[Lewis friend]

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?

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by Lewis friend

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

[Blind Driver]

Those 4 1000amp batteries should be all you need

[Lewis friend]

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

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by Lewis friend

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.

[Blind Driver]

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)

[Crash935]

X3 on the bunk heater.

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

[allan5oh]

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

[Crash935]

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/

[allan5oh]

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