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P1000 True Dual battery system

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wesward15

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Newbie to the SXS family and love it! I’m sure its been asked a ton… is the True Dual battery system really needed/required to use accessories? About to install a 52” bar on the front, 20” bar on the back, possibly a small bar on each side and maybe a radio in the future. I have a winch already installed from the dealer, on the factory battery. Thanks for all your help!
 
Hondasxs

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Are you asking if you need a dual battery system... or if you need the True Isolator?

Opinions vary.

Really, we need to know your usage type.
  • Do you only plan to use your accessories with the machine not running?
  • Do you need to use any accessories with key-off?
  • Do you do any camping?
  • Are you in the 5/30 club? (ride for 5, drink for 30)
  • Do you do a lot of winching?

If you answered YES to any of these then YES I recommend a dual battery system.

An Isolator helps prevent the drain from the primary battery when engaged in the above activities.
However, it will not prevent both batteries from going dead if you leave your key on.

Hope that helped.
 
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wesward15

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Oct 18, 2021
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Are you asking if you need a dual battery system... or if you need the True Isolator?

Opinions vary.

Really, we need to know your usage type.
  • Do you only plan to use your accessories with the machine not running?
  • Do you need to use any accessories with key-off?
  • Do you do any camping?
  • Are you in the 5/30 club? (ride for 5, drink for 30)
  • Do you do a lot of winching?

If you answered YES to any of these then YES I recommend a dual battery system.

An Isolator helps prevent the drain from the primary battery when engaged in the above activities.
However, it will not prevent both batteries from going dead if you leave your key on.

Hope that helped.
That helps a lot! I plan to use accessories while machine is off and key off also. Don’t plan on doing a lot of winching but you never know. Not in the 5/30 club… don’t plan on that either, but never know🤣. Thanks a lot for all your help
 
bumperm

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That helps a lot! I plan to use accessories while machine is off and key off also. Don’t plan on doing a lot of winching but you never know. Not in the 5/30 club… don’t plan on that either, but never know🤣. Thanks a lot for all your help

LED light bars take a fair amount of current, though you can't rely on the exorbitant claimed for wattage on-line. My 54" Nilight Light bar claims 312 watts, ( LED bar ). I measured it at about 225 watts drawing 16.4 amps.

I installed a True isolator and aux battery. Like most, I run the winch and all the accessories off the aux. I split my additional fuse block into "key-on" and "always on", that way some of the lower draw lighting, such as the pods and rear lights that only pull about 1 amp each, can be used without running the engine.

The True also allows the main battery, and it's charging system, to help with heavy loads on the aux battery. Winching can draw well over 150 amps (one spec for a 4,500 lb winch says 178 amps at full load), so the fact that the True can pass up to 140 amps to the AUX battery means it can help out, but only when the engine is running - (it needs to be running as the main battery must be above about 13.3 volts before the True will start charging the aux battery). Okay, too much detail, but you are on the right track!
 
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Scoop

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I will be installing a dual battery setup on my P1K5 for the same reason I always suggest adding an isolated dual battery setup to a boat: You don't want to find yourself out somewhere, not paying attention to what you're doing or what accessories you're using, and *WHAM* dead battery. With an isolated setup, the worst case scenario is some accessories aren't running instead of not being able to start your machine to get back home.
 
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wesward15

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LED light bars take a fair amount of current, though you can't rely on the exorbitant claimed for wattage on-line. My 54" Nilight Light bar claims 312 watts, ( LED bar ). I measured it at about 225 watts drawing 16.4 amps.

I installed a True isolator and aux battery. Like most, I run the winch and all the accessories off the aux. I split my additional fuse block into "key-on" and "always on", that way some of the lower draw lighting, such as the pods and rear lights that only pull about 1 amp each, can be used without running the engine.

The True also allows the main battery, and it's charging system, to help with heavy loads on the aux battery. Winching can draw well over 150 amps (one spec for a 4,500 lb winch says 178 amps at full load), so the fact that the True can pass up to 140 amps to the AUX battery means it can help out, but only when the engine is running - (it needs to be running as the main battery must be above about 13.3 volts before the True will start charging the aux battery). Okay, too much detail, but you are on the right track!
Thank you for all the info! It’s much needed and appreciated. Want to make sure it’s taken care of and done right. Thanks again
 
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wesward15

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I will be installing a dual battery setup on my P1K5 for the same reason I always suggest adding an isolated dual battery setup to a boat: You don't want to find yourself out somewhere, not paying attention to what you're doing or what accessories you're using, and *WHAM* dead battery. With an isolated setup, the worst case scenario is some accessories aren't running instead of not being able to start your machine to get back home.
Agree 100%! All of my stuff arrived today! Should be done this evening. Thanks for the reply
 
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wesward15

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Okay, just ordered my True duel kit after reading this. But I do have a question, which battery (brand) are y'all using for the aux battery ? Thanks.
I ordered the same battery that came from the factory. However, it doesn’t fit in the hole laying down like I’ve seen the odyssey batteries. I’ll have to put something around it to keep from moving around
 
Scoop

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I split my additional fuse block into "key-on" and "always on", that way some of the lower draw lighting, such as the pods and rear lights that only pull about 1 amp each, can be used without running the engine.
Was just getting ready to ask about split fuse blocks.

Are you running something like the Blue Sea Systems 5032 with the split bus?
 
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bumperm

bumperm

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Was just getting ready to ask about split fuse blocks.

Are you running something like the Blue Sea Systems 5032 with the split bus?
That would probably be a much better choice than the fuse block I used, linked below, that I had to modify to split it - seriously not recommended!

fuse block

A perhaps even better solution would be to use two of these (one for key-on and the other for always on):

small fuse block
 
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bumperm

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Pro: Costs less
Con: Have to mount two separate blocks

Thanks for the 411.
The con of having to mount two blocks may be a pro, depending on what space you have available. In my case, two smaller blocks would have been better. Honda used up a lot of the under hood space on the SE model as delivered.
 
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Scoop

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The con of having to mount two blocks may be a pro, depending on what space you have available. In my case, two smaller blocks would have been better. Honda used up a lot of the under hood space on the SE model as delivered.
As soon as I hit "enter" to post my reply, that thought came to mind. Guess I'll *try* to figure out what I plan on installing, and that can help me decide.

Until, of course, things change. Which they never do, right? :D
 
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Aucoop

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Does anyone have a layout of how they set up a dual battery system in an SE since the layout under the hood is a little different than a standard or a deluxe?
 
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Hondasxs

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Does anyone have a layout of how they set up a dual battery system in an SE since the layout under the hood is a little different than a standard or a deluxe?
Hi,
Its not really any different. You just need to relocate the factory-added fuse box that is in the way.
Same hook-up method for all machines. Just positioning of the isolator is in question. You can put that anywhere.
 
Scoop

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The con of having to mount two blocks may be a pro, depending on what space you have available. In my case, two smaller blocks would have been better. Honda used up a lot of the under hood space on the SE model as delivered.
I actually ordered (and received) one of the larger blocks (12 fuse like @RobSparre got with the LED indicator for blown fuse) as well as a 6 fuse version of a very similar one. It should be small enough to install where Rob said (in his video) might be a good place for a smaller fuse box. If it works out, I'll just order a second one to mount on the other side and not worry about mounting the larger fuse box on the air filter top.
 
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