Club 80-90 Forums

I’ll soon be fitting a leisure battery under passenger seat. Vehicle is RHD petrol, so vehicle battery is under driver’s seat. I’ve been looking for a convenient/safe route for the cable between the two batteries, but nothing obvious- any tips please? TIA, Bri

I am just about to do the exact same job, and was wondering the same thing.

I've got 170 amp cable that links the two batteries via a voltage controlled relay. So it's gonna be hard to hide cable that thick, and do a neat job.

I don't really want to start drilling holes into my battery compartments and running the cable under the floor pan ?

If I think of anything, I'll post it up !

170 amps?!!? What rating is your relay?

I have 150A with a 120A relay. Nothing wrong with 170A, no voltage drop.

I have flexible conduits fixed under my camper. I also have them going from the front battery boxes to under the seat at the back. It is easer to cut them to length, get the cable inside the conduit and then install. You can get a contractor pack of it from an electrical wholesaler and it comes with glands to terminate into the bottom of your bus. 20,25,32,40mm. Bigger if you want. I used 25mm. It will cost you under a tenner with a packet of cable ties.

Oldiebut goodie wrote:I have 150A with a 120A relay. Nothing wrong with 170A, no voltage drop.

Absolutely..if that is what you want to do. However, with a maximum current flow of under 35 amps (on your average starter/80 amp leisure setup) and that is just initial draw on a flat leisure which quickly drops to 25amps or less....then setups using 150amp cables and 120amp relays are 'overkill' to say the least...nothing wrong with that, as I said earlier.

However, 45amp cable/60amp relay/30amp fused (40amp if the 30 blows often) these ratings would be perfectly adequate for a basic two battery setup like this.

Don't just take it from me....see what Lucas recommend:
Lucas/Durite make a dedicated heavy duty split charge relay (60/70amp) and Lucas rate the main feed wire between the batteries at 35amps.

http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/824" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Martin

700W microwave, 110Ah of batteries, run engine to lessen load, 15ft between starter and leisure batteries. Soon mounts up.

I am having the same problem/dilema of were to route the wire. I don't want to cut holes unless a really have to.
I have looked in the Bentley book and they have a diagram of the routing see below.
Are there pre cut holes with grommets in these positions?

Oldiebut goodie wrote:700W microwave, 110Ah of batteries, run engine to lessen load, 15ft between starter and leisure batteries. Soon mounts up.

But you are talking about your setup.....battery box to battery box will be less than 5ft on a 'Petrol T25' and as we all know....the biggest battery you are going to find to fit in a VW battery box will be 80ah or less.
Also...quoting 700watt microwaves has nothing to do with the split charge circuit and all about the feeds and fused take-off's coming from the leisure battery itself.
As for routing....can't the wire run in the channel behind the seats, on the main camping floor, hidden under carpet? suitably fused of course and running through a split charge relay.



Martin

700W microwave has relevance as the split charge will be connected as the engine is run to offset the load on the leisures from the microwave.

Oh I see! that does make sense If the OP intends to run a 700watt microwave then that does change things some what.
However, I don't see too many users trying to run domestic microwaves through invertors as you are doing.



Martin

The sides of my 2 battery boxes are carpet lined so I used the holes that were already there (near the seat belt mount) to get out of the battery box and then ran the cable behind the carpet (flat head screwdriver pushed down to create a pathway )down to the floor. I have the heating duct coming back between the seats in my van so I didn't have a problem concealing the wire across the walkway.

keytouch wrote:170 amps?!!? What rating is your relay?

The relay is a Durite 140 Amp Voltage Controlled Relay, but the whole system is fused at slightly lower than that.

Didn't calculate the current draw of charging a flat 12V battery, so I just spec'd nice and high for my piece of mind. Better to go too high, plus if I ever decide to install a Sunbed it'll be fine

California Dreamin wrote: As for routing....can't the wire run in the channel behind the seats, on the main camping floor, hidden under carpet? suitably fused of course and running through a split charge relay.

Yeah, I thought this would be my best option. I'm going for a marine ply floor in the main camping area, so I was thinking of welding in a length of very thin-wall box section between the 2 battery boxes, at the floor level up against the lip where the cab joins the rear floor section. Then cutting the wood floor to go around the box section and laying laminate or carpet over the top.

Interesting info on relays here http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/more_relay.html,