[kjeff]

Has anybody added an auxiliary battery to a late model (2003 in my case) MV?
I know there's plenty of space for one under the drivers seat...

Easy or ?

[Cole]

I've added a house battery to a couple of vans. (one started out as a GLS).

I'm personally not sold on the house battery system as most people use it.

 What would you like to power with it?

I fully agree that people need a way to power lights, radio, and recharge things like phones/tablets, etc without draining their main start battery to the point where they are stranded.

Personally I think most people greatly over estimate what they *really* need to power. So they build big expensive house battery systems withe big inverters, and lots of wiring. A system that takes up lots of space and time and labor to install.

Then, when its all said and done, goes unused 99% of the time they own the van. Letting the expensive battery just waste away.

As for the mounting location. There is sorta room under the driver's seat. Ideally you need a Weekender drivers seat base as it has a battery tray built into it. Then the special battery, which really only fits until you put a swivel on the seat, which some batteries don't fit under. They really don't fit when you realize the seats are too tall with a swivel and you want to cut the seat base down 1.5"

I mounted the batteries under the back seat. You can fit a far larger battery under there. Put it in the space that is almost impossible to access.(far forward under the seat).

Here is a great link on a cheap way to add a house battery....and solar.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/77503-How-to-make-a-cheap-isolated-dual-battery-setup-for-50

I've been playing with all-n-one "solar generator" battery packs. I know many people on the net like to argue that they don't have the total capacity per dollar of a DIY system like the link above. But they also have versatility and easy of use that those systems don't have.

You could easily add a plug to plug a Goal Zero Yeti (for example) into the "house functions" of the van. It would charge when driving and provide all your power needs when stopped. Aldo allowing you to just take it with you for other adventures away from the van.

[kjeff]

I like the idea of having a second battery in the van so if i do need a jump I'm covered, with 3 daughters the chance of a dead battery run fairly high...lol

It should be an isolated system like in the link to the system you posted...  What i need is to power some things without ever having to tap into the vans system

That being said the Yeti is looking very cool but if I were to go that route I might go with the ArkPak http://www.arkportablepower.com since it's power source is a standard car battery and can easily be replaced in the middle of nowhere...


I spend a good deal of time at the racetrack using a laptop and having a way to recharge it on the fly would be a bonus, as would the second battery... right now i just have a extra  laptop battery i tote along with me

I've  also wanted to add a shore power line, like this guy did http://www.instructables.com/id/Adding-Shore-Power-to-a-VW-Camper-Van  nothing crazy basically just a cleaner way of running power inside instead of an extension cord through the window i usually use...

just a socket on the outside and a plug on the inside that would be totally stand alone but now you got me thinking with a yeti type system I could also tie in the charger to the shore power so should i get to plug in i can charge that up too while working since both the yeti and arcpak are a bit slow to charge

[Cole]

I like the Arkpak too. There are definitely some advantages to them. I've considered using one in my Sprinter. (May have them available on this site soon )

The problem I see with them in the Eurovan is that they are HUGE and heavy by comparison. I don't think they would fit under the seat and would always be in the way inside the van at around 100lbs+


This is a picture I found of a Yeti 350+inverter (the predecessor to the Yeti 400) next to an Arkpak. Notice the size of the Arkpak to the 5 gallon water jug behind it.

[kjeff]

They are big, there's no denying that... just a bit too tall to slide under the back platform...

I'll just leave the kids at home...lol

BTW still on track to do the poptop conversion Cole, just moving the timing until later in the summer to even discus it, but i'm still all in. I ended up with a big project in my lap (which is good) but it's a time killer so when i see that i'm about clear of that (late Augustish)  we can figure out when to get the van to you.. i want to do it at your convenience within your time table and want to know i can commit to you an be where i'm supposed to be at the right time

[42pvan]

I like the setup in my EVC, but if I were to start from scratch wanting to install a house battery, I would get a battery and a dual charger (I got a ProMariner 20 amp) and add an exterior plugin that powers only the charger. Hook the charger to both your house and starter batteries and plug in when parked and you can. That way both batteries are charged and conditioned almost all the time. I also would hook the house battery to the starter battery through an isolator so the house battery gets charger while running. My battery supplier said the good battery chargers really make a difference in battery life and that he would be out of business if everyone used them.


