Gen 8 Dual Battery Kits and Setups

[Viper82]

Went to ARB distributor today and brought a BCDC 1225 LV. Is the wrong unit ?? should I not have brought the Low Voltage model ??

The LV will work on anything.

But will it drain the starting battery too much as it shuts off charging at 11.9v ?

[Tacko88]

Yeah I got me one of those piggy back things. Was just looking where to plug it in.. Was looking for something that resembled power window, like PWRW but I'm guessing it's not marked like that in there. I'll have another look tommorow. I packed up in frustration tonight haha. And the fuse I pulled out didn't look like that :/

Hi I did a post on this before This is much easier rather than standing on your head to access the fuse box under the white cover underneath glove box-some caution there it has some computer control fuses in it also.

Take out the glove box lid now go to the left hand side of the glove box there is a small general fuse box with a black cover on it with amp designations written on the front, take the cover off (this applies to a manual transmission SR5 but I think the auto may also be the same) there are a lot of dead & unused slots in it. Look right down the bottom of box there are two slots unused with a live pin only on one side Insert a piggy back fuse & lead into one of these they are only live with ignition ON. May be also put a cable tie ontop of the piggyback to keep it in because it only has one socket to feed from then cable tie the cover back on so you know what fuse is what. CHEERS

Cheers bud this is exactly what I ended up doing, only just seen it but.

[James.d]

Great I missed this too !!

[The Milkman]

Went to ARB distributor today and brought a BCDC 1225 LV. Is the wrong unit ?? should I not have brought the Low Voltage model ??

The LV will work on anything.

But will it drain the starting battery too much as it shuts off charging at 11.9v ?

I hope this is not the case as I've have one of these for my sr5. I rang Redarc and their techi said its fine for the Hilux provided I hook blue to ignition.

[Cruisa]

Yeah I got me one of those piggy back things. Was just looking where to plug it in.. Was looking for something that resembled power window, like PWRW but I'm guessing it's not marked like that in there. I'll have another look tommorow. I packed up in frustration tonight haha. And the fuse I pulled out didn't look like that :/

Hi I did a post on this before This is much easier rather than standing on your head to access the fuse box under the white cover underneath glove box-some caution there it has some computer control fuses in it also.

Take out the glove box lid now go to the left hand side of the glove box there is a small general fuse box with a black cover on it with amp designations written on the front, take the cover off (this applies to a manual transmission SR5 but I think the auto may also be the same) there are a lot of dead & unused slots in it. Look right down the bottom of box there are two slots unused with a live pin only on one side Insert a piggy back fuse & lead into one of these they are only live with ignition ON. May be also put a cable tie ontop of the piggyback to keep it in because it only has one socket to feed from then cable tie the cover back on so you know what fuse is what. CHEERS

Hi, Sorry for this question as I am stuck away from my Lux, but what size fuse does she take for the piggy back lead behind the clovebox? Standard, Micro or Mini

[Tacko88]

Yeah I got me one of those piggy back things. Was just looking where to plug it in.. Was looking for something that resembled power window, like PWRW but I'm guessing it's not marked like that in there. I'll have another look tommorow. I packed up in frustration tonight haha. And the fuse I pulled out didn't look like that :/

Hi I did a post on this before This is much easier rather than standing on your head to access the fuse box under the white cover underneath glove box-some caution there it has some computer control fuses in it also.

Take out the glove box lid now go to the left hand side of the glove box there is a small general fuse box with a black cover on it with amp designations written on the front, take the cover off (this applies to a manual transmission SR5 but I think the auto may also be the same) there are a lot of dead & unused slots in it. Look right down the bottom of box there are two slots unused with a live pin only on one side Insert a piggy back fuse & lead into one of these they are only live with ignition ON. May be also put a cable tie ontop of the piggyback to keep it in because it only has one socket to feed from then cable tie the cover back on so you know what fuse is what. CHEERS

Hi, Sorry for this question as I am stuck away from my Lux, but what size fuse does she take for the piggy back lead behind the clovebox? Standard, Micro or Mini

I used the mini fuse piggyback, it does have the micro as standard but the mini fits in there.

