Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 01-31-2012, 08:47 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
larrie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Oregon Ciry Oregon
Posts: 2,843
Wiring in a second house battery

I am looking into adding a second house battery to my system. Not knowing much about electrical system I want to know if installing the battery as shown in the attached diagram will work. My plan is that both house batteries will be the same size. This diagram puts the in parallel so they should see the same discharge rate. The isolator is a Sure Power Isolator Model 952 rated for up to 95 amps. I do not have an inverter, just the on board charger when plugged into 120V and a fuse panel. Alternate solutions are welcome.



Thanks in advance.

__________________
Larrie
Read detailed trip reports, see photos and videos on my travel blog, luinil.com.
Current van: 2002 Ford E350 extended body camper with Colorado Camper Van pop top and Agile Offroad 4WD conversion.
larrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2012, 11:10 PM   #2
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

I wouldn't use the body ground, but that's just my opinion. Even though SMB does not install fuses between the batteries, a couple of high amp fuses might be a good idea. [edit] You could add a separtor or automatic charge relay. And as far as Surepower goes beware of the problems they have had with some of thier separators:
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/inde ... a358afddf5

Although some have had no problems with these, I sure did. BTW the recall is not on the 200A series but I still had the same problems other than a fire issue.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2012, 11:22 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Advanturetrek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 233
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

I have a few questions about your diagram:

1. What's the second shunt next to "House Battery 1" for?

2. Is your house panel really wired to your starter battery at the isolator? This could drain your starter battery quickly.

3. Is there a second negative wire from your battery to your house panel? Or, is everything grounded through the chassis?
__________________
The Yeti: SMB 4x4 Ford EB, super camper top, RVI interior build
https://www.advanturetrek.com
https://www.facebook.com/AdvantureTrek
Advanturetrek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2012, 11:43 PM   #4
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

Sorry just noticed It's an isolator and I don't really like them. SMB quit using them because of problems they had. Still it should work. As long as charge current stays below 90 amps, it should be fine.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2012, 07:22 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Scalf77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,490
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

Larrie,

So the easiest way to add the battery in parallel would be o go off of the first existing battery, positive to positive of the second battery, and then ground of first battery to the ground of the second battery.

So in general your diagram works, although I also would have similar questions about house panel, and what the Shunts are? But I assume it is a working system, and you diagram just needs to be corrected.

Also, I'm not to far up the road if you needed a second pair of eyes on it.

Greg
__________________
-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
Scalf77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2012, 09:33 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Ford_6L_E350's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Washington - Ridgefield
Posts: 4,728
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

That is exactly how my 2nd battery is wired - in parallel with the first.

One caveat, both batteries should be the same age and condition. If one is weaker, it will pull down the stronger battery - the stronger one will not make the weak one better. The usual suggestion is to replace both batteries, not add one new one.

Mike
__________________
Alaska to Key West, Labrador and more
Prostate cancer survivor. See Thread Prostate cancer and Sportsmobiles
2015 VW GTI 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
2012 E250 Hitop camper
Ford_6L_E350 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2012, 08:38 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
larrie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Oregon Ciry Oregon
Posts: 2,843
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by Advanturetrek
I have a few questions about your diagram:

1. What's the second shunt next to "House Battery 1" for?

2. Is your house panel really wired to your starter battery at the isolator? This could drain your starter battery quickly.

3. Is there a second negative wire from your battery to your house panel? Or, is everything grounded through the chassis?
Good questions.
1. I have no idea. This is the way they wired them in 1989.
2. Reading through the isolator literature the the isolator apparently separates the house side from the starter battery when the engine is turned off.
3. Everything is grounded through the chassis. Will probably change this when I install the second battery.
__________________
Larrie
Read detailed trip reports, see photos and videos on my travel blog, luinil.com.
Current van: 2002 Ford E350 extended body camper with Colorado Camper Van pop top and Agile Offroad 4WD conversion.
larrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2012, 08:48 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
larrie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Oregon Ciry Oregon
Posts: 2,843
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

Thanks everyone. This has been very helpful. Sounds like my plan is sound but should make some changes to the existing system, ground house battery directly to power panel and replace the isolator, prior to implementation. I definitely do not want to mess this up and start a fire.
__________________
Larrie
Read detailed trip reports, see photos and videos on my travel blog, luinil.com.
Current van: 2002 Ford E350 extended body camper with Colorado Camper Van pop top and Agile Offroad 4WD conversion.
larrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-10-2012, 09:48 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Wiring in a second house battery

Larrie, i'm late on this one but if you need more info, i learned a TON about RV/automotive wiring pertaining to adding and managing power on the Open Roads Forum. Also called Woodall's Open Roads Forum. Lots of wise old engineer full-time RV guys over there that have tried it all. It's a great place to learn more about solar than you ever wanted to know as well. Just beware of the overly opinionated pricks, as on every forum i guess.
I have a description of my setup on my build thread as well (which you've seen, but i'm not sure how far i had gotten when you last read it).

Eric
86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-10-2012, 10:31 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
larrie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Oregon Ciry Oregon
Posts: 2,843
Wiring in a second house battery

Eric

Thank for the tip on the open road forum. Will check it out.


Larrie
89 Ford 2WD penthouse
__________________
Larrie
Read detailed trip reports, see photos and videos on my travel blog, luinil.com.
Current van: 2002 Ford E350 extended body camper with Colorado Camper Van pop top and Agile Offroad 4WD conversion.
larrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:57 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.