Hi all,
Long time lurker looking for some collective wisdom regarding the addition of a second battery to the system. I have done alot of research online but am wondering what the opinions were regarding the different options for adding them.
I plan on using the second battery to run all the ancillary stuff.
Thanks,
Blair
P.S. the truck is a 1990 110 Td.

Hi Blair,

Welcome to the HUBB,

if you run a winch ( or plan to in the future) or are planning on heading well off the beaten track, consider a triple battery setup.

in the 90, I run 3 batteries, 2 main starter/winch batteries (in parralel) and the 3rd on a split charger relay, which cuts it off from the 2 main batteries when the ignition is off, the fridge,flourescent lights, etc etc all run off this battery.

even if you run 2 batteries - you want to separate them, so you cannot flatten your starter battery and leave yourself needing a jump.

They all fit under the passenger seat - just - though I had to cut away part of the access to get the 3rd battery in.

If you can, use Optima red/yellow tops - or a good quality equivilent gel or bead type - they are very expensive in the UK, alot cheaper in North America !!!

Buy a water/dustproof blade fuse box and mount it on the bulkhead behind the seats- easy to access and kept out of the battery box - which tends to fill up with dust/sand/mud/water

Did you import your 110 - or is it an ex military ???

__________________
Cheers
Grif

'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.com/

heres our Rovers...

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__________________
Cheers
Grif

'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.com/

Triple batteries? I was getting excited about having 2. Currently I don't have a winch. Might add one in the future so 2 batteries should do well. I really want the system to be basic so I am leaning towards a solenoid to disconnect the 2 batteries when we are parked. I don't intend on leaving the vehicle stationary for long periods. I am also looking into a solar system in addition at some point. I bought a red top Optima the other day and will add a yellow top in the near future. I will be curious to see how well they do.

Blair

Usually batteries are divided into three distinct groups - cranking, leisure and deep cycle.

Cranking - starting a vehicle - need to supply large amps for short periods, recovers quickly when recharged, hopeless is discharged below about 70%, rarely recovers if discharged below 50%.

Leisure - designed to supply lowish amps for longer periods (hours not seconds), good at recovering from not less than 50% discharge, constant 12V until about 50% discharge.

Deep cycle - can recover from 20% discharge, very slow recovery, big, heavy, constant output until about 30% discharge. Often dont have 12V, maybe 6V a lot of 2V around.

Look for a leisure battery, car batteries wont crack it. Use a simple solenoid to stop discharge of cranking battery.

hi We run two batteries in our 6 wheel range rover using a National-Luna split charging system this uses a very heavy duty solenoid that is neary fail safe,but to back it up we also have a 80w solar panal for when we are parked up for a few days. this system runs every thing we need including a winch,on are 20 month travels through Africa and Australia
steve

Hi Blair,

Yep, the Optima red/yellow combo will work fine, I run an Optima in the Disco and it cranks the V8 ok down to about -35 degrees C or so even if I cant use the block heater.

Steve - what brand of solar panel do you use ? Im looking to fit one on the 90 in the future, but roof space is quite limited

__________________
Cheers
Grif

'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.com/

I've had various Optima & other gel batteries in my Landy with a split charge system, and now I'm back to a conventional 'wet' battery system - the gel batteries all self-destructed after a while, by comparison I have a little 'leisure' battery which I have used in an assortment of vehicles for years (8 years at least) and totally abused, and it still works perfectly - it's now in it's 2nd Defender as a main starting battery - it's outlived the first car!

I don't know why the gel batteries die - they all claim to be 'deep discharge' but after they have been run down and left for a bit (I"m away a lot so the car gets left standing for 3 months at a time and for some reason the gel batteries always seem to discharge while conventional ones don't) the fancy gel batteries are always dead - if they are recharged they liquify the gel and gas out...

At first I was told this was because they have to be used as matched pairs - so I got a pair of Yellow Top Optimas - one of them was dead within a few months, the other lasted 2 years before dying... this is despite conventional batteries lasting for years in the same car. At one point I believed a dealer who told me it must be an alternator fault, so I fitted a new alternator - no difference (at least I have a spare alternator now!) now I just use conventional batteries and have no more problems!

I'd advise you to spend the money on something more useful - get a couple of ordinary good quality batteries as big as you can fit into the space available, and spend the money saved on something more essential for an overland vehicle - a good stereo for example!

Tony