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Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply

Aman

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Here is where I ended up. I ran 4 AWG wire from the Blue Sea cut-off switch in the engine bay to the REDARC charger under the cargo floor. Then used 8 AWG wire to run four Dakota Lithium batteries in parallel using a bus bar. Ran that behind the driver’s side panel to the Dometic hardwiring kit, which I mounted on the pop-out panel that covers the bolts that secure the soft top. The panel is sticking out in this photo, as the bolt holding the kit is too long and hits the molding behind it. With a shorter bolt, it should clip back in completely. I plan to add a voltmeter to that same spot. Everything was doable with a buddy over two Sunday afternoons, multiple Amazon deliveries, and several visits to both Home Depot and Ace. The wire does create a bit of a bump in the floor, but it’s not bad. Would love to swap out the floor for a Goose Gear with a fridge slide at some point. Thanks to American Adventure Labs for the solution.

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Did you have any fitment issues with the AAL gear? My battery holder and Redarc mount sit too high to close the cover. AAL hasn't offered any solutions. I ordered their 2 Door Bronco MASS Plus Platform hoping it will solve my issues.
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01tundra

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Love this. Refurbing a 2018 Sportsmen FX180TH (and lightening it for the Bronco) this season and looking at doing this. Do you have more pictures or a build thread somewhere?
I only have a few more build pictures, but I should be able to answer any questions concerning the system.

The system consists of:

Two BattleBorn 100ah LiFePO4 batteries
Victron Phoenix Smart IP43 charger/power supply
Victron Orion-TR Smart 12/12-30 DC-DC charger
Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/15 solar controller
Victron Lynx Power-In distributor w/ mega fuses
Victron BMV-712 Smart shunt monitor
Trace Engineering 400A fuse block w/ 110A Class-T main fuse
Blue Sea 300A main disconnect switch
1/0 main battery cables
200W homemade solar suitcase w/ two 100W Renogy Eclipse panels wired in series

The backer board is 0.125" perforated aluminum mounted to 1"x1" aluminum extrusion that's grounded to the chassis. I used 1/16" thick Noryl insulating plates under each component's terminal area. I built the main panel in my shop and then installed it as ome assembly into the trailer.

Ford Bronco {thread} {filename}


Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply 7SKkhks


Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply aAVIziq
 

SwampCactus

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I have two portable batteries. The one in the rear is wired in to charge off the 12v system as I drive. I re-wired the 12v plug from the Bronco to be powered from this battery so it's always active. The battery also powers my red and white Baja Designs rock lights on the hatch. Then it also powers 6 charging cables out to my table. I have a switch that turns on all power to that battery so I don't get any parasitic drain. It's also a backup source for my fridge.

The other battery is a Bluetti EB55 and that's plugged into the vehicles inverter so that also charges as I drive and primality use this battery for my fridge.

Both systems charge as I drive and then also have a Bluetti 200w foldable panel I keep under my sleeping platform. So far it's working out pretty good.


Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply IMG_8031.HEIC

Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply IMG_8727

Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply IMG_8728
Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply IMG_7101.HEIC
Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply IMG_0173.HEIC
 
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BroncoInTheATL

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Did you have any fitment issues with the AAL gear? My battery holder and Redarc mount sit too high to close the cover. AAL hasn't offered any solutions. I ordered their 2 Door Bronco MASS Plus Platform hoping it will solve my issues.
The REDARC mount wouldn’t fit so I didn’t use it. I think the MASS system will solve your problem. The battery holder fit well. It’s the wires that are pushing up the floor for me.
 

Chrome_Pony

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I only have a few more build pictures, but I should be able to answer any questions concerning the system.

The system consists of:

Two BattleBorn 100ah LiFePO4 batteries
Victron Phoenix Smart IP43 charger/power supply
Victron Orion-TR Smart 12/12-30 DC-DC charger
Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/15 solar controller
Victron Lynx Power-In distributor w/ mega fuses
Victron BMV-712 Smart shunt monitor
Trace Engineering 400A fuse block w/ 110A Class-T main fuse
Blue Sea 300A main disconnect switch
1/0 main battery cables
200W homemade solar suitcase w/ two 100W Renogy Eclipse panels wired in series

The backer board is 0.125" perforated aluminum mounted to 1"x1" aluminum extrusion that's grounded to the chassis. I used 1/16" thick Noryl insulating plates under each component's terminal area. I built the main panel in my shop and then installed it as ome assembly into the trailer.

Ford Bronco {thread} {filename}


Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply IMG_0173.HEIC


Ford Bronco Dual Battery Setups vs Portable Power supply IMG_0173.HEIC
Right click.. save as...

That is an amazing setup. I have a few of those components for my build, but by Renogy. What is the cable tray from? Looks like scaled-up PC wire guide for industrial machinery?

Also interested in your insulation. If there's a section on here for non-Bronco build threads, I'd love to see more about your setup.
 

