Photos of my recently installed Leisure Battery

[markmck]

Hi All

I just thought I would share some photos of my leisure battery installation. It may help some people if you are thinking of fitting a leisure battery.

Any other comments are very welcome.












Regards

Mark

[adam]

looks good i have some questions you might be able to help me with

1 What is the connection unit next to the relay that is mounted on the leisure battery clamp

2 What is the smaller red cables that appears to drop down the side of the leisure battery and heater air intake in the last photo

3 Was this a 2 battery bongo any way

4 Where did you get the relay from what rating and cost

5 Did you diy

I am thinking about doing this so all help welcome

[markmck]

Hi Adam

The unit attached to the leisure battery clamp is a Fuse holder with a 40 amp fuse rating.

The smaller red cable that drops down the side of the battery runs to the Alternator and is the switch for the relay.

Yes, this bongo had two batteries already, so I have swapped 1 for the leisure battery.

This is a diy job that I did, with assistance from a friend.

I purchased the relay as a kit from Raw Components on ebay for £29.99 plus postage. The hit came with everything you see including connectors and fuse holders etc. I did purchase further fuse holders and cabling for the main power leads into the cabin etc. The instructions that came with the kit were very good.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any further queries

Mark

[adam]

Cheers for the reply mark

I have the 2 battery set up on mine and would like to know what you did with the + end that went to the 2nd battery Did you just insulate the end to make it safe and leave it in there:?:

What size cable did you use for the runs to the fuse holder looks about 4mm2 but its hard to tell on a photo

What are you running of the leisure battery now

Thanks

Adam

[markmck]

Hi Adam

I left the + cable between the original two batteries in place and insulated the connection with electrician tape. I left it in place for two reasons, 1) so that it can be put back into its original state and 2) in an emergency I could attach the leisure in parallel to start the engine (I emphasise - in an emergency)

The cable, I think, is 6mm cable

At the moment I have two feeds from the leisure. The first goes to fuse 1 to power the internal lights. I am looking at powering the stereo as well, but still to do this. In fact, I am still investigating how to do this. The second feed goes to the rear of the van where I am going to build a unit. This feed will power a cool box, submersible pump and a couple of exra 12v sockets.

What are your plans?

Regards

Mark

[madmile]

Mark - if you run a cable back to the leisure battery from the other large cableBlack /red i think) on the top of the fusebox you should find the stereo will work from the leisure battery as well as the blinds and interior lights.

[adam]

Good thinking leaving the + cable in place for emergency use

Gonna do pretty much as you have, already have a kitchen unit with hook up and rectifier charging the batteries, however there is no split charge relay so you still run the risk of them becoming flat and not been able to start the engine, so i would prefer to have a dedicated leisure battery with split charge relay.

I will probably just buy the relay kit you bought and keep the batteries i have as they are both in good condition.

thanks for your help

[adam]

Mark

You may have already seen this but pippin put together a guide to leisure batteries and re-wiring the fuses under the drivers knee.

The forrum topic was " Wiring modifications for blinds etc "

It looks to be very useful

[dandywarhol]

Looks good Mark - why not route the cables under the heater intake???

[markmck]

Hi

Adam, I hadn't seen that info but have now. Very useful. As Madmile has suggested I will run a third feed from the leisure battery to fuse 8 in order that the stereo runs off the leisure battery as well. Thanks Madmile.

Adam- is your second battery a vehicle battery or a leisure battery. Its just, that you said you were leaving the batteries in. I am no expert on these things however I believe that starter batteries and leisure batteries are completely different beasts and a starter battery will not last long being discharged and charged a lot. Maybe someone else can help you with this.

dandywarhol- to be honest, never thought of running them under the intake. I followed the battery parallel cable that was already in place.

Thanks everyone

Mark

[Griffin]

Hi, I have searched ebay to see which kit you bought but haven't had any luck, could you provide a reference number or link to the seller (who I also cant find) ?

Many thanks

[markmck]

Hi Griffin

I have done a search for the ebay seller. Unfortunately he appears to be having an extended break until June. Here is the link anyway

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Raw-Components

Not very helpful Im afraid

Regards

Mark

[adam]

Hi
Adam- is your second battery a vehicle battery or a leisure battery. Its just, that you said you were leaving the batteries in. I am no expert on these things however I believe that starter batteries and leisure batteries are completely different beasts and a starter battery will not last long being discharged and charged a lot. Maybe someone else can help you with this.
Mark

Yes mark it is a vehicle battery and i hear what you say about it being different to a leisure battery, but I'm sure it will be fine for a seasons use- Untill i can afford a proper leisure battery or i sell the bongo

Thanks for answering my questions so completely mark what you have done is what i was planning but having never seen a leisure battery install your photos and answers have set me straight on few niggles i had about starting.

In 2 weeks time im giving my firm a months notice and then heading off to europe for a few months touring, so the above is just 1 of many jobs i have left to do on the bongo before i depart.

All the best

Adam