Dual Battery

[got wake?]

The main reason I need a dual battery setup is to run my 2000 watt continous power inverter and a single battery is not going to last very long. SO I got two yellow top optimas to help me out. It can draw from anywhere from 1.5 amp to 120 amps continous depending what I am running off it. I am really thinking of just wiring them up in parrallel, since I believe using a isolator will make matter worse, since the moment the isolater reconnects to the other battery there will be a massive surge, as compared without using a isolater the batteries will "average" them selves together, assuming I use big enough cables.

Bennett

WTF do you need a 2000 watt inverter for?!!!!(shocked) what are you running off it? i hope not power tools, cause the voltage fluctuations the inverters cause can kill them 120 amps of constant draw, but your new alt should be fine. if you are going to run the inverter at full power when you are parked, just put a penny or nickel in between the pieces to increase the throttle at the throttle body. sorry for not knowing the technical terms, i just know that the piece is connected to the butterfly in the TB.

 

[Bennett2043]

lol, Microwave.... and to power my camping lights, and my popup camper im gonna get this summer. Only for short periods of time obviously. I could have gone the generator route, but most parks won't allow the noise. Not going to run power tools off it, and I understand that the modified sinewave is bad for them. So you think you think I should be ok with how I was thinking of wiring them? At most these batteries will stay at full power, since I am not going to use them heavily other than starting the engine and camping trips. Plus I am looking at installing an onboard air compressor under the hood, I guy on my forum has one up for sale and I might look into it. So I definetly see a need for dual batteries.

Bennett

WTF do you need a 2000 watt inverter for?!!!!(shocked) what are you running off it? i hope not power tools, cause the voltage fluctuations the inverters cause can kill them 120 amps of constant draw, but your new alt should be fine. if you are going to run the inverter at full power when you are parked, just put a penny or nickel in between the pieces to increase the throttle at the throttle body. sorry for not knowing the technical terms, i just know that the piece is connected to the butterfly in the TB.

 

[got wake?]

alright, i see that your application warrants the need for a dual battery setup. yellow tops are a good choice for your application, just in case you do deep cycle them. i HIGHLY suggest investing in a good volt meter, so you can monitor your batteries. if the voltage drops below 12 volts, shut everything off and recharge them ASAP. i personally wouldn't even want to drop the yellow tops below 12.5 volts. while they are designed for deep cycle applications, they can only handle about 40 real deep cycles, especially when not charged with a trickle charger to their standards. being that they are so close to the alt and to each other, and you won't be drawing highly variable loads the way a car amplifier does, you don't need to worry about the electronic isolator, or any isolator for that matter. run direct lines of 1/0 cable from the alt to each battery, a piece of 1/0 between them, and 4 gauge to your fuse box off one battery, and 4 guage to your inverter (at a minimum) off the other battery (with an inline fuse of course), and use 1/0 for the grounds to the chassis, and add an extra 4 guage from the chassis grounds to your engine block.

 

[got wake?]

if you do happen to deep cycle the optimas too much, and they are cooked and can't be revived, check out hawker/odyssey/stinger batteries. hawker makes them and sells them as genesis XE:
http://www.hepi.com/xe.htm
they also sell them as odyssey:
http://www.odysseyfactory.com/
and stinger buys from hawker and puts their sticker on them as well as gold posts:
http://www.sounddomain.com/shoplist~b~Stinger~t~Batteries

the 1700 has the same internal resistance as the batcap 400, which claims to be "the fastest charging battery", but the lower the resistance the faster the recharge/discharge, so the 1700 will recharge and discharge just as fast, for the same amount of storage. course the 1700 stores about 13.5 time more juice, so it'll take that much longer to charge. these batteries also can be revived 300+ times