Thread: D1 dual battery wiring

mine is mounted on the drivers wing under the bonnet near the main battery the wiring is routed through the rubber seal just infront of the radiator

I ran my +ve lead around to the back of the engine and onto the starter motor (with the one from the main battery) via the relay that links the batteries together. There isn't any need to take it further than there and it's all neat and tucked away. I have my controller on the inner guard on the passenger side.

Originally Posted by awabbit6

I ran my +ve lead around to the back of the engine and onto the starter motor (with the one from the main battery) via the relay that links the batteries together. There isn't any need to take it further than there and it's all neat and tucked away. I have my controller on the inner guard on the passenger side.

I'd forgotten about the starter as something to take the positive feed from.
The controller position works for me too, I'll just put it on the inner guard next to the battery - space is a bit limited on mine as it has ABS and hopefully getting a snorkel soon so need to keep airbox area clear.

Where do people run the earth from the second battery to? Just down onto the chassis?

Steve

Originally Posted by steveG

Where do people run the earth from the second battery to? Just down onto the chassis?

My earth is bolted to the radiator support panel right infront of the auxillary battery. There is an unused 8mm captive nut there so I bolted the earth to that.

dont forget to fuse the connections at the battery end then it doesnt matter where you route the cable for the power outlet or charging connection if you get a rub through your protected.

When I had my D1 I mounted the SC40 ( in my case ) directly behind the main battery, on the mudguard wall near the fusebox. Then ran twin thick cable in 19mm poly irrigation pipe though the cavity in top front of the radiator to the second battery.

I think its always good to keep the cables between the two batteries to the shortest possible run to avoid voltage loss. ( this applies no matter which battery controller you use. )

Although the Traxide wiring diagram does not show a fuse between the main battery and the SC40/80, I put one in anyway as an extra precaution. ( A 40 amp from memory ).

This setup worked very well and the old SC40 is still going strong in my new car.

Originally Posted by waynep

When I had my D1 I mounted the SC40 ( in my case ) directly behind the main battery, on the mudguard wall near the fusebox. Then ran twin thick cable in 19mm poly irrigation pipe though the cavity in top front of the radiator to the second battery.

I think its always good to keep the cables between the two batteries to the shortest possible run to avoid voltage loss. ( this applies no matter which battery controller you use. )

Although the Traxide wiring diagram does not show a fuse between the main battery and the SC40/80, I put one in anyway as an extra precaution. ( A 40 amp from memory ).

This setup worked very well and the old SC40 is still going strong in my new car.

Yep this how we did mine

I got the SC80 controller installed OK yesterday as a standard dual battery setup. +ve feed taken from the main lead on the starter, and ground for the aux battery running to one of the mounting studs for the LH shock turret.
When I first hooked it up, the LED on the controller was flashing, but after I started the car the LED went to solid on, and stayed like that after I switched the engine off, so all looked OK to me.

This morning when I went out to start the car it wouldn't - the main battery was too flat. It would turn over about maybe one rev and then only solenoid clicking.
The LED on the controller was flashing, so it looked like the controller was doing its job and had disconnected the aux from the main battery.

I know that my aux battery was down to 10v yesterday after not being charged for a couple of months, and the main battery was well charged.
What I thought would happen is that the aux would draw power from the main battery until the main battery voltage dropped to the cutout level and disconnected it - the same as if there was an accessory drawing power.

The only things I can think of are either my main battery is dodgy and doesn't have sufficient charge at the controller cutout voltage, or that the controller is cutting out at too low a voltage.

After I jump started this morning I disconnected the +ve supply to controller. When I checked just now the aux battery is sitting at about 10.4v, so I'm assuming that was the voltage that the controller cut out at.
Would that be about right?