Three Battery System

[Spitfia]

Hi Folks

has anyone had any experience with setting up a third battery in their hiluxes?

I have a dual setup at at the moment with a TJM Projecta 25amp DC-DC charger and was thinking about putting a third BIGGER battery in the tray to run inverters etc.

Is this possible without upgrading or doubling up the alternator? or can i run another battery off the second? or do i need to add another DC-DC charger to the mix?

Thanks

[martynvella]

as long as you match up the third battery as closely as possible to the second battery you already have, bigger is ok but try to get the same brand and type, no need to upgrade your charging system unless you have the need for a very fast recharge. Think of your batteries as a couple of water tanks being filled from the same roof, if you add another tank it will take longer to fill them unless you add some roof area.

[Lundy]

I sometimes take a third battery with me, while im driving I have it in the tub and connected through an anderson plug straight to the second battery under the bonnett. Yes it will take longer to charge as i only have to 20A redarc charger, but on long drives i figure it will be better than not charging. When at camp i often take it out of the car and put it in the middle of the camp to general electrical item use. If it starts to drain it too much i put it back in the car to charge when driving.

One thing to note with that setup is I disconnect the third battery when the car is not running to eliminate any sort of power drain from the second to the third, (due to them being different batteries) because ideally i want the second one under the hood fully charged, then the third one with whatever charge is left.

I have had 2 extra batteries in the tub once connected to the second one under the bonnet (obviously charged very slow with the 20a) but it was overkill so I dont do that anymore.

Just my 2c