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dave17352's avatar
dave17352
Explorer
Apr 29, 2017

Adding another battery under the hood question

I am thinking of adding a second battery on my new truck. It is a gasser and has the space for a second battery. I am thinking about wiring the second battery to be hot all the time to the truck camper. I plan to put a isolator between the truck battery and this second battery. So the second battery will be a camper battery only. Now somewhere I read where someone said he had seen a lot of wiring burned up on vehicles because people put in batteries that are to high in
cranking amps.

I didn't even realize that was possible. Is it? Because when the isolater is powered and three batteries are all running in parallel isn't that going to be like a ton of cranking amps. So can somebody explain if this is a concern or not.

and a second question is...

I have a 150 amp alternator in my truck. When the two batteries for the camper run down to lets say 50 percent and the truck battery is 100 percent I start the truck. If I turn on the tow haul it makes the alternator put out more power. How does this all play out considering the full truck battery and the 2 half depleted camper batteries. This is on 2017 silverado.

Now this is how I have always done it in the past and haven't noticed any problems but what really happens in situation like this. We only camp occasionally so this is nothing like a full time situation but I am curious.



Thank you!
  • People also burn 5 kw transformers and the truth is that you can make horror story to every subject.
    As long as you do it right way, you will be safe.
    I do have mechanical degrees, so don't take me as expert, but that is what I learned mostly the hard way.
    -use battery combiner, or ignition-activated relay connection from alternator
    - put fuse or circuit breaker adequate to the cable you will be using
    -I understand this is going to be 2nd battery parallel with the one in the camper, so you might not need heavy cables, but nothing wrong with over-sizing.