Relocating Trooper leisure battery

I have a 2003 Trooper with the 68Ah battery beneath the driver seat.
I want to increase the battery to 130AH or thereabouts, ready for a 200W solar panel later.
The wiring appears to run behind the wooden units.
Could I run a heavy duty live cable from the existing connection under the seat to the wardrobe unit?
I could use the space beneath the driver seat for the solar charger, etc.

I'm not familiar with the exact layout of the T4-based Trooper, but I expect that it's similar to the T5-based version, with the power control panel on the offside, towards the back? If so, that probably won't be optimal, because it would mean the leisure battery cabling running forward to the driver's seat and then back to the back.

However, are you sure that you can't fit a significantly higher capacity battery under the driver's seat? Again, I don't know how big a difference in size between a T4 and a T5 seat base, but I think ours is 110Ah.

You should also consider putting it in the engine compartment adjacent to the vehicle battery.  There was a recent post on this possibility, Keith

Thanks for the replies.
I've measured the space beneath the driver seat but cannot find a larger battery that would fit.
I can't see enough space inside the engine compartment. If there were, it would be a job for professionals I think.
I think I'll put it inside the wardrobe and run live and earth 25 sq mm cables from the starter battery.
I'll use a B2B controller and have a solar charger all in the same place.

andrewedmondson wrote:Thanks for the replies.
I've measured the space beneath the driver seat but cannot find a larger battery that would fit.
I can't see enough space inside the engine compartment. If there were, it would be a job for professionals I think.
I think I'll put it inside the wardrobe and run live and earth 25 sq mm cables from the starter battery.
I'll use a B2B controller and have a solar charger all in the same place.

I moved a battery which occupied valuable space inn the hab area to the engine compartment in a VW T4.
It involved turning the vehicle battery to fore/aft and putting the hab battery alongside, also fore/aft.
Keith

Keith, did you get a professional to do this? Looks like quite a job.

Moving and relocating the battery was straightforward. The Topaz was a T4 and I didn't have to do anything. Just turned in situ in the engine compartment and ensured it was securely strapped.  At the original hab. battery position, the wiring was left as found.  It's at least 10 years back and sometimes recalling what I did  yesterday is a bit difficult !!!  If you think about it, connecting the battery at either end of the long cable is electrically the same. You now need to cut the cable downstream of the relay and fuse in the engine compartment and reconnect both ends of the red cable to the battery.  if you draw a theoretical circuit diagram it will make sense.  

I'll end this reply by inviting any of the cogniscentii in the forum to "peer review" this reply.
Keith

Thanks Keith. The layout in my T4 is quite complicated. I've measured and found that a 120Ah battery won't fit lengthwise. Also, it would mean making a new base and removing lots of attached gubbins. I wonder why Autosleeper didn't do this to start with. Also, why didn't they buy vans with aircon? I'll revert to moving it to the wardrobe and connecting using 25 sq mm cables.

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OK I think I've solved the problem.
I'll buy two 80Ah batteries and place each under the front seats, raising the passenger swivel seat using some spacers.
Then I'll fit a B2B charger under the passenger seat and the fuse box under the other (with a MPPT solar controller later).
Joined using 16 sq mm cable and fused.
I just have to figure out what to do with the existing fuse block. Quite a mystery, with two relays and 3 fuses.

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Here is the wiring diagram in the manual that came with the van, dated 2002.
It doesn't seem to be the same as for my 2003 van.
How can I switch over to B2B charging of my leisure batteries?

I guess a lot depends on how you want to use your battery/batteries, but I don't think you'll find many people here who have done that modification on a Trooper of that age.

Opinion only: if they have a large solar panel then I doubt that many people would find B2B charging necessary.

Unlike the later models, a Trooper of that age (or a 2005 Trooper such as we have) doesn't have complicated power-sapping control circuits, and with a 3-way fridge running on gas, there are no big long-term loads on the battery.

On our Trooper we simply don't find that battery power is ever really an issue with a 150W panel, a basic PWM solar controller and a relatively basic split charge circuit (which has been upgraded to a VSR, but only to make it 2-way - the VSR is no more effective at charging the leisure battery from the alternator than the standard factory split charge circuit).

I guess our use of leisure battery power is fairly typical - evening lighting (converted to LED), phone charging and occasional use of the Eberspacher diesel heater. But I accept that your usage may be completely different from that.

Could that be your split charge relay, very similar to what was fitted to my Autotrail

Hi Chris. Yes looks like two relays, yet only one on the wiring diagram.

Thanks for the detailed reply Roopert. 
Back to the drawing board I think. 
I'll concentrate on the carpet trim in the meantime. 
BTW there is water pooling on my roof. Doesn't this affect your solar panel?

The full block with 2 relays and fuses is identical to the split charge relays that was fitted

I see. Well, if I can find someone who can replace it with a B2B without messing up the control panel, I'll go ahead. Quite a step learning curve for me. I sold my wooden yacht last year, which had much more basic wiring.

andrewedmondson wrote:BTW there is water pooling on my roof. Doesn't this affect your solar panel?

It probably depends on the slope where you park, but we don't get any pooling on our roof. I ~think~ that the roof on the T5 is slightly different though - it may have a little bit more curvature to it (but bear in mind that I'm doing a mental comparison of our current roof with the one on our 1983 van - so my memory may be wrong on that!).

I think you will still need the split charge set up even with a B2B charger , or are you talking something like the vanbitzs battery master

You may be able to re-use some of the existing split charge wiring (bearing in mind that A/S are always stingy when it comes to cable sizing on that circuit) but you cannot retain the split charge itself. A B2B charger is in effect a low gain inverter, which raises the voltage of the leisure battery above the voltage of the engine battery - if you retain the split charge setup, it will connect the two batteries together and something, somewhere will break! Hopefully it would only be a fuse, though...

OK I've ordered the batteries, cable and Victron 30A non-isolated B2B charger.
I will disconnect the Red/Blue cable from the starter battery to the control panel.
I will remove the split charge relay and the adjoining cable to the fridge.
That's it.
The control panel switch will always be turned on to the habitation battery.
The B2B charger will connect the two leisure batteries (crosswise) to the starter battery, positive and negative.
The control panel should show the state of the leisure battery still.
I'll post when it's done ... and hopefully working.
Thanks for your help.