[bobLux]

Hi guys I have gone around the last few days looking to install a dual battery system for my 2016 SR5. Basically want some power outlets in the canopy to run a 60l engel, lights and maybe phone chargers etc. I'm thinking of just buying the parts and getting a auto elec to do the install as its cheaper. These are some of quotes I got.

ARB (Solar ready system)
Supply and fit the system - $445
AUX tray for hilux - $189
Century super heavy duty battery 720CCA MF - $295
BCDC1225 Redarc 12v 25amps -$561 (can get for $395 off the net)
Change over relay kit 12v 60A - $110
Supply and fit anderson plug - $120
Supply and fit AUX power outlets - $320

TOTAL - $2040 (Don't think so!)

Other ARB suggestions
BCDC1220-IGN Redarc - $482 with battery, tray, AUX power outlets and fitting ($1731)

Battery World
BCDC1225 Redarc - $499
Tray - $199
Ultimate AGM 110 Amp- $359.95

TJM
Tray - $220
TJM 3 stage battery charger (think it was a projecta) $375
Century Battery NS70T STD - $270
Surface mount w plug for engel and 2 cig plugs - $32
Solar anderson plug - $42
Labour and fiiting - $400
TOTAL - $1339

4x4 Statewide
Wouldn't tell me what products they use but for a dual battery system of AGM battery 100a/h, DC/DC charger, tray, 1 engel and 1 12v socket plus labour - $1845

Autobarn
Didn't get a proper quote for everything but they use a Projecta IDC25. Quoted about $1000 but thats not including plugs and readers etc. The Projecta looks pretty good and is about half the price compared to the redarc, have seen it online for $295.

Anyone else got some suggestions or have had some experience with the Projecta etc.

[Richard]

Something that I found out recently when I had some electrical work done to the Hilux is that if there's a need to run wires into the cabin from the engine bay the whole second battery is going to have to be uninstalled as it blocks access to the only intrusion going in through the firewall.

Might be an idea to run a few dummy sets before the dual is installed.

[ih8ubarney]

Hi guys I have gone around the last few days looking to install a dual battery system for my 2016 SR5. Basically want some power outlets in the canopy to run a 60l engel, lights and maybe phone chargers etc. I'm thinking of just buying the parts and getting a auto elec to do the install as its cheaper. These are some of quotes I got.

ARB (Solar ready system)
Supply and fit the system - $445
AUX tray for hilux - $189
Century super heavy duty battery 720CCA MF - $295
BCDC1225 Redarc 12v 25amps -$561 (can get for $395 off the net)
Change over relay kit 12v 60A - $110
Supply and fit anderson plug - $120
Supply and fit AUX power outlets - $320

TOTAL - $2040 (Don't think so!)

Other ARB suggestions
BCDC1220-IGN Redarc - $482 with battery, tray, AUX power outlets and fitting ($1731)

Battery World
BCDC1225 Redarc - $499
Tray - $199
Ultimate AGM 110 Amp- $359.95

TJM
Tray - $220
TJM 3 stage battery charger (think it was a projecta) $375
Century Battery NS70T STD - $270
Surface mount w plug for engel and 2 cig plugs - $32
Solar anderson plug - $42
Labour and fiiting - $400
TOTAL - $1339

4x4 Statewide
Wouldn't tell me what products they use but for a dual battery system of AGM battery 100a/h, DC/DC charger, tray, 1 engel and 1 12v socket plus labour - $1845

Autobarn
Didn't get a proper quote for everything but they use a Projecta IDC25. Quoted about $1000 but thats not including plugs and readers etc. The Projecta looks pretty good and is about half the price compared to the redarc, have seen it online for $295.

