Does anyone have any experience with these? This seems like an ideal setup if you do not want to do the dual battery underhood. I also like the idea of having access to the multiple plugs that are offered. Seems like this could work nicley into the build in the back of the DII.

Thoughts?

Dustin

National Luna Portable Power Pack

 $$$ ???

Dustin, I spent a bunch of time considering isolators and other electrical options and finally gave up.  For some reason, I felt like I needed something like that, but in reality, I've never needed one.  I just run a marine Die Hard Platinum battery.  the only thing that runs when the engine is off is my ARB fridge and I've used it in summer temps overnight and I never had an issue starting the engine the next day.  Assuming that you travel with others, just plan to carry jumper cables. If you travel solo, a good option is a portable battery pack.  I have complete faith in that brand.  A while ago I took a trip out of town and flew out of Seatac.  My kid accidentally bumped an accessory light in my Honda and it was on for 5 days or so and drained my battery.  The unit that I had to rent to start my car was that model that I linked to.

Who knows what the best solution for a 12V electrical system is?  I surely don't.  My take is that the less you have to splice and the less that you have to run additional wiring the better.

National Luna makes excellent products. Before you start into this, what are you planning on running in the back Dustin?
 

Mike-

 That is good input and I will check out that product. I do travel with others, but there are many times (most actually) that I travel alone and the last thing I want to do is get Laurie and the boys in a situation where I leave us stranded.

Scott-

I have a long list of plans that range from simply in my mind to maybe complex. For sure in my immediate future is a rear mounted ARB fridge and the need to run minor electrical items from the rear. Not too far down the road I will have installed a winch, a substantial light package on the rack, an on board compressor and so on. I also know that I iwll be running with in cab navigation resources ( my laptop and MBR setup), communications equipment and others. Lastly, I know at some point I will install some type of inverter (small) to be able to facilite the time or two that we may want to run some type of moderate 110 device.

I like the setup Larry ( I think has), but honestly see more flexibiliy in something like what I posted than a fixed second battery in the engine compartment. In addition, I could incorporate this into the overall design/build scheme that I have brewing for the back of the DII now.

Thoughts?

Dustin

Morris-

These run about $500 without the battery.

Dustin

 Thanks Dustin,

I understand that with the engine and all its related bits there may be not too much room under the hood (bonnet) for the additional battery, but $500 is a bit spendy. From what I believe I read in the specs of the device, it still needs to somehow be 'hooked' to the original battery to be of any use...and the base price is without the battery.  So even mounted in the back requires a run of cable and a way to keep it from bouncing around on the trail...still more $$$, and space taken up.

It seems that making allowances for that additional battery under the hood would be worth the effort and cost. I  might underestimate the requirements for power as I don't run a 12v system, only take a converter off the 24v to run some 12v stuff. I have a switch in the feed line to each converter to disengage it from the line voltage in the event I leave the battery disconnect switch in the on position, which I do if camping and running the ARB cooler on 24v while sitting overnight. No problem starting even after two or three days sitting with the cooler running.  Even if there is no power being used by a converter it draws power and can eventually drain a battery.

Some of the issues concerning running down a battery might be solved if a battery disconnect switch were incorporated into the systems of the LR's. Marine type switches are great for this and are about $12. Really a simple in-line installation.

I will keep my eyes on this posting as I am curious about the final outcome.

Cheers

Posted By Scott Williams on 06/08/2010 7:46 AM
I think the short answer Mike is there isn't a best way. Everyone has different needs (usually perceived ) for additional outlets, fuse blocks etc. I too am starting to shy away from dual battery just due to the added complexity. It has been my experience that most failed wiring is added on not factory. I installed the largest Odyssey (2150) you can fit into the factory tray in my D2. That's my solution.

I agree.  I ran two Optima blue tops in parallel, which just turns them into one big battery with about the same specs as the big Odysseys.  If I did it all over I'd go with a big old Odyssey.

FYI, a fridge can go for over a day on an Optima or Odyssey/Die Hard 34m.  The Odyssey Scott has will easily run it for over two days.  I figure if I am going to be out longer that it's time for a Solar Panel or to take a drive to charge things back up.

Like Mike, I carry a jump box when I go out solo.

Craig

It's your build, so you should definitely do what you want.  A few things I've observed:

Other than the 110 AC, I ran all of that equipment with dual odysseys and the stock 130 amp alternator.  No trouble at all.  The lights, etc won't benefit from from having isolated batteries, and the winch will work better with the big high amp battery Scott listed (or dual batteries in parallel).  The biggest draw you are going to have is the air compressor and the truck/alternator will always be running when you use them.

The back of the D2 is going to get very heavy once you put a fridge, recovery gear, etc back there.  I'd encourage you to put the second battery in the engine compartment so the weight is on the front axle.  You can remove the factory bottle jack holder and replace it with a dual battery tray.  I had one made, but you can buy them pre-made for the D2.

Some things to consider:

- HID lights are brighter and use a fraction of the power of halogen bulbs.

- A worm drive or hydraulic winch use much less (or no) power

- A CO2 tank, or a belt driven compressor are fantastic option to reduce electrical draw.

- The fridge puts a very light draw on the system

- For area worklamps, you can replace the factory bulbs with LED bulbs to reduce draw.  Not bright enough for setting up camp, but work great for lighting the cargo area or rear door shelf.

Craig

Great discussion...sounds based upon the experiences of some of you.... that what I am proposing may be overkill for what is really needed out there. I love the single battery solution and the two in parallel make some sense as well. 

Craig- Did you run any type of dual battery isolator or simply run the two batteries parallel and that was it....I guess you must have run them simply in parallel because if you have a battery isolator that suggests two independant batteries for seperate functions....now I am confusing myself????

What is the source for the two battery tray for the D2 that you spoke of?

I do like many of the other suggestions that you have made Craig, they make sense.

Maybe I will start with simply swapping out the factory battery with the Odyssey that Scott suggests and see how things go for this summer. If it turns out that I need something more I can make changes as needed and as the build expands.

Dustin

Oh look what I found......

that is all, carry on.

Your correct I have the dual battery setup.  I would tend to agree with Scott and the others that the Odyssey 2150 will do for about 90% of folks.  I went with the dual battery because my fridge kept killing my old spiral cell battery.  The only thing the Odyssey 2150 does for that is give you an extra day or so.  I eventually tracked down the problem but decided best to go the dual battery route.  I really like my setup.  The only complaint I have is now that I live in Bend I find that I rarely drive more than 5 or so minutes at one time.  This is an issue because the National Luna Solenoid just charges the main battery the first 5 minutes then switches to both.  Luckily with the battery monitor I was able to see/catch that the second battery was slowly being discharged.  The fix short of driving more is to enable the "winch mode" on the controller that charges both batteries.

BTW, there's a pretty good chance I'll be producing my dual battery tray after a few months if the demand is high enough.  One other thing if anybody decides to go the National Luna Power Pack route, we sell that.

 

At the suggestion of Scott, I ended up dropping in a single Odyssey 2150 and ran the ARB Fridge, carputer and iPhone/iPod chargers for three days straight this weekend at the Blue Lake trip and had no problems at all. DII fired right up when we were ready to leave.

The battery install is straight forward minus the modification of the negative terminal cable...it is too short to hook up to the new battery. Brent threw one in with the battery as I walked out the door so I had everything I needed for the install.

Needless to say, I am a big fan of my new battery and an even bigger fan of my new fridge.

Thank you to Scott and thank you Columbia Overland!

Dustin