# Leisure Battery 2007 Hymer 522



## Petethefeet49 (Nov 24, 2010)

Hello everybody
We have just bought our first motorhome a 2007 hymer 522 at the moment all a bit confusing and I wonder if someone on the forums could point me in the right direction re leisure battery . At the moment we have a 80 amp battery fitted which I dont think will be enough to get us through a few days stay on a rally without hook up. Thought of fitting second leisure battery next to first one is this a possibility is there room and if so how much and what amperage of battery could be fitted. Think this must mean drivers seat has to be removed as I understand this is where leisure battery is located how is this done for swivel seats any problems. If this still isnt enough any thoughts on solar panels roof mounted say 60 watts to top up system. Sorry if this seems a bit rambling we dont use a lot of power just the odd light and water pump and so on any help would be gratefully received .Thanks


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Welcome to the wonderful world of motorhoming !!!

I would suggest you spend a weekend on a site where Hook up is available but dont use it. Then if you find you do not have enough battery power you can hook up to recharge everything !!

85 A/H is not a huge capacity BUT if you are only using a few lights (make sure they are LED) and your water pump occasionaly you should be OK. Do you have blown warm air heating?? There is a fan for that ! 

Solar panels are a very handy bit of kit BUT they are not cheap and in winter they are of limited use (plus the weight eats into your payload all the time)

As you can see its a complex subject and there are lots of threads on here covering the very subject. Get searching (allow a fair bit of time !!)


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## Petethefeet49 (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks Mrplodd
Good idea will do that your right loving every minute of it so far and there is so much to take in will get on with the browsing. Thanks for your help


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## pieterv (Feb 3, 2009)

Not sure what layout your Hymer has. I have a B544 and have just gone from one leisure battery (like you under driver seat to two. I found there was no room under the driver seat for more than one battery. You could maybe put it under the co-driver seat. This is not too far so, so short cable runs. 

Instead I decided to move both batteries under the front bench of the dinette, which in my van is behind the driver seat. I could withdraw all the cabling from under the driver seat and route it into the dinette, so no need for cable extensions.

Not sure if this is an option in your layout. It has the advantage that in future you could go for almost any battery size, e.g. one big one instead of two smaller.

Pieter


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## helvic (Dec 15, 2007)

hi petethefeet
the main van battery is fitted under the drivers seat
the aux battery is fitted under the passangers seat i thougth of 
doing the same there is not enough room
steve


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Well, for all you HYMER VAN 522 and 572 owners here is how to do it!

The leisure batt is under the passenger seat, as is the EBL99 so there is insufficient room for an extra one there.

The engine batt is under the driver seat and there is, just, enough room to put the extra leisure batt there.

Not an easy job but I did it.

First of all you need to buy an identical batt to the existing leisure one.
It MUST be a GEL one like the original.

And some thick cable and some heavy fuses and terminals and thingies like that.

Remove both seats from their swivel bases. 
There are five hex head bolts, probably with red paint on them.
They may well be a bu**er to remove - try not to damage them in the process. 
Heat, hammer, cursing and swearing might do the trick!

You will then need to move the seats out of the way - be careful they are heavy and you don't want to damage any of the woodwork.

Then remove the swivel bases from the seat bases - another five hex bolts - the above caveats apply.

Both batt compartments are now revealed!

Slacken off the woodscrews that hold the aluminium chequer plate strip down.

Pull up the black cab flooring from the rear centre between the seats.

About half-way along the seat bases you will reveal a narrow channel that already contains several cables linking the two compartments.

It won't be easy but you will need to run the two linking cables through there.

Remove the metal bracket holding the engine batt in place.

The extra leisure batt will just fit for'ard lying on its side with the terminals facing aft.

You will probably need to do a little bit of surgery to the bracket to refit it.

You can put 50A fuses at both ends of the positive cables where they attach to the leisure batteries if you want belt and braces safety.

Hymer didn't think it necessary to put fuses in the existing cable from the engine batt to the leisure batt so I didn't bother either.

Remember that you are linking +ve terminals on the leisure batts together and likewise the -ve ones.

Reassemble the bases and seats into their places and the job is done!

*YOU MUST TAKE ALL THE USUAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS REQUIRED WHEN WORKING WITH LARGE BATTERIES - SHORT THEM OUT AND YOU WILL HAVE SERIOUS DANGER TO THEM, YOUR VAN - AND YOU!

IF YOU ARE NOT COMPETENT TO DO THE JOB YOURSELF THEN SEEK ASSISTANCE.*

E&OE

PS

While you are at it, take the aluminium chequer plate strip right out.

To your horror you will reveal several large holes in the cross-member underneath that are exposed to the fresh (ie cold) air under the chassis.

Cover them up with tape!

The metal strip is in intimate contact with said cross-member so gets very cold.

I then covered the chequer plate with carpet material, glued down, as insulation.

Carry it on up the metal sides at the bottom of the door pillar that are covered with black material stuck on.

I trimmed the ends of the chequer plate to make it an easier fit.

Don't use foam-backed as it will not last.

Good wool carpet is best - we had an off-cut from our lounge which matched the colour scheme.

It will make a huge difference to the warmth in the van and it is nicer to walk on and aesthetically pleasing..

Another thing I did was to route a removable piece of heat-resistant elephants trunking from the front one of the two hot air outlets under the table pointing down into the passenger footwell.

Makes a world of difference in the winter.


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## Petethefeet49 (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi Pippin
Thank you so much for that reply, think I will be able to sort that out now will have to get my lads involved to provide the muscle. We think our new home is brilliant bit of kit and are very happy with it, the tips re draftproofing will be a real boon as we intend using the van all year round, just come back from a week in the Cairngorms so get the point !!!! Thanks again happy days. Peter


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