I also built my own battery holder (but for a rather different reason). I am not a fan of putting a battery in the direct path of the hot air off the radiator (heat KILLS batteries) and I also added a storage box so I built an insulated firewall (all the way from the hood down the tunnel to the pseudo skid plate) and put the battery. isolator and all the wiring behind that. The battery is on the right just next to the glove box. There is just enough room for a Group U1 (35 Amp Hour) battery. I used a small fuse/relay box and put it in the glove box for easy access. All accessories are relayed to come on with the key and stay on for 15 minutes after the key is turned off and I have an on/off override switch (AKA Retained Accessory Power like in a car) so I don't have to have the key on and don't accidently leave anything on for more than 15 minutes (I am getting oldAnybody add a second battery for all your lights and stereo? Any photos and recommendations on how and where to place it?
Thanks
There is a factory "key on" connection already there, it is right on the front of the steering column and capped off. You can get a premade harness like this one here...I saw those wires when I was running my lights wiring. I will check into that battery tray and location. I think I could find a wire that is off the key switch and install a block for multiple connections instead of wire nuts and splices.
Thanks for the advice!!!
There are UTV specific icolators that are not diode based. They are more of an electronically controlled relay that do a couple things...A couple thoughts, an isolator is good if the second battery is larger than the primary. Isolators however, can be problematic in the UTV environment. If using the same battery as the primary, you can simply run them in parallel and use a battery switch (primary, secondary, both). I personally would choose this route for simplicity/reliability.
Video I did of my dual battery setup if anyone is interested.
Thanks for the great video of your install.
1. Was wondering about the removable rubber shield that keeps most crud out of the area where all the electrical components are mounted just in front of the firewall. I'm using the after market one that spans the whole firewall, as opposed to the Honda stock one that protects only the center and driver side.
2. What is that black box mounted to the diamond plate on the glove box side ?
I just got through installing one just like the one you are alluding to this afternoon. Mine is a True Battery Isolator made just for UTVs with a stator charging system. I got it on eBay for $59.99. It is a nice unit.There are UTV specific icolators that are not diode based. They are more of an electronically controlled relay that do a couple things...
- They only charge the aux battery when the charging system on the primary battery side reaches 13.4 volts.
- You can attach a wire to disconnect during cranking to avoid any possible feedback if you are using smaller wires.
- They do not consume power like a diode based isolator, it is a direct battery to battery connection through a relay.
- They are very small and light
- They work extremely well on smaller charging systems like UTV's.
- They are a "no brainer" items for old farts like me that will forget and leave a manually controlled switch the wrong way and drain my battery.
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