Dual battery setup suggestions

[MikekiM]

Really want to do a dual battery setup for cold weather camping.

Been looking at options for a while and can't find something I am comfortable with. I don't want to DIY the setup. Need a kit that is complete. Don't want to mount the second battery in the back.. space is already too limited.

Came across an option from Wrangler Power Products and thought.. that's it! Based on two Odyssey Extreme batteries that are physically smaller and get mounted side by side rather than on top of each other. Fits in TJs that have AC, which many kits don't.

Sure enough, the kit is no longer available. What a tease.

Any suggestions for a complete turn-key kit for the TJ with air conditioning that mounts in the engine bay, preferably side by side?

 

[mjonesjr84]

Going to jump in and follow. I'm similar to you as I want a complete kit. I would however, mount a battery in the rear passenger footwells since I don't have a back seat any longer. I can't put a stacked battery set up because the Metalcloak fenders move the battery back a bit and the upper battery seems like it would interfere with the ECM.

 

[macleanflood]

Some folks mount another battery on the ABS tray.

-Mac

 

[mjonesjr84]

Some folks mount another battery on the ABS tray.

-Mac

No room there for me.

 

[macleanflood]

My Group 34 Optima battery is about 25 percent smaller than a regular sized 34...you can get brackets to rotate the battery sideways and install two.

Some folks here have also installed a lithium ion battery.

I decided to just buy a Jackery. Not only can I use it in the TJ, but everywhere else. Plus when camping I can deploy solar panels.

Didn't seem much of point spending money installing a second battery that would only be used a few times a year.

-Mac

 

[mjonesjr84]

My Group 34 Optima battery is about 25 percent smaller than a regular sized 34...you can get brackets to rotate the battery sideways and install two.

Some folks here have also installed a lithium ion battery.

I decided to just buy a Jackery. Not only can I use it in the TJ, but everywhere else. Plus when camping I can deploy solar panels.

Didn't seem much of point spending money installing a second battery that would only be used a few times a year.

-Mac

Do you have a link for the jackery?

 

[macleanflood]

I bought a Jackery Explorer 1000 and a 200w solar panel for about 60 percent off for Black Friday.

You can find them on Amazon, Home Depot deals of the day, and on their website.

The 1000 was more than I needed amperage wise to run my fridge, but still not terribly heavy or large and more capable of running other things.

@CMBD used a 400 I believe when we ran the Rubicon Trail this summer. That really got me thinking and reconsidering my secondary battery plans.

-Mac

 

[CMBD]

I was replying at the same time

I have a Jackery 240 with a 60w panel. Run the fridge off the Jeep while driving, and off the Jackery and solar panel indefinitely when parked.

This was supposed to be temporary until I did a dual battery setup, but it works really well.

But that discontinued kit that @MikekiM wants is pretty cool.

 

[Wildman]

I have the dual battery kit from Wrangler with the switch and related parts in my TJ but mounted the spare battery behind the passenger seat.

I also have a Wrangler Power Product dual batter try & switch kit but it's a none A/C kit.

Painless has a dual battery kit.

https://painlessperformance.com/product/250-amp-dual-battery-control-system-part-no-40102/

Rugged Ridge makes one also

https://www.extremeterrain.com/rugg...INsKYzZ58Jba-uXGMWYaAjCDEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Wildman]

Here's a write-up on the Kilby dual battery tray w/ A/C

https://www.extremeterrain.com/rugg...INsKYzZ58Jba-uXGMWYaAjCDEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[MikekiM]

Some folks mount another battery on the ABS tray.

-Mac

OBA is mounted there.

My Group 34 Optima battery is about 25 percent smaller than a regular sized 34...you can get brackets to rotate the battery sideways and install two.

Some folks here have also installed a lithium ion battery.

I decided to just buy a Jackery. Not only can I use it in the TJ, but everywhere else. Plus when camping I can deploy solar panels.

Didn't seem much of point spending money installing a second battery that would only be used a few times a year.

-Mac

The kit I linked to has the two smaller batteries rotated sideways.

I have a Jackery that I bought for the same reason you did. I want a second battery to use in "boost" mode if the starting battery has an issue. If I could use the Jackery as a jumper I would be happy. I bought a portable jump start battery and was a POS.

I more concerned about a battery that succumbs to really low temps.

Maybe a standby battery warmer or a jacket?

 

[Wildman]

If you're going to a smaller battery it would seem to you can build yourself a battery tray.

I had pictures posted of the non-A/C tray I have but not sure where they are now. But I'll look for them.

As far as the relay and stuff you can go Painless or Rugged Ridge for a kit or build it yourself. That isn't hard to do.

Here's a dual battery setup with 3 batteries total..

 

[ChadH]

I think the question to answer for yourself is how serious you really want to get. Jackery/goalzero/others are a great portable option. If you want something permanent and onboard you'll want to first do an energy audit to see what you actually need, which will help determine the size needs of the bank. Then you also need to consider if you want lithium or AGM. There are pros and cons of each. An on board system is much more complex but is a 'no touch' system more or less, and if using AGM (which is what I have always done and will do to the TJ and LJ) you can self jumpstart if needed, if you wire it the right way.

Here is a photo of the unfinished electronics portion I had on my JT, of course this doesnt include the items everything is wired to.

In this system each battery has its own shutoff. There is also a blue sea selector to allow the 'house' system to run on purely the in bed batteries, or the underwood battery - if say I was doing battery maintenance and had to run to the store for frozen goods. It also allows redundancy and the ability to hook all 3 batteries up together for a long hard winch pull or self start, etc....... Then under the hood was the Genesis controller which was an added step - but in short you would want an auto disconnect so that using your camping stuff like a fridge doesnt accidentally drain your main vehicle battery.

 

[erikarnold7]

Great idea! I run two Optima yellow tops with Hellroaring set up -Not one issue in over eight years.
https://www.hellroaring.com/images/toplogo.jpg
94-YJ-4.0 HO- MANUAL- 4-TO-1-35'S-4.5 EXTREAM DUTY R.E- 488'S-ARB 44-SUPER 30.