Thread: Dual Battery Install - 2013 110

Originally Posted by Willow4

Part way through put everything together. Here is the case with the holes cut out, merit sockets and starting to get the wires made up.

Attachment 62678

For additional protection, I also included an auto resetting 30amp circuit breaker in the case. Therefore any/all accessories plugged in can only draw a maximum of 30amps. Here is the case with the circuit breaker installed and the wires going in.

Attachment 62679

Again, got a bit slack with taking photos.

So here is the finished unit installed in the rear of the car on the left hand side near the rear speaker.

Attachment 62681

And here it is turned on - showing volts and amps.

Attachment 62682

Whilst the unit is always supplying power to the sockets, you can turn the display on or off as you choose.

The case has two merit sockets and one Engel posi-lock socket. The merit sockets have a switch to enable you to turn power on or off independently while the Engel socket has power constantly.

The next job is to install the new ARB air compressor

Oh bugger - more cabling .......

Hi Wayne, just sent you an email so can change notes on the defender.
Cheers

Hi Chops,

thanks - I'm rather pleased with the final solution. If the case was grey (instead of black), I think it would look nearly factory

I got the gauge from my favourite online parts store - ebay ! There are many on there that will show volts and amps, however this one stood out as it can also do watts, amp hour remaining, % left, etc.

I have not yet calibrated it - will hopefully get onto that soon. This is required to provide more accurate amps, watts, etc.

From memory, it was about $35 from China. Very good service from the seller. Was here in a week, came very well packed with detailed instuctions for install, calibration, etc.

cheers,

Wayne

Hi Chops,

forgot to mention, this gauge has the shunt built in - so no need for mounting an external shunt.

It is rated for 90v and 30amps. The seller also had higher spec versions - for example 120v and 50amp. However all of the higher spec gauges did require an external shunt.

cheers,

Wayne

Originally Posted by Willow4

Hi Chops,

forgot to mention, this gauge has the shunt built in - so no need for mounting an external shunt.

It is rated for 90v and 30amps. The seller also had higher spec versions - for example 120v and 50amp. However all of the higher spec gauges did require an external shunt.

cheers,

Wayne

Pardon my ignorance,, but what's a "shunt"?

out of curiosity why did you opt for a yellow top cranking battery? would not a red top be better suited? higher CCA slightly lower residual but as the crank battery should not be discharged to a low voltage often/ever it seems a little redundant to use a deep cycle?

on that note, how do you find the D34 as a crank battery? I already have a D34 yellow top as my secondary battery but like the clean instal and extra space using one for a crank battery seems to give (Personally I would go Red top though) just curious how it cranks and performs on a winch compared to the factory battery?

Leroy

You are pushing my electrical knowledge here - and so I am happy to be corrected by someone more knowledgable !

When measuring amps via an ammeter, a shunt provides a 'known' resistance in series with the the load. This allows a 'smaller' ammeter to be used to measure 'larger' loads.

I hope I got that right .....

Hi Leroy,

I did some research and found a number of recommendations for using the yellow top and also found some that did not support the yellow tops.

And then I read an article in an English LR magazine (just can't find it at the moment) and the article showed an install using two yellow tops and a Blue Sea isolator. It was highly recommended configuration by a prominent LR specialist.

So I bit the bullet and went with them and based my install on the article - but used Tim's USI-160 isolator instead of the Blue Seas. I also spoke to Tim a number of times on the phone.

So far, the yellow top cranks the defender with no issues what so ever. I can not tell any difference from the original battery.

Whilst I don't have a winch yet (will try and sneak that purchase in shortly), Tim's USI-160 can be set to winch mode and will join the two yellow tops together for winching. If you seen one - have a look, its a very cleaver bit of kit.

Overall I am very impressed with both the yellow tops and Tim's isolator.

Originally Posted by Willow4

You are pushing my electrical knowledge here - and so I am happy to be corrected by someone more knowledgable !

When measuring amps via an ammeter, a shunt provides a 'known' resistance in series with the the load. This allows a 'smaller' ammeter to be used to measure 'larger' loads.

I hope I got that right .....

A meter (the basic movement) of any type can only handle small currents going through it. In fact, because of the very small current, it is able to measure voltage without loading the circuit - altering the voltage it is reading.

A Voltmeter usually has a basic meter movement/display, with a resistor in series with it to allow calibration. Further resistors (called "multipliers" can be switched in to measure higher voltages. A basic circuit measures D.C.
A rectifier(diode) allows for AC.

An Ammeter (still the same movement/display) is wired accross a resistor of known low value and measures the voltage developed on the resistor as the current flows through it. THIS RESISTOR IS CALLED A SHUNT.

Higher currents can be catered for by adding further shunts so that the resistance value decreases. i.e. more current is required to give the same voltage to the display. A switch that adds the shunts can therefore be labelled as increasing the current range.

An Ohmmeter uses an internal battery and some mulltipliers to measure the current flowing through the external object. The result is shown as resistance in ohms.

Put the lot together and you have a MULTIMETER. It could also include various other functions such as Capacitance, temperature, frequency and sound level. Specialist units are used by mechanics for dwell and tacho.

Rovers4.