just a 22re

wait did you just say a 3.0 turbo diesel what the hell????????????? i though they only had the 22rdte

iamsuperbleeder

ight, cool guys; now that I've heard a few people mentioning they hooked theirs up the same way, I don't think I'll have any problems doing this the way I wanted to.

Got 2 days in a row off work here soon, and I should be able to get everything all done; and I'll deff. post up some pics of the progress and finished result.

Ive just got to get ahold of the fuse holders, wire, a battery box, probably some sort of covering for the wire; was thinking about running it through small PVC piping, but that may prove hard to work with, so I'll probably just put some wire loom over the length of it, a ground strap, battery terminals... maybe I should make a full list before I head up to the store shopping, lol.

Thanks again guys!

Red_Chili

If you wire two batteries together without isolation when the truck is parked/not running/not charging, they WILL discharge into each other. Takes a bit, but it WILL happen.

With two batteries of the same voltage, there is no potential one to the other. Each battery looks like a resistor to ground to the other battery. Bye-bye charge.

91diesel

Do you suppose that the factory setups did something on the negative side then? I was just speculating and am no electrical engineer but the factory had a positive cable go from the underhood fuses to a battery to the next battery to the starter. I know one ground went to the engine block, I don't know what the other ground went to. I bought a driveline from an overseas 4runner that came with the wiring harness, axles, tranny etc. Hence my 'factory' dual battery turbo diesel. If there'll be and issue with this setup I need to fix it before it causes me problems.

abecedarian

every diesel truck (semi) I've seen with a 12v starting system all have the batteries wired in parallel without any isolation system between the batteries and they last years if the electrolytes are kept up and if a battery develops a weak cell it is replaced immediately.
building RV's we always placed the batteries in parallel and had no problem with those even with 4 or more batteries. we did have them wired so that the positive lead was connected to the first battery in the string and the ground was from the last battery.
the cell sites I work on now all have battery strings wired in parallel and they last 4+ years even though they are 24 or -48v systems

iamsuperbleeder

I understand how a BAD battery can discharge and ruin the other good battery, but if they are both good batteries, than there shouldn't be an issue of them draining each other down. Like mentioned before, it would be similar to wiring up a capacitor for a stereo system. I had a 2 farad cap hooked up in my Mustang to a 1500 watt amp, and it was hooked directly to the battery (fused of course), and grounded right to the frame. A second battery would be essentially the same thing, just instead of the momentary high discharge capabilities of the cap, it will have the high cranking amps behind it, wich is what I'm shooting for in the end.

On another note, I remember when I worked at my old job and we would test batteries still in the vehicle. When a desiel truck pulled in that had the dual battery setup, you would have to either A) unhook the batteries and load test them each individually at their rated CCAs, or you could B) leave them hooked together and load test them at their combined CCAs... this, to me, means that even when the truck was off, the batteries were constantly hard wired together; no break, relay, switch, or isolator between them.

I personally, don't think I'll have any issues in the long run wiring them up how I plan to. I picked up half of my supplies today after work (battery box, terminals, mounting hardware, a 48" ground strap, etc.), and tomorrow I'll have to run and get the 4 guage wire and 2 fuse blocks that will hold the 100amp fuses, as well as some wire loom to cover the wire (forgot to pick that up tonight). I'll have some pics posted up on here tomorrow afternoon of my progress. If all goes well it'll be done tomorrow; if not, I have the next day of too.

4biker

It's amazing how there is always someone else working on the same project I'm planning. Sup.Bleeder, I hope you don't mind my asking a question about my planned setup. I decided to go with a 90 amp isolator, purchased from e-bay, along with all of the wiring to put a battery behind the rear seat on the driver's side. Since I can't afford a dry- or gel-cell deep cycle, is it totally unsafe to put the battery in a box back there? I can't find anyone discussing this particular deal before , so thanks for any good info. Sorry for the slightly off-topic question.

abecedarian

the primary 'unsafe' reason for having batteries in the passenger area is hydrogen sulfide gas emitted by the battery during charging.
Highly corrosive and toxic to breathe.

iamsuperbleeder

precicely... with a gel cell, maybe not so much, but I still wouldn't want to mount them in the passenger compartment. I've seen it done before though; if you seal the battery box up good with some sort of foam lining (not a permanent foam, but maybe a lining around the lid of the box so you can service the battery if needed) and a vent tube going directly outside of the cab, I don't see any issues. BMW does the same thing with their trunk-mounted batteries, and they use regular lead-acid batteries.

4biker

I thought the primary gasseous byproduct is hydrogen gas - So H2S is a major byproduct as well?

That's true about the trunk-mounts in German cars. Maybe I could look for a battery box with a gasket and run a breather out with some tubing to the gas filler spot - like the diff breather mod. I just don't know where else to put that sucker - I'd love to keep it out of the cab.
Thanks for the replies fellas.

abecedarian

The primary gas emitted is hydrogen, but small amounts of the sulfur in the electrolyte combines with the hydrogen and escapes as well. I was probably a little extreme in saying it was the primary reason for not putting the battery in the passenger area. You probably don't want explosive hydrogen floating around in there either.

