Dual Battery or Group 31?

[New Holland Overland]

Here is the current setup guys:

• 2x30" light bars
• 6 squadrons
• 6 S2's
• KC Hilites rock lights
• VR10S winch
• ARB single air compressor

Im absolutely crazy for going the past few months without a new battery setup but Ive been doing my research. I dont do a lot of long term overlanding trips (mainly 3-5 day trips)...

the big question is do I go with a single large GROUP 31 sized battery? Or do I go with a dual battery setup? Let me know your opinion!

 

[Rob Daman]

if you're camping a lot.. dual but it's gonna cost much more $$$. I don't so I went group 31 Odyssey. Also bring a back up jump starter pack just in case either way.

 

[Captqc]

I have a 31 because a good friend of mine gave it to me!

 

[ShikyoX]

I have a 31 because a good friend of mine gave it to me!
View attachment 13410

I have your problem solved dual group 31!!
Mic drop walked away slow motion putting sunglasses on

 

[New Holland Overland]

I have your problem solved dual group 31!!
Mic drop walked away slow motion putting sunglasses on

That idea did cross my mind lol

 

[New Holland Overland]

if you're camping a lot.. dual but it's gonna cost much more $$$. I don't so I went group 31 Odyssey. Also bring a back up jump starter pack just in case either way.

I like the idea of keeping the battery simple with just a group 31. But with all the accessories im running id be nervous that even on a short weekend trip that I would be pushing the limits with all the lights, winch, fridge, compressor etc... I cant believe they stick a tiny group24 stock into the truck :/

The current status is potentially going with 2 Odyssey Extreme Group 35's, REDARC DC-DC charge system (I like the idea of charging the truck off of solar), with an SPOD to manage the wiring in the truck expensive but it would solve all the issues

 

[tomtaylz]

I like the idea of dual batteries for several reasons,
1. It’ll scale with your truck, if you add more stuff than you have now you won’t be coming back to this conversation in a year, the fact you’re nervous now will likely mean you are going to be maxing the battery at some point
2. I like the idea of a redundancy, of course it’s good to have a charger, but what if it’s forgotten and you’re the middle of no where? I always live by the mindset, the more stuff that can live on the truck (read: the less stuff I have to pack/forget) the better all around.
3. Buy once cry once? ?

I’ve been looking at National Luna system (will likely have an SPod too)

 

[Rob Daman]

I think the last reason is to be #fancy

I like the idea of keeping the battery simple with just a group 31. But with all the accessories im running id be nervous that even on a short weekend trip that I would be pushing the limits with all the lights, winch, fridge, compressor etc... I cant believe they stick a tiny group24 stock into the truck :/

The current status is potentially going with 2 Odyssey Extreme Group 35's, REDARC DC-DC charge system (I like the idea of charging the truck off of solar), with an SPOD to manage the wiring in the truck expensive but it would solve all the issues

 

[tomtaylz]

I like the idea of dual batteries for several reasons,
1. It’ll scale with your truck, if you add more stuff than you have now you won’t be coming back to this conversation in a year, the fact you’re nervous now will likely mean you are going to be maxing the battery at some point
2. I like the idea of a redundancy, of course it’s good to have a charger, but what if it’s forgotten and you’re the middle of no where? I always live by the mindset, the more stuff that can live on the truck (read: the less stuff I have to pack/forget) the better all around.
3. Buy once cry once? ?

I’ve been looking at National Luna system (will likely have an SPod too)

That being said, do you need dual? Probably not.

I have a dual arb compressor, winch and lights hooked up on my Jeep on a lot smaller battery. The thing to note is the winch will barley be used, the compressor used sparingly, so then it’s really LED lights which draw not much power.

Now if you have a fridge you mentioned in your later post, that might be a different convo.

 

[3cent.Taco]

It sounds like you just need some a load analysis. I've done work sizing backup generators for nat gas/oil facilities. To properly size them, we go through a load analysis and determine critical loads vs non-critical loads, what's running at the same time vs what's not running at all in the event of loss of power. @tomtaylz has the right idea of determining what load is on what battery.

 

[New Holland Overland]

I’ve been looking at National Luna system (will likely have an SPod too)

I keep hearing about the national luna system lately...Im more familiar with REDARC which in aspect theyre almost the same. I really think dual battery is the way to go hear with all the accessories I have running off the truck, I can start with just a single and then start adding on slowly the dual battery components that are needed (mitigate some of the larger cost over time).

Big question now is what battery company should I look at? Ive heard Optima has gone down in quality, Northstar is good as well as Odyssey Extremes. (Looking at group35 size for a dual battery setup)

 

[New Holland Overland]

That being said, do you need dual? Probably not.

