[appsie]

hi all just a bit of a question for those in the know

i am wanting/needing to move the battery to behind the seats in the sierra.Is a bigger battery with a few more cranking amps needed?and if the stocker in it will do would i need to go up in cable size due to the extra length?

i am not a auto elec and dont know a whole lot on this.before i had the battery sitting behind my seat and tried to hook the jumper leads up to the leads to drive it back in the shed LOL but no go.without a front clip it means it has to go to the back.

[royce]

a normal commodore sized battery would be better than the stock little one

and yes to bigger cables, get the biggest stuff you can fit in there I would think a min of 50mm2

also a battery kill switch, wired into teh negative as close to the battery as possible is a good idea

also consider where the battery acid is going to end up if you roll it over

[appsie]

yeah thanks. i will end up with it in some sort of a box id say/hope.

so a normal sized battery and some fairly big cable and we would find it should wind over ok? smaller cable just gets too much drop i take it

[royce]

yeah smaller you go the more drop, until its too much to work

my mini has pretty big starter cable and battery as standard due to it being in the back, and its not a hard motor to crank

If you put the battery on the drivers side that will keep your cable shorter, remember to run a negative back as well

[appsie]

i was hoping central with the battery if not passenger side but did also consider the length saved by going drivers side.
And with the earth do you mean run one right back to starter??rather than just straight to chassis and a kill switch in the - ?? whats the reasoning?

[royce]

yeah all the way back with the starter, its 2 less bolted terminals to corrode and introduce resistance

reason its on the negative is cause the whole body is negative, you only need a positive to short on metal and you have a circuit, if the short is between the switch and the battery on the positive side it will still short and catch fire, on the negative side you need to short the positive on something and the negative between the battery and switch, so a small improvement in security.

[appsie]

thankyou very much.may be in touch as i get closer to knocking something up. if you have any other advice im keen to listen/learn

it will just be a bush basher/trailer rig but want to do certain things as right as i can on the budget

[royce]

if the switch will be somewhere where you can reach it while upside down its worth getting a switch that also has 2 little terminals that you can wire the coil through so you can kill the engine at the same time

there is a specific cole hersee model thats good, ill try and get the number tomorrow

[appsie]

i like your style but who said anything about going upside down???

[royce]

I figure you have no front clip cause of big tyres, not cause its too rusty to refit, so some rollover action has to happen eventually

[appsie]

its on 205s

[Teracis]

Could always run some sort of sealed battery that won't mind being upside down, that would cost a bit more though, maybe a marine battery.

Also, battery box is a good idea, fix it down well though, don't want it getting loose in the cab.

I could grab my clamp meter and try and work out the current draw of a sierra starter motor, then use that and the rough cable length to try and work out a minimum size for you if you like? Otherwise just go as big as you can afford as royce said.

[Scrawny]

Teracis wrote:

Could always run some sort of sealed battery that won't mind being upside down, that would cost a bit more though, maybe a marine battery.

Also, battery box is a good idea, fix it down well though, don't want it getting loose in the cab.

I could grab my clamp meter and try and work out the current draw of a sierra starter motor, then use that and the rough cable length to try and work out a minimum size for you if you like? Otherwise just go as big as you can afford as royce said.

This was going to be my suggestion. A marine battery box is what you want, something like this



$21.78 from these guys

[Buddies72]

I put the second battery in my vitara using 35mm2 (35 mil square) It cost $7/metre wholesale, used about 6m total. Just make sure you get the double insulated stuff and solder the connections on.

You can see the battery stuff in my build here - http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... ic&t=18996

I used double insulated (copper core, hard plastic sheath, then rubber sheath on the outside) and then ran the positive feed in automotive condute as well - probably overkill, but I don't like the idea of a positive feed rubbing through and shorting/burning the car.

I used 50mm2 cable putting a rear battery in my FJ40 years ago, it had a v8 transplant and the cable run was about 4m, started the v8 no problems so should be more than enough to start the sierra.

[dawsey]

reason its on the negative is cause the whole body is negative, you only need a positive to short on metal and you have a circuit, if the short is between the switch and the battery on the positive side it will still short and catch fire, on the negative side you need to short the positive on something and the negative between the battery and switch, so a small improvement in security.

as royce said I can vouch for that..the front end of my seirra got stuck up in the air and my freind sat on the bonnet to get the wheels on the deck , and the bonnet hit the positive terminal on the battery..and bang flames, smoke and it left a hell of a mess, not to mention the hole in the bonnet you could stick your thumb in..

[appsie]

thanks again fellas.im a little way off doin this yet but just planning ahead.id like to have it in a box,just looks a bit neater if nothing else.

my leads at a guess will be about 1500mm long to where i want them.Guess only.

[SuziBlu]

Teracis wrote:

I could grab my clamp meter and try and work out the current draw of a sierra starter motor, then use that and the rough cable length to try and work out a minimum size for you if you like? Otherwise just go as big as you can afford as royce said.

How do you test DC with a clamp meter ? I thought it was only AC

[Teracis]

SuziBlu wrote:

Teracis wrote:

I could grab my clamp meter and try and work out the current draw of a sierra starter motor, then use that and the rough cable length to try and work out a minimum size for you if you like? Otherwise just go as big as you can afford as royce said.

How do you test DC with a clamp meter ? I thought it was only AC

So did I but I'm sure you can get DC clamp meters. They just cost more! I also thought the one they issued me (small one) could do DC as well, but I'd have to check.

In fact, a little research and I was right!

http://www.fluke.com/Fluke/auen/product ... Select.htm

I didn't go right into it to see the measuring range, usually it's used for measuring 4-20ma signal/control but I think they make some BIG ones as well.

[SuziBlu]

Well Ill be stuffed, I could have gotten a Fluke clamp a few weeks ago for diddly, but as I have one (not fluke) didnt worry, damit, what a shit.

Good fid, never herd of it before.

Great thing to have.

[Teracis]

SuziBlu wrote:

Well Ill be stuffed, I could have gotten a Fluke clamp a few weeks ago for diddly, but as I have one (not fluke) didnt worry, damit, what a shit.

Good fid, never herd of it before.

Great thing to have.

Not all fluke Clamp meters do DC, and not just fluke do DC, some others do it as well.

Sometimes I find out about new tools I'd never heard of and am like HOLY SHIT! That is AWESOME!

[SuziBlu]

lol Thats nme right now, holy shit.

Wonder when dc came out, I looked, dunno how log ago, nothing about, oh well, time to buy a new meter.

[royce]

I am going to change my mind and say 35mm2 would be fine, after putting a battery in the rear of a G13B powered lj on the weekend using some

[appsie]

a couple of mates said the same last night that have run batteries onto trays in there winch trucks etc so i was going to have a yarn with you

i think we even have 35 at work so i can chuck the boss some coin for a bit.

[maloo11]

im in the process of mounting the battey in the back, when you say a battery kill switch on negative, do you mean just a simple circuit breaker? If so, what size breaker?

[royce]

nah one of these

[Fatzook]

I have some of ^^^^ from my time at CAT. They use them on EVERY machine. I'll be using one on the ute in a few weeks. Might have to convince you to come over and help me wire the dual battery setup for the winch

[royce]

do they have the smaller pair of terminals too?

[maloo11]

Does anyone have a simply wiring diagram, and list the proper gear for mounting second battery? Mine is a N70 going in the rear for starting/winching
eg; cable sizes, fuses, kill switch, etc