Dual battery setup with ArkPak and Ctek charger.

[VanDominator13]

Forgive me before I start. I'm going to try to explain this setup as clearly as I can. This is my first time wiring up anything this complicated in my truck and I just want to be sure I'm doing this correctly, not skipping any steps and I'm trying to avoid redundancy.
Im installing a dual battery system in my 2011 tundra to be able to power a Dometic CFX fridge, some LED lights, USB accessories and to charge 18v batteries for my impact wrench.
I used an arkpak so that I can remove it from the truck if I need it somewhere else and also so that it's not living in the truck full-time.
I've installed the perfect switch to isolate my starting battery and aux, and hooked up a switch to the interior of the truck to be able to close the circuit in the event that my starter battery dies or if I decide to leave the ArkPak and fridge at home I can close the circuit to be able use the LED's, 12v and USB outlets in the bed.
From the switch I've run 1ga wire to the bed and will install 175amp ANL fuses on the positive leads between the batteries and the perfect switch.
Here is where the fun starts.
I'm installing 2 blue sea 4 post buss bars, from here will be a Ctek 250s charger to go directly to the ArkPak via the post terminals. From the other 2 poles on the buss there will be an Anderson plug for bypassing the ArkPak.
After that I have a Blue Sea fuse block with an Anderson connector for power input. This way I can put the ArkPak in line between the ctek charger and the Anderson plug on the fuse block when I want to have dual battery function and if not I can just plug the two anderson plugs together to bypass the charger and battery altogether and just have everything run off of the starter battery. I've included a very crude diagram of what I'm planning. If you can see any glaring holes or suggestions of what to do otherwise I'm very open to opinion. Thanks!
-Mikey

 

[john61ct]

Is that the ArkPak,version accepts G31 size?

Depending on your usage patterns and charge sources, may need two, to make sure you don't draw the battery below 50%.

Say 7A usage and 30% cycling, for the fridge, comes to 50AH per 24hrs, more or less depending on temps, insulation and venting setup.

And how are you ensuring getting the bank back to 100% Full SoC most cycles? A LiFePO4 drop-in would avoid that need, but adds to the cost a lot.

 

[VanDominator13]

I'm using the 730 model that accepts group 31 batteries. Right now for my needs I don't foresee us needing more than one battery, and I'll be sure to keep an eye on it to make sure we don't take it below 50%.
We do fairly long drives (6-8hrs) between stops so I'm counting on the alternator and the ctek to get the battery in the ArkPak back up to 100%
I looked into the LiFePo4 batteries but the cost just doesn't outweigh the benefits in the short term. I feel like if I spend $200+ now on a decent AGM and I can get a few hundred cycles out of it I can upgrade to lithium later on.

 

[austintaco]

I'm going to start a new thread with a similar question. I did not want to detract from yours.

 

[1Louder]

Since the ArkPak already has a charge controller why not just wire it into your main system via the 12 volt charger or possibly the Anderson connection. Since it's not like a traditional second battery I think you can just wire it into the system via your fuseblock.

Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I think if you use the Anderson Connection it bypasses the built in controller.

I have one but don't use it often. I charged mine via 12 volt plug or 110 outlet in my truck while driving.

 

[austintaco]

1Louder, you are correct. The smart charger only works with either the DC to DC plug charger or the AC charger. The problem I ran into is that you end up with a very slow charge from the 12 volt plug and I wanted a way to give the ArK Pak a good charge while driving. Charging through the anderson connectors does that, but it bypasses the smart controller so I would just arbitrarily pick a set time to charge while driving and then flip the switch in the cab to kill the power the Anderson plug. It worked, but its a hassle and not fool proof by any means.

 

[1Louder]

1Louder, you are correct. The smart charger only works with either the DC to DC plug charger or the AC charger. The problem I ran into is that you end up with a very slow charge from the 12 volt plug and I wanted a way to give the ArK Pak a good charge while driving. Charging through the anderson connectors does that, but it bypasses the smart controller so I would just arbitrarily pick a set time to charge while driving and then flip the switch in the cab to kill the power the Anderson plug. It worked, but its a hassle and not fool proof by any means.

Makes sense. I understand wanting to have something when using the Anderson plugs now. Do you have solar at all. That's what I used most to keep my setup happy.

 

[john61ct]

6-8 hours driving may get to 100% if the alt/VR setup allows, too many drop the voltage to float early.

If the included DCDC charger has boost conversion, it may pay to switch to that once your amp flow has dropped to below say 10A.

That will help you get good lifetime, a few hundred cycles is a very low expectation, with a proper deep cycle you should get lots more.

Solar will help if you get the high-amp bulk stage done, then a day of sun before starting to discharge again.

 

[VanDominator13]

I'm going to eliminate the ctek charger for now just for economic reasons, but the concept is still essentially the same. I'll wire the Anderson in directly to the fuse block and plug the ArkPak into that for an hour or so and then switch it to the 12v D.C. Charger for the remainder of the drive. If I have any issues with that I'll try the Ctek charger. Solar is definitely on the to-do list.

