Hooking up two battery's

[Bass420 0]

Hello, I need some help.

So right now i have a saturn ion and just ran some 1/0 gauge wire to the trunk of my car doing the big 3.

I was wondering if i can hook up my xs 1200 battery in parallel, too my starting durlast battery, with each battery receiving its own cable from the alternator?

would this work? Since both batterys are in the trunk i can ground them to the same point.

I have no idea what to do??

[jcarter1885 995]

Yeah you can ground both batteries to the same spot, or run a ground wire from your negative post on your xs battery to your negative post on your duralast battery.

Run the 1/0 big 3 wire to the duralast battery, add a power wire going from your duralast battery postive post to your xs battery positive post with a fuse in between the wire.

[Bass420 0]

Yeah you can ground both batteries to the same spot, or run a ground wire from your negative post on your xs battery to your negative post on your duralast battery.

Run the 1/0 big 3 wire to the duralast battery, add a power wire going from your duralast battery postive post to your xs battery positive post with a fuse in between the wire.

ok so run both of my wires from the alt to the duralast, then run a fused wire to the xs battery?

does it have to be fused if its only like 2 feet of 4 awg?

[jcarter1885 995]

Yeah you got it, the wire doesnt have to be fused but if some thing were to happen you could damage both batteries. I would fuse just to be on the safe side, its a safety precaution.

[Bass420 0]

Yeah you got it, the wire doesnt have to be fused but if some thing were to happen you could damage both batteries. I would fuse just to be on the safe side, its a safety precaution.

Ok thats a smart idea, better to be on the safe side..

since my sundown has internal fuses,would it be necessary to fuse the pos wire coming off my xs battery to the sundown?

[Shogen 325]

safe over sorry as JC stated... fuse all power wires to protect your investments...

[edouble101 314]

You definitely(IMO) need an isolator/relay when paralleling these two batteries. A Duralast starting battery and an XS Power battery are very different in design (ie. charging/discharging rates, wet cell vs AGM). If you were paralleling the same manufacturer and type of battery then an isolator/relay is somewhat optional.

As I have said before....research this and gather information from multiple sources before coming to your own educated decision.

Here is a simple diagram that I made for general dual (same batteries no isolator/relay) battery wiring. This does not show fuse locations but all fuses should be within 12-18" of any positive wire coming off of a battery.

Here are some other useful diagrams

Edited November 25, 2010 by edouble101

[Robert 9]

So going off the last diagram if you have more than one amp is it safe to use a ground distribution block for the neg on both amps then the other end of distribution block to the neg post of rear battery? And you also ground rear battery to chassis as well as all the way to front negative?

I was thinking of using this

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KND-23

for the two amp grounds to the ground on rear battery then running 1/0 ground from rear battery neg to front battery neg, but if this is good setup I just need to know if I still need to wire a short run of ground off rear battery neg to chassis.

Edited December 18, 2010 by crunkjuice1

[Mac N Cheese 90]

So going off the last diagram if you have more than one amp is it safe to use a ground distribution block for the neg on both amps then the other end of distribution block to the neg post of rear battery? And you also ground rear battery to chassis as well as all the way to front negative?

I was thinking of using this

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KND-23

for the two amp grounds to the ground on rear battery then running 1/0 ground from rear battery neg to front battery neg, but if this is good setup I just need to know if I still need to wire a short run of ground off rear battery neg to chassis.

You dont have to run a negative line from the front battery to the back. Just ground both bats to the frame (preferably sanded down to bare metal). As for the distribution block I think it would be easier to just ground both amps seperate and save the money the distribution block will cost for something else.

[edouble101 314]

So going off the last diagram if you have more than one amp is it safe to use a ground distribution block for the neg on both amps then the other end of distribution block to the neg post of rear battery? And you also ground rear battery to chassis as well as all the way to front negative?

I was thinking of using this

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KND-23

for the two amp grounds to the ground on rear battery then running 1/0 ground from rear battery neg to front battery neg, but if this is good setup I just need to know if I still need to wire a short run of ground off rear battery neg to chassis.

You dont have to run a negative line from the front battery to the back. Just ground both bats to the frame (preferably sanded down to bare metal). As for the distribution block I think it would be easier to just ground both amps seperate and save the money the distribution block will cost for something else.

I would think having multiple amplifier grounding points could cause a ground loop.

I run a negative write from battery to battery as well. I also wire amplifiers directly to battery. Ground rear battery to chassis.

[Mac N Cheese 90]

So going off the last diagram if you have more than one amp is it safe to use a ground distribution block for the neg on both amps then the other end of distribution block to the neg post of rear battery? And you also ground rear battery to chassis as well as all the way to front negative?

I was thinking of using this

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KND-23

for the two amp grounds to the ground on rear battery then running 1/0 ground from rear battery neg to front battery neg, but if this is good setup I just need to know if I still need to wire a short run of ground off rear battery neg to chassis.

You dont have to run a negative line from the front battery to the back. Just ground both bats to the frame (preferably sanded down to bare metal). As for the distribution block I think it would be easier to just ground both amps seperate and save the money the distribution block will cost for something else.

I would think having multiple amplifier grounding points could cause a ground loop.

I run a negative write from battery to battery as well. I also wire amplifiers directly to battery. Ground rear battery to chassis.

Forgot that there was a battery in the back. Yes just ground them straight to the battery for best connection.

[Robert 9]

Thanks.

[Robert 9]

ok been awhile but I have purchased what I need to hook up second battery my only question now is do I ground the amps to the negative of second battery as well?

[jcarter1885 995]

Ground the amps to the battery, thats what I do in all my builds

[Shogen 325]

Amp grounds directly to rear battery.

[Robert 9]

Thanks!