Leisure battery/Diesel heater

Adam Lucas

Adam Lucas

Carpenter
T6 Pro
Hi All , I’ve been to my local conversion company and have planned to have a autoterm diesel heater , leisure battery and hook up fitted.
My van is a t6 Lwb kombi and more of a beach day van and few camping trips in the summer (always with ecu). I often park up and work/ surf windsurf etc from my van and that’s the main purpose for the heater.

I was told i couldn’t get the heater duct and battery under the drivers seat , just wanted to know if others have managed this as ideally I didn’t want my battery in the storage area of my rear bed seat.
Also when I ask about the battery I was told it would be 100ah
(Ish) wet battery and that the agm wouldn’t suit my needs plus it’s more expensive for the agm.

Any advice or info would be much appreciated

Thanks

I can have a smaller battery fitted 75ah but it’s still no advised.
 
Hi, there are lots of well educated people on this forum. But i have the diesel heater duct coming up under the drivers seat, with a large victron MPPT charge controller and a Victron Tri smart B2B controller.

Under my passenger seat I have a roamer 160S, a small inverter and all the connections backwards and forwards etc. Its busy under the passenger seat and i honestly think i would struggle to get a heater duct under the passenger.
 
Sounds like you’re being advised to buy what someone sells and not what you want/need.
There is a lot of advice on the forum about batteries and heater installs so have a good search and a read up. Sure you will have some follow up questions.
It’s true that you can’t really get the heater duct and battery under the driver seat. Lots of people put the battery under the passenger and duct under driver seats. You don’t say if your a double or triple front seat set up.
My build thread has photos of an external heater and battery install .
 
Hi, you could have the heater and duct fitted like the factory one, then the battery will fit under the driver's seat.
I have the autoterm fitted this way and the B2B charging and inverter under the passenger seat.
 
Wow great reply’s in minutes ! I have a double seat up front and wanted to keep that clear for a swivel option in the future.
The heater is being fitted underneath (externally ) and then ducted up.
Also there’s a B2B victon being fitted so guessing that’s also got to go in underneath the drivers seat.
 
Sounds similar to my setup, autoterm underneath, a renogy lithium battery, renogy 50a dc to dc, victron battery saver and isolation switch all under the drivers seatbase. The vent for the heater outlet is just behind the rear edge of the seat base, works perfectly for us . Fitted at autoterms headquarters near Wrexham. For us going to a lithium battery has been a godsend. From 4pm Saturday we had the TV on to watch the footie, phones charging, lights on and the autoterm on from then until Sunday morning and it had only dropped to 79% a quick drive home topped it back up to 100%. I know they aren't cheap but the are smaller, weight much less and you can use all of it so pretty much equivalent to a 200a lead acid.
 
I have a similar set up to Pedro with a 100ah lithium, Ablemail DCDC, Victron MPPT, Victron Battery charger, Ablemail trickle charger, and 12 way fuse board under the drivers seat. I did look at bringing up the heater outlet under the seat but found it much easier to bring it up behind the base adjacent to the B pillar. The position works well for our set up.

Before I went to lithium I had a 110 AGM battery.
 
Battery/dc-dc/ etc under drivers seat.
Autoterm under van
Heat inlet through floor just behind the driver’s seat.
I’ve got a 110ah gel AGM battery under the seat and it is laid on its side. There’s plenty of room.
You can’t lie a wet battery on it’s side.
As has been mentioned above they are selling you what they want you to have, and you’ll regret it afterwards. It would put me right off dealing with them.
Walk away and go to someone who works with you to give you what you want would be my advice.
 
Thanks for reply’s everyone, I’m a little lost of some of the terminology but I’m getting gist of it, so if the duct comes out behind my drivers seat out the floor I can then have a good sized leisure battery under my drivers seat ? Also what’s peoples views on a wet battery as opposed to a agm ? I’ve briefly read a view mix opinions but it’s still not clear , does a wet battery need ventilation?

Thanks
 
Bigsidavies said:
Battery/dc-dc/ etc under drivers seat.
Autoterm under van
Heat inlet through floor just behind the driver’s seat.
I’ve got a 110ah gel AGM battery under the seat and it is laid on its side. There’s plenty of room.
You can’t lie a wet battery on it’s side.
As has been mentioned above they are selling you what they want you to have, and you’ll regret it afterwards. It would put me right off dealing with them.
Walk away and go to someone who works with you to give you what you want would be my advice.
Click to expand...
Just read this after my last post , makes sense now. The chap I’m dealing with does come across a nice guy but starting to doubt his knowledge now.
 
Adam Lucas said:
Thanks for reply’s everyone, I’m a little lost of some of the terminology but I’m getting gist of it, so if the duct comes out behind my drivers seat out the floor I can then have a good sized leisure battery under my drivers seat ? Also what’s peoples views on a wet battery as opposed to a agm ? I’ve briefly read a view mix opinions but it’s still not clear , does a wet battery need ventilation?

Thanks
Click to expand...
www.t6forum.com

Which Leisure Battery?

Hi, I'm new to forum, but having read some discussions on split charging, have decided to fit a Ring RSCDC30 to my T6 BMT. What I'm trying to find out is what battery size and ah to purchase to fit under drivers seat. I'm only supplying lights fridge tap/pump with 12v socket just in case. I was...
www.t6forum.com www.t6forum.com
AGM would be your best budget bet for loads of reasons.
 
If you have the money a lithium battery is definitely the way ahead. You will read lots about them on the forum. Primary benefits are the capacity for a given size, the weight much lighter than an AGM and they can be charged much faster if you have the right DC-DC charger. By far the most expensive option though
 
I think lithium is off the budget , maybe upgrade if I start camping more in the future etc but this really is a day van for now.
 
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Farnorthsurfer said:
If you have the money a lithium battery is definitely the way ahead. You will read lots about them on the forum. Primary benefits are the capacity for a given size, the weight much lighter than an AGM and they can be charged much faster if you have the right DC-DC charger. By far the most expensive option though
Click to expand...
Lithium is where I’d go to replace this gel battery. A comparable gel battery is now about £220, so for a couple of hundred quid more you can have a 100ah LiFePo. Use all the power, weights 20kg less, etc etc.
 
Adam Lucas said:
Thanks for reply’s everyone, I’m a little lost of some of the terminology but I’m getting gist of it, so if the duct comes out behind my drivers seat out the floor I can then have a good sized leisure battery under my drivers seat ? Also what’s peoples views on a wet battery as opposed to a agm ? I’ve briefly read a view mix opinions but it’s still not clear , does a wet battery need ventilation?

Thanks
Click to expand...
TBH honest mate I had so much trouble with my 175ah wet batteries losing the power to kick the diesel heater in and keep the fridge running I canned it after 2 years. My wet battery never had a ventilation issue and it was fitted under my rear seat. I’ve now fitted a LifePo. It hasn’t let me down in the 2 years I’ve had it fitted.
 
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