IBS or Blue Sea?

J

jaricbrown

New member
Hello everyone,

I've searched and read quite a bit about a dual battery setup for my vehicle. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger, and so I just had a few questions.

First off, I've got a 2010 Ford Expedition. I've got the rear bucket seats, and am planning on putting the 50 quart ARB fridge there. I won't be parked for extended periods of time, so I won't require solar. I don't want the fridge to kill my primary battery, hence the dual battery setup. I've already had a battery tray welded onto the frame just a few feet away from the primary battery. My questions are as follows:

At first I wanted the National Luna dual battery kit until I read about all the problems. So I've turned my attention to either the IBS kit or buying an ACR from Blue Sea and doing it all myself. Which way should I do it?

My plan is to put a Blue Sea fuse block (probably the Safety Hub 150) somewhere in the vehicle (maybe under the front passenger seat?). That way I can run just one power wire off of the house battery into the vehicle. Off of that fuse block, I want to run a cable for the fridge, for a small(ish) inverter, and, in the future, a 5 channel amp. Is this the best way to go?

Thanks in advance for everyone's response. We're going to be in Asheville for several days in almost exactly a month, and I'm hoping to have everything done by then.
 
Y

Yorkdiver

New member
I have a National Luna and can't wait to get rid of it. I've been looking at the Blue Sea dual battery systems and am thinking of upgrading to them.


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T

takesiteasy

Adventurer
I've had the IBS in my Tacoma for about 4 years and am very happy with it. Works great- OEM battery is a year past it's expected life still going strong and the second battery is also in great shape. I never even think about it anymore.
 
J

jaricbrown

New member
rambrush said:
I used a dual Battery Kit from these folks and have not had any issues.
http://www.hellroaring.com/
Click to expand...

I looked at it... for the price I think I'd just go with Blue Sea. But thank you for the suggestion.

Yorkdiver said:
I have a National Luna and can't wait to get rid of it. I've been looking at the Blue Sea dual battery systems and am thinking of upgrading to them.


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Click to expand...

That seems to be the general consensus. I was considering getting their Weekender fridge, but after reading about the problems (and general lack of satisfaction) with their dual battery system, I decided to stay away from them. I read about a few members here having problems with the fridge too, so that sealed the deal. For the price they charge, you shouldn't have any problems! That's when I decided to get the ARB.

takesiteasy said:
I've had the IBS in my Tacoma for about 4 years and am very happy with it. Works great- OEM battery is a year past it's expected life still going strong and the second battery is also in great shape. I never even think about it anymore.
Click to expand...

This is the kind of information that I was looking for! I know it's a bit more expensive than a Blue Sea system, but I like how easy and clean it is... plus the battery monitor is nice to have! Thank you for your input.
 
B

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
Never had the IBS setup, since I read so many negative reviews. I installed a blue sea ACR in my Tacoma and was very impressed with it. Very clean, simple, heavy duty, easy to install etc. You can get blue sea stuff at just about any marine shop. It can be switched remotely, left on auto, or manually locked off or on, on the actual device. For how simple and effective it is, it's hard to imagine myself choosing something different again.

In my setup the different battery banks were charged by alternator, solar and 12v converter. Everything was always topped off and maintained, never a dead battery or weak start.
 
J

jaricbrown

New member
brianjwilson said:
Never had the IBS setup, since I read so many negative reviews. I installed a blue sea ACR in my Tacoma and was very impressed with it. Very clean, simple, heavy duty, easy to install etc. You can get blue sea stuff at just about any marine shop. It can be switched remotely, left on auto, or manually locked off or on, on the actual device. For how simple and effective it is, it's hard to imagine myself choosing something different again.

In my setup the different battery banks were charged by alternator, solar and 12v converter. Everything was always topped off and maintained, never a dead battery or weak start.
Click to expand...

I'm leaning towards Blue Sea simply because it's cheaper and appears to be more reliable (not saying IBS isn't a good system, but from what I've read on this very forum, it's hard to beat Blue Sea when it comes to reliability. I'm just concerned about the installation. I haven't done a lot of work on vehicle electrical systems... on my previous vehicle, I hard wired the inverter to the battery and installed an aftermarket radio, and that's my limited experience in working with 12 volt systems. How difficult is it to install the Blue Sea setup?
 
Y

Yorkdiver

New member
I haven't picked it up yet, but I'm leaning towards the one below cause it's rated for 500 amps

Blue Sea Systems ML-ACR 12V DC 500A Automatic Charging Relay with Manual Control(apparently I can't post links)



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