My brother and I are thinking of fitting a leisure battery and instead of putting it under the passenger seat where space is limited, we're thinking of putting it in the space in the engine bay on the opposite side to the air intake.
The only problem I can see is that it might prevent airflow over the engine from the vent on the nearside rear of the van. How much cooling does the vent provide and will we run into overheating problems if we place the battery there?
We don't really want to take up space in the living area of the van.
Da dan wrote:I have a leisure batter on either side of the engine bay with start up under seat. Solar to all three. Works for me.
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Can I ask what size / AMP Hour batteries you managed to fit in the sides of engine bay? Seems like a nice solution out of the way, althought hte vents above may allow water in over them?
Da dan wrote:I have a leisure batter on either side of the engine bay with start up under seat. Solar to all three. Works for me.
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Can I ask what size / AMP Hour batteries you managed to fit in the sides of engine bay? Seems like a nice solution out of the way, althought hte vents above may allow water in over them?
It's ok, batteries are water proof !
The battery I have in mine is 075 code , there is not much spare space after that !
I think I've had my leisure battery in every location possible but what finally dictated its present location was when I changed to a big truck battery. Before I was having to source batteries that fitted a given space and that restricted me both in terms of cost and size/amperage. Its almost impossible to flatten this truck battery (180ah) but only logical place was under back seat. Its taken me 7 years to get it right. It does seem that you really have to pay out when you're trying to pack a punch in a small space, whereas when you find a less restricted space, you get a lot more amp hour for your money.
In the end, it comes down to how much power you actually need and HOW you might use it. I like to be totally mains-free with bags of power, so for me this was the only way to do it.
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CovKid wrote:I think I've had my leisure battery in every location possible but what finally dictated its present location was when I changed to a big truck battery. Before I was having to source batteries that fitted a given space and that restricted me both in terms of cost and size/amperage. Its almost impossible to flatten this truck battery (180ah) but only logical place was under back seat. Its taken me 7 years to get it right. It does seem that you really have to pay out when you're trying to pack a punch in a small space, whereas when you find a less restricted space, you get a lot more amp hour for your money.
In the end, it comes down to how much power you actually need and HOW you might use it. I like to be totally mains-free with bags of power, so for me this was the only way to do it.
I was hoping to fit a large battery behind my rear seats on my Autosleeper Trident conversion but need to get it all back in first to measure.
Do you have any pictures of your install? Cost and size of battery?
Was lucky on the battery - less than a year old and only used to start a generator - £50 (ebay). New they're about £158. Leisure charged exclusively by 200 watt flexi solar panels. I got rid of the split charger.
So from what I remember I have two 80amp batteries in line meaning I should have 160amp plus a 120amp solar. Yes battery's are sealed only a little air flow is missed but works good for me. Never go flat but do run the fridge on gas.
Two 12v batteries in line means 24v! Presumably you mean in parallel. (or on line)
You have 160 Ah of batteries but you only have 80Ah of usable power without beginning to thrash them. People forget this when they are planning their power requirements against what they should take from their batteries.
Agree with that. Few leisure battery setups actually meet real-world requirements. You need more capacity than you think or you end up with a yo-yo charge/discharge scenario. I run a Propex heater overnight and as well as gas, it needs 12v to run it. I found even a 110ah battery was nowhere near enough. Its taken me a while to get it right but demand on the battery barely skims the top now.
Roller paint your camper at home: http://roller.epizy.com/55554/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for MP4 download.
Ok sorry yes parallel [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES] but I never run or even near flat as only run lights, radio, charging and heater when cold. If it's consistently being topped up then that is surly 80Ah of useable plus what's being put in to it?
..however with heavy batteries, don't forget you are moving centre of gravity aft.
Don't automatically dismiss a well protected area upfront although not heard of one being used outside in spare wheel cavity!!
Yet.....
Da dan wrote:So from what I remember I have two 80amp batteries in line meaning I should have 160amp plus a 120amp solar. Yes battery's are sealed only a little air flow is missed but works good for me. Never go flat but do run the fridge on gas.
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Don't suppose you have a model number or size for the batteries you use? I really like the idea of tucking them away in those empty spaces as I have a propex to fit under my rear seats and I would like a refillable gas bottle.
A picture would be enough and I can do the leg work.
IMG_20170630_115013 by eddbmxdude, on Flickr
