Transcription
[Music] hi guys welcome my name is michael today we're going to talk about connecting two batteries together so that you have a spare battery also known as an auxiliary battery or a house battery for all your accessories so when you're off the grid you don't run down your starting battery because that would be bad everything we talk about on this channel will help to prepare you for long-term adventure off the beaten path now hey if you guys go out there and google dual battery setup you know you're going to get flooded with the full spectrum of possibilities in fact i'm installing a redarc battery management system on the 80 but in the meantime i want to connect my batteries together so i'm going to show you how now if you're interested in the battery management uh install that i'm doing or already following that series fear not it's coming up in the future subscribe and you'll see those videos okay what if you want to go out into the garage with a couple of parts a few parts and about 75 bucks and have a dual battery set up that's exactly what we're going to talk about today so let's head on over way over there to the dedicated fully equipped and highly sophisticated overland bound garage and get started [Music]
okay yeah i'm kidding we rent we have an understanding landlord thanks doug you'll see dogs kids screaming yelling garbage trucks what is super important with any dual battery setup you have to isolate your starting battery from your spare battery otherwise when you're off the grid you're way out there you're listening to your music you're charging your phones you'll actually be draining both batteries at once and you won't be able to start that would be super bad so you need specific parts in order to isolate separate the batteries unless there's a charge going to them so you need certain parts it's simple let's look at those parts right now i'll show you what they are and i'll talk just a little bit about them and then we'll get that install started you guys will be prepared to do your own all right let's look at these parts quickly now there's the best way to do a thing with the best components and then there's the way you can afford and this is the way i can afford right now so i thought i'd share that with you it's about 75 bucks now all of these parts are durable and they will last that's important for overland travel because we're extreme for our vehicle so i won't ever show you anything that it's like i think it's going to break right never so this is all good but i'll tell you a couple of upgrades i'll make in the future all right this is the heart of it right here this is the heart of it this is the solenoid that disconnects the battery unless there is power going to the solenoid so your starting battery goes in one side this goes out the other side to your house battery and unless your ignition is on the batteries are not connected so you won't drain down your starting battery when you're using your accessories so in terms of functionality that's the most important in terms of safety great big old fuses one on each battery because we power a lot of stuff and this will prevent fire in the case of a extreme short so great big 80 amp fuses one for each battery now these lugs here i will improve in the future they'll work for today but they will make sure that we have a solid contact on our solenoid and to the fuses and this is shrink wrap tubing thick walled shrink wrap tubing which has a shrink ratio of four to one by the way you guys know i will link all this stuff in the description so you can just go and look at it and and see what you want for yourself then upgrade if you want to but that's about it in terms of wiring the 4 gauge stuff is for the battery and the accessories nice and heavy duty it's four gauge and then the uh 12 gauge stuff is for the solenoid just powering the solenoid off and on there's never going to be a heavy draw so it doesn't need to be as heavy gauge let's put it in the truck all right you guys a quick orientation this is my starting battery this is my auxiliary battery i got a video on how i put this in here i'll link it up and then what i need to do is simply put i need to connect this battery through the solenoid to this battery and then i need to connect all of my accessories to this battery and then wire this up to turn off and on with the ignition key that's a quick orientation let's route some wires and get it [Music] installed [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] today [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] um
all right you guys uh all the wiring is done the project is just about complete i'm gonna tidy up some wires it took me just about 10 minutes to do this so if you have any serious commitments you know some important events to go to this is a great project to take i'm kidding it took me all day so give yourself a day to do this i want to point out a couple of things and then we'll follow the electricity so you guys understand how it all works so a couple of things you'll notice i used a lot of hand tools that's because when you're doing delicate work i just like using hand tools because you can feel how much tension is on things when you're tightening it another thing there's no electrical tape in this wiring job should be obvious but you don't use that to do a good clean wiring job and then the eagle eye of you will have noticed that i put 100 amp breaker on the back firewall it's something that i already had it's optional you don't need to do it but this cuts off all my accessories so if i just click this button right here boom just like that the truck goes back to factory wiring all the accessories are off that's all it takes is that switch that's why i have that there i have the two fuses and everything's pretty much buttoned up the last thing i'm going to point out is you guys probably saw that fuse relay box over there that i have uncovered if you're interested in creating a relay fuse box i have another video for that i will link that as well so the thing about the relay box you'll notice it's not solid state all of the wiring is just analog it is a wire that goes to a relay that's so i could diagnose it it's also fairly large that way i can see where every circuit is this vehicle is not an around-the-town vehicle it's an expedition vehicle so i want everything to be non-solid state direct wired connection so that i can maintain it in the field so even when i go with the battery management system here i'll always be able to switch over to uh manual i'll go for any solid state stuff i install on here i'll be able to bypass it and go back to manual that's just a requirement in my opinion all right let's follow the electricity okay you saw from the main battery boom this is my starting battery what feels really good is that now there are no accessories attached to it at all i removed all the accessories so now this is just for the vehicle then my 4 gauge wire went to an 80 amp breaker or sorry not a breaker a fuse 80 amp fuse that's for safety in case i have a catastrophic short that fuse will bust this comes over and a little confusing don't be fooled it comes by the battery but it actually goes right on through to the relay and then from the relay the power this is vehicle charge power goes through another 80 amp fuse over here just for safety and then finally to the positive terminal of the battery now note it passes through the relay when the engine is off like it is now these batteries are completely disconnected are completely disconnected because this relay is open as soon as i turn the key the system will be connected that's so when i start my engine and i get charging power to my starter battery it also is connected to this battery and it will charge the second battery as well now from this battery i have the positive 4 gauge cable going back through my breaker and into my relay box and that's all my accessories again boom all my accessories are now turned off and i'm back to factory wiring okay that's how that works now you can test this relay before you start up the truck and do anything by closing by by connecting it to the positive terminal and negative terminal right here because you can hear it i'm going to show you that in just one second this wire this positive ignition switch wire i'm just lucky this used to be my power antenna it's only powered when the ignition is on so i tapped off here to turn my relay on okay now if all this sounds confusing and it absolutely should i'll have a wiring diagram for you guys to follow okay so you just look at the wiring diagram take it slow and you'll be able to install this dual battery setup yourself let me show you what this relay sounds like when the ignition is going off and on okay we're going to simulate the key being turned on listen no question you know that thing is on all right hey you guys remember we also have an app overlandbound one it's free to use and then we'd love to have you as part of the crew become a member it has not only map resources but it also has that community connection trips and events near you as well and in august expedition mode off-grid tools for serious adventure travel go and check it out overland bound one ios and android thanks let's get back to it now we're going to test the idle's kick down so it might be a little less voltage but what do we got 13.96 almost 14 and i'll bet if i rev the engine they'd go up to 14 charging the auxiliary battery success you guys that is it i expect you to have lots of questions that is a dual battery setup for about 75 bucks so comments i will answer your questions also remember look at the links for all the parts that i use and also check out the wiring diagram because it'll really help solidify how it all works but that's a simple setup that'll keep you from draining your car battery when you're off grid all right you guys thank you for hanging out with me lots more to come until next time outfit and explore you