Infectious Off-Road.com

Hi once again another upgrade to my baby. Well I just installed a rugged ridge dual battery setup and now have two optima red tops, I know why didnt I go with yellow tops? Well I had a mini cooper and traded that in and kept the red top off it, and my TJ i sold had a redtop and took the battery off that, i knew id need them at some point. So im issue is this I purchased a Warn battery isolater, but it avoids multi battery draining so that you have a spare, but what I want is to be able to have both batteries be drained at the same time, dual capacity for accessories, winch and so forth. What should I do?

there are a few options
painless wiring
12voltguy.com
Wrangler NW Power Products
there are more out there too, the let you use both batteries to winch and also let you jump start your dead battery with the other

Yeah the Warn isolator is really not a good option once i read up on it. Basically im paying 180 for the battery and 100 for the isolator, but only gets used as a backup and nothing else. I see the painless kit and that kit lets you choose between 3 settings. So I ordered the painless kit and returning the Warn. I remember calico with all the winching it really took a toll on the one battery at one point it felt as if the Jeep wanted to turn off, had a I had dual batteries running at the same time i would not of had any issues. Nick at 4wheel parts is telling me I wont ever have to use 2 batteries at the same time. Hmmm what do you guys think? Is he right or is he wrong. Considering our night run this weekend with 10 lights on and the occasional winching.

There's a reason they make dual battery set ups.
Why do you go to nick? seems like a nice guy & knowledgable but it seems like when you know what you want he tries to sell you something else. He doesn't sound like an off road guy but more of a hot rod guy.
I always go to Frank & Alex.

That painless kit is the way to go for a dual battery set-up. I used it on my Suburban with dual Yellow tops and have nothing bad to say.

Winching with a single battery is fine, especially with a high output alternator (which our JKs have) and a good deep cycle battery (like an Optima Yellow top), as long as you are not running a bunch of high-amperage accessories while winching or maxing out the load rating of the winch for a prolonged period.

Nothing wrong with a dual battery setup, and if it makes you happy to have the extra security and capacity, definitely go for it. However, winching with one battery is just fine, and the lion's share of 4x4's out there winch with only one battery. Of course, you need a good battery, and you need to be aware of what you're doing. You can burn up a winch with too long of a hard pull as well as hurt a battery, so it's important to take a break on a real long or a real hard pull. It's also important to keep the rpm's up enough so the alternator is doing it's job and the battery isn't having to supply a majority of the current load. A higher output alternator puts out less current at low rpm, so going to a higher output alternator means it's even more important to be aware of engine rpm when winching.

I was just about to say what Goatman just did... lol seriously thou added security rules and so does the painless kit.

[quote="casaintsfan"]There's a reason they make dual battery set ups.
Why do you go to nick? seems like a nice guy & knowledgable but it seems like when you know what you want he tries to sell you something else. He doesn't sound like an off road guy but more of a hot rod guy.
I always go to Frank & Alex.[/quote]


Nick is a nice guy, but he is pure salesman.

I would agree that he is a hot rod guy.

In all honesty ive only dealt with Nick. He is a great guy and has always pointed me in the right direction. He calls me back when he says he will and everything i order from him is here on time when he says it will be here. And I will continue going with him I just really needed a second opinion from people who have or had dual battery setups. I will go with the Painless kit because it allows me to choose whatever of the 3 settings the situation I am in requires. If i am on freeway ridge at night with 10 HIDs which I will have soon then switch it to where both batteries are picking up the load, if im in town regular driving then isolate 1 battery as a backup. I will have 2 optima red tops at the moment that should last me, and if needed i will upgrade to dual yellow tops.


Thanks guys youre opinions are priceless.

I got my bracket I just need the batteries lol I plan to run one red top and one yellow top am just waiting on the money for the batteries. Too damn expensinve lol

Nick is also the guy i deal with. Just saying do your research and know what [u]you want[/u].

The first thing he's going to tell you is how great that part is from Pro Comp or Smitty Built. He is a salesman and that's their product, but that does not make them the best choice.

Not all parts are created equal.

We all have or opinions but most of use agree that higher quality parts cost more.

OHH, I forgot to mention: Do not hook your winch up to the side terminals on Optima batteries, you can destroy the battery on tough pulls. The winch + and - need to be attached to the top terminals, the side terminals are for low draw accessories like lights and CB radio.

10 HIDs!!!!!!! you gonna run the Baja 1000 - wait I don't think they run that much . hopefully you set up a couple of them as floods on a separate switch so you can use them for ground illumination when you are wheeling with others.

Lol ya overkill I know. Well 2 of them are the regular headlights, to of them are on the fab fours bumper, there are two more hellas on the fairlead, and the top 4 hellas on the rack. I got a Daystar rocker switch panel, with 3 rocker switches for them.

What... no lights for the rear? Lol eventually u will have to back up lol

Theres two Hella's in the rear but no hid for them.

Can you turn them off if you're behind me?


I'll just follow you, and you can follow Henry, then turn them all on.

[quote="desert dog"]OHH, I forgot to mention: Do not hook your winch up to the side terminals on Optima batteries, you can destroy the battery on tough pulls. The winch + and - need to be attached to the top terminals, the side terminals are for low draw accessories like lights and CB radio.

10 HIDs!!!!!!! you gonna run the Baja 1000 - wait I don't think they run that much . hopefully you set up a couple of them as floods on a separate switch so you can use them for ground illumination when you are wheeling with others.[/quote]


[color=#00BF40]i use a MARINE battery switch. The big red ones that say Off, 1, 2, All. You can charge both batteries at the same time in the "All" position, or individually isolate the battery of your choice so you do not run them both down at the same time. Additionally you can attach your winch power cable's directly to the back of the switch. Just my two cents.[/color]