# Spare leisure battery



## TAM (Jan 8, 2009)

Spare leisure battery.
I have fitted a spare liesure battery (parrarel connection) under the drivers seat (belts and braces man) for wathing TV and lights when not connected (up to three days)) charge it by connecting to the normal liesure battery when on the move. Can anyboby see a problem with the alternator charging 3 batteries while on the move or electrics when I am plugged in. 1.9 TD Ducato.
It is a temporary connection but considering making it a permanent fixture with an isolation switch.
Comments for and against are appreciated.
Thanks
TAM H


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

moved to electrical - may get more responses?


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## NicknClair (May 18, 2006)

Hi,
Depends on the capabilities of the factory equipment.
Most factory chargers are specific to one factory leisure battery (however a small amount motorhomes to be fair have good mains chargers). 
Personally I would have connected the additional Battery to the existing one all the time, providing that it is the same construction/type and has the same Amp Hour capacity. That way you are not having to remember to use issolation switches etc. The imortant thing to make sure is that you have a good back-up to get the batteries recharged in emergency.

There are a whole host of methods to choose here;
- Some use Solar (me included) as an ability to recover charge, however this comes with it's own limitations with Mother Nature
- Some use free standing Generators, again there is the noise to think of, carrying the additional fuel and going back to the fact that you are depending on the original Mains battery charger of the van to get the charge in fast
- Battery to Battery Charger (My personal choice/favorate for winter use), able to transfer a great amount of power the moment the engine is running even at tick-over speed, but again there is the issue of noise when the engine runs (but to be fair my engine is not running as long due to the power output from the alternator and B2B charger).

Hope this helps.

Rgs Nick


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## Bagshanty (Jul 24, 2005)

*No problem*

We have 2 leisure batteries, with no problems on a Fiat 2.3 JTD I agree with NickjVB - wire it in permanently and properly (i.e good connections, thick cable). (But I don't agree that it is essential to have similar batteries, the charge/discharge differences will take care of themselves - if one drops below the voltage of the other, the higher voltage battery will take the load, just like having back up batteries floating on a DC supply)

Some caveats - the fridge provides a very heavy load on the alternator, and by turning that off while driving I can put another 10 amps into the batteries. Fridges are so well insulated they'll stay quite cold enough for hours. Similarly, headlights can take a fair chunk of current


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Use stout cable, fit a fuse close to the new battery and forget the isolator swich. i.e. Just parallel it with the existing leisure battery.
Everything else will look after itself. Yes their are ideal situations but providing that all the batteries are of the same technology the compromises will give you an advantage. i.e. don,t mix wet and gell batteries OK.

C.


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## TAM (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks guys, happy the permanent fixture will be okay.
Advice on the fridge is noted (never thought of that) :idea: and the fuse on the connecting cable, what Amp fuse am I to fit?  
Am I also correct in thinking I connect my solar charger to any of the two batteries and only connect that when the engine is off?

TAM H


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

The fuse size is typically 10 or 15 amp and the paralleling cable anything from 6mm sq upwards. Connect the solar panel via its regulator permanently to the leisure batteries, any one should do.
C.


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