Battery inside the cabin?

[dave21478]

I would like to fit a second battery to the Landrover for reasons that are too long to go into here. However there is not really any room under the bonnet so it would have to be inside. There is an ideal space behind the seats, underneath the rear load deck thing. Obvs it would be fixed down properly and I would have a proper split charge doofer etc, but what about the battery itself.... Does it have to be a sealed / gel battery? or will a normal one do - as I have a spare normal one that will fit nicely.

Obviously I dont want to have to splash out €100+ on a sealed battery when I have a perfectly good normal one here, but equally, I dont want to end up looking like this chap.

 

Cheers.

[steve_earwig]

It was ok on Beetles and, umm, Sherpa coupes (and Passats and Pickarseholes and probably a load of other heaps) so I can't see it being a problem.

[mercrocker]

My T25 battery sits right behind me.  MGBs have 2 x 6 volts in the passenger cabin.   Come to think of it, my skin is not what it was.....

[UltraWomble]

Normal one.

Our ex OOH service Bingo had a second one in the boot in a battery box.

Our C8 has a normal one under the drivers feet ( no battery box)

My Picasserole has a normal one under the passenger seat ( No battery box)

 

No one has died.

[twosmoke300]

Only found out this week that 2001 onwards transits have a massive fuse on the main battery earth lead . I assume this is to disconnect the body from earth if the battery touches the seat or seat box.

[dollywobbler]

It was ok on Beetles and, umm, Sherpa coupes (and Passats and Pickarseholes and probably a load of other heaps) so I can't see it being a problem.

 

It wasn't that ok on Beetles. Often the seat would sag and (presumably there was meant to be a cover?) the metal springs would then contact the battery terminals for fire fun.

[twosmoke300]

I always worried about land rover batteries leaking acid onto the passenger in a rollover accident

[steve_earwig]

I'm sure there was a cover on the Beetles I worked on but it's a very long time ago. So yes, make sure it can't be shorted out by even your fattest wife mate.

[Dead_E23]

Defenders keep their batteries in the passenger seatbox, so there is a good precedent for it.    Mine has two, so when required I can get a jump start from the second one.  There's even a split charge relay which I've been too idle to wire up for the 5 or so years it has been rattling around loose in there. 

[garethj]

It wasn't that ok on Beetles. Often the seat would sag and (presumably there was meant to be a cover?) the metal springs would then contact the battery terminals for fire fun.

Yes, there's meant to be a cover.  A rubber floormat would do if you were really stuck.

 

Back to the post, no problem for a normal battery inside the car.  My Land Rover 110 has it under the passenger seat and I think my old 109 had it under the driver's seat.

[burraston2006]

In my Eclass it's under the back seat. There's not special cover for it apart from the normal carpet covered board that you find under the seat.

[spike60]

E34 5 series have them under the rear seat with no problems. Some years ago mate had a 70's Audi 100 with it there and had a problem, he'd replaced the battery with a larger one and it was a success until someone sat there and shorted the battery out with the metal springs in seat...

[messerschmitt owner]

in my E class it is under the back seat

 

I once fried an isetta, which had the battery under the seat.

[steve_earwig]

If you're too worried, you could always fit a roof rack and stick it up there.

[cros]

My series 1 landrover has its batt under the passenger seat- had to move it there to get a bigger engine in. Very early 2 litre diesel series 2's had one 6 volt under the bonnet and the other under the seat. 24 volt army series 2a's had them in a tray in the centre seat with a big strong lid on top so the battery sat up very high. I think I've still got the tray and lid if you want to sacrifice the middle seat but I like to have the possibility of 3 people in the front as long as they don't smell bad. Contact me if you want it. Regarding battery acid spillage, I try to avoid tipping the vehicle upside down as with a canvas top you tend to get squashed.

[dave21478]

Yeah, that was quite a stupid question wasnt it? Quite a lot of cars have them inside and have done for years. Dunno what I was thinking.....I was reading something earlier and it suggested that doom and death would ensue unless you used a gel battery. Probably a gel battery manufacturers website!

 

Thanks for the offer cros, but its a Freelander Commercial variant, so where the rear load floor overhangs what would have originally been the rear footwells there is a nice couple of spaces - one will fit a battery and the other will fit my chunky mains inverter.

[fordperv]

It wasn't that ok on Beetles. Often the seat would sag and (presumably there was meant to be a cover?) the metal springs would then contact the battery terminals for fire fun.

