i think and it sounds good because my 1st batterie is a starting one and i havent bought the second one yet so i guess ill get a deep cycle. but i would have to run my lights to the starting one right??

 

i might as well post mine up, not sure sure what to do about a switch, i was thinking about putting a boat switch in there, right now i just have disconnet terminals

 

i bought this truck about 1 1/2 yrs ago, and the previous owner had done some wiring to it, i finallly got around to checking it out and was thinking about hooking up a battery or two any advice on the setup that is in there? does it look ok or do i need to modify it? it is a pickup and the wires lead to the bed of the truck, i was thinking of putting them into my truck
box. the yellow wire in the pics is positive and the green is negative, i have taken a pic of as many components as i can see.
thanks for all your help.........

 

Hey there kids, quick question for you. I am a stones throw away from completing my dual battery setup. I've purchased and wired the Painless kit in the engine bay, and the aux. battery and all aux. circuit paraphenelia I've located in an Ammo box in the bed of my pickup. My original intent was to use captured grounds for all of my aux. circuits to ensure isolation however I'm not now sure if that's even necessary. Two questions for the group:

1. With my Optima Group 34 Yellow top sealed up in an ammo can in the bed of my pickup, am I looking at any off-gassing ignition danger? Optimas aren't supposed to off-gas as they're sealed units but I want to verify. Anyone got an optima in a sealed container? A sealed container with circuit breakers and relays that may put off a very, very, very tiny spark?

2. Would it be bad to isolate one battery from the other by not grounding my aux. battery to the frame or should they share a common ground? Any inherent risk in isolating my batteries in this way?

Thanks.

 

Sealed container with ignition source is a bad idea. The batteries say they are sealed, but can still gas if they are overcharged. If you want the ammo can for rain protection, put the relays and wiring in there but leave the battery out. No reason to protect the battery anyway, they do just fine out in the rain.

 

I can always drill a few holes to allow for air circulation. Would that be sufficient?

 

My yellow top Optima finally died.............

I decided it was time to go with Dual Batteries, today I fabricated the tray and battery clamp. Tomorrow I'll make the mount for the overflow tank, it's being relocated behind the grill foward of the radiator.



I still need to pick up a few cables and battery clamps to run the isolator system......

I'm running red tops, because they have a 3 year warranty vs. 1 year with the yellow tops.....

 

an isolator similar to the hellroaring products is the Orion MBR70. it is not made anymore but you can still find them on ebay. they were initially designed for high output audio setups. with this setup, the vehicle still runs off the main battery while the accessories (winch, sounds, etc) run off the auxillary batteries. you would need to do some extra wiring with switches if you want to use the auxillary batteries to start the car in case the starter battery dies. they are good if you want to use say a red top for a starter battery and a yellow top or blue top for winching/sounds/whatever. it is an active regulator/isolator so it cannot get wet.

http://www.orioncaraudio.com/alley/pdfs/mbr70.pdf

Used ones sell for as low as $50.