 

[austintaco]

Your set up is verY similar to mine. I have a switch in the cab between the starter battery and an anderson connector so I can stop the charging while driving. I'm adding in a small voltmeter to run from the ark Pak to the cab to check the voltage after I stop charging. I have another fused line with an anderson connector that I plan to use to hook up a cig plug to for use with DC to DC smart charging if the ark Pak is not that low. All of the camper accessories run through a fuse block and it receives power through an anderson connector as well.

 

[VanDominator13]

Your set up is verY similar to mine. I have a switch in the cab between the starter battery and an anderson connector so I can stop the charging while driving. I'm adding in a small voltmeter to run from the ark Pak to the cab to check the voltage after I stop charging. I have another fused line with an anderson connector that I plan to use to hook up a cig plug to for use with DC to DC smart charging if the ark Pak is not that low. All of the camper accessories run through a fuse block and it receives power through an anderson connector as well.

Interesting, I have a switch in my cab that does the opposite. It closes the circuit for the 2 batteries so if the ArkPak isn't in the truck I can still have power to the 12v accessories in the bed. No way for me to open the circuit while driving as the PowerGate switch closes once it senses voltage from the alternator. I have a voltmeter in the bed but nothing in the cab as of yet...just more stuff to do.

 

[austintaco]

I ran the lines for the setup last year for our trip up the CA coast. The plug in charger fried on day 3, so I had to either charge by AC at camp sites or use the switched anderson line while driving, but I was concerned about overcharging. The addition of the meter will let me check in on the charging periodically. I also have all of the Flippac accessories in the back going through a blue sea fuse block. I keep the Ark Pak in the house on rollers most of the time and I use it during power outages, hence the reason for wanting to be able to pull the Ark Pak out of the camper setup when not in use.

 

[VanDominator13]

I ran the lines for the setup last year for our trip up the CA coast. The plug in charger fried on day 3, so I had to either charge by AC at camp sites or use the switched anderson line while driving, but I was concerned about overcharging. The addition of the meter will let me check in on the charging periodically. I also have all of the Flippac accessories in the back going through a blue sea fuse block. I keep the Ark Pak in the house on rollers most of the time and I use it during power outages, hence the reason for wanting to be able to pull the Ark Pak out of the camper setup when not in use.

I'm running all my rear accessories through a blue sea fuse block as well.
I'm going to try and charge the ArkPak both ways and see if I can find something that works well.
Good call on the rollers for the ArkPak!

 

[VanDominator13]

Ok, so I finished up this 12v project and it worked great for our trip from Los Angeles to the British Columbia Interior.
About 3k miles round trip with some normal truck camping, some driving on the beach and plenty of hwy miles. The Dometic 65L ran cold all day, the ctek charged the battery quickly and everything else worked great.
I used a Perfect Switch dual rectifier battery isolator. Fused the positive leads going to both batteries and ran 1/0 wire for the positive line to the rear of the truck.
I grounded the rear battery to the frame rail using 1/0 and then ran a redundant 10ga line from the negative terminal on the start battery to the negative buss in the rear.

The guys at my mechanic shop as well as Shaun at Perfect Switch both said that this is more than enough for my needs.

It's a little messy under the hood as there isn't a whole lot of space in there but with a couple of battery terminal buss bars I should be able to clean it up a bit.

I ran all the cable through conduit to the rear, and I used weld-mount hardware to avoid drilling wherever necessary.

Then I mounted a couple of Blue Sea buss bars in the Decked ammo can.

Mounted the ctek charger to the top of the ammo can lid, I don't like that it's taking up floor space. I'll probably find another way to mount it against the truck bed or if I end up putting a camper in the bed like I plan to I'll move to the inside of the camper.

After that I ran some ring terminals from the charger to the ArkPak and then out of the ArkPak's Anderson plug to a Blue Seas Fuse Block and then to my 12v outlets, USB outlets, voltmeter and LED lighting switch.

The whole setup will be refined a bit. I kind of threw it together in the 3 days off I had before we took our trip. But all in all it worked great. I also made up another anderson plug so that I can come directly off the buss bars and into the fuse block if for some reason I want to bypass the ArkPak or if it's not in the back of the truck. I have a switch in the cab of my truck so I can close the circuit on the isolator and combine the batteries if I want or just have the power on in the rear of the ArkPak isn't present.

 

[rickc]

I'm in the process of setting up a similar ArkPak 730 based dual battery system. VanDominator1: I understand everything in your setup except the need for the CTEK 250S charger. Was charging through the Anderson plug inadequate? My plan is to run the live line directly from a Wirthco 150A isolator at the starter battery to a 150A circuit breaker and then to the big connector on the side of the ArkPak. I'm not sure about ground yet; I'll probably run an independent ground the same path from the starter battery back to the truck bed.