NeoN Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 Picture of my new secondary battery setup waiting to go in! Picture of my Yellow Top Optima, W/ subwoofer cable installed Picture of my new Stinger SP800 dry cell battery (secondary) installed in the back along with the Stinger SR200 Relay battery isolator Everything fits away nicely, giant jumper cables, fix a flat, my amp, a flashlight, etc. Now you see it, now you don't!
Grumbles2 Posted February 3, 2008 Posted February 3, 2008 Picture of my new secondary battery setup waiting to go in! Picture of my Yellow Top Optima, W/ subwoofer cable installed Picture of my new Stinger SP800 dry cell battery (secondary) installed in the back along with the Stinger SR200 Relay battery isolator Everything fits away nicely, giant jumper cables, fix a flat, my amp, a flashlight, etc. Now you see it, now you don't! WOW thanks for the post, I use Optima batteries in all of my vehicles. I did not know that they had one that would fit the RX400, I am getting one next week.
RXREY Posted February 3, 2008 Posted February 3, 2008 I don't understand, what is all this for? I'm not being facetious, I just don't know much about cars. Rey
NeoN Posted February 4, 2008 Author Posted February 4, 2008 I don't understand, what is all this for? I'm not being facetious, I just don't know much about cars. Rey Rey, This is for my stereo system. My amp is far too powerful for the puny stock battery. I had to hook up a second battery for fear of my stereo system draining my only battery to start my car. I would work on my car in the garage for a half hour or so and the battery would die completely. This was a major problem as I couldn't rely on my main battery to power the car reliably. Now I have a secondary battery for my stereo only, so I will never have to worry about my stereo killing my main battery. The relay I use separates my secondary battery from the primary one, as signals can only travel in one direction, aka from the alternator to my secondary battery or the first, and the secondary battery therefore can't drain power from the first battery. This sounds complicated, but its really not. The relay separates the two batteries, however, since the alternator cable can't be separated from the positive 12v+ lines(refer to the yellow optima picture in my engine bay) The main battery is charged by the alternator as well as by the relay. The relay acts as a device that splits power from the batteries, it charges one battery at a time, alternating between the battery with the lowest charge, as it is never charging two at a time. However this is skewed a bit because I have my primary battery hooked directly up to the alternator therefore charging it anyway (there is no way to separate all 12V+ lines under the hood without extensive soddering/splicing). Theoretically, If I could have the alternator cable running directly to my relay (to distribute the charge to either battery, (only charging one at a time)) and the starter cable running from my 12V+ battery, everything would be perfect, but thats not the case. The alternator now has the duties of charging both at the same time(yikes!) but its a lexus so I should be alright.
RXREY Posted February 4, 2008 Posted February 4, 2008 That is so interesting! Thanks for the lesson, now it makes perfect sense. Rey
NeoN Posted February 4, 2008 Author Posted February 4, 2008 That is so interesting! Thanks for the lesson, now it makes perfect sense. Rey hope that helped Rey, everything is working great so far. I'll let everyone know if I run into any problems with my dual battery setup. by the way, battery isolators are popular among truckers that like to run microwaves/heaters without killing their starter battery.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now