Position and cable for additional Leisure battery?

[Jev88]

Hello all.

I want to add a 2nd leisure battery.
Current battery sits under nearside of bench seat (see picture) in a recessed box with solar panel cables also going from controller in cupboard above down to battery terminals.

The Impala has toilet, sink, cooker and water heater on right hand side of vehicle and left hand side has gas bottle(s), fresh water tank, leisure battery and fridge....in my opinion slightly more fixed weight to left rather than right hand side (especially when water is full).

Hence, I am considering position of additional 35Kg leisure battery somewhere other than left hand side also.

I have room under both dinette seats on right hand side and am competent enough to run cables under van or through ducting across van floor (there is the cab/chassis hump we already step over that might be a good place for this).
Do I leave one battery where it is and add 2nd under dinette seat at front right (as you look at image) or should I relocate both batteries under dinette chair to keep them close together and route Habitation controller electric and solar cables across to new battery position?

Am I missing anything in my plans?

 

[Lenny HB]

Putting the 2nd battery right next to the first makes the job easy & you won't need to fuse the 2nd battery.

Fitting the 2nd battery under the opposite seat you will need to fit a fuse inline with each battery. If the cable run is about 2m 16mm sq cable will be OK if longer I would use 25mm sq. With the batteries that far apart it would be best to take the negative feed to the hab electrics from one battery and the positive from the other.
Any cables run under the van will need protecting, split convoluted trunking works well.

 

[rosalan]

I think battery efficiency is more important than dispersal of weight. Close as possible.

 

[Jev88]

I think battery efficiency is more important than dispersal of weight. Close as possible.

Do you mean batteries as close to each other as possible?

 

[Daz6175]

Always best to keep the batteries as close as possible tbh - also worthy to note that the farther away they are you have to increase the size of the cables - dont honestly think the weight of another battery is going to cause any major issues with weight distribution

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[The Wino]

The battery weighs about the same as our dog and he sits all over the place with no adverse effects on weight distribution (although the same can't be said for air quality!). I think you are making it harder unecessarily.

 

[Jev88]

I appreciate one battery added shouldn't make a big difference but I already feel there is a bias to the left of the MH especially when water onboard.
So I could potentially shift 75KG to the right if I position both batteries together. As for hassle it is only 2 metres of cable and some cable guard?

 

[thebriars]

Putting the 2nd battery right next to the first makes the job easy & you won't need to fuse the 2nd battery.

You should have a fuse in the positive lead for each battery no matter how close together they are.

 

[Lenny HB]

I appreciate one battery added shouldn't make a big difference but I already feel there is a bias to the left of the MH especially when water onboard.
So I could potentially shift 75KG to the right if I position both batteries together. As for hassle it is only 2 metres of cable and some cable guard?

If it makes you more confident the van is better balanced why not. Just make sure the cable size is adequate to avoid volt drops.

 

[Campervan_man]

Batteries should be next to each other linked in parallel with short cables of sufficient thickness. Your 240V charger will probably need to be upgraded as your motorhome may be designed for 1 battery not two.
Your solar charge controller should be upgraded to a 20A or 30A charger controller. That's what I would do if it was My van.
Season's Greetings.

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[Lenny HB]

Batteries should be next to each other linked in parallel with short cables of sufficient thickness. Your 240V charger will probably need to be upgraded as your motorhome may be designed for 1 battery not two.
Your solar charge controller should be upgraded to a 20A or 30A charger controller. That's what I would do if it was My van.
Season's Greetings.

In theory the mains charger should be upgraded but in practice not really necessary unless you are going to be constantly charging the batteries from flat or you require faster charging.

There is no reason to upgrade the solar regulator unless you are adding more solar panels than the current regulator can cope with.

 

[Campervan_man]

Link your 12V batteries + to + and - to -.
If you connect your 240V charger and solar panel to the positive feed + of battery 1 and the negative - of battery 2 the feed will go through both linked batteries.
That's what We used to do at a big dealership in Telford now in Stafford.
Ideally a 100W panel and a 10A charge controller is OK for ONE battery but 200W of panels and a 20A solar charge controller is better for 2 batteries.
I've 2 X 100W panels on My Dethleffs with a 20A dual controller that charges My engine battery as well.
My antique Iveco Box Van conversion has a 260W panel.
Avoid long cables with 12V as it causes problems.
240V cable length not so much.
The bigger the panel the faster the recharge. Once the battery or batteries are full the charge controller stops the panel from over charging.
I supply and fit 100W, 120W and 260W panels. Far better than a noisy, heavy generator. I was also looking at 12V wind generators but the feedback on those are quite poor.

 

[Campervan_man]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=223783165559

These intelligent chargers are good. You can alter the charge rate. I have just bought a couple.

 

[Jev88]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=223783165559

These intelligent chargers are good. You can alter the charge rate. I have just bought a couple.

On a separate note I would like to upgrade my onboard charger but it is built in to my main controller - an old Plugin Systems.
How would I switch over to a newer charger like the one you linked to?

 

[Campervan_man]

If You have 240V, You can attach an intelligent battery charger direct to your leisure battery or batteries.
It will charge your battery to 14V and will then go in to float mode.
It will boost your 10A existing charger as you are adding an extra leisure battery it will help with the extra load. It's all about topping up your batteries. Once the batteries are fully charged to around 14V all the chargers should stop charging and go in to float mode.

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