Dual battery install 05 GMC Sierra with pics

[OllieChristopher]

Curious why you would mount the ACR switch under the hood?

Hey there Carlos, I don't see a need where I will be using it except rare occasions of a battery service or jumping a battery. I almost did not install it at all. Seeing the ACR is fully automatic, I cannot see any issues. Of course I have never used one of these relays so I might be wrong....

My future plans are to have blue tooth relays and all my switches will be through an Apple Car Play touch screen.

 

[ConcordCarlos]

Ah . Roger that. After installing my dual battery I wished I had gotten the ACR with the switch. Even though I only isolate the batteries once a month while on a battery charger at home .

 

[vtsoundman]

Just saw your install thread. Looking good. Are you planning on putting the Victron under the hood? I'd suggest finding a more protected location - they last longer than way.

Another tip: I've had to put a small amount of dielectric grease on my 'open' blue sea fuse blocks/terminals to keep them from corroding under the hood. Was never a fan of exposed electrical connections, but I had a few laying around in my shop. It never became an electrical issue - just a made pulling fuses or removing screws a little harder. Ive slowly removed all but one from any exposed locations and instead use water tight housings.

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[vtsoundman]

Just saw your install thread. Looking good. Are you planning on putting the Victron under the hood? I'd suggest finding a more protected location - they last longer than way.

Another tip: I've had to put a small amount of dielectric grease on my 'open' blue sea fuse blocks/terminals to keep them from corroding under the hood. Was never a fan of exposed electrical connections, but I had a few laying around in my shop. It never became an electrical issue - just a made pulling fuses or removing screws a little harder. Ive slowly removed all but one from any exposed locations and instead use water tight housings.

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[OllieChristopher]

Thank you Sir, I am using dielectric grease on the connections. Time will tell how long the Victron is going to last. I have it as close to the battery as possible. Thanks for the tip on dielectric grease on the fuse blades as well. I know all my under hood connectors I could find have dielectric grease. I'm big on using it on my motorcycles also.

For the bare wire into the controller and all the lugs I'm using Gardner Bender Anti-Oxy Compound.

 

[vtsoundman]

Thank you Sir, I am using dielectric grease on the connections. Time will tell how long the Victron is going to last. I have it as close to the battery as possible. Thanks for the tip on dielectric grease on the fuse blades as well. I know all my under hood connectors I could find have dielectric grease. I'm big on using it on my motorcycles also.

For the bare wire into the controller and all the lugs I'm using Gardner Bender Anti-Oxy Compound.

While it is good practice to have the Victron close to the battery, it is not the end of the world if ya can't Just upsize the wire to compensate for any voltage drop. You'll lose the benefit of accurate temp comp, but that can be remedied with another gadget! (Remote temp/voltage sensor). The bigger the temp difference between the Victron and Batt, the larger the error.

The most important time is actually in cold weather...if the Victron is cold and the battery is hot, the Victron will want to keep the bulk / absorb/float voltage too high...

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[OllieChristopher]

I plan on stuffing 10 awg wire in there. I fact, with the exception of the relay switch I'm pretty much sticking to 10 wire. For the battery to fuse box and battery to power distribution block in the rear of truck I'm using 4 awg as well. Thank you so much for the tips! FWIW the power in the rear of truck will consist of a double small 45 amp anderson socket, 25 amp cig socket, 2 USB socket and a waterproof switchable battery voltage/percentage reader.

 

[vtsoundman]

Get some ferrule crimps...it'll help keep the wire nice and tight in the Victron terminals. Tough to justify if you are only doing this once...but if you do other projects too, it is a nice tool/setup to have.

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[OllieChristopher]

Crossing fingers that today will be completion of this project. Just in time as I'm getting shoulder surgery next week. I'll make an effort to post up more picks and detail as well as make a video.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Well I got er' done!! No video. Let's just say it took over a month to do. No right arm function and bad knees means very painful to work. 15 minutes here and there finally saw it finished yesterday.

I am amazed at the function of the Victron and Blue Sea products. Also I got a really nice stand alone 50 watt solar panel for home charging. I am very happy with the function and projected reliability of this system.

Here are a few pics of the completed project:

 

[OllieChristopher]

As far as wiring it is an overkill for sure. the only thing left of the OEM big wires from battery are the ones to starter and OEM fuse box. Of course almost all wires got new wire loom wrapped on them.

All ground and power wires are 1/0 from both batteries and alternator. I did more than the big three. More like the big 6!!

From starter battery: 1/0 power wire to alternator to relay to house battery. Two 1/0 negative wires from battery through RVC to buss bar and front crossmember. 1/0 wires from buss bar to the following: alternator body, OEM location at bottom of engine block next to starter, chassis, top of engine block, and finally to house battery.

All big wires are fused at 300 amps.

For truck bed power from house battery: 4 AWG fused at 150 amps. Both power and negative cables going directly to back and into a power distribution block. Each wire is marked with an inline blade fuse. 12 volt marine cig socket 30 amps, double Anderson plugs 30 amps, 2.4 amp quick charge USB sockets 15 amps, and voltage meter 5 amps.

 

[vtsoundman]

Awesome...those small volt meters and USB ports draw a surprising amount of vampire current. I'd suggest putting them on a switch if the truck will be left for a while.

Another tip...put a little grease the anderson connectors under the hood/exposed. It'll keep them happy for a lot longer. Just be aware that the grease will attract grit - so keep'em capped. Caps are available - can be hard to find sometimes. The cheap ebay ones are perfectly serviceable.

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[OllieChristopher]

Yep, the volt meter has an on/off switch and the usb ports are non lighted so they draw very little. I think it's something like 1 milliamp each. I use OX 800 for lube on connectors. It works really good at conductivity and protection. All the plugs are capped and have rubber boots on the backside. I also have the little red Anderson caps for when the plug is put away behind the bumper.

I have no illusions of the parasitic draw of everything. Tomorrow I'll get out there and take a measurement if I can keep it under 10 milliamps I'll be happy. I also have to go into the Victron settings and see about if there is an option to shut off the small blinking lights on device. The Blue Sea switch also has indicator lights. I can easily disable it by pulling off the connector. OTOH it is nice to see the status as the switch throw is so small it is hard to tell the position.

Another thing to note and a quick tip for anyone doing a charge controller under the hood with a charge pigtail is to configure your Anderson plugs. Mine are stacked on top of each other for the charge cord. The Anderson plugs in the bed of truck are side by side. That way there is no way to accidentally plug a panel into them.

 

[freed0m35]

Hey im planning on doing this exact same thing on my 08 sierra. Essentially adding a second battery. I like your bussbar idea for getting everything to run through the RVC. I had a question about fusing, did you fuse both positive leads going from starter batt -> alt and from alt->house batt? I wasnt planning on using a relay, should i reconsider? im assuming you didnt fuse any of the negative cable leads.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Hey im planning on doing this exact same thing on my 08 sierra. Essentially adding a second battery. I like your bussbar idea for getting everything to run through the RVC. I had a question about fusing, did you fuse both positive leads going from starter batt -> alt and from alt->house batt? I wasnt planning on using a relay, should i reconsider? im assuming you didnt fuse any of the negative cable leads.

Yes I fused all positive leads directly from each battery.