Battery Under Drivers Seat Or Rear Of Lwb?

[OllieGBR]

I'm trying to understand the pros/ cons of fitting the leisure battery and associated paraphernalia under the drivers seat vs a bespoke locker at the rear of my LWB.

Driver seat pros;

• short cable run from starter battery
• can be a neat solution
• put a socket directly on the rear of the seat base

Driver seat cons;

• DC-DC charger, battery (lithium or AGM TBC), consumer unit etc - it's a lot of kit in a small space
• weight distribution?
• I was planning to have the heater venting in this area

Having the battery at the rear possibly means I can add an additional battery at some point, mount the hardware on some ply, making it easier for fault finding.
I worry about the potential for voltage drop with such a long run from the front of the van....?

Has anyone placed their leisure battery outside of the normal driver/ passenger seat location? I want to upgrade the passenger seat at some point in the future, from the double to a single captains swivel so without the base I think that's out too.

Once again, thanks all!
(Still more questions than answers)

 

[Ads_Essex]

Has anyone placed their leisure battery outside of the normal driver/ passenger seat location? I want to upgrade the passenger seat at some point in the future, from the double to a single captains swivel so without the base I think that's out too.

How about an underslung mount?

 

[Ads_Essex]

Retrofitted on Instagram: “Designed and made a 115ah leisure battery tray to fit on the underside of a VW T5. Fixes using all original holes in the chassis and the…”

View attachment 48608 View attachment 48609

It’s built with the T5 in mind, but should still fit the T6 (unless it’s mounted where the AdBlue tank is?) They told me they sell them at £125 posted. Food for thought, anyhow.

 

[Long tall John]

Would it freeze quicker under there?... it probably would, but would that be an issue?

 

[oldiebut goodie]

Lorries always used to have them outside,

 

[Bryn23]

I’d personally look at putting it in the rear, if you can fit a larger battery.

voltage drop isn’t an issue with a DC-DC charger with the correct sized cable.

access is easier than taking the seat and swivel out if you do have a fault, although if it’s wired up right, the battery should be fine for quite a while.

 

[OllieGBR]

I’d personally look at putting it in the rear, if you can fit a larger battery.

voltage drop isn’t an issue with a DC-DC charger with the correct sized cable.

access is easier than taking the seat and swivel out if you do have a fault, although if it’s wired up right, the battery should be fine for quite a while.

Thanks Bryn, after thinking this through last night that's what I'm going to do. I can't mount under the van as contemplating Lithium.