Submerging batteries

Well Boldjack, thats an interesting thought, found a spot for the second battery under the car?

Cheers Stefan

The old G60 patrols battery where mounted underneath,why did they move'em?
I think that there will be voltage drop the further away the battery is the worse it will be,same for access
where will you find a hollow,big enough for a battery to fit?

I see a lot of tray back utes with second batterys mounted under the tray just in front of rear wheels,seems popular.but there still is access probs if you get at it.

Shane

what sort of vehicle?

Have you ever been in the water with your tow coupling and turned the lights, brakelights or indicators on .. or better have a permanent 12V connection ?
Well if yes then have a look at your plug !!

not a good idea when you want to submerge them ...
have fun doing it ... lol
gmd

Boldjack, one of my AGM's lives under the vehicle the other in the back on the floor behind the driver seat.
I had a self draining air inducted metal "battery box" made for it, the 4 x retaining bolts come through the rear floor via a re-enforcing bar to the battery box underneath. It’s a total mongrel to get out, as you have to hold the weight of the box and battery about 36Lbs while you undo the 4 x stainless steel nuts, so they don't rust, from the 4 x floor mounting bolts.

I would not even consider it with wetcell a battery due to serviceability problems.

There is access to all the battery connections from inside the floor area because I cut out a large oval hole and put a clip-fit battery cover lid from some sort of 'van' that has the battery sitting behind the engine and with access from behind the drivers seat.

I have never had hassles with 'junk' as it gets blown away with the 'wind' turbulence across the top of the battery.

Hi Boldjack.

I've found corrugations will kill a battery quicker than water.

Cheers Steve

Hi Boldjack

You shouldn't have any real problems doing that but certainly should use fully sealed unit - I use Exide orbital , which does the job.

I had an alternate solution in that I mounted mine between the front seats of my Patrol at first (console removed).
But now fridge sits there , and with winch at front of car and 1.5kw invertor that needs to be keep clean I don't have any ideal place anymore and am faced with installing massively heavy leads to.

As a temporay solution I have arranged that my invertor can be instantly plugged into fixed lead anderson plug at battery, and can sit in engine bay with bonnet part up protected from rain.

Not ideal but really less than 20 seconds setup.

Robin Miller

Gday Boldjack
Put the battery where you like..."T" ford had the battery under the floor on the left hand side under the driver..and so did many vehicles up to the fifty's.English and American.

Boldjack, why consider mounting underneath?? I'm sure there is room under the bonnet for an aux in the Jack, maybe with a few mods, but the most clever idea was removing the plastic moulding used for the storage area under the rear seat, and installing AGM batteries, can be mounted sideways etc, and there is capacity for probably 300 a/hr if really needed!

Good luck

D-Jack

Slightly OT but I remeber years ago sitting in the back of a mates vw beetle it had the battery under the rear seat, my weight on the seat caused a spring in the seat to short out the battery and starting a fire in the seat, direclty under my butt actually.
Not funny at the time but can laugh now

Cheers

Wow I'm overwhelmed with the amount and quality of the feedback. And a few other ideas as well, which I have not discounted. Can I just say a general thanks to all those who replied . I hope to let you know how I went soon.
Thanks Boldjack.

I initially thought you'd bought a submarine.... Seriously you would think a sealed battery would be needed, warm battery hits cold water, air inside contracts sucking water in with it. Yes?? NO??

my campervan had the aux battery mounted nderneath and low - Lasted 5 years - didnt have the grunt to sart the vehicle tho never determined why (cables, voltage drop etc etc)

Jack I had my 2nd battery on a Hilux mounted up underneath as there was no space under the bonat. It was a wet cell deep cycle, lasted over 3 years & didn't appear to suffer water getting in despite hundreds of deep river crossings & bog holes.
These days though with the cheaper prices of AGM's I'd be inclined to use one of them to avoid any risk of water ingress. Some types can also be mounted on their sides to fit into tight spots. If mounting towards the back of the car increase the cable size to allow for voltage drop.
Cheers Craig...........