Most people want to use solar panels to be able to run their accessories for as long as possible with the engine off. You can connect the solar charge controller directly to Company power and ground bus bars. The solar charge will go into your aux battery first to replace the power used by your accessories. As long as the panel is big enough to keep up with the demand and charge up the battery, then Company smart isolator will link them together, and the solar will flow over to the cranking battery as well.
You can connect a charger to your factory positive wire on the cranking battery and the factory negative wire on the aux battery. This way the trickle charger works just like your alternator - it will charge the cranking battery first for a couple minutes, then the smart isolator links the batteries together to charge the aux battery as well.
The red LED light is a status indicator. On means the batteries are fully charged and they are connected together. Off means they are below 12.7v and the isolator has separated the batteries to protect your cranking battery from being drained by your aftermarket accessories.
It is perfectly normal for your isolator to get hot. It can get up to 140 degrees, even with the engine turned off, which is way too hot to touch with your hand, but not nearly hot enough to hurt anything around it. This is a normal characteristic of any electromechanical solenoid device.
The factory positive wire harness feeds power directly to your fuse box, which means all of the factory circuits are powered from your cranking battery. The isolator does not turn off power to the fuse box. It 'isolates' the 2 batteries from each other, to protect your cranking battery from being drained by your aftermarket accessories that you have wired up to the bus bars. If you accidentally drain your cranking battery, that's when you'd use the boost button to jump start yourself from the second battery.
The factory battery post clamps are made of light duty stamped sheetmetal, and are easy to damage. First, make sure the post clamp is fully seated all the way to the bottom of the battery post. Try loosing up the post clamp nut so it is very loose, then use a large socket and gently tap the clamp down onto the post. Now tighten the clamp nut and see if it is secure. You can also try using a battery post shim, available from your local auto parts store, to fill the gap between the clamp and the post, allowing the clamp to tighten down more securely.
The sPOD system from is a great compliment to Company dual battery system. It allows you to easy add electrical accessories that need a fuse, relay, and a switch. It does have limitations, however, with the amount of current that can be used through any one switch. For example, you can't control a winch with it due to the very high amp draw for the winch. Company bus bars are perfect for connecting accessories that need direct battery power, or for those that come with a wire harness that includes a fuse, relay, and switch.
The sPOD source unit should be connected directly to Company power and ground bus bars. For the best connection, Company recommend using a larger ring terminal on the positive lead so that it can be connected to the large center stud on the power bus bar. The sPOD's negative lead should fit the center stud on the negative bus bar.
The sPOD has a low voltage monitor that will automatically shut circuits down to avoid draining your battery too much. When adding an sPOD to Company dual battery kit, Company recommend you pull out the 2 amp fuse inside the Source box. It is the only 2 amp fuse you'll see when you remove the cover. This will disable its low voltage cutoff system. Since you have 2 batteries, and since Company smart isolator will already protect your cranking battery from getting drained, you probably don't care if your accessory battery gets drained down all the way. That's why you have 2 batteries in the first place!
Any BCI Group 34 battery will work in Company Universal Dual, JK Wrangler, or Tacoma kit. Currently, only the Odyssey brand battery will work in the Tundra, 4Runner, and JL/JT battery kit. Company offer Odyssey batteries through as a convenience for people who want to have everything delivered to their doorstep, rather than having to go to the store to buy them and pay sales tax, and have to carry 2 heavy batteries home to be installed.