I have that EXACT Smart Battery Isolator and it drops 1.4V through it (if you think about it that's a 10% voltage drop), and as a result keeps clicking off and on for an invention I have sitting in the trunk. Everywhere else in the car tests at 14.6 right up to it, and then as soon as you go through it it's down to 13.3V~. After the car has been on for half an hour the number starts lowering until it's at 12.8 and it starts clicking off and on every second. Spend the extra money and get a better version. Yes it works for me... for half an hour. I'm only pushing 10 amps through it on a 140 amp alternator. In years past I pushed 22A through a similar setup with a different voltage sensing relay with occasional cut out, at which point I lowered it to 19 and then it was fine, and then down to 12a later on. Back to this KeyLine SBI, after the first half hour it's basically a paperweight. Now I have to pull the whole apparatus out, which isn't too easy, and replace it with another brand. I've been messing with electronics and trained in the ways of electricity from my enlistment in the Marines so I know it's none of my connections. It is 100% that battery isolator.
💐Thank you my brother. Ole’ Rasta woman here with a need to know how to do this on my own. This was very much my style of steps 💗ty! May the universe return your love & kindness💐
such great clear easy to understand step by step information thanks i would like to see how you connect the inverter and hoping the in between steps toward the end of the video will be clear once i start.
Great !!!!! easy to follow video. But I would add a heavy duty fuse or circuit breaker 150 amp between the starting battery and the isolator. Just in case of fire!!!! SAFETY FIRST
@@GripandClip yessir you most definitely need two Anl fuses and two holders for em! Then get some cable cutters and measure or eyeball approximately 10"-14" Inches away from very end of cable on both sides of positive wire, so undo the actual battery terminal and then yeah it kind of sucks I know but I mean since you didn't know you had to do that in the very beginning so unfortunately you'll end up having to cut off the two "crimped" compression copper cable lugs do the two new cuts like stated above on the positive cable then re-crimp two brand new copper compression cable lugs, install the holder and fuse (or a fused 12v circuit breaker. Then you need to of course re-heat shrink over those new crimpped lugs once again, mount the new fuses somewhere either screw them down or ziptie if their is a sturdy spot, and then you can go on ahead and re-install everything right back to that same position that you've installed it to that you're showing in this video here... And then you'll 100% percent be covered and have assurance and peace of mind knowing you won't be driving down the road one day and all of a sudden your whole cab start smoking and yeah I know lots of people say meh it's whatever I'll be fine sure people say their call will burn to the ground I'm sure that's just exaggeration if it start ever smoking or burning "I'll put it out quick", before anything happens... But the thing people don't realize is when that happens it happens so quick and it literally if you've ever seen it happen close up, that part of the wire that "malfunctions" or shorts out, a whole section around it literally becomes like a red/yellowish glowing rod that instantly melts your carpet in seconds and if it happenes and really crappy area like touching against a plastic panel in the car sitting along side the door under carpet and panel... Those are the worst that do most damage to your vehicle... Sorry about my blabbing... But yeah you most definitely need to fuse up exactly where I mentioned earlier. If you want just lemme know by replying or whatever but if you want I'll literally find you everything you need on Amazon for the cheapest and having being 100% quality stuff not China crap. It's really not that expensive for what you need to protect your wires. They should of included it in that box you got I don't understand why they didn't that's strange really cause most other kits usually will. 😕
@@GripandClip I was actually thinking I could actually if you wanted of course or if you know where to get one... I was going to say instead of you having to re heat shrink and re crimp new lugs back on and have to spend money on that you can just get the holder that has screw down compression input fuse holders that way you don't need no heat shrink or any more copper lugs which are kinda spendy actually... But yeah I can get/find you one of those compression fuse holders and few fuses in like a kit for under 15 bucks provably maybe even 10 on Amazon they're real cheap but are like a total necessity to have if you install anything at all from your car battery and especially when using heavier AWG gauge of wire like you're using for this VSR.
@@GripandClip just lemme know I can 100% in less than 10 minutes find you an Amazon link for a little kit of entirely everything you're needing for under 15 bucks for sure. Im not trying to make nothing off it haha I couldn't and honestly don't even know how people do that from youtube... I'm just wanting to help a person out if can be. Cause I just recently bought buncha new accessories to install in my car and I bought me few different fuse holders and blocks that's kinda why am saying cause literally just got some and still have the links in my history
Thank you, mate. The LED light on my Vevor isolator is always on, it never turns off. It's slightly hot, but not dangerously hot. Is that normal? any help appreciated
I’m installing the exact same isolator tomorrow on my Ram 1500. This video was extremely helpful. Thank you and I wish you many happy and healthy miles.
how did it go I have My 1500 quad cab 5000rms 300amp alt xs d6500 all 1/0 ofc dual runs from alt to the battery thinking of getting a second batt might stick with xs power because I have a meter in the dash some songs certain notes it'll drop to 13v then once that note stops goes right back to 14.4 well I know with 2 xs power AGM batts I really don't need an isolator but they say u want to match the isolator amps to the alternator amps being that I have 300amp alt should I get a 500w isolator I know this brand makes a 300amp isolator but I might get a 500w isolator because I'm the future I might get a bigger alt like 350 370 my 300 has been going strong for couple years now
I know I'm late to the party but thanks for putting me on the trail of what appears to be the best VSR on the market. I really like that it has priority charging for the staring battery.
