Leisure battery placement options

[morbizzle]

Hey,

I'm new here. Just got myself a 96 LWB Mroof 2.5D Transit. I've been reading a bit on here and have a question about battery placement.

What are the best options for placing a leisure battery? I have a dual voltage-sensing relay and I have all my electrical loads planned to go in the back. My old van had the battery in the back, behind the drivers seat/engine, so I hadn't considered this until I got this Transit a few weeks ago and found the battery under the bonnet.

My original plan was to put the leisure battery in the back of the van behind the cab, and run some conduit under the drivers seat to the car battery. Now I'm having thoughts about putting the leisure battery under the bonnet on the opposite side to the car battery. Either way I would have a 100A circuit breaker and the D-VSR installed as close as possible to the car battery, and either way there will be conduit run from the engine bay into the cab.

What makes the most sense?

I feel like from a practical perspective it is easier to have the leisure battery in the back. I don't understand enough about electrics to favour one option over the other. Can anyone give me some input?

On the topic, does anyone have experience running wire or conduit from the engine bay into the cab?

[ricc]

if the battery goes under the bonnet youve that wee bit more storage space in the back, and the weight of the battery is on the front axle , its normally the rear axle weight that gets exceeded by all the junk in the back..... apparently weight distribution (and total) is a real problem on coach built motorhomes... a lot of them are actually illegal when loaded for a holiday.

id run the conduit under the floor and up into the rear through a hole in the floor

[F111ORY]

On my campervan I have two 643 batteries ( one for the engine & one for the inverter and internal lights ) mounted on trays under the floor just behind the driver. I put the vehicle on the ramp to change the batteries every 3 years.

I also have dual alternators as I found the split charge relay route did not charge the second battery sufficiently.

[Mfr]

Here is the part if you want to mount a second battery under the bonnet, http://magnumclassictransitpanels.co.uk ... ol-98.html
Many places sell them I just found this one for the picture.
dieselhead123 on here can get any part for you at a great price!