Auxiliary Battery Setup For Landcruiser 200 Series - Public Forum - Kedron Owners Group Inc.
Just wondering what method others have adopted for setting up their auxiliary battery and connection through to Anderson Plug. Costs mentioned below also include wiring to trailer plug. It appears that there are two schools of thought on setting up a system to provide a battery for running accessories such as a fridge in rear of wagon. To date the following two options have been suggested to me.
One is to leave the factory installed cranking batteries in situ and install a third auxiliary battery in the rear left side of the engine bay solely to run accessories; this requires relocation of some critical components. I am wary about moving vehicle components because of potential damage and impact on warranty. Quoted cost about $1,200.
The second method is to upgrade each of the two existing batteries so that the main battery becomes the sole cranking battery and the second becomes an auxilary battery to run accessories. A quote received on this basis is to upgrade the main battery to a Century 'Overlander' 17 plate 700 CCA and a Century MP600 as auxilary battery in conjunction with a Rotronics 2 stage Independent Charge/Isolator system. It is claimed that this type of charging system is superior to a Parallel system in that they charge each battery separately rather than in parallel mode where both, or all, batteries are charged concurrently. The 2 stage independent system therefore charges the auxilary battery significantly quicker. Cost $2,400.
My objective is to keep the system as simple and cost effective as possible. Maybe I am stating the obvious here to technically minded people but any feedback from other's experience in installing dual batteries and a charge/isolator system would be appreciated.
Sheesh those prices are a bit rich IMO.
I have been looking into the battery question and I think my final decision will be to seperate the batteries but I'm still waiting a while to see the results from what others have done.
I have also seen the 3rd battery option and I wont be going that path either as I dont like the idea of moving the vital bits closer to the motor,heat from motor and exhaust I reckon this would cause more problems.
ARB had installed a dual battery controller and a solenoid to separate the two starting batteries in my 100 series tug.
The problem I found was, if either battery is low on power forget starting it’s not going to happen.
I scanned the net for information and finally bit the bullet; pulled out all the wiring ARB had installed and fitted a 3rd battery with a Redarc Smart Start Dual Battery Isolator.
Defiantly not a straight forward job as the vehicle has AHC and I had to fabricate the battery cradle and relay mounting brackets to suit.
All accessories apart from the brake controller now run thru auto reset circuit breakers and or fuses from the 3rd battery; I also fitted dual fused relays to the driving light and fridge circuits.
Check out Optima batteries as the two red top I fitted put out 800cca each and cost $316.00 a piece plus freight.
I opted to leave the engine bay alone, way too hot in there.
My solution a self install was to take advantage of the space both sides of my Black Widow drawer set.
Under the hood I installed a circuit breaker then ran the full size battery cable to the rear of the vehicle.In the rear I installed another circuit breaker and connected that to a starter solenoid then to each of the two AGM 100AH batteries installed either side of the drawer set.The solenoid is controlled by a switch on the dash and is there just in case I need to jump start myself (or as backup charge circuit).
To charge these I installed a DC/DC charger which gets it's supply from the engine bay side of the solenoid protected by a circuit breaker.The charger is controlled by a switch on the dash and will only charge when it senses that a charge is being applied to the engine batteries.I decided on a DC/DC charger because of different battery chemistry and optimising charge on both systems which cannot be achieved when you interconnect 4 batteries.
I installed another circuit breaker in the rear which takes it's feed from the solenoid input for a couple of Anderson plug at the rear of the vehicle.All accessory outlets and an inverter in the rear are connected to the new rear batteries, with the inverter controlled through a relay and switch on the dash.
My auxiliary batteries now reside in a nice cool air-conditioned space that I had little use for rather than the very hot engine bay.