Thanks for the video! You convinced me to go with this isolator. We spent all of April and May driving around the US and it worked perfectly! It did start clicking one single time after I turned off our van. I gave it a little tap and it stopped 🤷♂️
Great! Yeah, it worked really well on a two month trip I took, best thing I ever did to keep my 2nd battery topped off - better than the solar panel I got! Never experienced the clicking you describe, though.
@@GripandClip yeah, idk. It was just a one time thing and hasn't happened since. And I'll second that it worked better than the solar panels. What a great unit!
I'm going to substitute multiple crystal power cell batteries instead of solar panels. Crystal power cells constantly give out an electrical charge 24/7 and last anywhere from 2 to 4 years or more. John Hutchison is the inventor and many others have been experimenting with his invention.
Can I connect to inverter without connecting to secondary battery? Want to charge my BLUETTI off starter but not drain starter if I forget to shut off alternator. Thx great video.
Excellent DIY video. It appears these devices isolate and control the charging of the batteries and the isolation of the starter battery, but they won't allow discharge from only the auxiliary battery to the vehicle's accessories when the engine is off. You've got yourself an inverter to connect to the auxiliary battery and you'll run external accessories off the inverter to get around this. My thought is, instead of using an inverter with its concomitant power loss, how about installing a manual switch to disconnect the positive cable from the main battery and connecting it to the auxiliary battery. That way, you can use the car's built-in 12-volt accessories such as interior lights and stereo, as well as being able to plug camping accessories into 12-volt sockets. You could still use an inverter if you needed to. The only downside I see to this is that you may have to input your stereo security code every time you switch batteries.
mark stone That’s an interesting idea. I’ll keep that as maybe something to explore. Yeah, having the stereo reset might be annoying - not sure how to get around that.
Question, when smart battery isolator circuit is on, all ur batteries are hooked together , starter and aux? So if engine is off, u could drain ur starter battery, or will isolater shut off when voltage drops. I thought the isolator lets current only flow towards with aux batteries, not stay hot on starter battery side.
Thank you for explaining this so easy!! I just bought one of these myself. Are you setting your solar panel up to charge your battery too? If so will you do a video on it as well?
I do have my solar panel hooked up as well. I failed to make an install video for that, but there are several videos from other folks on YT. I think it's an easier process. It's great for charging your auxiliary battery while parked!
Never thought about about putting solar in side my car. I have a solar powered house so. I'm looking to store extra power from a real good day. Then when the cupboard is bare. I will swap over to the reserve. (Isolator battery) tks.
I use my truck's extra battery as a backup to my solar powered Yurt, actually. I use it as a generator backup to recharge my Yurt's batteries. I'll run the truck for 30 minutes, which tops off the 4 lithium battery bank I have inside. See more here: th-cam.com/video/z_r3yvumBM0/w-d-xo.html
It's worked well for me. I did switch to a lithium battery, which requires a higher voltage to charge properly (it still charges, just slower), so that may be a concern. But for a marine style battery (which I had before) this was perfect.
Still very useful video, thanks for making it, you helped me do the same to my wagon. I had the "adventure kings dual battery kit, it is identical to yours in every way bar the sticker on top.
When you put the solar panel in the front windows do you lose power or watts i have a 60 watts solar saga (only give max 42 watts with a jackery power station how much watts lost would i get by putting them in the windows
I haven't done a proper side-by-side test. It's kinda hard to do as solar angle and intensity changes. My guess is that given equal angle to the sun and equal intensity there would be no loss, but that's an educated guess. Sorry mate!
Glad you liked the video! It's one of the best additions I've made, actually. Now I run my thermoelectric cooler, charge everything, run my laptop. Since I move fairly frequently this tops off my 2 auxiliary batteries, which allow me many days of power. I forget to use my solar panel, since I really haven't had the need yet.
@@GripandClip awesome! I also want to do a very similar set up (small Esky fridge, charge phones and laptop) while keeping the stealthy look of the van by not having a solar panel fixed to the roof. What size batteries are you running?
