Where did you put your house battery/batteries?

[MrNoodly]

In building out my van (that I haven't bought yet <img src="/images/boards/smilies/rolleyes.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">), I don't want the house batteries taking up space I could use for other things. My first thought was to put them in one of the far back corners, under the bed. But I've seen some folks have put them on the floor in front of the passenger seat. And I've seen an application where a battery box was recessed in the floor where the spare tire would be (and the spare moved to a rack on the back door). I could imagine using the back part of the side door step well. And there are weather resistent battery boxes that could be mounted to the roof rack, I suppose, but then there would be cables to deal with in some way. Maybe there's a way to mount a box to the chassis rails. Is there room under the hood for a second battery? Answers? Suggestions?

 

[Les H]

In my bus, I had it behind the passengers seat. Most I've seen put them in the passengers seat floorboards. Cuzzin Dick has 4 golf cart batteries all the way to the back of his extended dodge van, but are quite heavy and he plans to move them when he remodels. No way would I put them on the roof, for weight, smdire t exposure to the sun and elements, as well as being tempting to low lifesaver. Even a dead battery is worth 8-10 bux. To a recycle yard.

 

[idn88]

Not the most important consideration but something worth thinking about. &nbsp;From a purely mechanical point of view, it would make sense to consider weight distribution from your conversion. &nbsp;Presumably you will be adding a fair bit of weight in the back for the conversion and your belongings, so I think that moving them as far forward as possible will help distribute that weight better. &nbsp; I think putting them in the passenger side behind the seat or where the passenger seat was is a good idea as it your weight in the drivers seat, although&nbsp;that's&nbsp;not as big a deal as front to back. &nbsp;Not critically important, but one factor to consider.<br><br>Another consideration is the distance the wiring has to go - both for charging and power. &nbsp;The longer the run, the heavier the conductor you need, although imho it always makes sense to oversize the conductor anyway.

 

[wrcsixeight]

My 2 group 27's are under the floor behind the driver's seat accessible from a hatch above. &nbsp;It still takes 12 feet of cabling to join to original wiring, engine battery, and alternator. &nbsp;I used 2awg.<br><br>The lower you can put your batteries, the better, &nbsp;without losing ground clearance of course if you offroad.<br><br>Keep the circuit length short as possible for maximum alternator recharging.

 

[blkjak]

<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>check to see if there is room foe one under hood ....</strong></span><br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>some diesel vans have factory boxes bolted to passenger frame rail ....</strong></span><br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>ran mine to rear of van inside because i was going to have a large battery bank ....</strong></span><br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>blkjak ....</strong></span><br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>

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[Zil]

Weight balancing is important in a vehicle.<br> Most trucks can mount a second battery under the hood.<br>Under the floor is a good place for battery banks. see wrc68's build.<br>It is important to check the fluid in flooded cell batteries.<br>wrc68; Your cable size and length is rated for 120 amps. You can upgrade by running second set of cables.

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">If you have a full frame truck / van you can mount the batteries in a vented box below the floor&nbsp;</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">&nbsp;between the frame rails (trap door in the floor for servicing) a good place is usually found just behind the diff housing as usually just in front there is the mufflers. </SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">This is the layout of&nbsp;both my&nbsp;truck frame conversions before I installed two 150amh&nbsp;truck and farm&nbsp;batteries and the bodies.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I installed mine here cause it gave some added traction over the rear wheels and keeps my batteries away from hot gearbox / engine .<BR>Geoff<BR><BR></SPAN></STRONG></EM>

 

[MrNoodly]

With the Ford and Chevy/GMC vans we're most likely to use, the area behind the rear axle is where the spare tire is stowed. Putting the batteries there would mean relocating the spare.

 

[joey]

It depends on the year of the van. My Chevy van has the gas tank where the spare usually is underneath.

 

[MrNoodly]

It depends on the year of the van. My Chevy van has the gas tank where the spare usually is underneath.

<br><br>Which makes putting batteries there an even bigger problem.&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">

 

[wrcsixeight]

Zil, &nbsp;I do wish I used 1 or 0 awg wire. &nbsp;My 12 feet distance is basically the distance between my shunt, and the engine battery ground. That is basically the longest single wire in my added charging circuit. &nbsp;I have a doubled 4 awg feed directly to my battery switch from the alternator, about 10 feet long with a 140 amp circuit breaker on it. The grounds between engine/ alternator and shunt are several feet shorter, and doubled. &nbsp;Between shunt and house batteries is ~3-4 feet.<br><br>&nbsp;This is in parallel to the original alternator charging circuit which is only 6 awg with a short length of fusible link on it and was inadequate to pass large currents to the house batteries by itself.<br><br>I was relating wire distances with my batteries merely to show the distances and cable lengths involved for batteries placed behind the driver. &nbsp;Putting them &nbsp;further in the back is more distance and even thicker cabling required. &nbsp;Too many people use too thin and too long a wire and only realize it is inadequate when the battery mysteriously "does not take a charge" any more, and blame the battery, when the thin wiring and ignorance is at fault.<br><br>I have &nbsp;briefly seen 110 amps from my 130 amp alternator into my depleted house batteries, but this requires ~3500 rpm and a cold alternator, and I don't do 3500 rpm on a cold engine. &nbsp;The belt starts squealing in protest anyway at these numbers.

 

[Zil]

Hey. I like your battery placement. every one should practice your craftsmanship. my remark wasn't meant as criticism, just information.

 

[blkjak]

<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>i ran #0 wire to the back of my van and </strong></span><br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>was instructed to use #0 wire to my short ground </strong></span><br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>or the capabilities of the hot lead would be diminished to match a smaller ground wire&nbsp; .... blkjak</strong></span>