200 amps to the rear of a power wagon?

[leeloo]

It can be the mother of trucks, is still not true.
I am sorry but I kind of doubt that this load is on 1 wire and you have all that stuff like a daisy chain on the same circuit If it is.. I wish you good luck . At 12v you will need a wire thick as your leg..
When you power your winch it takes what it needs from the batteries, and the alternator is ramping up to fill the void and prevents a voltage drop but it will not supply 500 amps. And the winch is not a the same circuit as a BC DC or your coms. The coms have a separate circuit and so on like I explained.
And it is not on only your alternator. Many things are powered with your batteries, either the main ones or AUX. What ever the alternator can't supply it is supplied by the batteries, when the load is decreased, the power is diverted to charge them..

 

[Roloc]

Ok well I appreciate the input and the discussion here. Thanks a ton for weighing in, I think I have enough to piece together this system and not blow myself up :)

 

[M Rose]

Ok well I appreciate the input and the discussion here. Thanks a ton for weighing in, I think I have enough to piece together this system and not blow myself up :)

You will do fine… as we have been talking in DM, you are on the right track. You already have the parts so go ahead and do it….

 

[smritte]

I'll throw a little info in here. So far everything looks good for what your doing. I have a large power feed going to the rear of my vehicle also. Its main purpose is the batteries in my trailer, secondary is the accessories in the rear of my vehicle (fridge, compressor power outlets..).

If your staying with either lead acid or agm batteries, the max charging current is around 40 amp each. It gets down to chemistry and internal resistance. Lithium charge current can vary depending on type. I was looking at some Lithium's that can take over 100 amp charge. I wouldn't recommend that route because now you need to figure out how to mitigate the heat and (or) run another charge controller just for them.

My system is this, 250 amp hairpin alternator @ 14.5 volt, 2 agm's in truck and soon to be 2 lead acid in trailer (1 now). Figure 20 amp max to run truck at night, 2 vehicle batteries with very low charge brings total to 100 amp (vehicle). Add in the possibility of 2 low trailer batteries and Im at 180 without adding in fridge's (X2).
As batteries charge the current draw drop's, which makes it difficult to calculate how long it takes to replenish a group of 90 ah batteries. The max draw will change as things charge. I also do not run any type of charge controller other than my solar controllers (panel on truck and trailer)

I'm running a 0 gauge feed to the back (welding cable) and with 100 amp draw (carbon pile tester) I have .2 volt drop. That's not enough to concern me and I have no heat on the cable. I did not run a dedicated ground feed but if I wanted to flow more current, I would need to.
The feeds from battery to starter, engine and winch are 1/0 (+ -) with 0 gauge going to body and frame in 2 places. My trailer power/ground feed is 0 with the ground on the frame. Load test at the trailer gives me 100 amp with a 1 volt drop (13.5 volt). This isn't an issue to me because I have solar to top off battery(s) and their L/A which makes them not care.

One note on welding cable. Welding cable has a higher copper content than most wire as well as a finer strand. What that means is it will flow with less volt drop and holds up to vibration better. Having an oil heat resistant insulation makes it ideal. The only down side is its flexibility. You need more clamps to secure it and it normally sags a bit in between. All of my wiring is run through split loom with screw down loom ties. This gives it a bit of rigidity and protection.

 

[M Rose]

I'll throw a little info in here. So far everything looks good for what your doing. I have a large power feed going to the rear of my vehicle also. Its main purpose is the batteries in my trailer, secondary is the accessories in the rear of my vehicle (fridge, compressor power outlets..).

If your staying with either lead acid or agm batteries, the max charging current is around 40 amp each. It gets down to chemistry and internal resistance. Lithium charge current can vary depending on type. I was looking at some Lithium's that can take over 100 amp charge. I wouldn't recommend that route because now you need to figure out how to mitigate the heat and (or) run another charge controller just for them.

My system is this, 250 amp hairpin alternator @ 14.5 volt, 2 agm's in truck and soon to be 2 lead acid in trailer (1 now). Figure 20 amp max to run truck at night, 2 vehicle batteries with very low charge brings total to 100 amp (vehicle). Add in the possibility of 2 low trailer batteries and Im at 180 without adding in fridge's (X2).
As batteries charge the current draw drop's, which makes it difficult to calculate how long it takes to replenish a group of 90 ah batteries. The max draw will change as things charge. I also do not run any type of charge controller other than my solar controllers (panel on truck and trailer)

I'm running a 0 gauge feed to the back (welding cable) and with 100 amp draw (carbon pile tester) I have .2 volt drop. That's not enough to concern me and I have no heat on the cable. I did not run a dedicated ground feed but if I wanted to flow more current, I would need to.
I have my ground tied into the body through 2 3/8 studs. The feeds from battery to starter and winch are 1/0 (+ -) with 0 gauge going to body and frame in 2 places. My trailer power/ground feed is 0 with the ground on the frame. Load test at the trailer gives me 100 amp with a 1 volt drop (13.5 volt). This isn't an issue to me because I have solar to top off battery(s) and their L/A which makes them not care.

