Leisure Battery

I have an Autosleeper Winchombe 2015 and need to replace the leisure battery. 
How do I remove the passenger seat easily.
Also can anyone tell me how many amps is the maximum that will fit.
In anticipation- many thanks
Roy

Sorry I cant help with the specifics  for an Autosleeper Winchombe 2015 not sure if you definately have to remove the seat for example (seems a bit extreme)  but its probably 4 x star head fixings but the seat is a beast to lift out!

once you get it out you can measure the battery most online dealers give the sizes for leisure batteries so its a matter of looking up the largest capacity which will physically fit - the sizing is fairly standard for 105 - 110A/H batteries(about 320 x175 x220) obviously a little larger for bigger A/h batteries but for an under seat use be sure to double  check the height INCLUDING terminals!

A further word of warning Roy.

As Raymondo infers, the seat is a LOT heavier than you expect, so be very careful when you lift it off its base until you get the feel of it.

Its easy - remove the 4 bolts and gently push towards the front and tip towards the dash till you can access the battery. You can get two batteries of the same size as the original in there.

Peter Brown wrote:Its easy - remove the 4 bolts and gently push towards the front and tip towards the dash till you can access the battery.  You can get two batteries of the same size as the original in there.

Good bit of lateral thinking there Peter.

It has got me thinking now. I wonder if I could move my leisure battery to under the seat? It would free up a significant amount of storage space under the bed.

Hmmmmm. Always something to ponder with a motorhome. 

Gromit wrote:It has got me thinking now. I wonder if I could move my leisure battery to under the seat?

Get it wrong and you can have a heated seat ... briefly!

Cymro wrote:

Gromit wrote:It has got me thinking now. I wonder if I could move my leisure battery to under the seat?

Get it wrong and you can have a heated seat ... briefly!

    

Original battery with seat pushed forward 2011 Mercedes



Second battery added to 2017 Mercedes

Thanks Peter.

Will have to check if that can be done on the Peugeot. Vertical clearance is likely to be the decider, as Cymro so eloquently suggested!

Be aware that their may be some wiring to the seat

This thread is very helpful! We bought a new battery today to be on the safe side, and we were wondering how on earth we would get it in!

Can you do the initial charge on hook-up? How long does it take? Anything else we need to know?

Lead Acid batteries are stored fully charged so just fit and go.


I'm not sure which your original battery will have been but to access it, unbolt the passenger seat and slide it forward:

we were wondering how on earth we would get it in

MOST (but not all) batteries come with a carrying handle which makes the job a lot easier - my beast of a thing didnt and trying to get it into place without spraining my back or dropping it was a 'challenge' - Ive no idea how I will get it out when the day comes

Doonhamer5 wrote:Anything else we need to know?

Unless you know for sure that it's supplied fully charged, do not start the engine until you've had it on charge on EHU for at least half an hour.

It may indeed be fully charged, but if it's like the one supplied for the Trooper earlier this year, it will have been standing around for an unspecified period and so will be at a low state of charge. The garage that changed the battery started the engine immediately and did not notice (over the noise of the engine) the "pop" as the fuse on the split charge circuit blew when a full battery is connected to a part-empty battery.

This was only discovered hours later when the van was on a campsite - and then the problem of finding a 20A fuse at short notice (in Garlieston!)..

Thanks everybody!  Peter your pictures are really helpful.  A friendly camper is sourcing us a battery charger so we should be able to make sure that it’s fully charged before we do anything.

We had trouble buying a box of matches in Garlieston!

@Peter how do you get at the bolts holding the seat on?  There doesn’t look room to get an Allen key in.

My husband is looking at taking the bolts above off, but it doesn’t look like that’s what you’ve done from the other pictures.

Does the seat swivel?

PB

peugeotboxer wrote:Does the seat swivel?

PB

Yes, just swivel the seat till you can get at each bolt.

Thanks!  The battery is going to be charging overnight, so we’ll be attempting it tomorrow.

Sorted!

Good. Thanks for the update.

Peter. I recall, from a previous post, getting a rather stern rebuke when I suggested connecting two batteries in close proximity without an intermediate fuse......just as shown in your second photograph.  Am I misinterpreting what I see in this photograph?
Keith

I'm pretty sure I qualified that statement (but maybe not in the same thread) that if the cells were all in one container they would be considered to be one battery and then they could be linked directly.  If the connecting wire passed from one battery box to another through accessible space it could, in theory be damaged and should be fused.

The photo (displayed here for another purpose) was of an installation made on an owners van by a dealer and was being investigated as in August in bright sunlight with a solar panel, the batteries had flattened.  I was trying to find the battery fuse to measure current.  I didn't find the fuse then and it was a couple of months before I found that it was behind the rear Velcro'd on  cover to the back of the seat base - in my previous experiences the fuse had been inside the box.

I did have concerns that the terminals were uninsulated so near to the bottom of the seat base, I did insulate them and the owner subsequently returned the van to the installer who added plastic caps to the terminals.

Hi Peter, what Ah were these batteries?  Is it OK to add more than one battery when AS suggest 75-120 Ah in the manual?   Although the manual says that some installations can have 2 batteries in parallel, it only refers to the fuses and not to the overall capacity.  How do you know whether your installation is OK for 2 batteries (assuming that the Malvern is OK from this thread - but you found problems)?  Are there any other wiring considerations?   Is a set-up like this something you’d recommend, or is it more trouble than it’s worth?

Have just collected our 2013 Worcester (Marquis 40th anniversary so more like a Winchcombe) and as it had been stood a while had the dealer transfer our two 3 month old Varta LFD90 batteries - both fitted side by side beneath the passenger seat - Control Panel updated to show 180ah battery installed. I first heard about these batteries via Allan at aandncaravans in South Wales. They do not sell batteries but do repair and replace many leisure vehicle chargers and, as a consequence, have built up not just a good reputation for their work but a huge knowledge base on batteries, charging regimes, solar etc.

Allan recommended these batteries due to the unique silver power frame technology - much more information on their website and well worth a read if you are contemplating changing batteries.

So, had the Varta's installed and operating since last Thursday with no problems so far from the charger but will need to look into a better solar system to replace the small 40w panel currently fitted.

David