@@GripandClip also do you have a "stupid simple" video on how to connect the batteries to power the accessories? (I.e. did you use an inverter then a fuse and wire everything from there? What sort of inverter etc haha)
@@TheTaeminator I intend to make a video about my complete electrical setup, just need to carve out some time ;) But yes, I use a 2000 watt inverter. For appliances that run direct off a cigarette lighter cable, I just connect directly to the battery with a fused cigarette lighter adaptor. The inverter is: amzn.to/2TplxGP It's the cheapest 2k inverter I could find. I charge cell phones and laptop off the inverter. It's a Modified Sine Wave inverter, and some say you need a Pure Sine Wave, but thru my research I've concluded that the Macbook adaptor "adapts" the voltage into a pure sine wave - but DYOR. The fan can be a little loud, which is unfortunate because it's right by the head of my bed, but since it's been cold at night I just shut it off. The female cigarette lighter cables (with fuses): amzn.to/2IZhMTW. I plug the refrigerator directly to the plug which connects to the battery. I also connect my Max Burton Digital Stove To Go to a second one attached to my other auxiliary battery: amzn.to/2TnM5s8
Thanks, was interesting viewing and learnt a lot. I see a lot about dc to dc chargers. You didn't mention the dc to dc charger. Is this required with your system? Appreciate your response. Cheers
Not really sure what you mean by “dc to dc charger.” This isolator takes the charge from the starter battery, which is dc, and charges your auxiliary battery, which is also dc. Everything to do that is in the box.
Thanks for making this video. I am preparing to do this same kit in the next few days. Seeing your video made it possible to check out the quality of the key line isolator. Thanks again!
great job. well explained. I followed from start to finish. The kit I bought for AU$95 is branded "Power Tech" and is pretty much identical to yours including instructions. It did come with a yellow wire as well as the black in the event the main battery might be dead you can connect the yellow wire to the negative terminal and start the car off the auxiliary battery. I enquired with a local installer about a t5 VW 2011 lwb and while you can go through the glove box and muck around under carpets and removing mounts in the engine bay he advised to run it straight underneath the vehicle. Worked brilliantly and the whole job did take the day mainly cos mucked around bits and bobs, trial and error etc. I did want to ask you about that solar panel? what brand and wattage? I don't like the idea of mounting a panel on the roof. If driving the battery will charge of the engine battery and if you camp most likely you'll go for a shady area. I run a 100 w panel, 2 single 50w together on about 10 m of cable. If I park in a shady area I can easily place the panel in the sun. Thanks again. #BromptonShrink
BromptonShrink Glad you found the video useful. The solar panel is a DOKIO 100 watt folding panel. (link in the video description) I’ve since upgraded to their 300 watt panel, and a lithium ion auxiliary battery. Going straight underneath probably would have saved me some time. On the other hand I don’t have to muck about underneath my truck .;) Tradeoffs I guess. I’ve had to charge my startup battery a couple times. I just used my jumper cables - your setup sounds better - maybe I’ll try to figure that out with my setup.
Gripand Clip . It’s a little yellow wire that comes out from behind the isolator. I haven’t used it yet of course. How would you drain your main battery? You could connect your 100w panel to the front battery if your camping a few days? 300w panel to the rear?
So this means everytime the engine is shut off, all the device that i will plug on the cigarette lighter at the cabin lights that i will use, take power from the auxiliary battery? Correct? Sorry i am zero to auto electrical. , 😬
Depends. Is the cigarette lighter connected to the auxiliary battery, and not the car battery? Then yes. But, if you're talking about the lighter in the cab it's probably wired to the car battery so you'd drain it.
@@GripandClip ok, so all the accessories that i need to use should be connected to the aux battery since this device is only for charging the aux battery. Hope i understand it correctly this time 😁
I started with 2 AGM batteries hooked up in parallel. In theory it should have charged the same as a single 12v battery, but personally I found it charged them unequally. I did have the isolator only hooked to a single battery, though. You might want to connect to the positive end of one battery, and the negative of the 2nd battery, which may work better.
so i have ram 1500 i have xs power d6500 300 amp alt and i read that when chosing an isolator you want it to be matching your alt amps or higher so since my alt is 300 would i need a 300 or bigger isolator i havent decided if im getting another xs power agm or a lithium bank yet but i know this company i think makes a 300amp isolator but in the future i might get a 350 or 370 amo alt so should i get a 500w isolator since they only make like 140,200,300 500 amp isolators I know if I stick with AGM deep cycle in the front and back that I don't really need an isolator and also if I use AGM up front and certain lithium cells in the back I don't need an isolator if i get like lifepo4 i believe correct me if im wrong technically I only need an isolator if it's two batteries that charge at different voltages or sit at different voltage but it is safer to have an isolator in case one battery starts to go bad and then starts to drain the other battery I like to be safe so I'll prob go that route just doing research
Whenever i touch the ground to a grounding point on the chassis i can hear the isolator click and a faint light comes up but then it turns off. I grounded the ground of the isolator to the main battery negative but i cant get it to work
No one ever stresses the need for an ABC extinguisher, when you're adding or installing new wiring. I see fuses, called for, and that's good, but NEVER an extinguisher. I saved a lady, her baby and her car with an ABC that my business had available 40 years ago and it's a great feeling.