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[albertr]

Here's my EVC replacement house batteries...



-albertr

[42pvan]

Sweet!


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[Suthernvanman]

Here is an 'aux' battery to consider - if your power needs aren't too large.  http://antigravitybatteries.com/microstart/  I bought mine from Amazon.

I have a house battery already (Weekender) but cary this as a third source of 12v.  I use it to power various USB items and it is a viable jump start tool if need be.  It lives in the van but came in handy yesterday when the grid failed and I needed to power wireless hotspot for several hours while wfh.  It can be charged either a/c or d/c so you could use Cole's link to rig it for in van charging if desired.

I agree with Cole's post on 'too much spend' for most house electrics.  I'm going to be building out a Sprinter sometime in the next 12-36 months and have no plans for a/c.  USB 3.0 will make getting most of what I need even simpler.

The only large appliance the Sprinter will have is a fridge so I'll need some juice for it but I'm using a Yeti Tundra 50 in the EV.  The Yeti lives up to its marketing claims and does a great job of keeping ice - which is also readily available in copious amounts for reasonable $ in the southeast.

[albertr]

Slowly making some progress with battery/charger upgrade... still need to add some parts, but did a first  power-up test tonight and no surprises 





-albertr

[Fresh]

I finally got around to installing my house battery this past weekend.  I debated where to mount the battery; in the back of the van, under the driver's seat, or under the passenger seat.  Ultimately I opted to mount it under the passenger seat.  Mainly because it allowed me to use the factory brackets that held the cd changer in place.  I made a wood frame to hold the battery and then used the brackets to hold the battery in place.

I am partial to Odessey AGM batteries, I've owned a few of them over the years and have been pleased with their performance.  So with that in mind I looked to see which battery would fit.  Turns out that the PC 1200T, will fit with an inch or two to spare. 

In the engine compartment there are some rubber grommets that yo can take out.  I ran the cables through there and around under the passenger plastic step and under the carpet up through the factory cut out through the carpet where the cables were run for the cd changer.  It took a bit of work to get everything right, but I think it ended up ok.

Another debate I had was where and how to supply power from the battery.  I  thought about pulling the plastic off the piller where the sliding door closes.  Or drilling through the base plate for the passenger seat.  Using a step drill bit I was able to get a few holes drilled through the attachment for the passenger seat.  Right now I've got a 12v plug, usb, and battery gauge mounted there.  In the future I'll route more wire to the aft of the van for some more 12v and usb plugs.

[andrew0998]

Hey Cole, if you're still on the forum, can you share detail on the "easy plug setup" to install a goal zero yeti as the auxiliary battery in a weekender? Just as you described, I'm hoping to keep the yeti portable for other use and move to the back of van so I can add swivel (without added height) to driver seat.  I'm not good with electrical and am struggling to find good info. Thank you!

Andrew

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[Cole]

Sorry for the slow reply. Things have been crazy around here. Unfortunately that has meant that I don't even get to read our own forums very much.

If you want to power the basic functions of the van you can essentially just make a plug that plugs the Yeti into the rear 12v port. It will add power to the system from that end instead of from the other end where the battery used to live.

[andrew0998]

Thanks Cole! Totally understood. I suppose I could do this and remove/bypass the under driver seat aux battery so I can lower height and install swivel. Any thoughts on that? Sincerely appreciate your help and expertise!

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[Cole]

Thanks Cole! Totally understood. I suppose I could do this and remove/bypass the under driver seat aux battery so I can lower height and install swivel. Any thoughts on that? Sincerely appreciate your help and expertise!

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Works great! I do it all the time.