Installing Dual Battery in outback - help with wiring of switch

I'm wiring in a dual battery system into my outback as i plan to be away for several days at a time from regular power.

I've got my cable runs in and am now deciding to install a switch and relay to control the charging of the second battery.

What I would like to know is if any one has a pin configuration diagram for the cruise control switch or the fog switch for a Sept. 02 outback/legacy.

Once the battery is intalled I'll have enough juice to power a cooler(esky) AND my laptop for about 12-15hrs without flattening my primary battery, or restarting.

I would prefer the wiring for the cruise control switch as it resets when the car is switched off, however, the fog light one will do the trick, but i'll have to remember to switch it off when starting the car.

Thanks.

if your doing dual batteries you can use a passive style relay to seperate the two... thats what i did for my audio set up. when your on accessories then it will cut the main and the secondary apart, but when you have the car running it will flow through to recharge the battery. im guessing this is something like what you want if i follow correctly. if you want a part number i used Stinger's 200 amp relay and it did the job very well. the trick will be wiring it up since you will not have an rem wire (remote turn on from a cd player), so you will need to find a way to make it work.

as far as how to power your stuff, just get a power inverter and cut off the ends so you can hard wire it to the battery so you know what one it will pull from. the cruise thing i have no idea on though.

sorry if i miss understood exactally what you wanted though... i tried to help lol.

good luck. Seth

I think you all have understood what I'm trying to do, but to a degree I'm over complicating it....

What I'm doing is using a second cruise control switch to activate the relay which will then charge the second battery. I am electing to use a cruise control switch so that when the car is switched off, the relay dis enguages, thus no longer taking charge from the main battery, and then not drawing current as soon as i switch the car on (basically idiot proofing).

ALSO, I am not using a VSR (voltage sensing relay), solenoid or battery isolator as the second battery will not be in the car permanently and as such the last thing i want is to have a rather large live cable running down the entire length of the carfor no good reason.

After market switches will do the job, but they dont sit flush in the dash, and I really want this job to look neat and tidy.

So, to make this thing work, all i really need is the wiring diagram, or explanation of the wiring to (or the pins in) the cruise control switch.

Wire configuration is thus (looking into the plug adaptor on the harness):

2 3 4 5

1 ___6

(the numbers are my own)

Wire Colours:

1-Black, white stripe with 2 silver dots

2-Blue with red stripe

3-Orange with black stripe

4-Purple with 2 silver dots

5-Green with black stripe

6-Yellow with black stripe

From comparison, i have ascertained that Pins 1 and 4 provide the illumination when the lights are turned on. other than that I'm none the wiser.

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

G'day fellow Aussie - I read & re-read your post to try & ascertain reason for using the cruise control switch.

Ah! You've got a GEN3 & the cruise control switch is momentary...once you turn off the ignition you need to physically hit the switch again to turn the cruise back on! People here are confused 'cause the GEN4 cruise off/on is a button on the end of the cruise control stalk.

You are certainly on the right track...you want a momentary switch to engage the relay trigger & fire current (charge) at the second battery. To be sure you won't have any issues with this setup, I'd pop into your local friendly auto electrician & chat to them about your plans. There's a fair bit at stake if things go wrong.

ALSO, I am not using a VSR (voltage sensing relay), solenoid or battery isolator as the second battery will not be in the car permanently and as such the last thing i want is to have a rather large live cable running down the entire length of the carfor no good reason.

So just trip the circuit breaker upstream of the isolator & 2nd battery when you remove it. But I like things simple. Going the direction you're going is really over my head. Good luck.

outbackaussie, where are you located?

I'm in Brisbane Australia

Ah! You've got a GEN3 & the cruise control switch is momentary...once you turn off the ignition you need to physically hit the switch again to turn the cruise back on! People here are confused 'cause the GEN4 cruise off/on is a button on the end of the cruise control stalk.

 

You are certainly on the right track...you want a momentary switch to engage the relay trigger & fire current (charge) at the second battery. To be sure you won't have any issues with this setup, I'd pop into your local friendly auto electrician & chat to them about your plans. There's a fair bit at stake if things go wrong.

Yes!! Momentary, gen3 (i guess)....

What is at stake if things go wrong? The switch is just a switch (a spare one not the same one as the cruise one). The relay is replaceable.

In relation to my previous post with the wiring of the switch , i would like to update it with the following pictures i've found regarding wiring...

So, in the cruise plug diagram, my wiring numbers are wrong. HOWEVER, I've worked out the following going on the new numbers:

Pin

1 goes to the brake/clutch sensors

2 goes to the illumination circuit

3 goes to the power circuit (FB 18)

4 goes to the illumination circuit (paired with Pin2, used for "dimming")

5 goes to the cruise control module

6 goes to the cruise control module

So, I can take the illumination circuit (pins 2+4) from a spare connctor behind the dash for the rear fog light plug (which is not used in Australia).

To wire into my relay, this is what i think...

Pin

3 Power in from Acc

5 Power out to relay

6 Bridge to Pin 1

The pin 6/1 bridge effectively "mimics" the closed position of the brake/clutch sensor., Then it's just a matter of earthing the relay!

Any thoughts?

Ok, i tried wiring in the cruise switch, and compared its wiring to that of the fog switch. I worked out that it worked "momentarily", that is, when the switch was pushed, the relay activated, then it released, thusnot keeping the circuit open. There must be some other trickery binvolved in the cruise module....

So, the solution is to use a fog switch, or other form of regular switch, wgich i have since done.

Having searched many pages for wiring info on subaru's I've noticed that essentially, the harness for the dash, doors lights etc is the same across models for many years. So, if you are looking for wiring info, check out the following link:

2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

So, the wiring i've ended up installing is more or less the same for additional spot/driving lights except that i'm taking power off the "ACC" power, not through the lights

Good luck all, and thanks for the info provided above.