Who has a second battery installed?

saulgoodman · Post by **saulgoodman** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 1:30 pm

Looking at adding a second battery for leisure use. Nothing crazy. My friend has one in his Westy that he installed himself. Seems like a pretty pro setup so I'd like to try my hand. His advice to me was to ask a forum so here I am. Where did you put your battery? What type of system did you do? Where is a good place to get solenoids and wiring? How difficult is the install for someone who is moderately handy? I want to be able to isolate the ignition battery (which I think is what most people want too) but I also want to keep it simple because I'm no mechanic. I'm not against having a manual switch somewhere so lets hear it. What is every ones experience and opinions with these second battery mods.

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 2:32 pm

I think DeliBK eventually installed one, there was some discussion about it here: http://www.delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=17020

For the record, my BEP VSR is still working fine after 5 years.

saulgoodman · Post by **saulgoodman** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 3:16 pm

Awesome. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Did you find a nice, out of the way spot to install the second battery? I've only had my Delica about a week now so I'm hoping to install it in a way that I won't have to mess with it in the future or hinder any future mods. I know that might be tough since I have no idea what mods I may do in the future. Thanks for the info though!

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:28 pm

On an L300 the battery box is large enough for two batteries side by side like so:

: batteries.jpg (63.89 KiB) Viewed 9799 times

Dual-battery L400s had a different battery tray in the engine bay. You might need to find or make one. There's some discussion about it, including pictures of a factory dual-battery intallation, here: http://www.delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.ph ... ry#p124054

and a thread about making a new battery tray here: http://www.delicaclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=37613

saulgoodman · Post by **saulgoodman** » Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:00 am

Awesome! Thanks for the info. Seems like I have to make a username for delica club forum. Been popping up when I google delica stuff and need a username to access all that juicy data.

DeliTan · Post by **DeliTan** » Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:30 pm

The username you are using now is fine. I assume you asked the real Saul Goodman for permission…

L400 batteries…
Stock L400s come with either one or 2. If you have 2, they are not isolated and meant to work together. If what you want is a battery that you can use without draining the starting battery, you have at least 2 choices:
1) electrically separate the 2 batteries under the hood,
2) add another isolated battery.

Which ever way you go, there are a few things to think about.
(beware; opinions below)

Cheap battery isolators, the type with 3 screws, are crap. All they are is 2 diodes to isolate the batteries, but allow the alternator to charge them both. Sounds good but the diode drops the charging voltage by at least .7 volts plus the resistance of additional wiring, so your batteries will never fully charge. Perhaps you have the ability to tweek your voltage regulator?

What I did was add a non gassing (sealed) battery inside the van and connected it by a solenoid for charging when needed. You could do this via your ignition switch but I chose to put in a system that would start charging the “house” battery when I pushed a button, and disconnect it when the ignition goes off. Also I put in a volt meter to monitor both battery systems separately.

Pix in my album...

john

takeuchi · Post by **takeuchi** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:28 am

DeliTan wrote:What I did was add a non gassing (sealed) battery inside the van and connected it by a solenoid for charging when needed. You could do this via your ignition switch but I chose to put in a system that would start charging the “house” battery when I pushed a button, and disconnect it when the ignition goes off. Also I put in a volt meter to monitor both battery systems separately.

Like this?

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... tup-for-50

DeliTan · Post by **DeliTan** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 10:35 am

takeuchi wrote:
Like this?

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... tup-for-50

Essentially yes. But I chose to have an SCR controlled by a push button to connect the 2 battery systems (at my call, rather than having it on all the time the ignition is on) set so that when powering off the ignition drops the connection, in case I forgot

john

ChuckBlack · Post by **ChuckBlack** » Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:59 pm

Mine originally came with two batteries (Jasper model) but the previous owner got them out and installed an Ultra Deep cycle Odissey Battery in it... I now have a second Auxiliary one which is charged by a solar cells witch is running my fridge, extra lights, radio, etc... Mounted a 40A rocker switch in parallel just in case it needs some maintenance charge while driving.

sealica · Post by **sealica** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 3:41 pm

I was asking a friend (electrician with a boat) about this because my first plan was to just get a second batt in the battery bay (my van came wired for a single batt, but the negative terminal is going to need work anyhow) ...

He was quite adamant that the way to go is just 2 x 6V in series which will handle being discharged better than 2 x 12V in parallel. That's what he uses on his boat. Said money spent on 2 x 12V was better spent with 2 x 6V + solar panel.

My only needs are LED lighting (yet to be installed) and the ability to play music from the van stereo without worry - but I'd like to add capacity for a computer fan, running a laptop, and a fridge.

~~~

The 6V in series does seem intriguing and while it's popular among boaters and land installations I don't see much discussion about using it as a starting battery. My main concern would be getting a replacement battery if it died on a road trip ... I don't think the wiring would be interchangeable with a single 12V, but perhaps - yes?

sealica · Post by **sealica** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 4:00 pm

One thing I was trying to research to aid in pricing out battery options was maximum battery dimensions. I can measure the battery bay, but since the batteries have to be wiggled in there / tilted - I don't think that's going to be a perfect match. Any thoughts?

Overlanderjay · Post by **Overlanderjay** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 11:39 pm

Were to begin signnnnn your buddy with the boat probaly has a lot of space to install 6volt gulf cart batteries but you don't, there to tall to install in a L300 battery compartment and they are deep cycles not a great choice for starting batteries . Just add in a second battery the same size you already have and install a battery charge relay to keep them isolated ,then wire in your accessories to the second battery Cheers Jay

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:52 pm

Capacity-wise, there's little advantage to using two 6V batteries in series rather than two 12V in parallel. Mechanically though, 6 volt batteries have larger cells and thicker plates which tends to make them more robust and last longer.

The advantage of using two 12V batteries in parallel is that you can isolate one, drain the other one, and still have power to start the engine: you can't do that with a pair of 6V batteries. Also, if one of your 12V batteries fails you can disconnect it and drive on the other one (and buy a replacement from any auto store). If one of your 6V batteries fails you're stuck.

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