Good job. Thanks for sharing. How is the system working so far? BTW, good choice of the Black Diamond Storm, too. Bright enough but not as bulky as later models :)
If both house batteries (if you have 2) are charged is there a switch to turn off the power coming from the car battery to the house battery? Like if you start up your car will it sense that the batteries are charged and will shut off??
Good question, and I wish I had a firm answer for you. I don't see that information on the product description. On Amazon, one person said that it does shut off, but I wouldn't know how to test that for sure. I do know that my auxiliary batteries never show overcharging according to my charge controller readings.
Should work. Might be a little less efficient in charging depending on the distance from the starter battery. The kit comes with 20' of red cable, which should be enough to connect on most cars.
The starter battery is a flushtop maintenance free battery from AAA. I assume it's lead acid, but it's not labelled. The size is 34-C if you want to look it up. The second is AGM.
From my understanding, you should never drain your auxiliary battery below 50%... my question is how many miles on average do you need to drive per day to bring a battery at 50% back up to 100?
I don't really know the answer to that. It really depends on your usage, and type of battery. My AGM battery would top off with everyday driving, the main drain being a small frig, with LED lights and cell phone and laptop recharging. When stationary I would top off with a 100 watt solar panel.
micjakes1 I personally don’t know the answer to that, but on Amazon the seller of my particular unit responded to several people who asked the same question as you: “We have a lot of customers with 180 amp alternators using the KeyLine isolator for years now. The isolator would not shut off if overloaded but it may become inoperative due to too much power. However, 99% of applications out there will only draw a maximum of 60-80 amps (however, I don't know about your specific application. For some customers running heavy work loads they have placed a 180 amp, or less, breaker or fuse between the start battery and the isolator.” Hope that helps.
I have that EXACT Smart Battery Isolator and it drops 1.4V through it (if you think about it that's a 10% voltage drop), and as a result keeps clicking off and on for an invention I have sitting in the trunk. Everywhere else in the car tests at 14.6 right up to it, and then as soon as you go through it it's down to 13.3V~. After the car has been on for half an hour the number starts lowering until it's at 12.8 and it starts clicking off and on every second. Spend the extra money and get a better version. Yes it works for me... for half an hour. I'm only pushing 10 amps through it on a 140 amp alternator. In years past I pushed 22A through a similar setup with a different voltage sensing relay with occasional cut out, at which point I lowered it to 19 and then it was fine, and then down to 12a later on. Back to this KeyLine SBI, after the first half hour it's basically a paperweight. Now I have to pull the whole apparatus out, which isn't too easy, and replace it with another brand. I've been messing with electronics and trained in the ways of electricity from my enlistment in the Marines so I know it's none of my connections. It is 100% that battery isolator.
💐Thank you my brother. Ole’ Rasta woman here with a need to know how to do this on my own. This was very much my style of steps 💗ty! May the universe return your love & kindness💐
I'm glad you found it helpful!
such great clear easy to understand step by step information thanks i would like to see how you connect the inverter and hoping the in between steps toward the end of the video will be clear once i start.
This is great. I love how you basically think out loud! Makes me more comfortable with my inner thoughts when I'll be doing this. Haha.
I figured it might help out people who might have the same questions I had while installing. ;)
Great !!!!! easy to follow video. But I would add a heavy duty fuse or circuit breaker 150 amp between the starting battery and the isolator. Just in case of fire!!!! SAFETY FIRST
Hmm, okay. I have been running the standard install for awhile now, no issues. But a fuse is probably a good idea if you want to be extra safe.
@@GripandClip yessir you most definitely need two Anl fuses and two holders for em!
Then get some cable cutters and measure or eyeball approximately 10"-14" Inches away from very end of cable on both sides of positive wire, so undo the actual battery terminal and then yeah it kind of sucks I know but I mean since you didn't know you had to do that in the very beginning so unfortunately you'll end up having to cut off the two "crimped" compression copper cable lugs do the two new cuts like stated above on the positive cable then re-crimp two brand new copper compression cable lugs, install the holder and fuse (or a fused 12v circuit breaker. Then you need to of course re-heat shrink over those new crimpped lugs once again, mount the new fuses somewhere either screw them down or ziptie if their is a sturdy spot, and then you can go on ahead and re-install everything right back to that same position that you've installed it to that you're showing in this video here... And then you'll 100% percent be covered and have assurance and peace of mind knowing you won't be driving down the road one day and all of a sudden your whole cab start smoking and yeah I know lots of people say meh it's whatever I'll be fine sure people say their call will burn to the ground I'm sure that's just exaggeration if it start ever smoking or burning "I'll put it out quick", before anything happens... But the thing people don't realize is when that happens it happens so quick and it literally if you've ever seen it happen close up, that part of the wire that "malfunctions" or shorts out, a whole section around it literally becomes like a red/yellowish glowing rod that instantly melts your carpet in seconds and if it happenes and really crappy area like touching against a plastic panel in the car sitting along side the door under carpet and panel... Those are the worst that do most damage to your vehicle...
