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mk7 liesure battery setup

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mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby jakezelesco » Thu May 10, 2018 8:24 am

hey ive recently got a mk7 transit with the twin battery setup, im wanting to add a third (liesure) battery to power a fridge and other small electronics. Iv researched how the rear is the starter battery and the front aux, was thinking of connecting straight from the factory aux point on the back of seat. Would this be ideal or would i need a split charger in between?
thanks jake
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby sidie » Sat May 12, 2018 9:07 am

Not to hijack your post Jake but I am in a very similar situation and have a similar query. 2012 Mk7 with 2x 75Ah factory fitted batteries.

I'm planning a 12V system only to run LED lights, USB phone charger and small compressor fridge. I would like to add a 3rd battery ie. leisure or house battery to the system. If I add another battery to the aforementioned positive terminals on the back of the drivers seat, will the 3rd battery be charged in the same way as the factory installed auxiliary battery is ie. by the alternator when the engine is running? Or would I need to fit some sort of relay or B2B charger? I'm a bit confused about how the factory fitted setup works for charging between starter and auxiliary battery.

Also when I fit the solar panel and charge controller what is the best setup to ensure the two factory fitted batteries can be charged once the leisure/house battery is full?

I hope this makes sense, apologies for the noobie questions
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby daraioj » Sat May 12, 2018 11:32 pm

Hi there,

I'm not an expert nor know the right answer but wanted to share my set up hoping it helps.

Yes, battery at the rear is starter and the one at the front runs everything else. They're both connected and/or separated by a relay. When you start the engine the two positives get connected and they both charge.
I have a third battery too. It's connected directly to the terminals of the front battery. So when the engine is running they all charge and when it's not, only batteries 2 and 3 discharge.
My solar charge controller is also connected to the front terminals. Which means it only charges the auxiliary batteries.

To charge all three with solar I guess you would either need to install a switch so you can bypass the relay and get all three connected while the engine is not running which I wouldn't recommend as you would also be discharging all the of them (which basically defeats the purpose of a split charge) or you would need a (more expensive) dual battery charge controller which will monitor and charge both banks (1 and 2&3) independently.

Btw, the three outlets behind the seats are fused so I would connect the batteries upstream of them. Batteries->fuses>loads
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby jakezelesco » Tue May 15, 2018 8:04 am

thanks for that daraiol, so your alternator has no problem charging all 3 sufficiently?
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby daraioj » Tue May 15, 2018 8:13 am

jakezelesco wrote:thanks for that daraiol, so your alternator has no problem charging all 3 sufficiently?
Never had a problem so far. Mind you, I only run LEDs, a stereo and USB chargers (very occasionally an inverter)... Plus I'm in sunny Spain so my batteries are fully charged most of the time.
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby jakezelesco » Tue May 15, 2018 1:58 pm

i seeeee i will be enjoying that sun in a few months to:) , i was not planning on running solar panels but possibly a split charger or something else simple any advice?
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby daraioj » Tue May 15, 2018 6:45 pm

jakezelesco wrote:i seeeee i will be enjoying that sun in a few months to:) , i was not planning on running solar panels but possibly a split charger or something else simple any advice?
If it's got two batteries then it's got a split charger already. I mean it's got a separator relay. When you turn the ignition to the ON position you'll hear it click.
The problem with it is that it doesn't have a delay. It will connect both batteries before you turn the engine on so if your second battery is very low it will draw quite a lot of power from the starter battery.

If you add a 3rd battery and you make sure you don't overdischarge them then you should be fine.

But...

Before I installed my panel and with relatively low power consumption I was having to start the engine every 3 days approx to recharge.

You shouldn't let you batteries go below 12v either if you want them to last...

In my opinion, if you're going to spend money on another battery you might as well spend a bit more and go solar..

I haven't had to start the van to recharge the batteries not once since I installed the panel a year and a half ago nor worry about overdischarging and damaging the batteries.
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby jakezelesco » Tue May 15, 2018 7:45 pm

daraioj wrote:
jakezelesco wrote:i seeeee i will be enjoying that sun in a few months to:) , i was not planning on running solar panels but possibly a split charger or something else simple any advice?
If it's got two batteries then it's got a split charger already. I mean it's got a separator relay. When you turn the ignition to the ON position you'll hear it click.
The problem with it is that it doesn't have a delay. It will connect both batteries before you turn the engine on so if your second battery is very low it will draw quite a lot of power from the starter battery.

If you add a 3rd battery and you make sure you don't overdischarge them then you should be fine.

But...

Before I installed my panel and with relatively low power consumption I was having to start the engine every 3 days approx to recharge.

You shouldn't let you batteries go below 12v either if you want them to last...

In my opinion, if you're going to spend money on another battery you might as well spend a bit more and go solar..

