Dual Battery set-up

[tonydiv]

I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I have to disagree with Thermo.

When winching, you can pull way more amps then the alt can provide. That power reserve is coming from somewhere. The batteries provide a buffer when you are using high current draw accessories.

When I wired my dual bat setup, I just ran them in parallel, essentially creating one big battery. The truck started faster, and it allowed me to use the winch without any worries. I also didn't have to worry about an isolator or soloniod going bad. If I wanted to use any accessories for an extended period of time when the truck was off, I just unscrewed the quick disconnect from one of the batteries to insure that it would start no matter how low the other one got.

 

[GAINMOB]

Ok...so what do yall think? Dual battery or my diehard and say a huge kinetic battery in rear panel?

Holy Rollerz Christian Car Club (HRC3) National Member

 

[Captain Morgan]

The power is managed by the regulator and or the ECU of the vehicle.

The battery and alternator only supply current, they do not manage the current in the electrical system. The voltage regulator has the specific purpose of managing the electrical current produced by the battery and alternator.


Modern designs do away with the voltage regulator altogether; voltage regulation is now a function of the electronic control unit (ECU).


As long as the engine is running, all of the power for the accessories is delivered by the alternator. The battery is actually a load on the charging system. The only time that the battery would supply power with the engine running is when the current capacity of the alternator is exceeded or when engine is at a very low idle.

Current Demand and Flow:
If you have an alternator that can produce 120 amps of current (max) and the the total current demand from the electrical accessories (including the battery) is only 20 amps, the alternator will only produce the necessary current (20 amps) to maintain the target voltage (which is determined by the alternator's internal voltage regulator). Remember that the alternator monitors the electrical system's voltage. If the voltage starts to fall below the target voltage (approximately 13.8 volts depending on the alternator's design), the alternator produces more current to keep the voltage up. When the demand for current is low, the full current capacity of the alternator is not used/produced (a 120 amp alternator does not continuously produce 120 amps unless there is a sufficient current draw).


When winching for example, I could turn off the engine and let the battery and physical connection (clean battery posts) shoulder the load. This is what a 900 cca battery is designed for. But if I did that long enough I could deplete the battery and leave myself stranded. I could have someone rev the engine while pulling the current but why let the alternator supply the current and put strain on it as % use?

The best choice would be to let the engine idle in order to keep my vehicle running and let the alternator supply current back to the battery and supplement part of the load.

For applications where the vehicle can not be running during sustained current consumption, then it is a matter of having a large amount of amp hours aH available, not cold cranking amps. This would be accomplished with deep cycle batteries in parallel. All deep cycle batteries have a rating for how many hours they can deliver a load per hour.

The deep cycle batteries are not tied to the vehicle primary battery and while they would be charged simultaneous as the primary battery, they are isolated and don't contribute to starting or overall vehicle function.

The alternator would be responsible for charging the deep cycles and would see them as a part of the overall load. The load would be the current draw deep cycle batteries in parallel.

For applications that require short quick bursts of additional current such as a second amplifier a large capacitor(s) can be used.


I had a better posting for this but I botched the TAB and closed it and had to start over . . .



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[jjbusa]

I wonder if they make this for the gen 2

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[Canadian Expy]

I wonder if they make this for the gen 2

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They make a kit for 2004-2007 part #100-335

 

[Thermo]

Tony, i know you are going to laugh with this, but you are correct. But, with that being said, a winch is a unique situation where unless you are running dual 250 amp alternators, the likelihood of powering everything off of "the alternator" is not possible. So, yes, during winch operation, you do suck some out of the battery during the heavy pulls. But at the same time, how long are you doing those long, hard pulls, 2 minutes, maybe a slight bit longer? This is not enough to seriously drain a battery. Granted, with the newer vehicles, doing these heavy draws like a winch can cause other issues with the ECU not playing nice and tossing all sorts of funny error codes since it will see the sensors not indicating properly. This is why you will find some of the guys running a winch off of a battery by itself and then once the winching is done, reconnecting the battery and recharging it then.

As with any rule, there are situations where the rule is violated with justification. A winch is one of these cases. But running a stereo in my opinion is not.

 

[Canadian Expy]

I never thought running dual batteries would cause so much talk
Good stuff guys, I like the fact that we all have good opinions and info on stuff here!!

 

[Captain Morgan]

Hi Thermo,

100% correct as usual . . I made the analogy to contrast pulling a lot of current like I do for shorter times or pulling lesser current for longer times. Although, when I get to winchen it might be longer than you think. I get ambitious. Also, I think you've already mentioned this, wet batteries and deep cycle batts are different animals.

Not putting yourself in either situation to where your battery is too low, and having clean connections is common to both of them.

.

 

[DetroitDarin]

will dual batteries add horsepower?


I'm kidding. Just dug this up as I research dual batteries. Great thread.

 

[sgtowing]

will dual batteries add horsepower?


I'm kidding. Just dug this up as I research dual batteries. Great thread.

That's a lot of digging.

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[DetroitDarin]

Very cool info here:

How to make a cheap isolated dual-battery setup for $50 - Expedition Portal

 

[splintrcel]

It sounds like a progressively harder procedure due to all the beer but i will look into acutally doing this. I have had some electical projects i wanted to due so this would be a perfect addition.