MDH33
Observer
Since I've been living out of my FJ60 (and a backpack) all summer I decided to finally install a fridge and dual battery setup. I have been thinking about it for awhile. I have been envious too many times of others on road trips with fridges full of cold beers and food after five days without having to deal with floating food and meat juices contaminating everything in a cooler full of melted ice.
I picked up an Engel 45 and ran with the single battery for a month or so. I was having to rely on my cooler if I was parking for more than a night since I didn't trust my single battery and had no other rigs around most of the time in case I needed a jump. After doing much research I decided to splurge for a National Luna split charge kit and install a second deep cycle battery to power the fridge (and maybe some more extras in the future). The National Luna kit seems to do everything I need and came with everything needed for the install (although a lot of extra cable for an FJ60). It charges both batteries and also allows a jump from the second battery by just pushing a button from inside the cab. There is a battery voltage monitor inside the cab with the controls. The controls can also enable both batteries to be used for winching -- Edit: if you use larger cable than what's supplied.
I picked up the National Luna Split charge Kit from Equipt. I also ordered a couple of replacement stainless steel battery trays. These are Niiiice. The install also required an aux fuse block and some extra 12V receptacles which I ordered from West Marine. I also picked up a new yellow top to run the extras, I already had a red top for starting.
On to the install. First, I installed the trays, split charge kit and aux fuse block. Later, I installed the extra 12V plugs. This all took me about 5 hours.
The fridge is already in my rig.
I got the new stainless trays installed. They come with all the hardware and hold downs that fit the Optimas perfectly. Sooo much nicer than the corroded stock tray. The only tricky part was relocating the radiator overflow.
Here's the DS side tray and new aux battery.
PS starting battery.
Most of the time involved in the install is assembling and routing the cables. I also soldered all the connections for my new fuse block. Here's the kit and some assembly pics.
Here's the solenoid unit mounted and a pic of the main battery with new connections in place.
Here's the aux battery hooked up.
Once I had it all connected I fired it up to test the system. The solenoid allows the starting battery to charge for 5 minutes after start up before charging the aux battery. The in-cab monitor seemed to be working great and after the initial 5 minute warm-up I was getting consistent power to both batteries and the new fuse block.
I picked up an Engel 45 and ran with the single battery for a month or so. I was having to rely on my cooler if I was parking for more than a night since I didn't trust my single battery and had no other rigs around most of the time in case I needed a jump. After doing much research I decided to splurge for a National Luna split charge kit and install a second deep cycle battery to power the fridge (and maybe some more extras in the future). The National Luna kit seems to do everything I need and came with everything needed for the install (although a lot of extra cable for an FJ60). It charges both batteries and also allows a jump from the second battery by just pushing a button from inside the cab. There is a battery voltage monitor inside the cab with the controls. The controls can also enable both batteries to be used for winching -- Edit: if you use larger cable than what's supplied.
I picked up the National Luna Split charge Kit from Equipt. I also ordered a couple of replacement stainless steel battery trays. These are Niiiice. The install also required an aux fuse block and some extra 12V receptacles which I ordered from West Marine. I also picked up a new yellow top to run the extras, I already had a red top for starting.
On to the install. First, I installed the trays, split charge kit and aux fuse block. Later, I installed the extra 12V plugs. This all took me about 5 hours.
The fridge is already in my rig.
I got the new stainless trays installed. They come with all the hardware and hold downs that fit the Optimas perfectly. Sooo much nicer than the corroded stock tray. The only tricky part was relocating the radiator overflow.
Here's the DS side tray and new aux battery.
PS starting battery.
Most of the time involved in the install is assembling and routing the cables. I also soldered all the connections for my new fuse block. Here's the kit and some assembly pics.
Here's the solenoid unit mounted and a pic of the main battery with new connections in place.
Here's the aux battery hooked up.
Once I had it all connected I fired it up to test the system. The solenoid allows the starting battery to charge for 5 minutes after start up before charging the aux battery. The in-cab monitor seemed to be working great and after the initial 5 minute warm-up I was getting consistent power to both batteries and the new fuse block.
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