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Old 06-18-2020, 03:33 PM #1
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Geofox784’s Dual Battery / Electrical Management Thread

Intro:
With the addition of a fridge I decided to pull the trigger on getting a dual battery setup. However, there was no ready-made solution, guide, or even photos showing a setup that matched all my requirements. Some solutions filled some of my requirements, but none I could find fulfilled them all. If you don't have the need for everything below, you can also easily remove certain features. This will be a long post, but I wanted to include everything I learned through the processes so that others can do the same.

Requirements:
  • Room in the engine bay for a large compressor (Smittybilt 2781), electrical management board, and dual batteries.
  • Clean and organized wiring management to make troubleshooting easier as well as for aesthetic purposes.
  • A switch controller that had at least 8 outputs
  • A low voltage disconnect for the AUX battery to prevent accidentally draining so low it gets damaged.
  • The ability to activate the roof light bar, but not have it turn on until the factory high beams are on so that it could be quickly turned off if there is oncoming traffic.
  • The ability to see both battery voltages on an easy to view display inside the cab
  • The ability to connect the two batteries togeather on demand inside the cab as well as see the connection status
  • The ability to see the current charging voltage of the battery as well as see the amp draw on the AUX battery
  • Multiple always on 12V jacks inside the car

After a fair amount of research and trial and error I came up with the below solution, which I believe has about everything one can ask for, except for solar integration. Lets start with some photos:

Photos:




Component list:
Details on each sub-system:
Dual Batteries:
There are lots of dual battery solutions, both off the shelf and DIY, available. However, none of them fit both batteries in the existing spot except for the Genesis Off-road dual battery kit. I needed to keep the batteries in one spot since the compressor and electrical management board took up the other two available spaces. Keeping both batteries in one spot also cut down on the amount of heavy gauge cables running around the engine bay. At first glance the system looks like a compromise in battery capacity, but they managed to design the system to fit two Group 25 batteries. The Odyssey 25 PC1400 has a 65 Ah capacity, which is not much less than the Group 34 (68Ah) battery size that is popular with other dual battery kits.

I have found that the power is plenty for my needs. If the batteries are fully topped off and the fridge runs overnight, I've seen as little as 25% use. Genesis also offers a "G Screen Monitoring System" for $270. The is a small screen that displays the voltages of each battery and when pressed it links both batteries together if they are not already. I opted to instead make my own display and link switch, as the $270 was not worth it for me and I wanted a display that was easier to read at a quick glance.

The only problem with the Genesis system is that it requires you to move the fuse box back by about an inch. This made mounting the electrical management platform more difficult, but with some trimming it was not a problem.

Voltage Booster:
The AGM batteries require a higher voltage to charge properly. Odyssey says that if the batteries are charged via an alternator, the voltage should be between 14V and 14.7V, but the stock charging system goes as low as 13.3V after the engine is warm. To fix this a voltage booster is needed. You can buy special fuses with diodes in them to trick the alternator to charge at a higher voltage. I use an ARCLightLED voltage booster because you can set it to two modes. "Boost" and "Over-Boost". However, I am finding that in "Boost" mode the voltage is above 14V when the car is warming up, but it drops down to 13.8V once the car is warm. I am also finding that in "Over-Boost" the voltage is above 14V when warm, but when warming up the voltage can go as high as 15V! For now, I am keeping it in "Boost" mode. The charging voltage may be a little low, but for the year I have been running this system I have had no problems. The solution to this would be a more powerful alternator with an external adjustable voltage regulator (Nations Alternator makes one), but that costs almost double 2 pairs of replacement batteries, so I am holding off on that for now.

Breaker:
I used a 100A breaker because everything combined will likely never exceed 100A. The LVD also had a continuous rating of 65A and an intermittent rating of 115A for 5 min, so if you want to be on the safe side a 70A breaker may be a better option to avoid damaging the LVD. The breaker is also useful in that it allows for the AUX battery to easily be disconnected from the parasitic draw of the LVD.

Electrical Management Shelf:
Although the use of a full shelf may be overkill, it made a huge difference in the ability to do good wire management. There are a few shelves made specifically for the switch pro already available, but none of them had enough room for me to fit everything on it that I wanted to. Instead, I used the Rago Fabrication air compressor mount made for the ARB dual compressor. It provides as much surface area as is possible with the constraints of the engine bay. It is also very sturdy and made from stainless steel. I had to trim the front of it down to get it to fit with the moved fuse box. I also drilled and tapped threads for each of the components.

Here is a link to an album with more photos of the panel and the trimming I did to it.




