The way it’s set up with the NL is that once the aux battery gets down to a certain voltage, it’ll draw power from the starter battery to charge it and then it’ll shut off before the starter battery hits a certain voltage so it’s a fail safe to be sure that I can still start the vehicle…. Still got the micro start jump starter as a backup just in case
I’ve never ever gone lower than 13.1 on the aux battery so I’ve never had to worry about if this feature works or not haha
Nice. Now that I think of it my blue sea does the same thing. I was looking for some type of switch to charge my bluetti 200max and then my auxiliary batteries. The bluetti already has a mppt built in but going from solar into the aux battery I would need a controller.
Unless you run the solar through the Bluetti which feeds the battery and that takes care of the controller
So this peaked my interest about the possibilities of charging the house battery off the alternator. I think from my research it’s simpler if both batteries are AGM/Lead Acid. It seems to get more expensive when you start to throw a LiFPoE into the mix.
Seems like because the charge current can be quite high depending on how low the house battery is, this can be very dangerous. Looks like you need a DC to DC charger ( $200 - 500) to do things properly.
On the flip side, if you were simply running an AGM then it’s quite easy to rig up using a battery isolator/relay. I lucked out and found 20’ of 6AWG today in the recycling at work 
That may just be enough to get from the front to the rear (but very close)
yup!.. I use a DC-DC charger thats built into everything and that wizardry takes care of making sure it all works together
Yep exactly. I have solar going from rooftop then a choice of directly into bluetti or into a separate mppt that charges the house and starter if needed. I like back ups just in case I’m in the deep and need the power.
So I’ve been going down the rabbit hole trying to figure out the simplest solution that doesn’t eat up a ton of my space but would also allow me to run a heater in the winter. I’ve been looking at this setup.
Somebody who knows more about batteries and electrical systems please tell me why this would not work… My thought would be to insulate the exterior of the battery to extend the temperature range a little further but still a little hesitant about lithium as a standalone option.
The one major drawback to using one battery is the risk of leaving yourself stranded. This is the main risk that is the deciding factor for most users. The big thing is trying to think of what your main purpose for the battery. There are two things batteries hate, which I think you know already, heat and cold to the extremes.
So when researching these types of batteries take a look at the optimal operating temperature. There are also issues that reduce a batteries lifespan if they are constantly drained then charged in below the cold temperature. If you’re just going to run a Chinese diesel heater and nothing else. Run some calculations on Amps/hour you’re going to need then see if there is an all in one solution for you. One on the hidden perks to having your ‘house’ battery in the back is that it will benefit from the additional warmth created from the heater.
A big thing to consider that I’ve learned and you may have read already; is that depending where you are in the country will drastically affect the usability of solar panels. I got somewhere around 20 nights this winter ski touring out of the rig here in central BC. The solar did NOT re-charge my battery to 100% once (100W panel). Yes you could add more panels; but that all depends on your setup. So the best solution if using Lithium batteries is to use an MPPT controller or a stand alone DC to DC charger. You CANNOT run a Lithium battery off a standard alternator. I believe you can if you change your current rating( by replacing the alternator); but even still, Lithium batteries use different charge rates than your standard Lead Acid or AGM. You most definitely can’t mix and match Lithium and an AGM/Lead Acid.
I say these things in a definitive way because YES, sure you can do whatever the heck you want. That’s what I told the guitar guy at the music store when I plugged a DS-1 distortion pedal into an acoustic guitar in my High School days. But, if you are going to do that be aware that you may cause damage to the battery, the vehicle, or yourself.
If you are not skilled with DC electronics I strongly suggest you employ someone who is. It’s not the voltage that’ll get ya, it’s the current. Batteries essentially have unlimited current (but will mostly go into thermal runaway in a straight short). What that means in lamens terms is a dead short in DC will cause a fire, you can take that to the bank.
See what I did there…Like battery bank…
So the long and short of it, is to just get something like an Eco-flow or Jackery. Take the guesswork out.
Personally as an Electronics Technologist and Telecommunications professional I LOVE tinkering with this stuff. But if I didn’t know what I was doing I would just spend the bucks on a power bank. The labour, troubleshooting, materials, and battery will cost about the same if not more. It’s $1000 just for the battery in most cases for quality in the lithium world…that’s canadian BTW.
I agree with what he said above. My take on it is simple. Truck gets a battery that is for running truck things like starter and such. Sleeping, heating, fridge gets its own power source.
I don’t like it when my truck doesn’t start.
Appreciate the insight @Dignon, I’ve owned a Jackery before and am not super interested in going that route. The Dakota lithium team is pretty adamant that this is a drop-in replacement able to charge off the alternator but I think I’ll end up going with a dual system just so I don’t end up getting stranded.
And will definitely be employing someone more capable than myself for the job 
I don’t have need for an inverter for anything AC. The bummer for me is that a lithium isn’t going to work under the hood.
Just wanted to chime in, as that’s our article @RogerC referenced - we’re definitely on the bleeding edge of this tech in the US. But the Australian’s have been doing under bonnet lithium for quite awhile. So far, our setup is working great, and we carry a NOCO jumper to revive the battery in the off chance it’s depleted or its internal BMS needs to be reset.
I ran it through Utah in the middle of summer and more recently on a 140mile off road trip (of which probably 80% was in 4lo), and it has run our Warn M8000 winch without issue. We have not had any heat -shutting-down-the-BMS issues thus far, but we did install hood louvers recently to help keep engine bay temps down - the skid plates we installed limited airflow vs the factory setup. We haven’t yet tested it through the worst of winter temps, but we have used it in sub freezing temps - fortunately we basically never see anything lower than -20F in our region or travels.
