i know the alternator charges the battery/pretty much is the battery while the engine is running. im simply looking to make sure that i dont kill my one and only battery with all these accessories i have/am going to be adding. i have 11 lights on my roof rack, and more to come. when i turn on one set (front ones), then rear/back ones, they become dimmer. i do not want this.

and ill tell you when i run my lights for long periods when the vehicle is off. while were camping. my friends and i enjoy a good game of poker, and our lanterns arent bright enough. we enjoy having ample light, and my lights provide this. also its quite nice to be able to have plenty of light for setting up tents/firepit/whatnot. its getting real dark real quick now, and we dont get out till later, so our mag-lites just arent cutting it anymore.

i also will be getting a winch for christmas, component speakers within the next few weeks, and the compressor. i would love for everything to be able to run at peak performance all at once. why not?

 

I've got the dualies for jumpstarting purposes mainly, but also for those reaaaaally cold mornings when 24 volts is more appetizing to the starter. With the isolator I have, I can switch them together. Picture this: you're tailgating at a football game, rocking the tunes and watching the pregame on a TV hooked up to your inverter. After a few hours, everything shuts off, your battery went dead... big deal, flip a switch, start it up, and charge it back up. Or, you leave your lights on over night and have a dead battery in the morning. Flip a switch and you're on your way, not even late. I also put the 2nd battery in for future aspirations, namely a winch. I wouldn't need it, but with 2 batteries you can have a 24 volt DC welder under your hood too.

 

LOL..those are the same reasons he wants one.

 

Uhm, nothing will fit under our hood LOL

why not get a battery protector? cuts off the pos terminal to the battery if it gets close to draining.

 

ok well i like that idea. so ur saying i should hook the batteries up in case i have trouble starting up?

right now im just looking at having this second battery to run most of my accessories, and all i really need to know is how to wire it up so that its charged by the stock alternator. thats what i would like help with please.

 

You sure about that? I'm not good at counting, but see how many you can count under my hood!

http://community.webshots.com/myphot...ecurity=dTQzXo

 

now i KNOW you've already read this completely...
http://www.off-road.com/chevy/reviews/hellroaring/

now... reread it.

we used a marine switch on firetrucks, that is like an a/b/ab switch. both would charge from the alt though

 

oh, i meant WITHOUT the ricer intake

 

Sorry man you lost me, what was I looking for in that review?

 

back to my question please.

how do i charge the battery sitting in the trunk from the stock alternator? i do not wish to mount this battery under the hood, no matter how much it makes sense.

 

this is for you north.

battery relocation kit + the above.

 

I must have misunderstood you at some point... As far as charging it you'll need some sort of seperation device (isolator is probably your best bet) and then just run some 4 awg back there, and you'll also need to find a decent ground back there too. You need the isolator because if you just have the 2 batteries connected they will constantly go back and forth trying to equal out and eventually "kill" each other. This is my 3rd vehicle with dual batteries, the first one was way back when and I found this out the hard way. If you just want an easier place to wire to to, 4 awg and a distribution block will do it.

 

Here's another GREAT thread...
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...tery_setup.htm
just do some reading. and click on the links at the bottom...

 

sweet. this might not be so hard after all. i guess i was more confusing then i meant. all i was asking was how to charge this sucker.

 

HOLY crap! http://www.emotoman.com/dualbatt/dualbatt.html
he says almost verbatim what you wanted...
just you have to be an EE to do it LOL

 

i have to be EE? what is that?

 

Electrical Engineer...thats why we have roger brown!

 

gotcha. yea i guess my skills arent quite as good as his.

i do have some pretty sweet skills you can borrow if you want...like numchuck skills, bowhunting skills...been a long time since i could quote that. feels good.

 

but best of all...do you have computer hacking skillz?? if not you are wasting my time..LOL :pat:

 

If all you want is a simple isolation circuit, the Painless Wiring dual battery kit (essentially just a solenoid and some wires) is about as simple as they come - and with their instructions you could leave it for you dog to wire it up.

If you don't want any isolation between the batteries, just run some 2 or 4 gauge wire from the positive post of the starting battery to the positive post of the rear battery and then ground the rear battery to the frame.