J
I just installed a second battery into my 2021 Pioneer 1000-5 using the True Smart Isolator Kit. Other than one brief "why did I do that" bright flash of arcing, all is good, meaning that I did not weld any of my wrenches to the tubular frame. Reading through most of the threads here, I still have a question about dual voltmeters which I will post next.
But first my observations before I forget what I learned:
1) I did use the PosiTap 20-22 AWG to tap into one of the two the black and white 15 Amp Aux wires coming out of the passenger side of the fuse box. I confirmed that this was hot after the fuse by removing the fuse which killed the voltage. Of course there is only power with the ignition on and the fuse in. I did this _before_ I put in the battery.
2) I did install the Odyssey L adapters and the PC925 battery with a good fit.
3) I did put a strap around the battery so that I can easily lift the battery up and out if necessary. The strap was also helpful while installing the battery.
4) I should have placed a "rubber" mat under the battery. Too much trouble now.
5) The high amperage positive input to the winch solenoid is now connected _directly_ to the second battery. The OEM Honda low amperage winch controller is still keyed to the ignition (duh).
6) The blue light in the True Smart came on when I started the engine and stayed on for a few hours after I stopped the engine until the battery voltage dropped. Starting the engine and turning on the lights will not make the blue light go out no matter how long you wait unless you run out of gas (obvious to me now)! You can turn the ignition on without starting the engine, then turn on the lights and as the voltage drops the blue light will go out (duh).
7) I ending up running down to the auto parts store and bought another pair of plastic post protectors. They did not have any black battery wires with the small connectors. I ended up fabricating a 24 inch black ground wire with small connectors as the stock 12 inch ground wire was too short for my install.
8) Still not sure if I want to fabricate an aux battery tie down.
Photos:
The stock toolkit does not have a 12 mm wrench for the isolator nuts so I piggy backed one onto the toolkit. My thinking is that I might be able to use the wrench to bypass the isolator in the field.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to these battery threads to make this install possible.
Update: Here is the photo after the addition of a 24 inch positive battery cable so that there are now separate runs from the second battery positive terminal to the high current positive terminal of the winch relay and to the aux side of the True Smart Isolator. With help here from this forum, I also have now moved the "blue tape" accessory ground directly to the aux battery so there are now separate runs of the ground wire from the winch relay to the aux battery and the "blue tape" common ground wire from the Honda to the aux battery. I think this will help protect the isolator when the winch tries to draw 300+ amps with the motor running, as most of the current will drawn from the aux battery, not across the closed isolator. The True Isolator is rated to 170 amps peak and 140 amps continuous.
Update: Here is my best shot at a diagram:
But first my observations before I forget what I learned:
1) I did use the PosiTap 20-22 AWG to tap into one of the two the black and white 15 Amp Aux wires coming out of the passenger side of the fuse box. I confirmed that this was hot after the fuse by removing the fuse which killed the voltage. Of course there is only power with the ignition on and the fuse in. I did this _before_ I put in the battery.
2) I did install the Odyssey L adapters and the PC925 battery with a good fit.
3) I did put a strap around the battery so that I can easily lift the battery up and out if necessary. The strap was also helpful while installing the battery.
4) I should have placed a "rubber" mat under the battery. Too much trouble now.
5) The high amperage positive input to the winch solenoid is now connected _directly_ to the second battery. The OEM Honda low amperage winch controller is still keyed to the ignition (duh).
6) The blue light in the True Smart came on when I started the engine and stayed on for a few hours after I stopped the engine until the battery voltage dropped. Starting the engine and turning on the lights will not make the blue light go out no matter how long you wait unless you run out of gas (obvious to me now)! You can turn the ignition on without starting the engine, then turn on the lights and as the voltage drops the blue light will go out (duh).
7) I ending up running down to the auto parts store and bought another pair of plastic post protectors. They did not have any black battery wires with the small connectors. I ended up fabricating a 24 inch black ground wire with small connectors as the stock 12 inch ground wire was too short for my install.
8) Still not sure if I want to fabricate an aux battery tie down.
Photos:
The stock toolkit does not have a 12 mm wrench for the isolator nuts so I piggy backed one onto the toolkit. My thinking is that I might be able to use the wrench to bypass the isolator in the field.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to these battery threads to make this install possible.
Update: Here is the photo after the addition of a 24 inch positive battery cable so that there are now separate runs from the second battery positive terminal to the high current positive terminal of the winch relay and to the aux side of the True Smart Isolator. With help here from this forum, I also have now moved the "blue tape" accessory ground directly to the aux battery so there are now separate runs of the ground wire from the winch relay to the aux battery and the "blue tape" common ground wire from the Honda to the aux battery. I think this will help protect the isolator when the winch tries to draw 300+ amps with the motor running, as most of the current will drawn from the aux battery, not across the closed isolator. The True Isolator is rated to 170 amps peak and 140 amps continuous.
Update: Here is my best shot at a diagram:
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