DIY Dual Battery System on 3.6L - The Cheap-O way

[CaJLMetalHead]

Hey fellas, so, after looking into the Genesis Dual Battery kit, I started thinking "What if I could
fabricate my own cheap dual battery kit??"

Design Premises:
- CHEAPLY made, otherwise, why not just buy the Genesis Kit?
- Kit being able to allocate two big batteries (H6 or H7)
- Strong enough to survive the hardest rock crawling trails
- No major electrical / mechanical modifications

After playing around with the components I realized that the Fuse Box is quite large, basically
the same size and height as a large battery, so, If I could relocate the Fuse Box, then I could
use that freed space to install an additional battery ..

After some CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) I decided that I wanted to move the
Fuse Box to be on top of the passenger side of the engine bank (the engine cover /
stupid hood insulation things are gone) .. ... this idea required
rerouting of the wire harnesses, the fuse box has 4 big connectors.. after unbundling
the harness and rerouting the wires I was able to reroute the wires with a surprising
low amount of wires needing to be cut and extended, a low percentage of the wires
needed to be disconnected from the connectors, unbundled, and then rerouted to
be able to reach the new location of the Fuse Box.. I was rushing to get the project
done so I forgot to take a lot of pictures... here is one from when I was in the middle of
unbunbling and rerouting the wires.. and another with some of the wire harness done..

Here is the metal base I fabricated for the two batteries ( both are H7 size !!!! ) and the Fuse Box.. I rattled can it with some Ceramic High Temp coating...

Here is everything assembled and ready to go!!

Before you overdose on Sugar and start frenetically and mindlessly hitting
the keyboard with nonsensical comments about my design ( LMAO ).. keep in mind
that I have been running my JLU in the Summer heat with this new dual-battery
system, AND, I just came back from running the Rubicon Trail back and forth,
it was quite hot during the day... and I ran all the hard trails, including Little, Big, and Old Sluices..
so yeah, the design survived all the banging, drops, rocking sideways, heat, etc..

This is a modification that although doable, it is quite laborious, and you cannot be afraid
of playing with wires, connectors are harnesses, I imagine it is also limited to certain JL
models. For the curious enough to think about fabricating something similar I believe that
fabricating harness extensions would be the way to go....

If you made it to this point and are curious why I built this kit, there are multiple reasons:

a) I wanted to be able to run 24 Volt trail welding sytems, like the Premier Welding MIG
welding spool gun, without needing to remove batteries from other rigs to
achieve 24 volts, this design runs on dual H7 size batteries, so there is plenty of juice for welding

b) dual batteries to power fridges, lights and such while Overlanding

c) backup battery in case the main battery dies

I will improve on the original design, including a mounting bracket to support
the Fuse Box wire harnesses. Also, currently, both batteries are connected in
parallel, but I am going to design and fabricate a Microcontrolled system to
monitor the health of the batteries and recharge them accordingly, it will
also, isolate the batteries when the engine is turned off, and warn when the
batteries and getting discharged, or seem to be having issues with charging..

Thanks, fellow Jeepers!!!

Sponsored

 

[KCSgtMaj]

Nice work.

 

[AZ Hella]

That's legit. nice work.

 

[mwilk012]

How do you have them tied together to keep one from killing the other?

 

[CaJLMetalHead]

How do you have them tied together to keep one from killing the other?

They won't kill each other just yet, as I bought two identical H7 Batteries at the same time, my plan is to devise a system that isolates them when the engine is turned off, and to monitor the health of the batteries, in a similar fashion to how the Genesis dual battery works.

 

[Terrymo]

They won't kill each other just yet, as I bought two identical H7 Batteries at the same time, my plan is to devise a system that isolates them when the engine is turned off, and to monitor the health of the batteries, in a similar fashion to how the Genesis dual battery works.

I used one of these in a previous vehicle with separate starter and “house” batteries. It was easy to install and foolproof.
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...91935517&sprefix=Blue+sea+7622,aps,188&sr=8-2

 

[CaJLMetalHead]

I used one of these in a previous vehicle with separate starter and “house” batteries. It was easy to install and foolproof.
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems-Automatic-Charging/dp/B001VIXLRO/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2YUAPS65D83E0&keywords=blue+sea+ml-acr+7622&qid=1691935517&sprefix=Blue+sea+7622,aps,188&sr=8-2

Thanks for the link!... I am planning on installing either that relay or a similar one.. I love electronics..

 

[bjm00se]

"I'm going to have to Science the shit out of this." ?

