dual battery - switch & Isolator

[barnabus1999]

I got these batteries to replace my optimas. Mainly for hifi and emergency use. Been into the Noco brand and have a charger and jumper also.

My tacoma has a Stinger isolator. I don't think the configuration is setup for my needs. I want to listen to music with out the truck running. Was told by a local stereo shop to install a switch to run only off of 2nd battery when engine is not running. If 2nd battery is drained the truck will still start of of main battery if the goal.

Sound right?

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[made in china]

I have a pretty nice setup on my boat, it runs dual batteries. One is primarily for starting and necessities like navigation lighting, GPS and pumps. The second battery is basically just for my stereo system.

To manage them, I use a battery switch between the alternator that has 4 positions: ALL OFF, BATT 1, BATT 2, 1+2.
I also use a Blue Seas ACR to handle charging distribution.

The batt switch almost always stays in BATT 1, that connects just BATT 1 to the main electrical of the boat. When storing, I can select OFF and both batts are disconnected. Bonus, if the BATT 1 were to die and my stereo BATT 2 was still charged, I can switch to BATT 2 and it will disconnect BATT 1 and allow BATT 2 to start the engine. I never use 1+2.

The ACR goes between the alternator and BATT 2 to charge BATT 2 when the engine is running or if I am using a charger on BATT 1. The ACR senses when a charge voltage is available and automatically sends some charge current to BATT 2 if BATT 2 is below the available charging voltage. It also prevents backfeed of BATT 2 when the engine is started.
Works excellent and would be awesome in any vehicle needing a similar setup.

m-Series Automatic Charging Relay - 12/24V DC 65A - Blue Sea Systems

Automatically combines batteries during charging, isolates batteries when discharging or at rest.

www.bluesea.com

 

[barnabus1999]

I have a pretty nice setup on my boat, it runs dual batteries. One is primarily for starting and necessities like navigation lighting, GPS and pumps. The second battery is basically just for my stereo system.

To manage them, I use a battery switch between the alternator that has 4 positions: ALL OFF, BATT 1, BATT 2, 1+2.
I also use a Blue Seas ACR to handle charging distribution.

The batt switch almost always stays in BATT 1, that connects just BATT 1 to the main electrical of the boat. When storing, I can select OFF and both batts are disconnected. Bonus, if the BATT 1 were to die and my stereo BATT 2 was still charged, I can switch to BATT 2 and it will disconnect BATT 1 and allow BATT 2 to start the engine. I never use 1+2.

The ACR goes between the alternator and BATT 2 to charge BATT 2 when the engine is running or if I am using a charger on BATT 1. The ACR senses when a charge voltage is available and automatically sends some charge current to BATT 2 if BATT 2 is below the available charging voltage. It also prevents backfeed of BATT 2 when the engine is started.
Works excellent and would be awesome in any vehicle needing a similar setup.

m-Series Automatic Charging Relay - 12/24V DC 65A - Blue Sea Systems

Automatically combines batteries during charging, isolates batteries when discharging or at rest.

www.bluesea.com

Much appreciated

 

[barnabus1999]

I have a pretty nice setup on my boat, it runs dual batteries. One is primarily for starting and necessities like navigation lighting, GPS and pumps. The second battery is basically just for my stereo system.

To manage them, I use a battery switch between the alternator that has 4 positions: ALL OFF, BATT 1, BATT 2, 1+2.
I also use a Blue Seas ACR to handle charging distribution.

The batt switch almost always stays in BATT 1, that connects just BATT 1 to the main electrical of the boat. When storing, I can select OFF and both batts are disconnected. Bonus, if the BATT 1 were to die and my stereo BATT 2 was still charged, I can switch to BATT 2 and it will disconnect BATT 1 and allow BATT 2 to start the engine. I never use 1+2.

The ACR goes between the alternator and BATT 2 to charge BATT 2 when the engine is running or if I am using a charger on BATT 1. The ACR senses when a charge voltage is available and automatically sends some charge current to BATT 2 if BATT 2 is below the available charging voltage. It also prevents backfeed of BATT 2 when the engine is started.
Works excellent and would be awesome in any vehicle needing a similar setup.

m-Series Automatic Charging Relay - 12/24V DC 65A - Blue Sea Systems

Automatically combines batteries during charging, isolates batteries when discharging or at rest.

www.bluesea.com

One curiosity, you don't use 1&2. I have 2 amps. Would you get better sound and power to hifi using 1&2? When I installed second battery dynamic headrange or speaker control was improved. I thought anyway.

 

[monks]

I got these batteries to replace my optimas. Mainly for hifi and emergency use. Been into the Noco brand and have a charger and jumper also.

My tacoma has a Stinger isolator. I don't think the configuration is setup for my needs. I want to listen to music with out the truck running. Was told by a local stereo shop to install a switch to run only off of 2nd battery when engine is not running. If 2nd battery is drained the truck will still start of of main battery if the goal.

Sound right?

View attachment 1772417

Are both of those batteries similar construction, like AGM or lead acid? If they aren;t you should add a smart charger for the one that isn't on the alternator. If they are you can use a solenoid between the two that will pick up when the ignition is in the on position. https://forum.expeditionportal.com/...eap-isolated-dual-battery-setup-for-50.77503/

 

[made in china]

One curiosity, you don't use 1&2. I have 2 amps. Would you get better sound and power to hifi using 1&2? When I installed second battery dynamic headrange or speaker control was improved. I thought anyway.

In my application, the start battery is a lead acid, and the stereo battery is an Optima Blue Top. 1+2 would connect them in parallel together, which is not a good idea to do to 2 different types of batteries, or even 2 of the same batteries that are not of the same state of charge.

If you had 2 of the exact same batteries, both bought at the same time and both charged up to the same level, yes, you can combine them on 1+2. Whether or not that helps your audio, depends on a lot. Such as:
- the condition of the power and ground cabling and voltage drop.
- are the amps drawing enough current to stress one battery.
- the behavior of your amps when dealing with less than ideal power conditions. Heavily regulated amps will try to do their best to maintain performance, but some amps do rely on stable power delivery.

I have a 1000w RMS amp in my car, it pulls above 80 amps regularly when I am bumping the beats. The wiring is all US made marine wiring (about the only way to get high quality wire these days, can be used in cars, trucks and RVs too. Most wire nowadays is CCA, copper-clad aluminum. Garbage), 200A fuse on a stock sized Costco lead acid battery.
The problem for my car is if I get into slow traffic and my alternator is spinning too slowly, the voltage drops so bad the automatic transmission begins to wig out, but funny enough the music isn't even affected because I use a highly regulated Class D amplifier.
So, I'd be curious what setup you have, because on a common car battery, my main issue is keeping RPMs up to keep the battery charge up for the rest of the car.
Back when I played with even bigger setups, we relied on bigger alternators, wiring and stiffening caps near the amps. Most common batteries (except maybe compact car half-size batteries) are fine as long as the charging system and wiring is healthy. My biggest reason for running Optima batts back then was to avoid battery leakage that many lead acids do, which damages a car over time.

 

[barnabus1999]

I'm in an apartment and can't charge my batteries. Got some decent Noco equipment. Don't drive my truck as much. Just want to take care of her.

 

[Flopsweat]

I'm in an apartment and can't charge my batteries. Got some decent Noco equipment. Don't drive my truck as much. Just want to take care of her.

Overlanders (folks who drive their trucks on long trips offroad) are way into dual battery systems. Get on one of their forums and they'll have all kinds of info.