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<blockquote data-quote="joetama" data-source="post: 3357313" data-attributes="member: 564641">I do agree with this. But unless he is really pulling a lot of amperage on his system a second battery will not cause a problem.Also, putting a relay in &quot;because your alt won&#039;t keep up&quot; is a bad idea. Think about it like this. Battery one is charging and is at 14 volts battery two is cut off from the relay and is at 10 volts (really low because you don&#039;t know the voltage and it hasn&#039;t been charging). You now close the relay connecting the second battery. The first thing that is going to happen is the two batteries are going to stabilize with each other (since there is more current outflow and inflow with the battery than with the alternator). This could have the potential for pulling literally 500+ amps. This not only will cause heat in the cable and fuses but also in the batteries. Then once the voltage stabilizes around 12 volts the alternator has the job of charging both batteries from 12 volts. This will max out your alternator anyway. And will actually keep your alternator pushing its maximum output power for a longer period than if you were to just charge the two batteries together. It is much better to have the alternator push a common load at 13 volts than for it to have to push a common load at 12 volts... After factoring the surge from the batteries and the extra heat created I would defiantly not install a relay...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="joetama, post: 3357313, member: 564641"] I do agree with this. But unless he is really pulling a lot of amperage on his system a second battery will not cause a problem. Also, putting a relay in "because your alt won't keep up" is a bad idea. Think about it like this. Battery one is charging and is at 14 volts battery two is cut off from the relay and is at 10 volts (really low because you don't know the voltage and it hasn't been charging). You now close the relay connecting the second battery. The first thing that is going to happen is the two batteries are going to stabilize with each other (since there is more current outflow and inflow with the battery than with the alternator). This could have the potential for pulling literally 500+ amps. This not only will cause heat in the cable and fuses but also in the batteries. Then once the voltage stabilizes around 12 volts the alternator has the job of charging both batteries from 12 volts. This will max out your alternator anyway. And will actually keep your alternator pushing its maximum output power for a longer period than if you were to just charge the two batteries together. It is much better to have the alternator push a common load at 13 volts than for it to have to push a common load at 12 volts... After factoring the surge from the batteries and the extra heat created I would defiantly not install a relay... [/QUOTE]

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