Low Voltage Disconect:
Some of the devices I charge overnight do not have their own built in low voltage disconnect, so to prevent over-discharging the battery I added a low voltage disconnect. I have it set to 11.9 Volts, which is equivalent to 25% left on the battery. This should be good for 1100 cycles on the battery per the manual for Odyssey. I can also set it to 11.7V, which is equivalent to 10% left on the battery, but that is only good for 350 deep cycles before capacity starts to be reduced.

The only problem with the LVD is that the relay inside has a fair amount of parasitic draw when connected. If not driven and left off a trickle charger for a few weeks the battery will deplete enough for the LVD to cut the circuit, which also stops the parasitic draw. If you are confident that you will never over-discharge the battery, skip the LVD.

Switch-Pros SP-9100:
I chose the switch pro over the SPod because I was not a fan of the SPod touch screen or the look of the SPod HD Panel. I wanted to be able to operate the panel with gloves or when bouncing around on the trail without having to look at it thus eliminating the touch screen). The Bluetooth feature of the Switch-Pro is also handy. I can turn on and off the compressor with my phone while outside the car. The Switch-Pro also has enough power to power up the large Smittybilt Compressor on its own without a relay. (I originally was skeptical of this and added a relay, but later removed it after the Switch-Pro proved it could easily power the compressor on it's own. Ignore the relay shown in some of the photos.)

I have the control panel for the Switch-Pro mounted to the overhead controls via two 3D printed brackets. I like this position as it gives a clean look, it's easy to see, and I can reach it without having to lean forward. The factoy cable will not reach this far. I contacted Switch-Pro's and for a small fee they had me send back the old one and they replaced it with a 14' cable.



8 Circuit Fuse Block:
The Switch-Pro is great for managing devices that you turn on and off, but some of the accessories are always powered such as the subwoofer, hood lights, and the always on 12V power jacks added. I added a fuse block to power each of these.

Factory Fuse Box Cover:
The Genesis Offroad dual battery kit and the electrical panel are so close to the factory fuse box that it is very difficult to remove the cover. Genesis recommends cutting off the hing tabs on once side so that the cover is only held on by the other side. I don't want to do that because it will likely destroy the water resistance of the cover. Instead I made a cover out of a 3/16 x 9-11/16 x 4-3/4 piece of polycarb plastic. I chose clear so that I could easily see if moisture got inside, but you can also choose black if you want. It is held on by two latches and sealed with weather stripping that I cut in half.

Under-AC Electrical Display and Control Panel:
Up front I wanted the ability to see the voltage of each battery at a quick glance, the charging voltage of the battery when the car is on, and the amps going into the AUX system so I could see the load on the AUX battery. I also wanted the ability to connect the two batteries when disconnected so that I could jump start the car with a push of a button if needed. Here is a full post with more info on the front display / control panel.


Rear Power Distribution Panel:
Next to the fridge I have a Rago Off Road modular storage panel that I have mounted a power distribution box to. The box gets it's power from the AUX fuse block in the engine bay, so it is always powered. A switch on the box can be turned off to cut power to the box. The box provides power to the fridge, a drone battery charger, and a camera battery charger. The fridge battery cable is on a retractable cord to keep the cable out of the way when the fridge is stored. The power distribution box is 3D printed and I can print one or send the files to anyone who wants it. There is also an additional LVD inside the box to cuts power to just the drone charger once the battery reaches 75%. This keeps the power-hungry drone charger from draining all the power that the fridge may need with the car off.




Cargo always on 12V jack:
I wanted to have always on 12V power near the cargo area so that I could charge my laptop even if the car is off, which is typically stored in a bag behind the passenger seat. I added a 12V power jack that taps its power off the cable going to the rear power distribution panel.



Wiring Diagram:
Here is the full wiring diagram of all the accessories in the car:



GOOGLE DRIVE LINK

Here is a less detailed version that is easier understand.

GOOGLE DRIVE LINK

Here is the electrical managment tray inside the engine bay, but to scale.

GOOGLE DRIVE LINK

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to have something I made in this setup built for you!
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Old 06-18-2020, 04:42 PM #2
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That is a baddass write up man, kudos.
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Old 06-18-2020, 05:38 PM #3
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All of this because of a fridge? lol
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Old 06-18-2020, 05:40 PM #4
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All of this for a fridge? lol
And all the lights and chargers.
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Old 06-18-2020, 10:35 PM #5
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Nice write-up. What drone(s) are you charging?
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Old 06-18-2020, 10:37 PM #6
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Nice write-up. What drone(s) are you charging?
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Old 06-19-2020, 04:02 PM #7
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Great writeup and install! I've been slowly piecing together a plan for my own dual battery setup and this has definitely given me some good inspiration. I've got the small C4 accessory tray currently installed, but it's a bit tight and definitely isn't going to fit all the extra components I'm adding. I'll have to consider grabbing that Rago compressor tray.
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