is this gonna work?

[DieselFanatic 10+ year member]

hello all im a noob here. but this is the plan i came up for isolated batterys in my truck and running my stereo and amps off of a second battery, i often listen to music with my truck off the only thing else that i could think of was putting a relay on the switched power for the stereo because i dont know if the stereo could possibly create a bridge if you will between the two battery that could potentially fry the stereo. i figure that because my understanding of the isolator is that it will charge the primary battery and then the second battery and the primary if its full. do you guys think that this will work?

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[nateberrier 10+ year member]

Battery Isolators

This will help you out. Also that site is good for tons of other stuff too. You will not want to run a second battery without some way to charge it. Its not good to cycle car batts

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

OP I think your making this way too difficult. The isolator will work just like a relay in that, when the car is off, it disconnects the batteries from each other. But when you turn the car on, they're connected in parallel. That relay & switch aren't necessary. That being said, I don't think you really need an isolator, I've never used one and I've never had any problems with my batteries dying (been using the same yellowtop for over 4 years now)

 

[The HACKER 10+ year member]

^^This^^

And personally i was gonna use one a while back i was dead set on it for a while, when it comes down to it bro, a system is gonna dry any battery bank up without the car running eventually. I eventually changed my mind it ends up being a waste of money. If you were gonna use anything to seperate batteries id say use a battery relay you won't lose voltage and its cheaper, but even still it ends up being pointless...unless u absolutley need those batteries seperated. With an isolator your going to loose, i believe it is .7 volts.

 

[DieselFanatic 10+ year member]

thanks for the input on this guys im still convinced i want to have 2 batteries but my main concern was my alternator wouldn't be able to keep up to charge both batterys, until i can afford to get a new h.o alternator i have wiring the isolator and second battery lying around . i think you guys are right im making this too complicated i should just run the batterys in parallel with a battery relay in between to cut them off when the car is off, but still have the stereo and amps ran off of the second battery that gets cut off from the primary and wont leave me stranded. i know cycling a battery isnt good but i do sometimes the second battery i have is a blue top marine i believe thats a good battery to deep cycle