Hi is it possible to charge a spare leisure battery in the boot of my car whilst driving along if so how do i wire it up, something with crockadile clips would be good, my car has twin sockets
battery charging while driving along
- Thread starter mifmoth
- Start date
Hi Mifmoth, cant help with the connections I'm afraid,
But my thoughts go to why would you want a loose battery in your boot ?
Is it actually legal to do this?
Sorry to be negative but you will no doubt get further commets later
Kev
But my thoughts go to why would you want a loose battery in your boot ?
Is it actually legal to do this?
Sorry to be negative but you will no doubt get further commets later
Kev
Yes it is possible, and I have done this on a number of occasions.
There are safety considerations,
The battery must be contained in its own sealed splash proof box secured so it cant move, tip or spill battery acid around.
The battery box must be ventilated to the outside to allow any hydrogen gas to safely escape,
The electrical connections must be safe to prevent short circuits or current overloads, and to only take current when the engine is running (Split charge system). The leads should be fused
I use a separate lead that plugs into the supplementary tow-bar socket so it utilises the split charge system already in the car. It also means it limits the the load on the cars systems. In other words you can only charge either the caravan or the spare but not both at the same time.
There are safety considerations,
The battery must be contained in its own sealed splash proof box secured so it cant move, tip or spill battery acid around.
The battery box must be ventilated to the outside to allow any hydrogen gas to safely escape,
The electrical connections must be safe to prevent short circuits or current overloads, and to only take current when the engine is running (Split charge system). The leads should be fused
I use a separate lead that plugs into the supplementary tow-bar socket so it utilises the split charge system already in the car. It also means it limits the the load on the cars systems. In other words you can only charge either the caravan or the spare but not both at the same time.
Go to this link, which discusses this topic, should answer your question
http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/7-pin-plug-wiring
http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/7-pin-plug-wiring
you could make up a lead with a 12s socket & proper clip on battery clamps .using 6 way cable & wiring the blue to terminal 2 ,battery charge terminal, & white to terminal 3 earth terminal. so blue to the + clamp & white to the neg clamp.Then simply connect to the battery & plug in the 12s socket on the car.Of course you can only charge the battery when your not towing
This question and the same answers crop up from time to time. While the advise about the connections is valid I wonder back to old Mini vans and the many newer cars with batterys under the driver's seat. How many remain in sealed containers with outside ventilation I wonder?
Makes you think about safety dunnit?
Makes you think about safety dunnit?
if the battery is a sealed type, presumable you do not need ventilation? also, i believe, batteries only produce hydrogen if they are over charged which is unlikely in this arrangement.
I have done this for years, and the main problem I have found is bolting the battery down safely enough. I then use this second battery to charge my caravan battery on long nonEHU stays using an inverter and lydls battery charger. This gives a better / higher charge, than simply paralleling up the batteries.
I have done this for years, and the main problem I have found is bolting the battery down safely enough. I then use this second battery to charge my caravan battery on long nonEHU stays using an inverter and lydls battery charger. This gives a better / higher charge, than simply paralleling up the batteries.
Hello Big Al,
It was issues related to the carraige of batteries inside the saloon when either over-charging did occur and a fire ensued, or the spashing of battery acid around when in a collision or other incident that forced car manufacture to relocate batteries to well ventilated and yet secured places.
It was issues related to the carraige of batteries inside the saloon when either over-charging did occur and a fire ensued, or the spashing of battery acid around when in a collision or other incident that forced car manufacture to relocate batteries to well ventilated and yet secured places.
Chris's method does work, though it is relatively complicated, and it incures several stages where energy is lost, so as a cheaper alternative the ability to charge the battery in the car, then as necessary swap it with the caravan battery, keeps things a little simpler.
I used the battery swapping method in the past, but got fed up with hauling the battery out of the back of the boot ( and resecuring) and the side locker in the van. I agree the efficiency is probably not that good.
I would like to go solar, but am put off by 1 size, 2 weight, 3 cost, 4 high winds in scotland, of a 40watt+ system. I have little or no spare payload available in the van for a fixed solar solution. For my next van, whenever, I will look more carefully at payloads.
I would like to go solar, but am put off by 1 size, 2 weight, 3 cost, 4 high winds in scotland, of a 40watt+ system. I have little or no spare payload available in the van for a fixed solar solution. For my next van, whenever, I will look more carefully at payloads.
p.s. dont use crocadile clips, no where near secure enough and a spark hazard, and fuse protect correctly, I would suggest fusing the - as well as the +. Ensure that there is a split charge relay between the car battery and the "boot" battery, and dont try to charge the car battery and the "boot" battery and the van battery all at the same time. The circulating currents could be interesting!
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