Double Battery System
It took almost four days but I have finally managed to get the double battery system that I bought from Trip-Tec installed. A double battery system is rather important if you are going to be running accessories like a fridge/cooler or heater or even if you want to listen to the stereo for long periods of time. If you do all those things on your main battery you will end up with a empty starter battery and will be stuck where you are.
A double battery system allows you to separate your starter battery from your accessory battery. Which means if you run your accessory battery empty you will still be able to start your vehicle without any problems. Another good thing with a double battery system is the security of having a backup for your starter battery. Should you leave the lights on and drain your starter battery you can link the two batteries together and use the juice in the accessory battery to help start the vehicle.
The compartment under the drivers seat in the Land Rover Defender is big enough to squeeze in two batteries. The kit from Trip-Tec includes two Banner Running Bull batteries (1x 70 Ah + 1x 92 Ah), a steel mounting system and the electronic kit from IBS (the brains behind the system). The 92 Ah battery is the accessory battery while the 70 Ah will be the starter battery.
The actual mounting of the batteries wasn’t what took the most time, it was finding the right place for the relay for the IBS relay and mounting it in the space available. I think I lifted those two batteries which, by the way weigh quite a bit, at least 50 times before I had found a suitable place where I could actually drill a hole, the cables fit and still had place left for a separate fuse box.
The IBS Control module shows the battery level of both batteries, provides the linking capabilities and automatically links the batteries for charging when the engine is running so that the accessory battery gets charged as well.
In the end it didn’t look nearly as tidy and professional as the picture on the Trip-Tec website but then again I’m not a professional, at least not yet.
