Best dual battery "kit"?

[RAM4ROKS]

I am thinking that with the (soon) addition of a second winch to the Power Wagon, a dual battery setup would be advisable. I want a good, reliable dual battery setup and I would like it to come as close to a plug and play kit as possible as I get very nervous dealing with electrical stuff. What would y'all recommend???

[chrisjameswagner]

I've got a yellow top tucked away in the bed with a solenoid under the hood coming off the main battery. At ignition it trips the solenoid to charge the rear battery and when ignition is off, disconnects the charge. Battery's been in there for 2.5 years now. I've got an inverter connected to it and I've never been for want of power on the aux battery (although I never draw much; lights, fan, phones, computers, Wynter 65 qt. cooler).

Don't have any pics but maybe I can post some up when I get a moment.

[BigRed2007]

I have the T-Max Dual Battery System
http://www.amazon.com/T-MAX-47-3800-Dua ... B0026JCNJE

It is a pretty straight forward install.

This is almost identical to my set up, I have breakers at both batteries and breakers or fuses at all accessories.

You need battery cables to link the two batteries and a circuit breaker or two.
http://www.amazon.com/Bussmann-CB185-15 ... it+breaker

[Ducky's Dad]

I used a Painless Performance weatherproof solenoid kit, switched from a toggle on the dash. I don't trust anything that's automatic. If you want an automated charging/switching system, look at marine stuff, particularly Blue Sea Systems. There are some good threads on Expedition Portal about your options.

[Cactus Red]

I'm an old sailor. So I like to keep it really simple. On/Off. No controller, no solenoid, just on/off. I use a Blue Sea's Marine switch to isolate/combine batteries. My batteries are connected all the time unless I want to isolate the "house" battery that runs the ARB fridge and HAM radio. The switch can handle the current when winching, and our winches really like to have those extra amps on tap. Details of the switch are in the Cactus Red build thread.

Mark

Dennis Miller "You can't order black coffee anymore. It's un-creamed..."

[azracer]

I have one of these in my boat and it has been trouble free. I use battery 2 for the house and switch it to battery one for starting and running when camping. I set it to 1 & 2 when using boat and running the motor I never use battery 2 alone as that is the house battery and is never used for starting or running the boat only for the house circuits. Will work fine for those who don't care for electronic or automatic battery isolation stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems- ... S0XXDT1FY8


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[TommyG]

National Luna makes a complete kit, but it is pricey (like AEV pricey):

http://www.mainlineoverland.com/collect ... controller

[bstefanic]

I've looked at this system in the past http://www.kodiakinc.com/powersystems/d ... ykits.html

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Cactus Red]

With any of the controller/combiners, look at the max amperage thru the unit. Very few can handle the 400+ amp draw of the winch when combined.

Dennis Miller "You can't order black coffee anymore. It's un-creamed..."

[dogcar3]

I got a 200 amp solenoid off ebay. Both my winches on my second battery. Solenoid switches when key is turned. Never had any problems with anything. Even when doing some hard winching. I do also have a high idle kit and keep duty cycle to less than %50 when winching.