Chips
Mothertrucker
Hi, I'm a newbie here. I've just bought a 2004 Suburban Z71 to which I'm planning on making a few mods to turn it into a camper of sorts for my girlfriend and I. What I'm stuck on is the electrical stuff. I've read quite a few threads on here now but I'm struggling to put all the different parts of the system together in my head, and I'm not sure what I'll need to meet my power requirements.
What I want is a dual battery system that charges both batteries off the alternator. When camping I want to be using the secondary battery only so I don't discharge the vehicle battery, but I still want to be able to use some of the vehicle systems including internal lighting (using LED bulbs), stereo and DVD player. I'll also need to run a 12v cooler and be able to charge my laptop. When the engine is running I still want all that stuff to work.
So I guess what I'm looking for is a dual battery system that will power all vehicle and secondary systems all the time. It needs to be switchable between the two batteries so I don't discharge the vehicle battery, and both batteries need to be charged off the alternator. Now I'm guessing that these are fairly simple requirements but I just haven't found any info from someone with that exact setup. Can anyone help point me in the right direction?
Bonus question! What would it take to add solar to the secondary battery? The solar panel would need to be removable for when the vehicle is being used purely as a daily driver.
What I want is a dual battery system that charges both batteries off the alternator. When camping I want to be using the secondary battery only so I don't discharge the vehicle battery, but I still want to be able to use some of the vehicle systems including internal lighting (using LED bulbs), stereo and DVD player. I'll also need to run a 12v cooler and be able to charge my laptop. When the engine is running I still want all that stuff to work.
So I guess what I'm looking for is a dual battery system that will power all vehicle and secondary systems all the time. It needs to be switchable between the two batteries so I don't discharge the vehicle battery, and both batteries need to be charged off the alternator. Now I'm guessing that these are fairly simple requirements but I just haven't found any info from someone with that exact setup. Can anyone help point me in the right direction?
Bonus question! What would it take to add solar to the secondary battery? The solar panel would need to be removable for when the vehicle is being used purely as a daily driver.