I haven't had to start the van to recharge the batteries not once since I installed the panel a year and a half ago nor worry about overdischarging and damaging the batteries.



ssweeet cheers for all that i may look into this solar business as i already have a battery and everything sitting here. do you recommend any solar products?
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby daraioj » Tue May 15, 2018 11:33 pm

jakezelesco wrote:
daraioj wrote:
jakezelesco wrote:i seeeee i will be enjoying that sun in a few months to:) , i was not planning on running solar panels but possibly a split charger or something else simple any advice?
If it's got two batteries then it's got a split charger already. I mean it's got a separator relay. When you turn the ignition to the ON position you'll hear it click.
The problem with it is that it doesn't have a delay. It will connect both batteries before you turn the engine on so if your second battery is very low it will draw quite a lot of power from the starter battery.

If you add a 3rd battery and you make sure you don't overdischarge them then you should be fine.

But...

Before I installed my panel and with relatively low power consumption I was having to start the engine every 3 days approx to recharge.

You shouldn't let you batteries go below 12v either if you want them to last...

In my opinion, if you're going to spend money on another battery you might as well spend a bit more and go solar..

I haven't had to start the van to recharge the batteries not once since I installed the panel a year and a half ago nor worry about overdischarging and damaging the batteries.



ssweeet cheers for all that i may look into this solar business as i already have a battery and everything sitting here. do you recommend any solar products?
Mmmm not really.. I don't know enough about it to be honest.. there's monocrystalline and polycrystalline.. normal or flexible... Then there's PWM and MPPT controllers...

I've got a poly 160w panel with a 20amp mppt controller...
I was advised the benefits of a monocrystalline panel wouldn't be worth the price difference but that an mppt controller however would be a good idea...

There's also dual battery controllers.. you connect them to both the starter and auxiliary battery/batteries and they monitor and charge them independently. Meaning it would for example bulk charge your aux battery while trickle charging/maintaining your starter one.

If you've got a bit of time do visit a few shops and talk to people who know what they're talking about. Get some good advise on what would be best for you and then shop around for prices.
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby jakezelesco » Wed May 16, 2018 7:50 am

mate cheers for your help, i had the bright idea to build a campervan with a 5week deadline. so i got 2weeks leftso i got excited and stayed up last night and puchased a 100w Monocrystalline kit online after reviewing heaps and it will only need to charge the third battery. should be here next week and then il be off your way to collect some of the sunshine!
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby daraioj » Wed May 16, 2018 8:44 am

jakezelesco wrote:mate cheers for your help, i had the bright idea to build a campervan with a 5week deadline. so i got 2weeks leftso i got excited and stayed up last night and puchased a 100w Monocrystalline kit online after reviewing heaps and it will only need to charge the third battery. should be here next week and then il be off your way to collect some of the sunshine!
Nice!!!

It's the way to go! If you wait until it's "finished" you'll never leave!
Plus you'll get a real feel of what you need and want. Many things look great on paper and then turn out to be useless.

Where about are you going to be?
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby jakezelesco » Thu May 17, 2018 6:45 am

daraioj wrote:
jakezelesco wrote:mate cheers for your help, i had the bright idea to build a campervan with a 5week deadline. so i got 2weeks leftso i got excited and stayed up last night and puchased a 100w Monocrystalline kit online after reviewing heaps and it will only need to charge the third battery. should be here next week and then il be off your way to collect some of the sunshine!
Nice!!!

It's the way to go! If you wait until it's "finished" you'll never leave!
Plus you'll get a real feel of what you need and want. Many things look great on paper and then turn out to be useless.

Where about are you going to be?


soo true!
leaving scotland start of june, ferry to rotterdam then south/east through germany, czech, austria etc..... then following the coast from greece,montenegro, croatia untill we finish in spain.
thats the rough plan anyway got around 3/4months to forget reality and drive around:)
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby sidie » Thu May 17, 2018 10:37 pm

Thanks for your help guys, it sounds like a 3rd battery and solar is the way to go.
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby daraioj » Fri May 18, 2018 7:26 am

sidie wrote:Thanks for your help guys, it sounds like a 3rd battery and solar is the way to go.
It really depends on how much power you need but yeah, solar helps a lot. You could start with two batteries and see how it goes.

I've got 3 now only because I replaced my starter battery with a new one (I had to) and so I added the old one as a second auxiliary but I will eventually replace both of them with a good deep cycle 110ah (or the biggest I can fit under the seat). I think that will be enough for me.
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Re: mk7 liesure battery setup

Postby Bozeuk » Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:11 pm

Hi, sorry to revive an old thread but I'm in the same situation except I was wondering how, once I've got my third battery connected to my auxiliary battery, do I get it to stay on and be useabke with the ignition off? As soon as I turn the ignition off it kills everything. Is this because Mt current auxiliary battery isn't holding a charge? I'm going to replace it and also add a 150ah lead acid battery but don't want to spend on the 150ah unless I know how to make it useabke with the ignition off.

Thanks in advance guys and hope you don't mind me asking.

Just bought an ex Scottish water transit. Tis a 115 T350 HD. Its the RWD LWB high top.

Luckily there's still an airtronic d2 heater in it which isnt working properly, I think due to the aux battery being spent. There's also a small water heater and sink which is always warm. Have just spent the afternoon ridding it of half the racking so I can start making camp space!

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