Little update on my secondary electrical system.
After dabbling in the RV Lithium Battery world, I got to thinking about applying it to my crawlers. I always thought dual starting batteries was dumb, but up until recently Lithium Batteries and components were pretty darn expensive and complicated.
Enter LiTime. I am running one of their 12v 100ah house batteries in my toyhauler and it works perfect. That led me into figuring out how to get one setup in my $hitbox.
I purchased a 100ah LiTime Group 24 with Bluetooth and self heating for charging when it’s below freezing. Battery was $257 on Amazon shipped. The Bluetooth allows for easy battery monitoring without needing a shunt or any extra components. I also purchased their 40amp DC-DC Charger and Solar Controler. This give two automatic switching options to charge the battery, and completely isolates the batteries. It also has a function to reverse charge the starting battery. It was $209. Then I purchased an Auxbeam 4 Switch controller.
Layed out everything on some .060 aluminum and started drilling and cutting.
I wanted it clean and to fit behind the passenger seat.
Big opening allows the charger better cooling, and the slot allows for the wires to enter behind the panel.
Drilled and rivnutted behind the passenger seat to easily mount the panel.
Made up the harnesses. 8ga, to and from batteries using Anderson connectors.
Then mounted everything up. I also added 6 fused circuits, not sure why.
Made a mess in the process.
System worked perfect over a 4 day Rubicon trip, and the LiTime App made it easy to keep track of the battery status.
This trip I only ran the ARB Fridge and Starlink off the Aux battery. Even when the truck sat for 24+ hours the battery barely got below 50%
Here is what the app view shows of the battery status.