Secondary aux battery question

[Dseck63]

Hello Everyone,

I hope this isn't a duplicate post out there somewhere but I did try searching this in particular. I am adding a Tmax secondary battery kit to my 4runner and I've already purchased a ruff industries dual battery holder for optima 35/78 batteries however after reading the reviews on the yellow top batteries I'm not sure how I feel about this. Optima used to be really good but they are getting absolutely hammered on Amazon and it appears people have run into warranty issues as well purchasing them there. First and foremost I want reliability behind this project and I would like some support from the company producing it. My red top that came with my truck seems fine and I have no complaints but have any of you had poor experiences with these more recently? Thanks for any input, my sole purpose for this is to power my Roofnest refrigerator and smaller misc electronics while on the road/camping.

 

[1Louder]

If you do a search for Dual Battery you will find lots of threads on the topic. Some of the threads are in the Gear section.

I had a yellowtop that didn't seem to be the greatest battery but I also think some of the issue was its amp hour rating. Lots of opinions on batteries. I run a single battery with solar and a jumpbox. I removed my National Luna dual battery setup and all of its complexities. I have not regretted that decision. With that said I generally camp with my trailer which also has a 95ah battery in it. Once camp is setup I typically run a chord out of the truck to the trailer to power my fridge. I am just trying to save some cycles on the truck battery. So I guess you could say I have a poor mans dual battery setup.

The trailer has a Duracell and my FJ has a X2 (Northstar). Both have good warranties. The X2 has a 5 year warranty. I had to replace mine after a little over 2 years. It would not hold a charge. Replaced no questions asked at my local Batteries Plus store. Does that make it a bad battery since it didn't last the 5 years? I dunno... We will see how long this one lasts. I think the Duracell has a 3 year warranty.

Just invest in a good solar setup because no matter what battery(s) you have at some point they will need to be charged up. My 100 watt solar setup will keep both of my batteries happy all day long.

 

[Dseck63]

If you do a search for Dual Battery you will find lots of threads on the topic. Some of the threads are in the Gear section.

I had a yellowtop that didn't seem to be the greatest battery but I also think some of the issue was its amp hour rating. Lots of opinions on batteries. I run a single battery with solar and a jumpbox. I removed my National Luna dual battery setup and all of its complexities. I have not regretted that decision. With that said I generally camp with my trailer which also has a 95ah battery in it. Once camp is setup I typically run a chord out of the truck to the trailer to power my fridge. I am just trying to save some cycles on the truck battery. So I guess you could say I have a poor mans dual battery setup.

The trailer has a Duracell and my FJ has a X2 (Northstar). Both have good warranties. The X2 has a 5 year warranty. I had to replace mine after a little over 2 years. It would not hold a charge. Replaced no questions asked at my local Batteries Plus store. Does that make it a bad battery since it didn't last the 5 years? I dunno... We will see how long this one lasts. I think the Duracell has a 3 year warranty.

Just invest in a good solar setup because no matter what battery(s) you have at some point they will need to be charged up. My 100 watt solar setup will keep both of my batteries happy all day long.

You bring up some good points actually. The warranty thing is huge, I should call Optima to ask them and as far as the 5 year rule of thumb goes I see what you mean there as well. What did you not like about the National Luna that you dumped it entirely?

 

[1Louder]

You bring up some good points actually. The warranty thing is huge, I should call Optima to ask them and as far as the 5 year rule of thumb goes I see what you mean there as well. What did you not like about the National Luna that you dumped it entirely?

It's been too long to remember all of the details but I didn't think it was giving accurate voltage readings for 1. I wasn't sure if it was always doing the proper charging cycle either. Meaning charge the main battery and then the Aux battery. I mostly got rid of it because I felt no need to 2 batteries and the cost of maintaining 2 batteries. If I did recoveries and used a winch all the time then maybe it would make sense. For my needs it doesn't. I have a few friends with the IBS system that seem to be happy with it.

I had my system installed for a little over a year. Someone else might chime in and say their dual battery system works great and has helped their starter battery last longer by using an aux battery. Not sure... there are so many variables. Size of batteries, loads placed on them, supplement with solar or alternator only. I have never been stuck with a dead battery. At least I can say that.

 

[Dseck63]

It's been too long to remember all of the details but I didn't think it was giving accurate voltage readings for 1. I wasn't sure if it was always doing the proper charging cycle either. Meaning charge the main battery and then the Aux battery. I mostly got rid of it because I felt no need to 2 batteries and the cost of maintaining 2 batteries. If I did recoveries and used a winch all the time then maybe it would make sense. For my needs it doesn't. I have a few friends with the IBS system that seem to be happy with it.

I had my system installed for a little over a year. Someone else might chime in and say their dual battery system works great and has helped their starter battery last longer by using an aux battery. Not sure... there are so many variables. Size of batteries, loads placed on them, supplement with solar or alternator only. I have never been stuck with a dead battery. At least I can say that.

I see, in that case then yeah I could see switching to solar. meanwhile I bought my battery online from advance Auto parts for about $10 more.

I figured I could give it a shot through a retailer with a storefront. Glass slee I did notice you mentioned the inconsistent voltage readings. This was also mentioned on Amazon.. thanks for the info!

 

[Todd & Meg]

I went in to the auto parts store to buy a yellow top for my Jeep. They had 5 or 6 of them right behind the counter. Told the guy what I wanted and he said “got two of them right here but won’t sell them to you”. I asked why. Then he went on to say because it will fail in in less than a year and I’ll be back for an exchange or refund and he will be out another 2 batteries because Optima will not reimburse him.

He also said they order in 6-10 Odyssey batteries a week and that is what he would buy then.

Todd

 

[Flipper]

For AGMs I run 2 group 31 East Penn, they go under NAPA, West Marine, Dekka, Duracell, Sams Club names and a few more. I have used Penn for years with no issues. Another good battery is Northstar, they manufacture their own. Almost all other batteries are made by Johnson including Optima which are made in Mexico.
.

 

[Dseck63]

I went in to the auto parts store to buy a yellow top for my Jeep. They had 5 or 6 of them right behind the counter. Told the guy what I wanted and he said “got two of them right here but won’t sell them to you”. I asked why. Then he went on to say because it will fail in in less than a year and I’ll be back for an exchange or refund and he will be out another 2 batteries because Optima will not reimburse him.

He also said they order in 6-10 Odyssey batteries a week and that is what he would buy then.

Todd

This is ridiculous, I'm going to give this a go though since I ordered it. I really hope I've got a diamond in the rough!