Odyssey PC1200 as starting battery bad idea?

[Ruined Adventures]

I've been doing a dual battery setup since I bought my truck in March. In May, my battery died so I bought an Odyssey PC1200 to replace it. http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc1200.htm

Over the last few months, this new battery has drained low enough to need a jump several times. The alternator was putting out plenty of juice, and so I figured my truck was suffering from a parasitic drain. I recently have been needing a jump just about every time I start the truck, so I finally gave up...I dropped the truck off at an auto electric specialist...because electrical issues leave me scratching my thick skull.

They confirmed the truck is charging fine, they replaced a bad battery terminal with a new marine type, but they said the battery is no good. Luckily Batteries Plus will replace it since it's only a few months old (and uber expensive).

The electrical gurus said I shouldn't use the Odyssey since it's designed to be fully charged, then fully discharged. That makes sense, but I'm thinking as long as I complete the dual batt setup with a good isolator and use a regular starting battery then I can use the Odyssey as my backup right? I'd like to avoid dual Odyssey's since that'd be REALLY expensive. I've been looking at using the Painless Wiring battery isolator or the Hellroaring 75300A. I mostly want the dual batt setup so that I can run electrical accessories at camp, eventually I'm going to go with a fridge and winch, but I guess for now this setup will just be for redundancy so I can jumpstart myself and not worry about being stranded.

I'd love to hear from someone who's done a similar setup. Keep in mind the electrical jargon gives me a headache so please "keep it simple stupid":sombrero:

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Been running a PC1200 in my Tacoma for a couple years, no problems as of yet.

View attachment 26643

 

[wrcsixeight]

The electrical gurus said I shouldn't use the Odyssey since it's designed to be fully charged, then fully discharged.

If they actually said this, this nullifies their guru status.

No Lead acid battery should ever, ever be fully discharged. The less any Lead Acid Battery is discharged, and the faster it is returned to fully charged, the longer it will last.

What likely happened is your poor battery connection was limiting the amount of current your alternator was sending to recharge the battery.

Every time you need a jump start, you will need a minimum of 4 hours of driving to fully recharge it. That number is more likely 8 hours just to reach 80% and the last 20% can take another 4 hours.

Every time you need a jump start, you should use a wall charger to bring it back up to full, because unless you plan on driving a couple hundred miles, you alternator just will not do it.

Get your new Odyssey under warranty, and put it on a charger once and a while, and immediately after it requires a jumpstart, And do not give those "gurus" any more business, because the above quote is just flat out wrong.

Only NiCad batteries should be fully discharged or they will develop a memory.

Do some reading here:
http://www.batteryfaq.org/

The Odyssey is a high quality dual purpose AGM battery that you abused to a premature death.

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Thanks for the replies folks.

The Odyssey is a high quality dual purpose AGM battery that you abused to a premature death.

Yeah, I had a feeling that's what happened. Thanks for that info wrcsixeight, I've heard nothing but good things about Odyssey's batteries on this forum and others. Since this is my daily driver it's not very practical for me to hook the truck up to a wall charger that often. I'm going to get the warranty replacement and stick with the PC1200 as my backup battery, but I'm considering using a typical auto battery for regular starting. The Hellroaring BIC-85300A isolator sounds like it's more ideal for this arrangement, but I'm just trying to get a feel for what's made other folks happy.


Anyone here used an Odyssey & a regular battery with the Hellroaring isolator or Painless Wiring isolator? I've only seen setups where both the batteries are Odysseys like what cruiseroutfit has under the hood.

During camping and road trips I'll be using the Odyssey for deep cycle and accessory use. Hopefully next summer, this dual battery setup will make it easier to camp in Texas...

 

[dzzz]

Even with the abuse I'm still unclear how you killed the Odyssey so quickly.

I agree that you either misunderstood or need a new "guru".

 

[Ruined Adventures]

FYI, I just realized in my first post I made it sound like I already have a dual battery setup. I meant to say "I've been PLANNING ON doing a dual battery setup"

Even with the abuse I'm still unclear how you killed the Odyssey so quickly.

I agree that you either misunderstood or need a new "guru".

The Odyssey may not be dead yet, I'm stuck at work for 48 hours so my girlfriend picked it up from the "guru". She quoted what he said, and she never misunderstands :Wow1:

She drove it home yesterday, then started it today to bring to my work. I'm going to take it to get tested tomorrow when I get off of work and we'll see if the battery's still good. Not so sure if I'll go to this "guru" again, it was my first time dealing with them.

I did email the guys at Hellroaring to ask a few questions about the dual battery setup I'd like to install. I've got an Interstate MT-25 Megatron laying around the shop, and I'd like to introduce the two batteries to the 95300B isolator. If it doesn't add up too much I may pull the trigger.

 

[rambrush]

I am running dual 1200's with hellroaring kit. been going a couple of years with no problems except leaving the laptop connected and ran down a battery but flipped the switch to use 2nd battery and it fired right up.

 

[keezer37]

Anyone here used an Odyssey & a regular battery with the Hellroaring isolator or Painless Wiring isolator?

I run a Odyssey backup. Helroaring 95300B with parallel cable runs for instant cranking from the back and a NAPA cranking battery up front. Occasionally I'll check them with a Battery Tender Plus. I have a Painless fuse block. It works but I'm not overly impressed with the quality.

The difference here is mine is a backup, not an accessory setup. Check over the various setups on Hellroaring's website and find which is right for you. I'm not necessarily recommending Hellroaring but the various setup drawings are very useful.

Hellroaring has been a good unit. The website is a bit chaotic but emails are responded to and the answers make sense. I say this because I've had to suffer through many conversations with engineers (Raytheon) and when you find one that speaks English, bookmark him. There is plenty of info on the website though, this is what gets my money. I hate when people sell stuff on line and provide little or no information about the product. Blue Sea is the gold standard of how a website should be set up. Anyways...
The only thing I didn't care for with the Hellroaring unit was the close proximity of the terminal posts. But it's only 12V so no issues. I slid a bit of insulation between the terminals. Check photo. For the 1AWG cable, I had to trim down the connector a bit.

Excuse my hand drawing. The only thing that is inaccurate is that the 1AWG from the unit does not go to the cranking battery but direct to the starter.

Battery box in the back.