Anyone else got some suggestions or have had some experience with the Projecta etc.

dont forget you probably want this bracket too, to get the redarc bcdc out in some cool air
http://thelongranger.com.au/toyota/hilu ... lrth15bcdc
not sure if that is part of the arb kit?

have been camping a few times and just run my fridge of the tiny car battery, but the battery is fairly low after 24hrs running the fridge.

i'm thinking as a cheaper option, i might just get the battery tray, a decent battery monitor (enerdrive or victron bmv-700) and a pair dual purpose batteries like the century overlander and run them in parallel... i know the batteries could still go flat but there it will be a heap better than what i have now. Eventually when the funds allow i'd like to run the Redarc BCDC1225.
i guess the question is.... is there any reason why this cant be done?

[adamkberger]

Ih8ubarney, if you're going down that path, at least put a voltage sensing relay in. This will ensure the two batteries will disconnect from each other when the voltage gets too low. If you use the Overlander battery, you should be OK. I would try and avoid fully discharging too often as this will shorten the battery life. A deep cycle may be better if you plan on discharging often but in this setup, they will also have a shorter life as they will never get charged properly. I had this setup in my 100 series and I had to replace the deep cycle every 2 years. A Redarc BCDC1220/1225 is the go or a BCDC1240 for faster charging and solar capability.

Adam.

[ih8ubarney]

Thanks Adam, from what i've read it's not the best idea to install a deep cycle in the engine bay,
my other theory in running the 2 batteries in parallel is if the car doesn't get used for a 24 hour period while camping the fridge simply cant suck enough power out of 2 100 amp hour batters for it to be a problem.
i should also mention i my fridge has a low voltage cut off so it "shouldn't" drain the batteries completely

[crustie]

Watch out using a BCDC1240 some batteries will not take 40amps
I would suggest using a 25amp, 25 amps is plenty
Chris

[Trentom]

Hi all,

Where did you all grab the ignition wire to connect the blue wire?
Pics would be handy.

Thank you

[crustie]

Hi all,
From memory the Blue wire is for Source, so that connects to your Positive supply main battery not ignition unless you are coming of a relay or a 24v supply
Chris


Where did you all grab the ignition wire to connect the blue wire?
Pics would be handy.

Thank you

[Tezzacannonvale]

I am not sure if this is possible or even logical, but the reason I want a dual system is mainly to charge the 105ah AGM deep Cycle battery in my camper while we drive.

In the last (2013) Hilux, I went to the extent of putting the dual battery system in, but rarely put any load on the second car battery. Our 2010 Prado had just an isolator that fed the Anderson plug on the tow bar to charge the camper battery and this worked fine. We had the fridge in the back of the car, with an outlet in the luggage compartment

While we travel, we have the fridge (Quirks Autofridge) in the tub and we want power to this, and would like to run the USB sockets in the cab off the isolator so that they still charge phones etc when ignition is off, but switch off when the isolator says it is time.

I am guessing that you can't run "accessories" straight off the feed of the DC-DC chargers without a battery in the loop, which then renders the outlets in tub etc unusable when the camper is not connected, is this correct.

[adamkberger]

Tezzacannonvale, you don't need a dual battery setup to charge your camper. If anything, I'd put a DC-DC charger in the camper to take care of your AGM. This will compensate for any voltage drop and provide a proper charge. If you get one of the higher rated units, they often come with solar inputs which is a bonus.
If you don't use a fridge in the car often, maybe use a relay controlled by a switch in the cabin to power all your accessories and maybe a low voltage cut off for the fridge.

Adam.

[Tezzacannonvale]

Thanks Adam, would you then run the feed to the camper on the isolated side of the low voltage cut off so that if there is a load in the trailer, it doesn't drain the cranking battery??

** Just done the research (a bit) and the Dc - Dc have a low voltage isolator by the looks**

[adamkberger]

You can connect the DC charger in the camper straight to the main battery in the car via an Anderson plug. The DC charger will isolate between the two batteries automatically.

[Coasty]

Adam, the lugs should of been included in either your books or in the glove box. All Hilux models with the fuse box come with them as standard.

[Coasty]

Also regarding the blue wire, it goes through the firewall on the drivers side and connects to an earth point and a connector block taped to the loom behind the switch panel.