Sorry about my blabbing... But yeah you most definitely need to fuse up exactly where I mentioned earlier. If you want just lemme know by replying or whatever but if you want I'll literally find you everything you need on Amazon for the cheapest and having being 100% quality stuff not China crap. It's really not that expensive for what you need to protect your wires. They should of included it in that box you got I don't understand why they didn't that's strange really cause most other kits usually will. 😕
@@GripandClip I was actually thinking I could actually if you wanted of course or if you know where to get one... I was going to say instead of you having to re heat shrink and re crimp new lugs back on and have to spend money on that you can just get the holder that has screw down compression input fuse holders that way you don't need no heat shrink or any more copper lugs which are kinda spendy actually... But yeah I can get/find you one of those compression fuse holders and few fuses in like a kit for under 15 bucks provably maybe even 10 on Amazon they're real cheap but are like a total necessity to have if you install anything at all from your car battery and especially when using heavier AWG gauge of wire like you're using for this VSR.
@@GripandClip just lemme know I can 100% in less than 10 minutes find you an Amazon link for a little kit of entirely everything you're needing for under 15 bucks for sure. Im not trying to make nothing off it haha I couldn't and honestly don't even know how people do that from youtube... I'm just wanting to help a person out if can be. Cause I just recently bought buncha new accessories to install in my car and I bought me few different fuse holders and blocks that's kinda why am saying cause literally just got some and still have the links in my history
Thank you, mate. The LED light on my Vevor isolator is always on, it never turns off. It's slightly hot, but not dangerously hot. Is that normal? any help appreciated
I love how simple your instructions are to follow.
Glad it was helpful!
I’m installing the exact same isolator tomorrow on my Ram 1500. This video was extremely helpful. Thank you and I wish you many happy and healthy miles.
how did it go I have My 1500 quad cab 5000rms 300amp alt xs d6500 all 1/0 ofc dual runs from alt to the battery thinking of getting a second batt might stick with xs power because I have a meter in the dash some songs certain notes it'll drop to 13v then once that note stops goes right back to 14.4 well I know with 2 xs power AGM batts I really don't need an isolator but they say u want to match the isolator amps to the alternator amps being that I have 300amp alt should I get a 500w isolator I know this brand makes a 300amp isolator but I might get a 500w isolator because I'm the future I might get a bigger alt like 350 370 my 300 has been going strong for couple years now
I know I'm late to the party but thanks for putting me on the trail of what appears to be the best VSR on the market. I really like that it has priority charging for the staring battery.
I'm glad you found it useful. One of the best items I have bought for boondocking for sure.
Thanks for the video! You convinced me to go with this isolator. We spent all of April and May driving around the US and it worked perfectly! It did start clicking one single time after I turned off our van. I gave it a little tap and it stopped 🤷♂️
Great! Yeah, it worked really well on a two month trip I took, best thing I ever did to keep my 2nd battery topped off - better than the solar panel I got! Never experienced the clicking you describe, though.
@@GripandClip yeah, idk. It was just a one time thing and hasn't happened since. And I'll second that it worked better than the solar panels. What a great unit!
I'm going to substitute multiple crystal power cell batteries instead of solar panels. Crystal power cells constantly give out an electrical charge 24/7 and last anywhere from 2 to 4 years or more. John Hutchison is the inventor and many others have been experimenting with his invention.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video!
Very nicely explained. I went a step further and put a power saver on my OBDII port as not to wack out the computer when it looses power.
Great vid, this arriv’d 2 days ago and will b a couple weeks or so before install, I know where to start now, right here, thanks man!
Glad to help!
Thank you for the video bro I just picked up the same isolator for my dual battery set up
Thank you you have exactly the same system I have this good to see someone else do it before you try
Can I connect to inverter without connecting to secondary battery? Want to charge my BLUETTI off starter but not drain starter if I forget to shut off alternator. Thx great video.
Great Video 100% very simple and patience to understand.
Excellent DIY video. It appears these devices isolate and control the charging of the batteries and the isolation of the starter battery, but they won't allow discharge from only the auxiliary battery to the vehicle's accessories when the engine is off. You've got yourself an inverter to connect to the auxiliary battery and you'll run external accessories off the inverter to get around this. My thought is, instead of using an inverter with its concomitant power loss, how about installing a manual switch to disconnect the positive cable from the main battery and connecting it to the auxiliary battery. That way, you can use the car's built-in 12-volt accessories such as interior lights and stereo, as well as being able to plug camping accessories into 12-volt sockets. You could still use an inverter if you needed to. The only downside I see to this is that you may have to input your stereo security code every time you switch batteries.
mark stone That’s an interesting idea. I’ll keep that as maybe something to explore. Yeah, having the stereo reset might be annoying - not sure how to get around that.
