Now a real update! Recently I took on the idea of a second battery. There were a few reasons. First of all, I am going to college soon in upstate NY, Clarkson University to be exact (to study mechanical engineering), where the temps can get low, real low. Batteries have a tough time in that environment, so with my setup, I have the ability to jump start or warm up my battery myself. This is achieved using a solenoid and switch, more on that later. I also love to camp, explore, wheel, etc. So this acts as a backup in case of failure. Flip a switch and the dead battery that is doing me no good a hundred miles into the woods is now no concern to me! I can also isolate one battery as to not drain my starting battery when going camping to use accessories such as fridges, winches, etc, when at car shows and leaving accessories on such as headlights, auxiliary lights, etc, and much more. Non the less, it will help with voltage drops when using additional lights, music with additional amps, speakers, and subs, my recent addition of quad retrofit headlights (more on that later), etc. All in all, I wanted to have this upgrade and am happy I have done so. I used the products and help of just a few companies, all of which made this really simple, easy, and reliable. Now check out the pics!
The kit I ordered was the Painless Performance 250 Amp Dual Battery Control System P/N 40102 here:
http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcat/40102
It is a bit pricey, but comes with everything and more including the main solenoid, prewired switch, indication LEDs, inline fuses, grommet, connections, etc.
Warning here: Most people that know me pretty well know that I have my engine bay clean to where you can eat off of it most, if not all of the time. I found that after installing the louvers, it gets pretty dirty in there pretty quickly (which is why I reinstalled my engine cover). Please disregard all of the winter salt and grossness that has accumulated in there!
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This is the solenoid included with the Painless kit. I installed it simply by using two "L" brackets that are mounted under the battery that come up along the side of the battery. This allows the solenoid to sit near the starting battery which is ideal. The wiring used is from XS Power; the one wrapped in red loom, 0 AWG, is from their Big 3 kit (I'll make a separate post on that) and the other, 4 AWG, is from their battery installation kit. I know it looks like a rat's nest with all the small wires, but that's because the relay to my halos sits just under that, so there is a lot going on. I plan to buy a Painless Performance engine loom set to cover everything up this summer.
This is the switch and indication LEDs (I know, not in focus. But you can see the new ignition switch from the P41 recall!). The switch has three positions; starting battery only, secondary battery only, or both. The solenoid gets power from the alternator and thus decides charging based on the switch position.
The battery kit I got came from XS as I stated:
http://4xspower.com/shop/secondary-battery-combos/xp750-ck/
It isn't a deep cycle battery, but will soon be combined with one when I can afford one. The kit comes with all the wiring, heat shrink, inline fuses and fuse holders, everything!
I took everything out of the trunk and realized I had a lot to vacuum up. You can see a ton of sandblast media from when I had a little spill back here.
I then found a home for the battery with the inline fuse sitting closely to it (the closer the better on either battery). I measured twice and wanted the rear cargo tray and everything to fit over it.
I wired it alongside the wiring harness for the BA amp.
I then wired it under the door sills and secured it with the plastic clips included and self tapping screws. I used gasket sealer to seal the self tapping screws.
Up to the front...
Where I mounted it to another inline fuse inside the cabin again, this time closer to the starting battery!
I drilled this hole to wire it out.
Then used leftover wiring loom from the Painless kit to cover it up!
Then reinstalled everything and came to this!
I plan to make a drawer system in the trunk this summer. That will hold a deep cell battery, an amp for my speakers, power inverter, etc. For now, this setup will do! I know it is a small battery, but the solenoid keeps them separated so there will be no power draws.
Besides, I'll leave off with a nice picture or something.
