niceday, my concern about the cable is, as Wayne pointed out, about chafing. I don't do much (any) real off-roading anymore but I do travel on rough, corrugated dirt roads. I would also fit a circuit breaker at the rear. The breaker is cheap compared with burned wiring. I have got one the same as the one Wayne shows above somewhere put in the garage. Best I have a look for it!

Re ventilation, I must admit I didn't consider that venting directly below the fuse block - at least I assume that's what those vents are for.

Legally, in Oz, the battery should be restrained. If not, the vehicle would fail a roadworthy inspection. I believe my State is the only one in Australia that requires an annual inspection. I think the other States rely on an inspection when selling or the occasional random roadside inspection.

Thanks for the info on the battery, Wayne. I thought of a VSR, it's much cheaper than the Traxide SC80. I do have, from my old RRC, a dual battery system I built many years ago from a design in Electronics Australia (I bought a kit). I am an electronics tech so I could refurbish it and press it into service but it's hardly worth while as that Narva unit is quite cheap.

Re an AGM, I was going to buy from the battery suppliers who give a discount to AULRO members (i bought from them for the P38A) but all of their AGMs of interest are 211mm high. They aren't too far away.

But there is a battery supplier/distributor (ALCO) who are less than 2km from here so I might visit them to see what they may have. I've bought from them in the past. There's also an Odyssey dealer not far from the LR workshop I frequent so I can try them, too. Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Alistair wrote:

Fumes can be a problem - the battery needs to be completely a completely sealed type to be in the passenger compartment - that one isn't - I'm not sure if there is a law/regulation you're breaking, but it is a concern. Lead/Acid batteries leak hydrogen - which is an explosive gas.....

I presume if anyone wants to fit a battery in the rear compartment and is concerned enough about hydrogen gas it would be a fairly simple matter to arrange to connect small diameter plastic tubes to the battery vents and run these pipe out below the car into fresh air by way of a rubber grommet.

Nice write up and well executed, top job mate.....


Venting.... Don't know if things have changed since I was at school but back then Hydrogen used to be lighter than air so any gas coming from the battery would mix with air and disperse out of the outlet not 6 inches from the battery..

Restraint...... It is part of the MOT, the battery has to be restrained, as fitted above is fine, there are no "laws" about it, it just has to be restrained...

 Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Hi Pete, and you are right on the money.

Hydrogen needs to get to a ration of 4.1% to atmosphere to be able to ignite and explode. The IEEE sets the safe acceptable level of Hydrogen to atmosphere at 2%.

I used the formula provided by the IEEE and calculated that I could fit 3 x 100Ah batteries in the cargo area of my L322, and it does no matter what type of lead acid batteries they are, AGMs will produce a similar amount of hydrogen to what wet cell batteries will produce, and if all three batteries totally gassed out, going on the size of the L322 cab, the ratio of Hydrogen to atmosphere would not reach 2%, let alone the explosive level of 4.1% 2007 TDV8 Lux

Thanks for your positive comments gents.

nicedayforit wrote:

I presume if anyone wants to fit a battery in the rear compartment and is concerned enough about hydrogen gas it would be a fairly simple matter to arrange to connect small diameter plastic tubes to the battery vents and run these pipe out below the car into fresh air by way of a rubber grommet.

I wouldn't worry about it. Both my Volvo and BMW estate cars have their batteries in the rear and no vent tubes at all.
And back in the day my old VW beetle had the battery under the rear seat,

I'm not worried about hydrogen, just corrosive acid. Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Well after fitting a second battery in the rear compartment and having had no problems whatsoever I decided to put my idea of using the original front battery as a dedicated starter battery to the test.
My car has been standing for a week in below freezing temperatures and was -1.5C this morning and covered in a thick layer of frost.
I switched off the front battery so that the car was operating as normal on the second rear battery and then put the radio and all the car lights on without the engine running.
After a surprisingly long time, well over an hour, the rear battery was reading 10.5V.
Tried to start the car.......nothing.
Went round to the front of the car, put the key in the front battery isolator switch and turned the battery on.
Got in the car, noticed the voltmeter was reading 12.5V, turned the key and without waiting for the glowplugs to heat started the engine. It started straight away.
Left the engine running for a while to bring up the voltage on both batteries and all is well.
It does seem therefore that the above set up does indeed provide you with a reliable means of starting your car if for any reason you need to leave it unattended for an extended period of time.
It is possible your second battery may run down whilst it is left to run the car with the front battery isolated which probably means the central locking may not function so I strongly recommend that you ensure your drivers door key unlocking works. Failing that at least have available a connection point with 12V+ and - terminals available to connect a supply to the car such as towbar electrics etc.
To me this is by far the simplest way of providing a dedicated starter battery for those occasions you need to leave your car unattended for long periods.

I recently had to replace the two 12v 45Ah deep cycle VRLA batteries in my wife's mobility scooter.

When I looked at them, I wondered "will they fit in the L322?" I checked and they were perfect. I could even refit the plastic trim and covers. So I ordered two more for the L322 and will parallel them.

Sorry about the pic quality - iPhone photo:

Will the VRLA batteries tolerate the car's charge voltage?

Hi Graeme and yes because all new AMG batteries are now designed to tolerate charging voltages up to 14.7v.

So if you are looking at buying a new battery, you will have no problems. 2007 TDV8 Lux

The batteries I bought are Neuton Power NPD12450 12V 45Ah VRLA (Deep Cycle) with Terminal Type T4. I got them from YHI Power who have offices in Oz's major cities. Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Ok along these same lines has anyone thought about saving weight and using some supercaps as a battery storage unit in the rear with front isolator?

Could an isolator not be done by a relay mod of some sort so that it only connects the front battery when the ignition hits the run position maybe?

Could a li-ion pack with built in charge protection maybe do the job as well? Plenty of YouTube vids onnpeiple using hen for home power storage generally building them as 1kw blocks and individually fusing each cell as well...

Just ideas for a possibly lighter and more abuse tolerant storage medium as the lead acids don't take too kindly to too many deep cycles where as super caps wouldn't care and charge quickly as well, and Li-Ion packs would be almost as good and probably about on par if not cheaper than supercaps if home made... FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Hi,it seems from what I've read from car sellers, a vsr needs to be connected positively between both batteries,surely this necessitates a physical dedicated cable running all the way from front to rear?
Or can the vsr be wired somewhere into the + lead in the boot you suggest already runs from front to rear,that you have already used to tap your aux battery too.
I'd like the auto function of a vsr instead of manual isolation switches I'd prob forget to set.  2008 L322 Vogue 3.6 TDV8 in Java Black with parchment and Navy interior. 125000mls.

I used to be indecisive and have a split personality... but we are ok now...I think?