Adding a second battery
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Tourer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 444
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From: St. Paul, MN
Adding a second battery
I have heard about people adding a second auxiliary battery to a side car, pull behind trailer, or camping trailer pulled by a motorcycle but I haven't really been able to find the specifics on how to do it.
If a person did this by using a relay, or a solenoid, how would this affect the bike's alternator and charging system? Let's say we were using a 30 AH deep cycle battery and had a switch to activate the relay (or used a wire which was hot only when the ignition was on) to use the relay to tie the auxiliary battery directly to the main battery. Is the "draw" on the bike's system dependent on how discharged the extra battery is, or does the extra battery just receive whatever juice is left over from the charging system?
I know how to calculate the draw of 12 Volt accessories such as heated clothing, extra lighting, etc, but I am wondering how the second battery situation would add into the mix. What are the potential problems with this? Is it possible to damage alternator? Is the HD electrical system up to it?
If a person did this by using a relay, or a solenoid, how would this affect the bike's alternator and charging system? Let's say we were using a 30 AH deep cycle battery and had a switch to activate the relay (or used a wire which was hot only when the ignition was on) to use the relay to tie the auxiliary battery directly to the main battery. Is the "draw" on the bike's system dependent on how discharged the extra battery is, or does the extra battery just receive whatever juice is left over from the charging system?
I know how to calculate the draw of 12 Volt accessories such as heated clothing, extra lighting, etc, but I am wondering how the second battery situation would add into the mix. What are the potential problems with this? Is it possible to damage alternator? Is the HD electrical system up to it?
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,513
Likes: 6
From: SC
I have heard about people adding a second auxiliary battery to a side car, pull behind trailer, or camping trailer pulled by a motorcycle but I haven't really been able to find the specifics on how to do it.
If a person did this by using a relay, or a solenoid, how would this affect the bike's alternator and charging system? Let's say we were using a 30 AH deep cycle battery and had a switch to activate the relay (or used a wire which was hot only when the ignition was on) to use the relay to tie the auxiliary battery directly to the main battery. Is the "draw" on the bike's system dependent on how discharged the extra battery is, or does the extra battery just receive whatever juice is left over from the charging system?
I know how to calculate the draw of 12 Volt accessories such as heated clothing, extra lighting, etc, but I am wondering how the second battery situation would add into the mix. What are the potential problems with this? Is it possible to damage alternator? Is the HD electrical system up to it?
If a person did this by using a relay, or a solenoid, how would this affect the bike's alternator and charging system? Let's say we were using a 30 AH deep cycle battery and had a switch to activate the relay (or used a wire which was hot only when the ignition was on) to use the relay to tie the auxiliary battery directly to the main battery. Is the "draw" on the bike's system dependent on how discharged the extra battery is, or does the extra battery just receive whatever juice is left over from the charging system?
I know how to calculate the draw of 12 Volt accessories such as heated clothing, extra lighting, etc, but I am wondering how the second battery situation would add into the mix. What are the potential problems with this? Is it possible to damage alternator? Is the HD electrical system up to it?
You would need a 12v to 120v power inverter and 3 stage charger in your side car along with the battery to give the battery a full charge correctly
Heres a quote >> . A smart charger has 3 stages of charging (bulk, absorbtion and float). Bulk charging works like the above old fashioned charger. However, once the batteries reach various states of charge (almost full and totally full), the smart charger accounts for this by changing the amps and voltage of the energy it is putting into the battery. Once fully charged, the "smart charger" or "three stage charger" will taper off its power to the battery, resulting in a battery that is protected from over charging.
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Tourer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 444
Likes: 2
From: St. Paul, MN
Thanks, that is what I was wondering. I asked the place about the battery I have, which I guess is not a "True" deep cycle. It is an AGM battery which they say can even be recharged with a trickle charger. I wonder if I would just be better off charging it where I can stop when I'm not dry camping and have access to an outlet for a while.
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