I have a dual arb compressor, winch and lights hooked up on my Jeep on a lot smaller battery. The thing to note is the winch will barley be used, the compressor used sparingly, so then it’s really LED lights which draw not much power.

Now if you have a fridge you mentioned in your later post, that might be a different convo.

Even with the current lighting setup I have now, If I run all the lights then one of my 30" lightbars starts to flicker (Meaning that there simply isnt enough juice in the battery??, this is with the vehicle running on the stock group24 battery that Toyota gives you).

For usage your correct, barely the winch and the compressor, mainly lights and a fridge. However I have had to do night-time recovery and I had to turn off all the lights on the vehicle in order to even use my winch (VR10S)...It would be nice to have the juice to do a recovery with both lights on and the winch (Which is where the juice of a dual battery setup would be helpful) ----- I guess that is a good example of load analysis for the truck (in an extreme scenario)

 

[Victory4x4]

I have a Genesis Offroad Dual battery setup. I have my all accessories including the Dometic running off the Aux battery, with the main battery doing vehicle function duty. I really like this setup as I can let the fridge run for 3 days without starting the truck, and I still know I'll be able to start it.

Welcome to Genesis Offroad - It all starts with power.

Another option is a Group 31 with an automatic voltage shut-off, or carry around a jump box. Just know that running your single battery down will diminish its reserve capacity; and if that is your ONLY battery that could be an issue.

 

[ShikyoX]

Even with the current lighting setup I have now, If I run all the lights then one of my 30" lightbars starts to flicker (Meaning that there simply isnt enough juice in the battery??, this is with the vehicle running on the stock group24 battery that Toyota gives you).

For usage your correct, barely the winch and the compressor, mainly lights and a fridge. However I have had to do night-time recovery and I had to turn off all the lights on the vehicle in order to even use my winch (VR10S)...It would be nice to have the juice to do a recovery with both lights on and the winch (Which is where the juice of a dual battery setup would be helpful) ----- I guess that is a good example of load analysis for the truck (in an extreme scenario)

What is your current light setup and brand ? Just curious about the flicker

 

[New Holland Overland]

What is your current light setup and brand ? Just curious about the flicker

Here is my current setup (For everything that connects to battery):
KC Hilites 30" Lightbar
KC Hilites Cyclone Rock lights (x6)
Baja Designs S8 30" (THIS IS THE ONE THAT FLICKERS ON THE LAST 10" SEGMENT)
Baja Designs Squadron (x6)
Baja Designs S2 (X6)
VR10S Winch
ARB Single Air compressor
Dometic CFX40 Fridge
CB Radio
Ham Radio

 

[New Holland Overland]

I have a Genesis Offroad Dual battery setup. I have my all accessories including the Dometic running off the Aux battery, with the main battery doing vehicle function duty. I really like this setup as I can let the fridge run for 3 days without starting the truck, and I still know I'll be able to start it.

Welcome to Genesis Offroad - It all starts with power.

Another option is a Group 31 with an automatic voltage shut-off, or carry around a jump box. Just know that running your single battery down will diminish its reserve capacity; and if that is your ONLY battery that could be an issue.

Ive tossed that idea around a lot...but with writing down and realising actually how many accessories the truck is using I think it would be the smart way to go with a dual battery system. Id rather be safe than sorry when im out on the trails (Especially at night)

If I need to, I do use Dometic's PLB40 battery management system to run the fridge on the off-road trailer, which I could always bring inside the vehicle to use for trips. This would help eliminate 1 item off the vehicles power system

 

[New Holland Overland]

I have a Genesis Offroad Dual battery setup. I have my all accessories including the Dometic running off the Aux battery, with the main battery doing vehicle function duty. I really like this setup as I can let the fridge run for 3 days without starting the truck, and I still know I'll be able to start it.

Welcome to Genesis Offroad - It all starts with power.

Another option is a Group 31 with an automatic voltage shut-off, or carry around a jump box. Just know that running your single battery down will diminish its reserve capacity; and if that is your ONLY battery that could be an issue.

i really like the genesis dual battery system, what batteries are you pairing with it?

 

[ShikyoX]

Here is my current setup (For everything that connects to battery):
KC Hilites 30" Lightbar
KC Hilites Cyclone Rock lights (x6)
Baja Designs S8 30" (THIS IS THE ONE THAT FLICKERS ON THE LAST 10" SEGMENT)
Baja Designs Squadron (x6)
Baja Designs S2 (X6)
VR10S Winch
ARB Single Air compressor
Dometic CFX40 Fridge
CB Radio
Ham Radio

Send your baja s8 in , is part of a segment is flickering that sounds like an internal problem
If it was not getting enough power or a steady stream the every light would be affected no just one segment of one light

 

[ShikyoX]

?

