reaper wrote: the problem you have if not using a split charger is your 60A altanator trying to charge a 110A+60A battery
170A is to much for it
add to that the stronger of the 2 batteries will always try to back feed so it will not get to its full capacity and may even damage the smaller one by overcharging it
i dont think your right there.
a 60A alternater can easally charge a 170AH battery/s, batteries are rated in AH not amps. or CCA (cold cranking amps, the ammout of amps it can output for starting).adding another battery will not strain the alternater, it will only take longer to charge, batterys do not draw current from the alternater at a specific amout a 170AH battery will not try to pull 170A out of a 60A alternater. if it did then a battery charger of anykind will never work as it would just burn out after 5-10min a 60A alternater will charge a 170A battery or batterys to fully charged in about 2.8H
then on to over chargeing, 2 batteries pretty much cannot charge each other they will to an extent, to charge a battery you MUST have a greater Voltage to push into the battery, as well as some sort of current to actually chage the battery, 2 batteries running at 11.8-13.5V yes the larger Voltage one will kinda charge the lower Voltage battery. but it will charge it at next to no current kind of like a trickle charge of like milliamps between them this will continue till the voltages even out, which in the case of a larger AH battery with a smaller AH battery will result in both being slightly undercharged it will not ever make one completly flat, both batterys will always pretty much be charged at the exactly the same ammout so if one is 98% charged the other will be 98% charged, and be the same voltage.
if your cars not going to start with one of the batterys then its not going to start for either. they wil be the same. same as to if one is charged the other is charged,
the only thing haveing a split charge will do will be you will have a seperate battery that can be flattened and not affect the other,
a split charge system is essentially just a relay that switches over batterys to send the chargeing current to the other battery.
but haveing 2 batterys in parallel you will have more AH of battery. as well as more CCA which will help in winching and starting as there will be less strain on the single battery.
but on another note if you are paralleling batterys its better to have 2 of the same type and AH size. its not you must have the same but its better if they are the same.
