I want to use a deep cycle battery in the truck to run appliances.

Can i wire this battery to the truck's existing battery bank to recharge it?

 

If you want to do this, you need a diode isolator, or the deep cycle battery is going to shorten the life of the starting battery.

Here's some info I found on it:

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq7.htm#multi

 

Those 4 1000amp batteries should be all you need

 

I want to run a small quartz heater or similar all night---8 hours. Do you think the 4 batteries should be enough?


Like this:
http://www.biotechresearch.com/epure_heater.php

 

The system you linked to runs at 6.5 Amps and 750 Watts. I wouldn't expect it to run for more than a few minutes before your batteries are drained. That is the equivelant of running a small microwave off of battery power - it just doesn't work.

Then again, that system you linked too is WAY TOO BIG for a truck anyway. It is designed for a 300 square foot room, and your truck is about 80-100 sq ft, not counting any cabinets.

Running a sytem like that off of a standard set of batteries will GREATLY reduce the life of the battery, as the battery is not designed for a deep cycle such as that.

I would look into getting a diesel fired bunk heater. It does the job, and is designed for the application that you want to use it for. Webasto and Espar are probably the two biggest names.

 

X2 on the diesel fired bunk heater

Mine blows so hot, I can heat up soup to a boil when the can it placed at the outlet 8)

 

X3 on the bunk heater.

i figured it would pay for its self in less than 1.5 months of cold weather

 

You're right crash. One night it was almost -40, I decided to idle the truck. Used almost $20 in fuel!

 

Its so cheap to run the darn thing that i go out the night before i leave and turn it on so that i atleast have a nice warm cab to climb into and dont have to wait forever for the truck to warm up.

Heres a link to ESPAR, they have a cost calculator on their sight,

http://www.espar.com/

 

BTW, that 6.5 amps is at 120 volts. 65 amps at 12 volts. That's some serious current draw.