2nd battery fitment.

[don simon]

The vent will be full of Hydrogen gas, lighter than air so I would think venting down will not work, a small PC fan should work to pull the gas out
Just a thought

Two schools of thought here (or maybe three).
Any gases are produced when charging the battery and not when static (the period when I'll be sleeping inside) there will be plenty of ventilation as I set up camp.
As the gases rise, an open window, or two for a bit of cross vent, will suffice for ventilation, no? (It should).
As mentioned above, there are plenty of vehicle which run with cab mounted batteries ( I sat in an Mecedes with an underseat battery for 16 hours one trip), and there are few reported incedents of problems.
Is it really as much of a problem as is made out?

 

[solarman216]

It will maybe surprise you to know that long term gasses from battery charging are also corrosive, so if any enter your living area expect corrosion long term, especially electronic devices, Rick

 

[kitchenman]

if the expected ventilation does not work wait for the concentration of hydrogen gas and air to reach the right concentration then turn something electrical on. hopefully you were only returning to the car and just opened the door.
Recently in Southend a gas leak from a faulty aerosol can in the boot exploded, totalled the car, reports say driver was lucky to survive
Remember Muphys Law 'if it can happen it will'

 

[Thomas61]

if the expected ventilation does not work wait for the concentration of hydrogen gas and air to reach the right concentration then turn something electrical on. hopefully you were only returning to the car and just opened the door.
Recently in Southend a gas leak from a faulty aerosol can in the boot exploded, totalled the car, reports say driver was lucky to survive
Remember Muphys Law 'if it can happen it will'

http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/07/car-destroyed-after-air-freshener-explodes-in-bq-car-park-6909200/

 

[jims-terrano]

Leasure Batteries are sealed, they have a small plastic elbow on the end of the top panel. They manufacturers provide a length of plastic tube that fits on to the elbow. All the caravans that I have had experience with basically had a hole drilled through bottom of the battery box and floor for this tube to stick through and vent below the caravan. Surely a tube can be fitted to exit under the truck somewhere convenient. I have seen the remains of car batteries that have been on charge and exploded when someone disconnected the charge cables whilst the charger was turned on.

 

[don simon]

I think that's it. Second battery in and connected. I don't like working with electricity as you can't see it.
Just waiting for the whole set up to go boom!

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

I think that's it. Second battery in and connected. I don't like working with electricity as you can't see it.
Just waiting for the whole set up to go boom!

:clap:clap

Well done, as long as you have fitted fuses that match your cables, then the worst that can happen is you blow a fuse. TV does over hype just how much damage stray 12v can actually do under most normal circumstances.

 

[jims-terrano]

Great stuff, we need pictures :thumbs as said fuses are your friend for sure. I’m more than happy to go with smaller fuses and have to replace if needed.

 

[don simon]

Mobile Flickr is rubbish. Here's some photos.
2017-12-24_02-12-22 by Simon Carter, en Flickr
Engine bay has a positive feed to the relay and then I've run the cable through an existing hole into the cab and then run the cable under the carpet to the rear of the back seats. I put the second battery there as it was pretty much dead space when the fridge in in place.

2017-12-24_03-32-30 by Simon Carter, en Flickr
The switch panel came from Ebay and has plenty of switches enabling me to add other lights (or other equipment) as I need. Fuses, I'm not sure if you can have too many fuses. The addition of anything else should be nice and simple now.

2017-12-24_02-12-04 by Simon Carter, en Flickr
This is temporary just to see how everything works, There is also a plan to redesign and rebuild the bed/storage at some point in 2018. The astute ones will have noticed that this thread began back in July, so no real rush on getting the new storage sorted...

 

[Jay666d]

Great stuff! It's getting there! :thumbs

I like the bar that holds the battery in place... Did you make that?

 

[don simon]

Great stuff! It's getting there! :thumbs

I like the bar that holds the battery in place... Did you make that?

Ebay, there's one under the floor to spread the load in the event of an accident.

 

[jims-terrano]

Looking good that setup.

 

[Blocky10]

Looks good that does. And it works, which is a bonus:lol

 

[Jay666d]

Ebay, there's one under the floor to spread the load in the event of an accident.

Now thats a good idea! :clap

 

[kitchenman]

I suggest you re route the wires from the battery post one may be touching the threads on the clamp, inline fuses on all of them as they leave the battery may be a good move, plus a good sleeve, hydrogen and red hot wires make a good fire :doh

 

[zippy656]

Looking good.