Battery setups!

[natemc]

What do the expedition crowd on here prefer? I'll do some research tonight when I get home, but for now I'll start this one.
Do you guys prefer multiple 6 volts or dual 12volts? Single 12 and two 6volts? School me on you opinion and chosen route.

 

[Blue85]

I think it's a small (but growing) crowd here on CK5, so you should rely more on advice from expedition portal.

I've never seen 6Vs on trucks, just RVs. What will you be powering and for how long? In a real RV you may boondock for days, but an expedition vehicle tends to move every day, lowering your capacity requirement. Plus you really don't spend much time "living" in the vehicle so that lights are on for hours, there is typically no water pump, etc.

My setup is just a stock-type starting battery and then a cheap marine battery in the Aux tray. This has a separate small fuse block to run the dome lights, PC, CB, GPS, stereo system and refrigerator. I've only camped from it in the summer when we have like 17+ hours of daylight and I've never actually sat in the vehicle watching movies at night or whatever, so there's never been any real stress on the system. If there was, the starting battery should be fine, so I can just start it up and charge. The fridge runs 24 hours on it and never seems to make a difference. Now if you ran a thermoelectric cooler instead of a compressor fridge, that would require a lot more power.

 

[natemc]

That's pretty much what I was finding. A good starting/winching battery and a decent marine/deep cycle for interior power. I'll eventually have a shower setup, but it probably won't matter since the heat exchanger will probably require the rig to run. I have a local shop that will build an alternator for me that will be rated at 150 with the small case and they're will to see what they can get out of the larger case.

All in all. I think I'll stick to dual 12v mounted in the engine bay.

 

[COCHEV]

That's pretty much what I was finding. A good starting/winching battery and a decent marine/deep cycle for interior power. I'll eventually have a shower setup, but it probably won't matter since the heat exchanger will probably require the rig to run. I have a local shop that will build an alternator for me that will be rated at 150 with the small case and they're will to see what they can get out of the larger case.

All in all. I think I'll stick to dual 12v mounted in the engine bay.

Does a high output alt like that have a lot more drag and or require two belts? Don't some people run dual alts? Are you putting all this in your burb?

 

[mrk5]

Not sure I have a true expedition set up, but I wanted something that could handle my electrical load along with doing a fair job of handing the winch. I set mine up with dual 12v batteries. They are both Deka Intimidators. The alternator I have is a Powermaster 140a unit. It's a CS130 body. I wired the batteries in parallel through a switch that allows you to choose both batteries or just one.

 

[natemc]

I haven't decided on how much alternator I want yet. I believe a 150 will run just fine as stock. I just know what is in it now can't handle winching. It overheated and shut down this winter in the snow. As far as dual alts, anyone on here run them?

 

[ryoken]

this is where reserve capacity and battery group really come into play... a 140 with a good battery bank will handle pretty much anything normal you can throw at it... not including some crazy comp stereo stuff, etc....

I'm setting the K5 up for dual alt/s.. tho their function will be a "system main" one and a "welder/backup system" one..

 

[natemc]

I'm setting the K5 up for dual alt/s.. tho their function will be a "system main" one and a "welder/backup system" one..

The welder setup I had ran by this guy. He wasn't to confident with it but I think it's doable.

 

[Blue85]

I run dual alternators. They are both stock CS series. One just charges the main battery and runs the regular vehicle stuff. The other feeds the battery isolator, which charges both batteries. It's easy to compensate for diode isolator drop with CS alternators by running an extra wire to them. You do need the 4-terminal isolator that lets you "excite" the alt. Otherwise, it sees no batteries connected and won't start charging.

I'm not sure what I'll do when I get a winch, but I was thinking of a bigger marine battery for that. It's tempting to throw both alternators at it, but it might be safer to use just one. If the winch eats an alt I can still drive out, assuming I find some other way to get un-stuck. No matter what wiring scheme is chosen, you can always resort to moving battery terminals around or connecting jumper cables under your hood if you get in a pinch.

 

[mrk5]

I run dual alternators. They are both stock CS series. One just charges the main battery and runs the regular vehicle stuff. The other feeds the battery isolator, which charges both batteries. It's easy to compensate for diode isolator drop with CS alternators by running an extra wire to them. You do need the 4-terminal isolator that lets you "excite" the alt. Otherwise, it sees no batteries connected and won't start charging.

I remember the first time I installed an isolator I tried testing it before connecting the batteries and I thought it was broken. Finally figured out it needed to have a load on it.