Outdoor Adventure USA

Been looking around for a nice battery isolator and found this, http://www.powerstream.com/battery-isolator.htm. Any suggestions?

Take a look at Hellroaring. See: http://www.hellroaring.com/

I did a dual battery installation in my rig with a write up at http://www.outdooradventureusa.net/foru ... ?f=55&t=68 .

I have had the Hellroaring setup in the H2 for a little over 4 years and it has performed flawlessly. Very high marks from here.

There are several companies that make the type of product that you mention and most are very good units. Overland Journal did a comparison of 7 such units about a year ago. Admittedly, their tests were not strictly empirical and as a result, their ultimate choice was influenced by things such as ease of installation, comprehensiveness of the installation kit and other factors not necessarily related to the ultimate reliability and effectiveness of the product. This is not to say that their choice was necessarily wrong but if you read the article you should do a great deal more research before making up your mind. The article which accompanies the comparison is excellent and I will reproduce it here if requested.

In arriving at their conclusions, they tested Hellroaring, Wrangler NW, Painless Performance, National Luna and others. Their choice was the National Luna (made in South Africa). Below is their comparison data and contact information if you need to ask questions. Good luck!

Cool, thanks for the info. I would like all the accessories to run off the deep cycle battery, an optima yellow top, and the have my main battery for starting and such. What would you say is the best option?

salad_man wrote:Cool, thanks for the info. I would like all the accessories to run off the deep cycle battery, an optima yellow top, and the have my main battery for starting and such. What would you say is the best option?

salad_man I would suggest calling Larry at Dirty Parts. He has a dual battery kit for the FJ that is second to none and I'm sure he can help you customize something for your vehicle as well.

The kit will come complete with mounting tray, mounting hardware, waterproof 200 amp military solenoid, under dash led control panel, military battery terminals, boots, 2 gauge connecting cables and instructions. The tray will fit an Optima Yellow (recommended), Red, or Blue Top battery, or any other battery of equivilant dimensions. Its a no brainer system to use and is labeled and easy to install.

Telephone: 310-390-9086
FAX: 310-391-2252
Address: 12012 Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Email: info@dirtyparts.com

Yep! I have that set up and it's awesome. When I get my Land Cruiser, I'll be doing it again.

salad_man wrote:Cool, thanks for the info. I would like all the accessories to run off the deep cycle battery, an optima yellow top, and the have my main battery for starting and such. What would you say is the best option?

Salad:

Recommendations are always tricky. Get 4 of us in a room together and you're likely to get 5 opinions.

For valid reasons, there are several favorites among our members. Since this is an important choice, I think that your best option would be to call the companies who seem to make the ones that you are most interested in and then check out the installations among our members of those brands.

Unfortunately, there is only one magazine that has done a "shootout" of the various brands and that is the Overland Journal article I referenced above.

PM any of us if you would like to get more information. Good luck.

salad_man wrote:Cool, thanks for the info. I would like all the accessories to run off the deep cycle battery, an optima yellow top, and the have my main battery for starting and such. What would you say is the best option?

As DaveK said, there are many opinions on how best to utilize each battery in a dual battery system.

While your specific accessories and requirements might affect the final verdict, my suggestion is usually to run any accessories you plan to run without the vehicle running off the auxiliary battery, while connecting anything you'll use with the vehicle running on the primary battery. The reason is that your primary battery already has accessories running off it, but most only work with the key on. Your vehicle will keep the battery charged while running, so these accessories won't affect the starting ability. The auxiliary battery can be used by radios, fridges, etc., that run with the car off; even if this battery dies, your primary battery is still in it's charged state. A discharged battery acts like a capacitor (it actually is a type of capacitor) - the charge from the auxiliary battery will be absorbed by the discharged battery before allowing current to reach the starter. so, relying on the aux battery to start the vehicle with a discharged primary battery can often lead to disappointing results.

All of this also depends on a well-functioning charging system. If you have a very large current draw, the alternator's output may not keep up with the drain on the batteries. So, you'll need to inventory your electrical needs, what you use and when you use it, and make sure the alternator is up to the task of charging both batteries with the electrical draw you need.

Just got wind of another player in the dual battery/isolator market - Intelligent Battery Systems (IBS). See http://www.ibs-dual-battery.ch/
They hail from Europe (Switzerland, as near as I can tell) and are marketed by several firms including, I believe, Outback Extreme. Cost is a little north of $300.00. Sure have lots of "purtty" lights!

Thanks, ill check that out