Moving leisure battery location?

[PleasantCoast]

Is it relatively easy to change the location of your leisure battery? Mine is currently dead as a dodo and located under the driver's seat, so will need the seat removing for access. This sounds like a right pain and probably a bit challenging for me to do (I'm tiny and not very strong). There may also be issues with getting newer batteries to fit the space (20 year old van).

I am currently pondering if it is possible to change the battery location at the same time as getting a new battery installed? I have a dinette behind the driver's seat. Under the rear facing seat would be perfect but, unfortunately, it is full of water tank. However, there is lots of space under the front facing seat and this would make access a lot easier and give flexibility for the future (having lithium and a B2B is the aim at some point).

 

[sonar]

The front facing seat is the other option easy to get access to and very easy to fit battery straps.
but you will be reducing your storage places.

ours are under both drivers and passengers seats.
yes it a real pain to get the them but you only need a Allen key to remove the seats.
the seats are the heavy bit.

our swift sundance has the same sort of layout and we also thought of moving
the batteries. But decided to stick as it is because of the wanted storage area.

As you say the first seat houses a 100 ltr water tank. Image one.

the other seat has fitted seat belts and it’s the store we use for tools and other storage. Image two.

personally storage is hard to keep so I would have put them under the seats out of the way and then no wiring to move from the underside as well.

as for lithium and a B2B is the aim at some point). Me I won’t be going down that route enough has been spent on it already. Considering ours is a 2003

 

[pappajohn]

No reason why not but obviously you will need to extend the battery wires and possibly need heavier cable depending how far from the original location.

 

[nicholsong]

Do MH converters fit wet(non-sealed) batteries under seats which have to be removed?

If so they should be castigated - or similar.

Ours are in their own midships underfloor box with easily accessible floor panel, just where they should be.

 

[Jev88]

Keep the cables chunky and put the battery (or new batteries) in a suitable plastic tub or tray and vent the ports on your new battery to the outside and you are okay. Do strap the battery down though to prevent too much movement.

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[sonar]

Do MH converters fit wet(non-sealed) batteries under seats which have to be removed?

If so they should be castigated - or similar.

Ours are in their own midships underfloor box with easily accessible floor panel, just where they should be.

This is an older Moho. That’s where they were put when made. There was no problem putting them there and No problem now either.

 

[Stealaway]

If you want to go to the expense of Lithium these will easily fit under the seat

Product Selection Special Series

KS Energy special designer size lithium leisure storage batteries

www.ksenergy.co.uk

 

[Mikeco]

It may be difficult to move all the cables to a different position so I would put a 12v fuse box where the battery is and just have the one cable feeding that from the new battery position.

 

[Late Starting]

Also consider the weight implications of moving the battery too far rearwards very often you can overload the rear axle but it is very difficult to get your full weight on the front axle.
cliff

 

[autorouter]

It won't be easy to move the battery, but like most things it's possible with enough money and motivation. I know you say you're having issues with it just now, but a leisure battery should sit in its place for years and just work without constant attention.

If you are changing the battery, and removing the seat to do that, then maybe you could fit a battery monitor at the same time. You could then see exactly what state of charge your battery has, without having to remove the seat to get multimeter probes on the terminals.

If you are happy with smartphone apps you could get a monitor that will Bluetooth to your smartphone, so no need for wiring a separate display panel.

If you are truly paranoid (like me) you could wire a couple of wires and a plug to the battery, so you can charge it with a separate charger if it is ever necessary.

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[pappajohn]

Also consider the weight implications of moving the battery too far rearwards very often you can overload the rear axle but it is very difficult to get your full weight on the front axle.
cliff

That must be one hell of a big battery if the axle can't take another 25kg or so it's time to uprate.

 

[sonar]

That must be one hell of a big battery if the axle can't take another 25kg or so it's time to uprate.

The batteries can’t be any longer than 330 mm I think as there is not much room. But no problem fitting two one under each seat.