One note on welding cable. Welding cable has a higher copper content than most wire as well as a finer strand. What that means is it will flow with less volt drop and holds up to vibration better. Having an oil heat resistant insulation makes it ideal. The only down side is its flexibility. You need more clamps to secure it and it normally sags a bit in between. All of my wiring is run through split loom with screw down loom ties. This gives it a bit of rigidity and protection.

All very good points, especially the last paragraph. Your reasons for using welding cable is also my reason for using welding cable for long runs.

 

[Roloc]

All very good points, especially the last paragraph. Your reasons for using welding cable is also my reason for using welding cable for long runs.

I'll throw a little info in here. So far everything looks good for what your doing. I have a large power feed going to the rear of my vehicle also. Its main purpose is the batteries in my trailer, secondary is the accessories in the rear of my vehicle (fridge, compressor power outlets..).

If your staying with either lead acid or agm batteries, the max charging current is around 40 amp each. It gets down to chemistry and internal resistance. Lithium charge current can vary depending on type. I was looking at some Lithium's that can take over 100 amp charge. I wouldn't recommend that route because now you need to figure out how to mitigate the heat and (or) run another charge controller just for them.

My system is this, 250 amp hairpin alternator @ 14.5 volt, 2 agm's in truck and soon to be 2 lead acid in trailer (1 now). Figure 20 amp max to run truck at night, 2 vehicle batteries with very low charge brings total to 100 amp (vehicle). Add in the possibility of 2 low trailer batteries and Im at 180 without adding in fridge's (X2).
As batteries charge the current draw drop's, which makes it difficult to calculate how long it takes to replenish a group of 90 ah batteries. The max draw will change as things charge. I also do not run any type of charge controller other than my solar controllers (panel on truck and trailer)

I'm running a 0 gauge feed to the back (welding cable) and with 100 amp draw (carbon pile tester) I have .2 volt drop. That's not enough to concern me and I have no heat on the cable. I did not run a dedicated ground feed but if I wanted to flow more current, I would need to.
The feeds from battery to starter, engine and winch are 1/0 (+ -) with 0 gauge going to body and frame in 2 places. My trailer power/ground feed is 0 with the ground on the frame. Load test at the trailer gives me 100 amp with a 1 volt drop (13.5 volt). This isn't an issue to me because I have solar to top off battery(s) and their L/A which makes them not care.

One note on welding cable. Welding cable has a higher copper content than most wire as well as a finer strand. What that means is it will flow with less volt drop and holds up to vibration better. Having an oil heat resistant insulation makes it ideal. The only down side is its flexibility. You need more clamps to secure it and it normally sags a bit in between. All of my wiring is run through split loom with screw down loom ties. This gives it a bit of rigidity and protection.

Super helpful thank you! I have all the pieces and parts except for the wire loom that will hold that cable size so gotta order that and the ties.

Now just waiting for the mount to hold the second battery and we can get this thing rolling. Focused on wiring up my panel right now so I can just run the welding cable and plug it all in.

 

[Roloc]

Ok! All done team and it all is working with nothing on fire at all so I call that a win!

Optima Yellowtop DH7 for the battery and the NHOverland Battery Mount the mount was key to this whole thing to my knowledge there are no other options to do this for the Gas Ram 2500s 2019+. That is charged from the starter battery by the Redarc BCDC charger. I will eventually put an Anderson plug on there for solar and then either charge temporarily or permanently but I haven't figured that out yet. The reason for this being is that for some reason Ram decided to put the ECU there where it isn't there on the diesel engines so you can't use the factory battery mount like the diesels have... trust me I tried....

Also not particularly satisfied with those battery terminals. I may swap them out. But I do LOVE the blue sea terminal fuses. Great option that saves wiring and less connections is always better I think.


All of that through a 2/0 cable to this "custom" built box that is meant to take up as little space as possible in the RSI box so I can still use it for storage. This is where eventually I will run all of the auxiliary lighting and hard wire the fridge to also a rear facing dash cam. The big kicker Is I have a 50amp Anderson plug I mounted on the top that you can't see. I plan on using that to charge the trailer as well as plug my portable air compressor when needed. I am also thinking about hooking up a permanent compressor for the air bags to keep them inflated to a constant pressure. So lots of fun to be had now that is accessible.



This is where I ended up grounding it. Gets the Frame and the body in one bolt. I tested it and it seems to work fine. Don't mind those air lines that's from the Air Bags.


Just want to say thanks a ton to everyone for the help and the advice. Seriously would not have figured this all out without the discussion here. Thank you!