NaeSLaS

There isn't a problem wiring up the two batteries in parallel (+ to +, - to -). The batteries will equalize eachother, drain together, and charge together. If you run both down, your alternator will work overtime to charge them back up, which could potentially harm the alternator.

Isolaters are large diodes, which allow voltage in (say, from the alternator to the isolated battery) but not voltage out (say, from the isolated battery to the starter). When you use an isolator, usually you have it set up to charge from the alternator, but have a seperate lead (battery side of the isolator) to run a high-drain accessory, like an amp or winch.

Solenoids/relays are selectable, and this is the way I would go. I would run the winch from battery A, and the truck from battery B, and make it so i can flip a switch and tie both batteries together to either 1) winch up a crazy hill, or 2) start the truck after i leave the lights on.

With the solenoid, I don't have to worry about being stranded if I run the battery out, as I can tie them together and start the car/finish winching.

Then again, I am a control freak, and really love switches and solenoids and relays and the such.

4biker

Thanks for the explanation. I definitely don't want to be poisoned by noxious gas (death by rotten egg smell), or for my battery box to explode, so it's just a matter of making an effective ventilation system to the exterior of the vehicle (or finding an alternate mounting point). Thanks again for the input- I'll let you know what I end up doing.

iamsuperbleeder

lol, me too, but that just overcomplicates things sometimes...



So I got started on the install today. Drove all the way across town just to fine fuse blocks... ended up finally finding some at the ONLY audio shop around here; they'll have to work. And only could find 80amp fuses to go in them, so we'll have to see how that works out...

But anyway, I had to first start off by getting room in my box to work with...



so I took everything out...



and then relized that maybe I carry too much stuff with me on a daily basis, lol



after that, I thought I'd start from the front of the truck to the back, so I tapped into the terminal, added the fuse block, and started to run the wire...



I originally was gonna run the wire outside the truck, but after realizing the fuel lines ran on the same side, I though maybe that wouldn't be such a "hot" idea (no pun intended), so I ran it in through the firewall, down the side of the floorboard, and out the back through one the the stock rubber drain thingamajigs...



got to this point, then started to mount the battery box in the tool box, and my drill ran dead while making the hole through the tool box to run the wires through

so I put both the drill batteries on charge and took a break to eat some food, and then, in tipical Florida fashion...



haha, not quite, but it started thundering and getting dark, so instead of getting cought in the rain, I packed it up and called it a day...

and I managed to find what looks like an amp wire the PO must have had in...



still not sure how I missed that when installing my amp wire...

but tomorrow it should be all done and I'll have the rest of the pics up!

Noltz

Good to see this project moving forward.

I might recommend adding a disconnect at the battery itself, such as "A" here;


Secondly, I'd recommend moving that heavy fuse to the remote battery, instead of the "main". In the event of a crash where the body pinches the wire, you'd have 600 amps of power short circuiting through the cab. Having the fuse in the toolbox would prevent that short.

Good luck. Given that all vehicle manufacturers daisy-chain their batteries together without isolators, I don't think you'll have any problem.

abecedarian

instead of moving the heavy fuse to the rear, a second fuse could be added to the rear.
just a thought.

iamsuperbleeder

yeah, a quick-disconnect is probably not a bad idea; thanks!

and about the fuses, yes there is going to be a fuse at each battery; so a short in the middle section of the line will just blow both fuses instead of blowing one and melting the other one, lol

iamsuperbleeder

welp, it's all done!

got started today by making the holes in the bed and the tool box to run the wires...





brought the wires right up where I needed them...



I wanted to ground to the frame to begin with, but my wire was about 3 inches too short, so I just grounded it to a bolt on the bed itslef; I don't think I'll have any issues with it though...



I used the strap holders that the battery box came with to actually hold the box and the battery tight down to the tool box...







The strap was just suppose to hold the lid on, but I used some small bungy cords to take care of that...



So I hooked up the wires, plugged in the fuses, and fired her up! Get a full 13.6v at both batteries while it's running, and 12.5v at both while it's off, so the connections seem to be in good shape!



and in the end, it blends in nicely, and I also lightened the load in the tool box; besides, I'm going camping in a week and will need some room in there for a few supplies...



All in all, it wasn't that difficult of a job, just time consuming... when you run into minor problems like I did, lol. We'll see how the batteries hold up, all though I don't think that I'll see in negitive effects from having them hooked right together. The 80amp fuses probably won't last past the first jump-start of someone elses truck, but we'll see. I think it turned out good though, and is will make the wiring of my air compressor later on a LOT easier!

iamsuperbleeder

Well, they survived their first full night and day both hooked together with no sign of draining! I'm in the process of looking for a good high amp alt or or a shop around here that can rebuild it for a decent price. Anyone have any suggestions?

AP4CHE

Yeah h2s is VERY dangerous, never ever have a battery in your cab and before entering any confined space, tank or deep pit have it tested. I know of 2 people dead from it. One 16 year old kid who was cleaning a tank on a truck for a farmer and one guy working in a deep pit on a site I did some contract work on.