Ford E350 V10 4x4 Build

[BajaBus]

I had to google AGM because I wasnt familiar with the term - now I am on the same page. Noce rig BajaBus, orange would be my first choice as favorite color but since those are rare I ended up with red. Quick question for the battery experts since this has been a productive discussion; noticed all the recommendations for 3 bateries on the gas engine, would that be the same recommendation for the diesel equipped rigs, or should those go 4 since they already start with 2? Following this build...

Terry, my van has been outside your store many times. In fact, I've got to come by there tomorrow! Are you working then?

 

[RocKrawler]

Terry, my van has been outside your store many times. In fact, I've got to come by there tomorrow! Are you working then?

I actually start at that store on Monday. I used to manage the Santa Ana and San Marcos stores several years ago, then left 4WP and now have come full circle ended up back there. I'll be there next week and hope you can drop by sometime when I am working so I can check it out!

 

[McZippie]

I had to google AGM because I wasnt familiar with the term - now I am on the same page. Noce rig BajaBus, orange would be my first choice as favorite color but since those are rare I ended up with red. Quick question for the battery experts since this has been a productive discussion; noticed all the recommendations for 3 bateries on the gas engine, would that be the same recommendation for the diesel equipped rigs, or should those go 4 since they already start with 2? Following this build...

I have 3 AGMs Ford OEM sized batteries/battery boxes on the passenger side of our long wheel base 2009 Diesel E350 cutaway.
Doubt that 3 would fit on a 'normal' van's wheel base on the passenger side???
Maybe two on each side or 2 on the passenger side and 1 drivers???
Can always use more batteries.

Whatever you decide (3 or 4 batteries) keep in mind that the OEM batteries/battery boxes set-up are for relatively small batteries.... and that's
the main reason to tie all the batteries together in one bank.

 

[RocKrawler]

I have 3 AGMs Ford OEM sized batteries/battery boxes on the passenger side of our long wheel base 2009 Diesel E350 cutaway.
Doubt that 3 would fit on a 'normal' van's wheel base on the passenger side???
Maybe two on each side or 2 on the passenger side and 1 drivers???
Can always use more batteries.

Whatever you decide (3 or 4 batteries) keep in mind that the OEM batteries/battery boxes set-up are for relatively small batteries.... and that's
the main reason to tie all the batteries together in one bank.

I have an RB with one in under the hood and another on the PS frame rail. As I understood the previous post adding another 2 batteries to the gas engine would be ideal because of the room on the frame. Since I already have one there I'd be adding one more for a total of 3, but would that be enough or would I need to add one to the opposite side to make a total of 4? Its highly unlikely I'd be in one place for any more than 2-3 days.

 

[BajaBus]

Terry, I'll bring the van by on Monday and we can compare notes and you can see what I did with mine.

Here are pics of the battery boxes on the frame rails.

 

[BajaBus]

The isolator location in the engine compartment. I intended to use the Battery Brain as Zippie recommended but horrible customer service and a rude individual who answered the phone there caused me to cancel my order. Cutting my nose off to spite my face? Maybe but the isolator should work well...

 

[BajaBus]

And here's the inverter. We've decided to remove the front row of seats to accomodate the fridge in a convenient location as well as making more room for one of the kids to sleep. I'll decide where the inverter will stay later. I'm going to make up something to provide more vibration protection for it.

 

[BajaBus]

Much thanks to Zippie for all his help and for steering me in the right direction. I'm very glad I went to the extra expense of the third battery as it will increase capacity exponentially. :sombrero:

 

[McZippie]

I have an RB with one in under the hood and another on the PS frame rail. As I understood the previous post adding another 2 batteries to the gas engine would be ideal because of the room on the frame. Since I already have one there I'd be adding one more for a total of 3, but would that be enough or would I need to add one to the opposite side to make a total of 4? Its highly unlikely I'd be in one place for any more than 2-3 days.

It 'all' depends on how many amp hours you need for the 2 to 3 days.
3 OEM sized AGM batteries give about 100+ amp hours before the Battery Brain Heavy Duty switches the power off. I'd try it with 3 AGM batteries and see how it goes.

 

[McZippie]

And here's the inverter. We've decided to remove the front row of seats to accomodate the fridge in a convenient location as well as making more room for one of the kids to sleep. I'll decide where the inverter will stay later. I'm going to make up something to provide more vibration protection for it.

I think you wrote that it's a 3000 watt inverter, if so it appears that the wires are rather a small gauge. Not a factor for light use.
The small wires would only be a problem for big demand items, like powering a Hair Dryer, Microwave etc. When you decide later where to install the inverter,
keep in mind; it should be as close as possible to the batteries and use thicker wires.

 

[McZippie]

Terry, I'll bring the van by on Monday and we can compare notes and you can see what I did with mine.

Here are pics of the battery boxes on the frame rails.

Nice! ....wow your Rig is clean on bottom too. Now get out there and get it dirty.

 

[McZippie]

The isolator location in the engine compartment. I intended to use the Battery Brain as Zippie recommended but horrible customer service and a rude individual who answered the phone there caused me to cancel my order. Cutting my nose off to spite my face? Maybe but the isolator should work well...

Post a link to the Isolator. It has a low voltage cut-off...Right???
Is so, it serves the same purpose as the Battery Brian.
The Battery Brain is a 'solenoid' switch with a low voltage cut-off circuit.

 

[BajaBus]

I think you wrote that it's a 3000 watt inverter, if so it appears that the wires are rather a small gauge. Not a factor for light use.
The small wires would only be a problem for big demand items, like powering a Hair Dryer, Microwave etc. When you decide later where to install the inverter,
keep in mind; it should be as close as possible to the batteries and use thicker wires.

It's 2 gauage and the wire is only about 4' to the batteries. It could have been 3' but I wanted a little flexibility to move it around. If I had been there, I would have gone and gotten some 0 gauge for that part.

 

[BajaBus]

Post a link to the Isolator. It has a low voltage cut-off...Right???
Is so, it serves the same purpose as the Battery Brian.
The Battery Brain is a 'solenoid' switch with a low voltage cut-off circuit.

Actually the inverter has a low voltage cutoff with circuit protection. Here's the isolator I got here.

 

[McZippie]

Actually the inverter has a low voltage cutoff with circuit protection. Here's the isolator I got here.

Thanks for the link... I was wrong, it's an 'old school' isolator that's used for two battery bank applications, with no low voltage protection for the house battery. It protects the starter battery from being depleted, because it is 'isolated' from the house battery when the alternator isn't charging.

As long as everything is powered through the inverter when the engine is off, then you'd have low voltage protection on the house battery too.

Should work just find. Battery isolators and solenoids with two battery banks, are the long time accepted way of powering the 'house' when the engine alternator isn't charging or shore power is unavailable.