Battery In The Back

[Guest Charles B]

I used to do the electrics on stretched C class Mercs, which had the battery and part of the fuse -box under the back seat. We stretched it by about a metre, and had no problem. There is no problem with it in the boot, though I would advise putting it in a plastic box - easy to get from a caravan centre- and preferably vent it away. Sometimes the cheapest way of getting good heavy duty flexible cable is to buy a set of heavy duty jumper cables, they can be amazingly cheap.

[Guest Battery Bill]

Charles

I have a set of HD jump leads, I was looking at them the other day mmm.

Good idea re plastic box. Now just a frame to make to house it.

Bill and Joey

[swan]

Bill and Joey

why not put the engine in the back then you can put the battery in the front.

only joking

pete

[Guest Battery Bill]

Now thats an Idea.

It would leave plenty of room for the heater.

[Guest Andybarbet]

The genuine Triumph TR8's and a lot of TR7's converted to Rover V8 have the battery in the boot due to lack of under bonnet space. I've not heard of any probs regarding them yet !

Also lots of boats have a similar set up too.

I agree that the battery should go into it's own securely fixed Box though and it should have a vent pipe somewhere - go for it, as long as you get the right size insulated cable.

Your battery shouldn't get covered in muck either.

[Jon Bradbury]

Those jumper cables still get warm when you use them... does this mean they're not man enough for everyday use?

 

Otherwise, its a good idea. Siting a battery behind the passenger would help offset the weight distribution when there's just a driver. And on my car (a DOHC 2B) there is a very useful space under the fuel tank that can be utilised.

 

Of course, my battery is in the normal position. Which means I've nowhere for a heater fan (do bear in mind I want it to be sucking clean outside air into the cockpit) or washer bottle (actually I was going to put this in the nosecose which is where the loom's pump connection is).

 

This is a bit of a moot point at the moment because I'll be SVA-ing with no screeen, as per current best practice.

 

Bill, I'd be using some flexible trunking for a long high current run like that. Protect the cable well and I reckon you'll do fine. Also, the new shape Lotus Elan's battery is behind the passenger seat - and if its good enough for them....

[Guest Ant]

My washer bottle is in the boot. Just thought I'd share that with everyone.

 

Here's another thought - I NEVER use my heater. Fit a cut down mini heater. Pass SVA with it. Then forget about it.

 

Ant

[Guest Ant]

the best heater I have is the exhaust. Combine this with the lack of a sealed firewall and there's plenty of hot air available. The only remaining component of the winter warmth system is sidescreens and a roof to keep the heat in. That's the biggest problem at the moment really.

 

Ant

[Guest Tim Norman]

I have never had a roof and have always driven throughout the winter in rain, snow and every other element that gets thrown around. I have now taken the screen off and am looking forward to gettinga face full of winter

[Guest bugsy]

Is the battery not in the back of the Super spec

Noo its in the front passenger side attached to a plate which is fixed to the firewall.

[Guest Battery Bill]

Hi All

A mate at work suggested I set out the battery with the Cable I have and turn the starter over for a while and see if the cable gets hot, Good idea I thought and guess what the cable does not even get warm. After quite a long turning over period. I have hopefully added a picture to compare the two the red one is the standard main live cable they are pretty much the same if you ask me. The insulation on the automotive one is slightly thicker at one side and less so on the other. So we will cover our cable in heatshrink and trunking as Jon mentions and go for it. Some good ideas re plastic box to hold it in we will visit a caravan shop on Friday. And go for it.

Bugsy

Is the battery not in the back of the Super spec

I probably meant it could have been in the back

 

Ant

My washer bottle is in the boot

I NEVER use my heater

Stop trying to change my thread! We are talking batterys and boots here.

[Guest Guy]

That's a nice sausage sandwich Bill, just needs some brown sauce.

 

The main reason jump leads get so hot at the turminals is that when you connect them, you have a batt with a good charge feeding into a batt with little charge so you get loads of current. Add to that the current taken by the starter = HUGE current.

 

When you clip the jump leads on, you get some resistance so you get lots of heat.

 

If you have the batt in the boot with good connections then I don't see any problems. Just make sure the live is well insulated, as John said, put it on it's own in a tube.

[Guest TerryBarry]

Looking at those cable sections I would imagine that the 7 core would handle the same current as the multi core (not enough definition to count).

I assume that when tested it was turning the engine over not just spinning the starter motor.

Are you going to run the cable inside the car ?

The only thing I would have any concerns about is the last foot of cable - where it has to allow for engine movement / vibration.

Terry

[Guest cjbailey]

Well... You could always use the big car audio stuff...How many amps does the starter draw, cus you can get fuses for car audio systems upto about 300A. You can get cabling that goes far beyond this as well, but it is a tad expensive!

[Jon Bradbury]

I'd recommend using the standard loom to connect to the starter, with a fixed connection block on the bulkhead to which the line from the boot is also connected. That'll get round Terry's suggested problem, plus make it much easier to integrate into the existing setup - you just use the existing battery lug to connect the whole loom with the remote battery via the extension cable... Just need to mount it on something that is well insulated.

 

PS, Chris you should spend less time in Halfords drooling over all that OTT ICE and get on with your build...