 

[CaJLMetalHead]

"I'm going to have to Science the shit out of this." ?

LOL... I actually have that t-shirt !!!

 

[R3TRO]

I saw all that wiring exposed and was like, nope, not for me! Guess I'll eventually be getting the Genesis kit once my ESS goes the second time since it already did once.

 

[HK1s]

The pics go from mess to organized, very satisfying.

regarding operation of the dual battery, I'm sure even if everything is done manually, you are competent enough. Many machinery require great care and procedure to use safely, and we rarely screw up.

Don't know how the genesis setup work but shouldn't be hard to make a functional copy.

 

[AFD]

That mess of loose wires at the beginning looks a bit scary, but the end result actually looks a lot better/cleaner than any of the dual battery kits I've seen.

Nice job! ?

 

[jeepdabest]

Hey fellas, so, after looking into the Genesis Dual Battery kit, I started thinking "What if I could
fabricate my own cheap dual battery kit??"

Design Premises:
- CHEAPLY made, otherwise, why not just buy the Genesis Kit?
- Kit being able to allocate two big batteries (H6 or H7)
- Strong enough to survive the hardest rock crawling trails
- No major electrical / mechanical modifications

After playing around with the components I realized that the Fuse Box is quite large, basically
the same size and height as a large battery, so, If I could relocate the Fuse Box, then I could
use that freed space to install an additional battery ..

After some CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) I decided that I wanted to move the
Fuse Box to be on top of the passenger side of the engine bank (the engine cover /
stupid hood insulation things are gone) .. ... this idea required
rerouting of the wire harnesses, the fuse box has 4 big connectors.. after unbundling
the harness and rerouting the wires I was able to reroute the wires with a surprising
low amount of wires needing to be cut and extended, a low percentage of the wires
needed to be disconnected from the connectors, unbundled, and then rerouted to
be able to reach the new location of the Fuse Box.. I was rushing to get the project
done so I forgot to take a lot of pictures... here is one from when I was in the middle of
unbunbling and rerouting the wires.. and another with some of the wire harness done..

Here is the metal base I fabricated for the two batteries ( both are H7 size !!!! ) and the Fuse Box.. I rattled can it with some Ceramic High Temp coating...

Here is everything assembled and ready to go!!

Before you overdose on Sugar and start frenetically and mindlessly hitting
the keyboard with nonsensical comments about my design ( LMAO ).. keep in mind
that I have been running my JLU in the Summer heat with this new dual-battery
system, AND, I just came back from running the Rubicon Trail back and forth,
it was quite hot during the day... and I ran all the hard trails, including Little, Big, and Old Sluices..
so yeah, the design survived all the banging, drops, rocking sideways, heat, etc..

This is a modification that although doable, it is quite laborious, and you cannot be afraid
of playing with wires, connectors are harnesses, I imagine it is also limited to certain JL
models. For the curious enough to think about fabricating something similar I believe that
fabricating harness extensions would be the way to go....

If you made it to this point and are curious why I built this kit, there are multiple reasons:

a) I wanted to be able to run 24 Volt trail welding sytems, like the Premier Welding MIG
welding spool gun, without needing to remove batteries from other rigs to
achieve 24 volts, this design runs on dual H7 size batteries, so there is plenty of juice for welding

b) dual batteries to power fridges, lights and such while Overlanding

c) backup battery in case the main battery dies

I will improve on the original design, including a mounting bracket to support
the Fuse Box wire harnesses. Also, currently, both batteries are connected in
parallel, but I am going to design and fabricate a Microcontrolled system to
monitor the health of the batteries and recharge them accordingly, it will
also, isolate the batteries when the engine is turned off, and warn when the
batteries and getting discharged, or seem to be having issues with charging..

Thanks, fellow Jeepers!!!

Yeah. I'll get right on it.

 

[4doorturbo]

I applaud your creativity and effort! Way beyond my technical ability!

 

[Genesis Offroad]

Much respect for the bravery to pull this off! Very clever way to move the fuse box!
I always say if you have the time, the tools, and the skills to DIY, that's awesome!

Just a friendly tip for anyone else who is considering doing something like this. We sell all of our dual battery systems as a DIY version for guys that want to do their own wiring or have unique requirements such as this 24v configuration. Our DIY kit comes with the new tray that holds 2 Group 25 sized batteries and a bare top plate that holds the batteries in place. Here's our JL / JT DIY kit -

https://www.genesisoffroad.com/jl-diy-dual-battery-kit

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