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Aman

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The REDARC mount wouldn’t fit so I didn’t use it. I think the MASS system will solve your problem. The battery holder fit well. It’s the wires that are pushing up the floor for me.
To be frank, I never test fit the system without the REDARC mount, but even after grinding the shit out of everything, the side flanges of the main section still sit proud of the plastic bin.

I wish AAL was quicker at fulfilling orders. Takes forever if even a single piece is out of stock.
 

JKBL4

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Here is where I ended up. I ran 4 AWG wire from the Blue Sea cut-off switch in the engine bay to the REDARC charger under the cargo floor. Then used 8 AWG wire to run four Dakota Lithium batteries in parallel using a bus bar. Ran that behind the driver’s side panel to the Dometic hardwiring kit, which I mounted on the pop-out panel that covers the bolts that secure the soft top. The panel is sticking out in this photo, as the bolt holding the kit is too long and hits the molding behind it. With a shorter bolt, it should clip back in completely.
This is top notch - I really like your setup and am going to copy a lot of it! Thank you for posting this

2 questions
1) Are you worried about the temps the batteries will be exposed to in an enclosed compartment? in a hot vehicle?
2) Which dakota batteries did you go with? (EDIT: followed above links to AAL, looks like 18ah)
 
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01tundra

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Right click.. save as...

That is an amazing setup. I have a few of those components for my build, but by Renogy. What is the cable tray from? Looks like scaled-up PC wire guide for industrial machinery?

Also interested in your insulation. If there's a section on here for non-Bronco build threads, I'd love to see more about your setup.
Right click.. save as...

That is an amazing setup. I have a few of those components for my build, but by Renogy. What is the cable tray from? Looks like scaled-up PC wire guide for industrial machinery?

Also interested in your insulation. If there's a section on here for non-Bronco build threads, I'd love to see more about your setup.
https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f34/2020-mini-lite-2109s-build-thread-184896.html
 

BroncoInTheATL

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This is top notch - I really like your setup and am going to copy a lot of it! Thank you for posting this

2 questions
1) Are you worried about the temps the batteries will be exposed to in an enclosed compartment? in a hot vehicle?
2) Which dakota batteries did you go with? (EDIT: followed above links to AAL, looks like 18ah)
I’m going to keep an eye on the temps until I learn how it plays out. I did use the 40 amp REDARC, so it will be charging the batteries faster than if I used the 25. I’ve seen others on this thread who have had this setup installed for a few months now without issue. I was tempted to use smaller AWG wire than what was recommended, but chose not to specifically because I wanted to avoid resistance heat. Since this is my daily driver, I’ll probably have the cutoff engaged most of the time. As for the batteries, I installed four Dakota 12V 18Ah batteries, as you surmised. They fit perfectly in the AAL rack.
 

SPITmadFIRE

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How are you folks wiring such thick gauge wire from the engine compartment all the way back to the trunk? Are you going through the firewall under the steering column and using the same doorframe trim panel routing? I’ve got my ARB fridge hardmount wired directly to my starter battery through the firewall and doorframe trim panel channel but I don’t see how that would work for anything close to 4AWG wire
 

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BroncoInTheATL

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How are you folks wiring such thick gauge wire from the engine compartment all the way back to the trunk? Are you going through the firewall under the steering column and using the same doorframe trim panel routing? I’ve got my ARB fridge hardmount wired directly to my starter battery through the firewall and doorframe trim panel channel but I don’t see how that would work for anything close to 4AWG wire
We were able to make it fit. I cut a slot in the rubber grommet and passed it through the firewall. Pulled up the doorframe trim and ran it through there. The hardest part was getting from the front doorframe panel to the back. We used a coat hanger to pull it through. There was some conduit installed between the doors, but we couldn’t fit it through that.
 

SPITmadFIRE

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We were able to make it fit. I cut a slot in the rubber grommet and passed it through the firewall. Pulled up the doorframe trim and ran it through there. The hardest part was getting from the front doorframe panel to the back. We used a coat hanger to pull it through.
Would you mind taking a picture of your wiring coming through the firewall and how you routed it from that grommet to the front door frame trim? I’m impressed that 4AWG wire somehow fits through that grommet and there’s enough space in the door trim to pack it in there.
 

BroncoInTheATL

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Would you mind taking a picture of your wiring coming through the firewall and how you routed it from that grommet to the front door frame trim? I’m impressed that 4AWG wire somehow fits through that grommet and there’s enough space in the door trim to pack it in there.
I’d be glad to. It’s dark here in Georgia, so it will be tomorrow. I’ll pull the trim up so you can see.
 

BroncoInTheATL

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Would you mind taking a picture of your wiring coming through the firewall and how you routed it from that grommet to the front door frame trim? I’m impressed that 4AWG wire somehow fits through that grommet and there’s enough space in the door trim to pack it in there.
Also, to make sure we’re talking about the same grommet, look at this video. This is where I learned about this path.
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