Big aux battery for overlanding?

[my7slot]

like @ttn333 mentioned.. Genesis Offroad makes a dual setup.. I had their kit installed back in August of 2021 on Camo JT.. wasn't having any issues. more of a preventative measure as I run a lot of accessories and a complex indoor/outdoor audio setup. haven't had any issues with it nor have I ever needed the boost button but when you're in the Pisgah Forest miles from civilization the peace of mind is settling.

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[ttn333]

like @ttn333 mentioned.. Genesis Offroad makes a dual setup.. I had their kit installed back in August of 2021 on Camo JT.. wasn't having any issues. more of a preventative measure as I run a lot of accessories and a complex indoor/outdoor audio setup. haven't had any issues with it nor have I ever needed the boost button but when you're in the Pisgah Forest miles from civilization the peace of mind is settling.

Nice setup! I run a national luna dual battery kit in my 4runner. That was before Lifepo4 and the dual agms was to power a fridge. Deep cycle agms don't last very long without charging. It did save my butt a handful of times though. With the Gladiator, I run a house lifepo4 in the back and carry and one of those jumper pack. The only concern i have about the genesis dual battery kit is the limited size of the battery. I prefer running the biggest battery I can fit in the stock location and just delete the aux. battery.

 

[ttn333]

I find it kinda funny worrying about lipo4 charging below 30* F, at least for our purposes. Most people only use it for light and some usb charging with the main draw being the fridge. At 30* and below, my fridge draws nothing. My 100ah lipo4 can last at least a week, problably much more (h4 cave not tested this out). Coldest I've ran it was at 15*F. Spent 4 days not charging the battery since i disconnected when temp drop to 30* and had no issues. Food and drinks were cold, ran lights at night and charged my tablet. Also ran a diesel heater on and off throughout the nights. At this point in time, its just silly to argue for the use of AGM as a house battery. The only advantage is cost. It looses in every other aspect when compared to lipo4.

 

[Blade1668]

The 'teacher notes'

By chance if you need to ask or clarify something I post do me a favor please don't highlight in red. Being color blind of shadings the red/ green/ brown spectrum, I was just about unable to disconcern the red in the posts.

I'm not a expert on this just a little knowledge about it. There is a few on here who are.
A low buck or simple system can be built fairly easily.
This is a screen shot of status of mine a moment ago.

The bottom voltage is the vehicle batteries, with a door open, not an accurate indicator though IMHO. I should change the line feeding power to and from the vehicle batteries to charge controller.
A (2nd) small simple setup I have started on with be battery, solar panel(100w),

charge controller and some power ports, the battery is another 100 amp. Short term use is trolling motor on small boat, then hopefully to step up to power my cabin and "cut the cord" on power company.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

By chance if you need to ask or clarify something I post do me a favor please don't highlight in red. Being color blind of shadings the red/ green/ brown spectrum, I was just about unable to disconcern the red in the posts.

I'm not a expert on this just a little knowledge about it. There is a few on here who are.
A low buck or simple system can be built fairly easily.
This is a screen shot of status of mine a moment ago.

The bottom voltage is the vehicle batteries, with a door open, not an accurate indicator though IMHO. I should change the line feeding power to and from the vehicle batteries to charge controller.
A (2nd) small simple setup I have started on with be battery, solar panel(100w),

charge controller and some power ports, the battery is another 100 amp. Short term use is trolling motor on small boat, then hopefully to step up to power my cabin and "cut the cord" on power company.

I gave up trying to read the tiny quote type in red. Got in a few words and whoa, no way!
I'm not color blind but that tiny red test inside a quote was hard to follow - with no paragraph breaks and so on.

Back on this -

My starter battery alone is rated for deep discharge while still having starter burst ability. Not that I would use it in that way but it's there with 195ah RC as well. The Rubicon also has a 250amp alternator.

It's not a 250. 240 is max if it's so equipped.
And alternators should not be run over about 80% of their rating for any time. Adding to that, a 240 amp alternator is considered fine if it can put out about 216 amps (90% of rating) under testing.

The alternators on these are controlled by the system using information from the IBS - so using the second battery in parallel is a bad idea. If the alternator output has caused the crank battery to get hot, or it's determined to be fully charged by the IBS - the alternator output is cut dramatically.
A direct parallel system is a horrible idea.

But I know that's all already been covered.
Just adding some facts for those who lurk or who do searches for information and happen to land on this thread. Some Jeep owners aren't members and don't want to be - but do Google searches for info and too often land on bad info.

 

[Blade1668]

Back on this -

The alternators on these are controlled by the system using information from the IBS -

So now we know what our Jeeps are suffering from

I. B. S.

 

[DbqDude]

I ended up just charging it off of the 7 pin trailer plug same as I do when it's mounted in my cargo trailer. Works perfect. Thanks for all the tips.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So now we know what our Jeeps are suffering from

I. B. S.

Prednisone helped Shadow out with that years ago.

 

[Blade1668]

I ended up just charging it off of the 7 pin trailer plug same as I do when it's mounted in my cargo trailer. Works perfect. Thanks for all the tips.

If you park overnight definitely unplug from your Jeep. Otherwise you may get a bad surprise when you go to startup.

 

[DbqDude]

If you park overnight definitely unplug from your Jeep. Otherwise you may get a bad surprise when you go to startup.

Only if I'm using power. Otherwise it's just 2 large deep cycle batteries. My starter is a group 27 odyssey extreme. Yes, I know, the 7 pin is always hot. If I camp off it I disconnect. Just the same as using the camper.

 

[Blade1668]

Only if I'm using power. Otherwise it's just 2 large deep cycle batteries. My starter is a group 27 odyssey extreme. Yes, I know, the 7 pin is always hot. If I camp off it I disconnect. Just the same as using the camper.

I had it happen once.. lesson learned the hard way, on a emergency stopover that had a major temperature drop after freezing rain. The morning I found dead vehicle battery too. On top of RV heat out and all electric. Then getting a Jumpstart, when almost everything was shutdown from the cold weather. Lithium jump packs don't like the cold weather.
My Wrangler had a marine Bluetop Optima battery at the time.

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