Thread: Dual battery Install

Gday disco baz, I dont know if your interested but here is a link to some pics of my dual battery installed in the right hand third row seatwell of my old td5.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-t...xe-holder.html

Thanks sharkee, thats a pretty good set up aswell, havent decided whether or not to go for the battery case like yourself or try and set it up so the cargo bin still looks normal. Only problem being is im not too sure if a deep cycle battery will fit in the cargo bin? the set up i look up said that the exide orbital deep cycle/cranking battery would fit, but surely a sealed century one would be similar. With the stock cigarette lighter outputs, did you run them out of the auxillary battery once it was installed? or leave them off the main power?

also love your shovel holder mount of the rear tyre, was hoping to do something similar for a set of maxtrax with some sort of locking mechanism!

thanks

Gday Baz I had it originally like you see but then changed it as I purchased the 5 seater bins and fitted it in there. I made up some brackets that utilised the seat mount bolts to hold the battery. I had a deep cycle in there, I think it was the one I still have now a 120a/h fullriver. I very carefully took the pins out of the lid to make it easier to get in and then replaced the lid on afterwards. I ran a fusebox in there and ran those 12v sockets you see in that pic. 2 inbuilt and the 2 independant ones. I dont think I have a pic of it installed in the bin. Was great to have all that power and ya did'nt even know it was there.Unfortunately my shovel/axe holder had to stay on the 80 I just sold as it was also holding the number plate.

Steve

Dss do bus bars with covers

Definitely want to go for the rear bin option like you have sharkee, with a volt meter up near the dash so i can check the volts of both batteries. Also would like something installed at the other end near the rear cargo bin that tells me how many amps is being drained from the battery. That way i know for certain how much each appliance is pulling out of my auxillary battery. would i be looking for an ammeter to do this?

Originally Posted by discobaz4311

Definitely want to go for the rear bin option like you have sharkee, with a volt meter up near the dash so i can check the volts of both batteries. Also would like something installed at the other end near the rear cargo bin that tells me how many amps is being drained from the battery. That way i know for certain how much each appliance is pulling out of my auxillary battery. would i be looking for an ammeter to do this?

I have installed a voltmeter in my front dash pod, with a switch to choose either the main or auxilliary battery. Next time I'd not bother with reading the main battery charge. I almost always just read the auxilliary. I never need to know the state of charge of the main battery unless I have a problem and then I can use a multimeter. You can tell the alternator output voltage from the auxilliary battery meter.

If you wish to know about current draw then you will need an ammeter. I assume you can get 'tong' type ammeters but usually the issue with an ammeter is all the current needs to go through the meter, which means thicker cables, some voltage loss and increased risk of an open circuit. This isn't the case with a volt meter. In my opinion, knowing the instantaneous current draw isn't as important as knowing the state of charge of the battery. So, for example, a fridge may draw 4A when cycled on, but almost nothing when off. So how do you know how much you've used over an hour, unless you stand and track the on and off times? In my view, an ammeter is only of real value in problem solving, not general running.

My second battery (Optima yellow top) is mounted down the back where the plastic thingy used to be (I stripped out all the unnecessary plastic bits). The cable from the front battery runs under the car along a chassis rail and up through the L rear tail light assembly into the cabin. There is a voltage sensitive switch and a 50 Amp fuse near the front battery, and a Ctek charger down the back to raise the voltage to 14.6 for effective charging. The system is monitored with a Nasa Battery Monitor.

Gday Baz I just picked up my new TD5 today and I will be getting some of the 5 seater bins (mine is a seven seater) to put mine in there again. Its neat and out of sight. Best way to go I think!
Mmmm got to start all over again