Thanks for the great vid!! A year after you posted it and its still getting hits and helping people. Thanks from Australia.
I'm sorta amazed actually ;)
Exactly what I'm looking for my boat
Thank you very much for this video. Man I've been looking all over TH-cam for a simple easy explain on how to do this. Thanks again brother.
thanks for following the instructions, it helped
Great video with patience to understand... what all TH-cam videos should follow example of for us novice installers .. thank you 🙏🏽 💪🏽💪🏽💯💯👍🏽👍🏽
Glad you liked it!
What happens if you don't hook up small ground wire
Can I leave this hooked up to my 2nd battery permantly ? Or only have it hooked up when running my car
Did you have to put some kinda breaker?
Question, when smart battery isolator circuit is on, all ur batteries are hooked together , starter and aux? So if engine is off, u could drain ur starter battery, or will isolater shut off when voltage drops. I thought the isolator lets current only flow towards with aux batteries, not stay hot on starter battery side.
Did you add any online fuses to your set up. If not have you had any issues
Nice. How has this been for the past year??? I'm wanting to pick one up and put an aux battery behind the driver's seat in my Jeep. Thanks.
Still works well!
Great video, my brother. Thank you for the step-by-step.
Jacob Thies You’re welcome!
Exactly what I was looking for!
Thanks for posting this video. I have the same exact set up. It will help big-time
Video was a bunch of help thank you brother !
Thanks for a great video, easy to follow along 🙏 Thank You
You’re welcome.
Great tutorial, thanks for taking the time to do the video. I am thinking about doing this mod to my Jeep
Glad you found it useful.
You are great man. I learn from you, many thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Can't be better explained !
Thank you for explaining this so easy!! I just bought one of these myself. Are you setting your solar panel up to charge your battery too? If so will you do a video on it as well?
I do have my solar panel hooked up as well. I failed to make an install video for that, but there are several videos from other folks on YT. I think it's an easier process. It's great for charging your auxiliary battery while parked!
Never thought about about putting solar in side my car. I have a solar powered house so. I'm looking to store extra power from a real good day. Then when the cupboard is bare. I will swap over to the reserve. (Isolator battery) tks.
I use my truck's extra battery as a backup to my solar powered Yurt, actually. I use it as a generator backup to recharge my Yurt's batteries. I'll run the truck for 30 minutes, which tops off the 4 lithium battery bank I have inside. See more here: th-cam.com/video/z_r3yvumBM0/w-d-xo.html
Great video. I'm in the market for a system. What is your long term review on this product? Thanks. 🤠
It's worked well for me. I did switch to a lithium battery, which requires a higher voltage to charge properly (it still charges, just slower), so that may be a concern. But for a marine style battery (which I had before) this was perfect.
Still very useful video, thanks for making it, you helped me do the same to my wagon. I had the "adventure kings dual battery kit, it is identical to yours in every way bar the sticker on top.
I was wondering if some of the other kits out there were basically just rebranded. Thanks for confirming!
Thank you! Great video
Is that the same music as the "food wishes" guy uses?
When you put the solar panel in the front windows do you lose power or watts i have a 60 watts solar saga (only give max 42 watts with a jackery power station how much watts lost would i get by putting them in the windows
I haven't done a proper side-by-side test. It's kinda hard to do as solar angle and intensity changes. My guess is that given equal angle to the sun and equal intensity there would be no loss, but that's an educated guess. Sorry mate!
*thanks for sharing very helpful*
What about fuses near the positive cables leading from batteries, Not needed?
I can only tell you that I didn’t use any, and the instructions didn’t indicate the need.
I like simple. Thanks for this video!
Thanks for a straight forward video! Showing what goes into it all without all these terms and suggestions. How is it performing so far???
Glad you liked the video! It's one of the best additions I've made, actually. Now I run my thermoelectric cooler, charge everything, run my laptop. Since I move fairly frequently this tops off my 2 auxiliary batteries, which allow me many days of power. I forget to use my solar panel, since I really haven't had the need yet.
@@GripandClip awesome! I also want to do a very similar set up (small Esky fridge, charge phones and laptop) while keeping the stealthy look of the van by not having a solar panel fixed to the roof. What size batteries are you running?
@@GripandClip also do you have a "stupid simple" video on how to connect the batteries to power the accessories? (I.e. did you use an inverter then a fuse and wire everything from there? What sort of inverter etc haha)
@@TheTaeminator I intend to make a video about my complete electrical setup, just need to carve out some time ;) But yes, I use a 2000 watt inverter. For appliances that run direct off a cigarette lighter cable, I just connect directly to the battery with a fused cigarette lighter adaptor.
