# Adding a second leisure battery.



## Ricster (Sep 3, 2010)

I already have one of these in the van..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leisure-Battery-12v-110Ah-Numax-XV31MF/dp/B0043QOA0S

..bought about 8 months ago so fairly new. I quite fancy adding another to increase the longevity of my free camping (along with a solar panel, but that's for another thread).

My question is, is it as simple as just daisy chaining the second battery to the next and will the two combined last in effect twice as long or am I thinking of this too simplistically?

Thanks all in advance.

Ric.


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## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

Ricster said:


> My question is, is it as simple as just daisy chaining the second battery to the next and will the two combined last in effect twice as long or am I thinking of this too simplistically?


I have a second battery added. It was very simple to add - I just asked the people at Conrad Anderson to add it and they did.

The hard part was finding where the existing battery was kept and a place for the new battery to go! It's gone in part of my shoe cupboard.

My understanding is that the two batteries combined will last twice as long!


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## Ricster (Sep 3, 2010)

HeatherChloe said:


> The hard part was finding where the existing battery was kept and a place for the new battery to go! It's gone in part of my shoe cupboard.


Heh, yes, that will be my problem as well. The current one is under the drivers seat next to the electronics box that deals with the recharging and the fuses for the internal workings. I believe the cable between the batteries has to be as short as possible for maximum efficiency.



HeatherChloe said:


> My understanding is that the two batteries combined will last twice as long!


I take it you've noticed the difference? I don't expect an exact x2 performance but certainly an improvement on the 3 or 4 days I get from a fully charged battery as is now.


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

Is there room behind the drivers seat for a second battery?
I have two 85ah batteries as there is no room for anything bigger. Not knowing a lot about what I am saying here..... both my batteries have breather pipes venting fumes outside and certainly some switch/control bits, that I assume are necessary.
Cheers
Alan


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

if you have one under the driver's seat the obvious place would be to put the other one under the passenger seat. The distance isn't too great.

Joe


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## Ricster (Sep 3, 2010)

joedenise said:


> if you have one under the driver's seat the obvious place would be to put the other one under the passenger seat. The distance isn't too great.
> 
> Joe


I'm thinking that, it's an old Ducato with fixed seats (none of this captain seat malarkey for me matey!) so there is certainly room for it under there. Admittedly that's where all my emergency stuff is just now but that can easily be moved.


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## bruno66 (Jun 18, 2007)

Hi guys

I'm gonna jump in on this if you don't mind... I'm afraid I'm a complete numpty on all this tho so sorry in advance.

I'm thinking of doing the same as this, buying a new leisure battery so thought may as well do two while I'm at it!!

My biggest concern is what size of cable I should use to connect the two pos and neg connections and how is the inline fuse connected? Is it by a third cable and if so how is this connected? Lastly, how do I fit the breather cable to the battery and do I just drill a hole in the van floor to vent it which is what it looks like has been done for the original battery...

Sorry so many questions.... advice greatly appreciated though.

Cheers

Iain


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Iain,

2nd battery fitting here:
http://www.motts.org/second leisiure battery.htm

Yes, a hole in the floor with a grommet or dab of glue from hot glue gun is fine. Use washer jet tube from Halfords. Just ensure the battery you buy HAS a vent nozzle.

Dave


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## bruno66 (Jun 18, 2007)

Thanks Dave

Thats a great help for me,

Cheers

Iain


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## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

If you're thinking of putting the second battery under a seat then I suggest the you make sure the battery is not too high. I'm currently fitting a second battery under the other seat on my Hymer. The old battery was a "low line" one and the replacements are significantly higher. It's not easy but they will fit.


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## Ricster (Sep 3, 2010)

BillCreer said:


> If you're thinking of putting the second battery under a seat then I suggest the you make sure the battery is not too high. I'm currently fitting a second battery under the other seat on my Hymer. The old battery was a "low line" one and the replacements are significantly higher. It's not easy but they will fit.


I fitted one in the other day actually, exactly the same model as the one that was under the drivers seat so I knew it would "fit" what I didn't realise was that a cross piece had been cut away from the top of the seat "chassis" (basically where the seat is bolted onto) so that the battery can be dropped into place. That hadn't been done for the passenger seat so it involved twisting the battery to a 30' angle and sliding it in, then lots of huffing and puffing in order to get it aligned in a small space. It's in there now though.. 

Now I do have one question, having two batteries in there they are obviously at different rates of charge so when I daisy chain them together should I charge the first one up so that it's at full charge before connection the already fully charged one? Would it make any difference.

Oh, and out of interest, the layout of my batteries is going to be this (and forgive the lack of graphical flare here)..










I presume that's going to be OK? I can't see any reason why not, but I'll ask just in case.


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## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

Ricster said:


> BillCreer said:
> 
> 
> > If you're thinking of putting the second battery under a seat then I suggest the you make sure the battery is not too high. I'm currently fitting a second battery under the other seat on my Hymer. The old battery was a "low line" one and the replacements are significantly higher. It's not easy but they will fit.
> ...


Hi,
I decided to go the other way and have removed the plywood base and the insulation underneath that. The seat base now clears by about 10mm.

The charging thing, it'll be no different than putting jump leads on .


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