Third battery wiring question...

Texan1983

Adventurer
So i am still building my 04 CTD ram into an expo rig and am feeling alittle stumped...

I want to add an isolated third (house battery) in the back sleeping area to run the fridge, air compressor, water pump, and various lights and small electronics. obvously with a seperate fuse pannel.

My question is with the dual battery that these diesel trucks use, which battery do i connect to? what whould be a good isolator to use? is there a cheaper one that i can manually switch to connect and charge the third battery while driving and switch off to save starting batteries when truck is off? or would the system from national luna be best in this application?

and another side note, which battery would you connect the winch to?

Thanks for the help!
 

bfdiesel

Explorer
I would connect to the battery closest to the winch.
Both batteries are connected together so connect the third battery to either. As for the connection for the third battery there are continuous duty solenoids that can be keyed off the ignition, switches, plugs or systems like national luna. You are limited only by whatever budget you decide.
 

General Automag

Adventurer
So i am still building my 04 CTD ram into an expo rig and am feeling alittle stumped...

I want to add an isolated third (house battery) in the back sleeping area to run the fridge, air compressor, water pump, and various lights and small electronics. obvously with a seperate fuse pannel.

My question is with the dual battery that these diesel trucks use, which battery do i connect to? what whould be a good isolator to use? is there a cheaper one that i can manually switch to connect and charge the third battery while driving and switch off to save starting batteries when truck is off? or would the system from national luna be best in this application?

and another side note, which battery would you connect the winch to?

Thanks for the help!


You may want to check out BEP Marine's switch http://www.bepmarine.com/home-mainm...ote-operated-motorised-battery-switch-275amps which is used in the IronMan4x4.com 275-amp dual battery kit http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/motorised275amp.html. We installed the IronMan4x4 275-amp dual battery kit in a full size Chevrolet and plan to put the same setup in an FJ40 Land Cruiser. The install and wiring is relatively simple once you study the diagrams. For diesels which have two starting batteries, the setup is the same. The IronMan4x4 kit is a good deal when you consider the length of wires, LED indicator, and toggle override switch which are included. We ended up using marine battery terminals on all of the batteries which makes removing the batteries easier.

Also check out Hellroaring's website at http://www.hellroaring.com/. They have great diagrams http://www.hellroaring.com/rv.php and they are more than willing to spend a lot of time with you over the telephone answering basic questions if you're not that familiar with electrical and wiring.

Because we don't need trailer brakes and one 12-volt AGM (Optima Yellowtop) battery will power our trailer needs, I'm being ultra-frugal and am simply swapping out the trailer battery with the always fully charged 2nd battery under the hood. Our camping outings and trips are usually no longer than 4-5 days maximum, so needing the charge the trailer (house) battery is really not needed.

In the end, it's VERY comforting knowing that you have at least two fully-charged batteries at all times.
 

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