The inverter is: amzn.to/2TplxGP It's the cheapest 2k inverter I could find. I charge cell phones and laptop off the inverter. It's a Modified Sine Wave inverter, and some say you need a Pure Sine Wave, but thru my research I've concluded that the Macbook adaptor "adapts" the voltage into a pure sine wave - but DYOR. The fan can be a little loud, which is unfortunate because it's right by the head of my bed, but since it's been cold at night I just shut it off.
The female cigarette lighter cables (with fuses): amzn.to/2IZhMTW. I plug the refrigerator directly to the plug which connects to the battery.
I also connect my Max Burton Digital Stove To Go to a second one attached to my other auxiliary battery: amzn.to/2TnM5s8
@@TheTaeminator th-cam.com/video/lBxDUigLnZ0/w-d-xo.html
The terminator love it and thanks for the vid mate got got what I needed and a good laugh 😂 at the terminator 👍🏻
Thanks for sharing. Good explanation.
No fuses?
Do you use fuse?
Thank you! Your instructions are very helpful.
Thanks, was interesting viewing and learnt a lot. I see a lot about dc to dc chargers. You didn't mention the dc to dc charger. Is this required with your system? Appreciate your response. Cheers
Not really sure what you mean by “dc to dc charger.” This isolator takes the charge from the starter battery, which is dc, and charges your auxiliary battery, which is also dc. Everything to do that is in the box.
That answered questions, thank you.
Thank you very much for this great video. You're the man. Subbed, Liked, Commented. 😁
Thank you Sir. Good work.
Really appreciate Cha Brotha!
This is the type or video I've been looking for. Thank you man
You bet man!
Thanks for making this video. I am preparing to do this same kit in the next few days. Seeing your video made it possible to check out the quality of the key line isolator. Thanks again!
Glad it was helpful! Has worked really well for me.
great job. well explained. I followed from start to finish. The kit I bought for AU$95 is branded "Power Tech" and is pretty much identical to yours including instructions. It did come with a yellow wire as well as the black in the event the main battery might be dead you can connect the yellow wire to the negative terminal and start the car off the auxiliary battery. I enquired with a local installer about a t5 VW 2011 lwb and while you can go through the glove box and muck around under carpets and removing mounts in the engine bay he advised to run it straight underneath the vehicle. Worked brilliantly and the whole job did take the day mainly cos mucked around bits and bobs, trial and error etc. I did want to ask you about that solar panel? what brand and wattage? I don't like the idea of mounting a panel on the roof. If driving the battery will charge of the engine battery and if you camp most likely you'll go for a shady area. I run a 100 w panel, 2 single 50w together on about 10 m of cable. If I park in a shady area I can easily place the panel in the sun. Thanks again. #BromptonShrink
BromptonShrink Glad you found the video useful. The solar panel is a DOKIO 100 watt folding panel. (link in the video description) I’ve since upgraded to their 300 watt panel, and a lithium ion auxiliary battery. Going straight underneath probably would have saved me some time. On the other hand I don’t have to muck about underneath my truck .;) Tradeoffs I guess. I’ve had to charge my startup battery a couple times. I just used my jumper cables - your setup sounds better - maybe I’ll try to figure that out with my setup.
Gripand Clip . It’s a little yellow wire that comes out from behind the isolator. I haven’t used it yet of course. How would you drain your main battery? You could connect your 100w panel to the front battery if your camping a few days? 300w panel to the rear?
@@CaffeineJogger I left my lights on my old truck. ;) No auto light shut off. I do keep the 100w as a backup.
So this means everytime the engine is shut off, all the device that i will plug on the cigarette lighter at the cabin lights that i will use, take power from the auxiliary battery? Correct? Sorry i am zero to auto electrical. , 😬
Depends. Is the cigarette lighter connected to the auxiliary battery, and not the car battery? Then yes. But, if you're talking about the lighter in the cab it's probably wired to the car battery so you'd drain it.
@@GripandClip ok, so all the accessories that i need to use should be connected to the aux battery since this device is only for charging the aux battery. Hope i understand it correctly this time 😁
@@adrianreyes640 Yes, that is how I have it setup for my truck. Good luck!
@@GripandClip thanks, 😊
Thanks for youer video, It's help me. 👍 Torben from Denmark 🇩🇰
Great video, thank you!
hi everyone my house battery bank has 2 batteries...2 - 120amp hour batteries....do you guys this product would still be suitable to use?
I started with 2 AGM batteries hooked up in parallel. In theory it should have charged the same as a single 12v battery, but personally I found it charged them unequally. I did have the isolator only hooked to a single battery, though. You might want to connect to the positive end of one battery, and the negative of the 2nd battery, which may work better.