Dakota states the DL+ 135ah is “Ideal for rugged & harsh environments. Much better than SLA or other lithium batteries. -20’F min, +150’F max optimal operating temps (battery performs well down to -20’F). Internal even-heat technology allows for charging below 32’F. BMS high temp cut off at 167’F / 75’C.”
Time will tell, but so far it’s been a total game-changer for us.
I found your blog post for the Dakota 135 DL+ and it definitely made me stop in my tracks. I had a cart built on Amazon with a dozen or more components, in total about $1,300, which was a DIY power block build. I only needed to add the actual toolbox and then spend a day with a buddy planning, cutting, wiring, connecting, crimping, and assembling. THEN I read about this battery.
Long story short, it caused me to revisit the Dakota PowerBox 135, which contains this battery inside of a little portable power station. Thankfully it’s Cyber Monday and they have the unit on sale + an extra 5% off code. In summary, for $1,611 out the door, I now have a 135+ powerbox on the way. For maybe $200 more than the DIY build (based around a 100Ah Renogy LIPO4 battery) I now have 135Ah and zero effort will be required to assemble. The battery alone is $1189 on sale. I guess I paid $400 for the work, wiring, box, ports and inverter - but that doesn’t seem unreasonable.
THANK YOU! I am going to use my MPPT charge controller module from Renogy to connect this to my 100W panel and, for now, call it a day! Truthfully, I may pull this unit apart and add my own combination of USB/CLA ports to the outside just to suit my personal preferences, but at this point we are talking about 5 mins of drilling and $29 worth of spare ports to really get it “dialed in” perfectly. I imagine just fully using the “waterproof binding posts” or the “external automotive grade battery posts” in the description will give enough access to power the heater, fridge, and probably route solar INTO the unit. Very cool.
Additionally, and this is unconfirmed - but this specific battery claims to be able to charge directly from the alternator without a charge controller. I am going to call Dakota Lithium today and ask some questions, but it seems like this could be directly connected to the main battery & possibly even the 100w panel without any help from charge controllers. Hmm. That would also save quite a bit of money and require far fewer components.
I was interested in using those under hood but unfortunately they are not suitable for my rig as my alternator is too powerful. You should be able to find your specific output curve online. If I understand the specs it cannot limit the charge current over 135a so you need to make sure your alternator is under that.
The direct charging is nice for under hood setups but it will have some constraints for the powerbox. My setup has a similar internal BMS charging but I went with a external DC-DC for the reasons below.
You will need to run AWG #1 or #2 (length depending) wire to accommodate the 135a max charge current it will pull from the alternator (or the max current of your alternator). It can be a pain and expensive to run heavy gauge wire all the way to your truck box.
Using a dc-dc to limit the charge current to something more reasonable (30a in my case) will take load off your alternator and allow you to run smaller gauge wire. It will also leave some spare current for other things like charging your starter batteries and running lots of lights
If it’s wired directly you can’t remotely cut off the charging to take load off the alternator. If I’m getting good solar or I don’t need the pack charged back up fast I just turn it off with my app. In most cases my solar keeps everything topped off and I end up using the alternator charger about 10% of the total driving time.
Those boxes are nice because they have a high current output compared to other brands. You can boost a truck and run high amp 12v stuff like a winch or even a high wattage inverter.
Thanks Chuck. All good points. The DC-DC charger w/ solar inputs is really quite inexpensive on the grand scheme of things, so maybe just adding the unit makes sense. I was impressed by the extra abilities of this 135+ battery. 35% more energy is already something to get excited about, but 1,000 CCA and seemingly significantly higher power loads makes it a winner all around. Compared to the 100Ah Renogy with some apparent temperature issues for winter camping, I think this battery really looks great.
Oh man, Patrick you had to point these out! Looks like I need to sell some gear so I can grab one of these batteries. I still have the stock 2014 battery in the Ram; I think this upgrade will be helpful for my rig in the winter when I’m trying to run my DCDC charger to keep the batteries warm when it’s parked and charging on Shore power.
This paired with a 20a Dakota charger seems like would be the perfect solution for me with the current Limit installed on my 40a Renogy DCDC charger.
Now I just need $1500!
It was -43C this day and my charge setup destroyed my truck battery. Everything was STONE dead! I got the rig started using a 2000A NOCO boost, then was able to see what was going on in the back.
Today I ordered a Optima Yellow top and a Renogy 20A DCDC charger. I wavered back and forth and decided it was more cost effective to get that. I would fear that the Dakota battery won’t perform well if my truck is parked in -40 for a prolonged period while at work.
So, if anyone is looking for a Renogy 40A DCDC charger; I’ve got one for sale.
@Dignon, I highly recommend NOT using Optima batteries. The coil design is prone to breaking and is suspectable to sulfation if it’s not on a tender charger when cold. This is from years of failures from customers, friends, and me. Best recommendation is to use X2 Power Premium AGM. They use virgin lead plates.
Best,
Ron
Well shit! That’s not ideal, although it will be on a charger when it’s parked at home. I just can’t do that when I’m parked at staging throughout the winter, unless they have plugins.
There’s no going back now, without a bunch of drama. I’ll just have to take my chance and understand that I’ve been warned. I should’ve gone with my gut and just tried the Dakota; at least it comes with 11 year warranty.
