the 3 hour drive home. Any intelligent battery system should handle this fine (IBS, National Luna, T-max etc)..
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That's my point..... You need a 3 hour drive home to charge your aux battery........ The one that runs all your accessories. If you drove 10 miles over a mountain pass to your next camping spot your aux battery wouldn't have had a chance to fully charge.
 
The only way around that is to install some solar panels to charge the aux battery while the cruiser is sitting at camp. I usually drive for a couple of hours each day on trails which is enough to charge the aux battery to keep the fridge running.
 
paflytyer said:
That's my point..... You need a 3 hour drive home to charge your aux battery........ The one that runs all your accessories. If you drove 10 miles over a mountain pass to your next camping spot your aux battery wouldn't have had a chance to fully charge.
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We need to find you some more difficult mountain passes then. :)
 
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