@@GripandClip thank you
Has this unit worked well since you installed this ?
Does it need any fuse?
so i have ram 1500 i have xs power d6500 300 amp alt and i read that when chosing an isolator you want it to be matching your alt amps or higher so since my alt is 300 would i need a 300 or bigger isolator i havent decided if im getting another xs power agm or a lithium bank yet but i know this company i think makes a 300amp isolator but in the future i might get a 350 or 370 amo alt so should i get a 500w isolator since they only make like 140,200,300 500 amp isolators I know if I stick with AGM deep cycle in the front and back that I don't really need an isolator and also if I use AGM up front and certain lithium cells in the back I don't need an isolator if i get like lifepo4 i believe correct me if im wrong technically I only need an isolator if it's two batteries that charge at different voltages or sit at different voltage
but it is safer to have an isolator in case one battery starts to go bad and then starts to drain the other battery I like to be safe so I'll prob go that route just doing research
Super useful video, thanks.
Glad it was helpful for you!
Whenever i touch the ground to a grounding point on the chassis i can hear the isolator click and a faint light comes up but then it turns off. I grounded the ground of the isolator to the main battery negative but i cant get it to work
Hmm, I didn't experience that.Not sure why it's causing it, sorry friend.
Do you have a fire extinguisher accessible from behind the driver's seat?
Bent Nickel I do, lol! You know, just in case ;)
No one ever stresses the need for an ABC extinguisher, when you're adding or installing new wiring. I see fuses, called for, and that's good, but NEVER an extinguisher. I saved a lady, her baby and her car with an ABC that my business had available 40 years ago and it's a great feeling.
@@bentnickel7487 Good for you man! Yes, excellent idea.
Great video!.. thanks for the detail.
You sound like Jordan Peterson.. You should do impressions 😂
Great vid btw thank you
Jordan Peterson? That's funny, I'll have to listen to him again!
@@GripandClip You 100% should do impressions!
Thanks very well explained
Can this be use on a Tundra 07?
My alternator Max amps 270 , thank you in advance
Probably best to ask the sellers of the Isolator on Amazon: amzn.to/3e62rw7
"I like ur style"!!😉
Thanks for sharing man!
Good job. Thanks for sharing.
How is the system working so far?
BTW, good choice of the Black Diamond Storm, too. Bright enough but not as bulky as later models :)
thank you.
If both house batteries (if you have 2) are charged is there a switch to turn off the power coming from the car battery to the house battery? Like if you start up your car will it sense that the batteries are charged and will shut off??
Good question, and I wish I had a firm answer for you. I don't see that information on the product description. On Amazon, one person said that it does shut off, but I wouldn't know how to test that for sure. I do know that my auxiliary batteries never show overcharging according to my charge controller readings.
@@GripandClip okay great. Thanks for responding
Yeah! Real step by step
what if i have the other battery in the trunk of my car? would the oscillator still work?
Should work. Might be a little less efficient in charging depending on the distance from the starter battery. The kit comes with 20' of red cable, which should be enough to connect on most cars.
The principal battery is acid and the second are AGM?
The starter battery is a flushtop maintenance free battery from AAA. I assume it's lead acid, but it's not labelled. The size is 34-C if you want to look it up. The second is AGM.
Much appreciated - thanks 🙂
From my understanding, you should never drain your auxiliary battery below 50%... my question is how many miles on average do you need to drive per day to bring a battery at 50% back up to 100?
I don't really know the answer to that. It really depends on your usage, and type of battery. My AGM battery would top off with everyday driving, the main drain being a small frig, with LED lights and cell phone and laptop recharging. When stationary I would top off with a 100 watt solar panel.
Thanks man it helped me take a decision to buy it
That's cool! Let me know how it goes. The instructions were pretty clear, so I found that a complete novice like me could even do it.
10:57 You had that positive wire at the negative terminal. I thought, uh oh, there are going to be sparks!
Hahaa, luckily I never made that mistake, the camera just happened to be close to the negative terminal.
Have you had any problems am looking to buy it ?
I haven't had any issues since I installed it. Works like a charm. Good product IMHO.
Is this safe for a 180 amp alternator?
micjakes1 I personally don’t know the answer to that, but on Amazon the seller of my particular unit responded to several people who asked the same question as you: “We have a lot of customers with 180 amp alternators using the KeyLine isolator for years now. The isolator would not shut off if overloaded but it may become inoperative due to too much power. However, 99% of applications out there will only draw a maximum of 60-80 amps (however, I don't know about your specific application. For some customers running heavy work loads they have placed a 180 amp, or less, breaker or fuse between the start battery and the isolator.” Hope that helps.
Thx!
thank man
Thanks , cheers
Glad you liked it!
The wire they provide is terrible. It looks like 6 gauge passing as 4gauge
Very useful video, thanks!👍