'Leisure' Battery Basic Setup Help Please

[Rippers]

I have 1970 Westy with a standard setup running a dynamo

I have a leisure battery wiring loom from Volksgoods, Fused Cigar Aux wiring, mini loom and fuse box.

Now I have a load of questions regarding this.. I have done research and searches but haven't quite found the answers I'm after

I intend to buy a 2nd hand zig at some point, leisure battery, I have a Bosch Alternator and want to fit mcb's in the lot.. but I'm off to bug jam this weekend and due to time and money I just want something to keep the battery on the mobiles charged and possibly a 12v mini fan. So wanted to patch something up for the weekend.. so a bit of a bodge it and scarper scenario :lol:

1. Would there be any point hooking up all the leisure battery wiring at this stage if its just for this weekend, the battery is fully charged already and I doubt the engine will be run to be able to charge it anyway

2. I have a couple of good spare car batteries in the garage which are 110ah there are not 'leisure' batteries thou does that matter for what I'm after?

3. I was thinking of mounting the battery under the rear seat.. and bolting it to the plywood.. any reason why I should reconsider this?

4. I was intending to ground the battery.. again any reason why I should not do this?

Anything else I should be doing or not doing!

Thanks

 

[andyh]

Surprising how complicated this "simple" stuff can be isn't it?!

I'm in the learning stage myself, but recent research would suggest the following:

1) No, not this weekend.

2) Not in terms of how much oomph they'll give you over the weekend, but a car battery will recover far less well from a fully discharged state than a leisure battery, so you may be shortening their lives.

3) This weekend I reckon your quick and dirty option is to take the spare batteries with you, swap one of them in place of the standard one as soon as you park up, leisure battery first, (remember which is the fully charged battery that you've just removed), and use your spares as necessary over the weekend. Come departure day, chuck the fully charged one that you arrived with back in, (you did put a label on it right?), and off you go.

4) Any battery needs to be grounded to the van's body to complete the circuit to the accessories being used. Using the normal battery position this weekend sorts that.

Like I said, no expert, just trying to learn.

Have a great weekend!

 

[Rippers]

Thanks mate, i'm thinking the same way and I came to the conclusion I'd be better off just taking the spare battery with me and just swapping it over, not too bothered about lowering the life of the battery its been kicking around in the garage for years lol
I'll do the the whole job properly when I strip the van out for the Dorma roof conversion