My dad told me about his mates beetle that the back seat decided it wanted to be a heated version because of contacting the battery when someone was sat in the back

[NorfolkNWeigh]

E34 5 series have them under the rear seat with no problems. Some years ago mate had a 70's Audi 100 with it there and had a problem, he'd replaced the battery with a larger one and it was a success until someone sat there and shorted the battery out with the metal springs in seat...

I've done this vey thing, car was gradually filling with smoke with my 3 year old brother sleeping on the back seat.

I dragged him out and dropped him on the verge,lifted the seat base. This caused a rush of air to the smouldering horsehair causing it to Whoomp! Into flames, I chucked it out and it was just a pile of springs in seconds.

The bloke who bought it didn't even ask why most of the interior was blue velour(100 SE,very rare) but the rear seat base was orange cloth.

[Albert Ross]

Cros... whatcha doin' with the battery tray/covers? Where in the World art Thou?

[Pillock]

In a Beetle, you just got used to sitting your fat mates on the nearside. 

In terms of charging etc, I don't think there's any issues with gases or whatever. I know rally cars use a gel battery but I think that's more to do with the greater risk of ending up upside down in a ditch with the battery puking acid all over you.

[cort1977]

I think this might be frowned on slightly in the motor home world with a big bank of batteries capable of gassing off a decent amount of hydrogen. From memory the regs may call for a sealed box with an external vent, I read a bit about it when fitting a second battery to a VW van. I ignored all that and no nuns or kittens died.

[UltraWomble]

Older vans tend to have the leisure battery inside somewhere, newer ones have them outside and sealed against the cabin.

 

Ive owned both types and me and my kids are still here.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

My Rover 75 has its battery in the engine bay, but I often choose to sit in the engine bay rather than the drivers seat while travelling about and I haven't had any problems

[holbeck]

Mini Van, battery situated right behind the passenger seat.

[stuboy]

pop it on the seat give it a view... someone to talk too

[jonny69]

It was under the driver's seat in the Mk1 Renault Scenic. If you were unfortunate enough to turn one over it would just pour battery acid all over you.

[daveb47]

Had to bale out of a j4 van many years ago because of battery under passenger seat shorting and filling cab with black smoke.

Luckily it had sliding doors,no seatbelts & a soft verge landing,doing about 30 mph at time but  fire went out as soon as passenger baled.Van stopped on verge further down road.

[Asimo]

^^^J4 van, truly a close relative of the MGB

 

I once had to bale out of the back seat of a burning Beetle in Berkhamstead because Dad didn't put the battery cover back. 

 

Embarrassing, that sort of thing, to a ten year old.

 

Be really thorough with clamping the battery down. I occasionally work with Landrovers fitted with a pair of extra 12v batteries for 240V inverters and this installation has been re-designed a couple of times because the batteries have broken free during off roading. Ideally the battery should sit in a fixed tray that stops it sliding around and be clamped down into that tray to stop it bouncing out or falling over. Vibration isolation of the inverter is a good idea as well, inverters are seldom that solidly built.

[Alan_Green]

......one will fit a battery and the other will fit my chunky mains inverter.

• So you're going to run an 240v inverter off the 2nd battery? In that case you need a "leisure battery" like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110Ah-Leisure-Battery-Low-case-Fuller-Power-Leisure-Caravan-110-Low-Height-/161588648445?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item259f6f19fd 
• You'll also need an intelligent split charge relay to stop the starter battery running down and I think you mentioned this. I can recommend this unit  - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DURITE-0-727-33-12V-140A-SPLIT-CHARGE-INTELLIGENT-RELAY-/201137399452?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2ed4b9269c
• The other popular unit is by a company called Amber Valley Developments, but in my experience the units only last 12 months. I phoned the sales manager after yet another one failed (at £80 each) and his attitude was very poor. Called me while driving, was dismissive, almost hostile, and basically said the product wasn't up to much. Said he would call back later but never did. I've never known a salesman slag off his products before or be so carefree about reputation. Meant to shame the firm on YouTube. Amber Valley Developments AVSPC12 Split Charge Relay Review. That was for the search engines.
• For years now I've operated mobile office vans. Basically two leisure batteries in a plywood box behind the drivers seat; a Durite inverter under the passenger seat and all linked to a Durite intelligent relay and a big fuse. In the early days I had an on board Numax "connect & forget" battery charger and a 240V mains hook up, but found that I never needed it. You can always run the engine if the batteries get low and idling an engine all day long seemed to use so little fuel (filling brim to brim) that I couldn't even measure it. 

[michael1703]

I've done a millionty miles in thames vans with the battery behind the seats and haven't died.

 

Having a battery close at hand is handy when your wiper linkage detaches and lands on the regulator box and starts a fire as you can unhook it quickly