 

[Victory4x4]

i really like the genesis dual battery system, what batteries are you pairing with it?

Yellow Tops

 

[New Holland Overland]

Send your baja s8 in , is part of a segment is flickering that sounds like an internal problem
If it was not getting enough power or a steady stream the every light would be affected no just one segment of one light

If that lightbar is the only thing on it powers up fine, its just when everything is on (All the lights) then the entire lightbar wont light up all the way (Which makes sense if there isnt enough juice to power it, not all of the LED's will dim, only the LED's that arent getting enough juice? right?) Im no LED expert so this one is new territory for me. I reached out to Baja to see what they say about the flickering.

 

[ShikyoX]

If that lightbar is the only thing on it powers up fine, its just when everything is on (All the lights) then the entire lightbar wont light up all the way (Which makes sense if there isnt enough juice to power it, not all of the LED's will dim, only the LED's that arent getting enough juice? right?) Im no LED expert so this one is new territory for me. I reached out to Baja to see what they say about the flickering.

If there is a power issue , then everything on your truck would have issue , the whole truck would suffer
But if it's just one section of one light things become questionable, I'm no expert either , but batteries dont send power out on a first come first served basis , it just puts 12v and xx amps out , as long as you havent exceeded your batteries amp rating then there shouldn't be an issue. And if there was a lack of power or issue with resistance then the whole bar should have an issue no just part of it

Sorry to bore you with this , but how do you have it wired?
Again I could be wrong completely

 

[hellppy]

Here is the current setup guys:

• 2x30" light bars
• 6 squadrons
• 6 S2's
• KC Hilites rock lights
• VR10S winch
• ARB single air compressor

Im absolutely crazy for going the past few months without a new battery setup but Ive been doing my research. I dont do a lot of long term overlanding trips (mainly 3-5 day trips)...

the big question is do I go with a single large GROUP 31 sized battery? Or do I go with a dual battery setup? Let me know your opinion!

View attachment 13332

I vote dual batteries like may others. I have the SDHQ dual battery kit paired with dual Odyssey Extreme Series 34R-PC1500T Batteries. I've got more than enough power for almost any situation.

 

[ShikyoX]

I vote dual batteries like may others. I have the SDHQ dual battery kit paired with dual Odyssey Extreme Series 34R-PC1500T Batteries. I've got more than enough power for almost any situation.

View attachment 13471

View attachment 13472

That's a nice setup I want , wish more affordable up here

 

[New Holland Overland]

If there is a power issue , then everything on your truck would have issue , the whole truck would suffer
But if it's just one section of one light things become questionable, I'm no expert either , but batteries dont send power out on a first come first served basis , it just puts 12v and xx amps out , as long as you have exceeded your batteries amp rating then there shouldn't be an issue. And if there was a lack of power or issue with resistance then the whole bar should have an issue no just part of it

Sorry to bore you with this , but how do you have it wired?
Again I could be wrong completely

Ill take a photo of the wiring setup that I have...I talked with Baja designs and theyre confident its either a ground is (Most likely answer) or a low voltage issue.

I had the battery tested (stock battery) and it was at 12.6 Volts.

 

[New Holland Overland]

So over the weekend I figured out the flickering issue...I did not purchase the wiring harness from BD for the S8, and I was using too thin of gauge wire. I used 16ga and I needed 12ga, which caused the wiring to get hot and eventually over time cause the flickering issue. We confirmed this with baja when we wired both gauges directly to the battery showing the effects.

Put new 12ga wire in and boom! Back in business! Now I just gotta pull the trigger on some batteries this month

 

[Victory4x4]

So over the weekend I figured out the flickering issue...I did not purchase the wiring harness from BD for the S8, and I was using too thin of gauge wire. I used 16ga and I needed 12ga, which caused the wiring to get hot and eventually over time cause the flickering issue. We confirmed this with baja when we wired both gauges directly to the battery showing the effects.

Put new 12ga wire in and boom! Back in business! Now I just gotta pull the trigger on some batteries this month

Good to hear you got it solved. Those BD lights are the real deal and draw some serious amps

 

[New Holland Overland]

Good to hear you got it solved. Those BD lights are the real deal and draw some serious amps

They draw some major power but deliver massive power as well!

Hey ill see you guys tomorrow when I come pick up my new roof rack
Cant wait to checkout the shop!

 

[glxhf]

I have your problem solved dual group 31!!
Mic drop walked away slow motion putting sunglasses on

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