Thread: 2nd battery under pax seat - Defender ?

I know someone who removed the base and inserted a baking dish in its place. This gave him extra room and depth. I'm not sure how he secured it but a lot of the problem with the normal hook system is really the lack of room to manouvre.

My set up is just like yours, it's a real mess and I have placed some sleeping mat rubber over the top in case of shorting on the lid.

I'll be interested in the replies to your question.

Hi,
not in a defender, but had a similar problem under a seat in my camper for the 'house' battery.
I ended up using pieces of wood that locked into place as packing after I bought a battery that was too big for the battery box that used to just fit in there.
Will probably do the same with the defender when I get around to putting in the dual battery set-up.
cheers

This is my pet hate about Defenders ...how it annoys the crap out of me.
Having a 130 the plan is to remove the batteries from under the passenger seat (I mean if we were to survive a crash in the old girl it would nice if the missus or the dogs or even me come to think about it were spare a gallon of battery acid flying round the cab) consequently they are going to get re-housed the batteries in the tub stored in custom built boxes under a false floor.
On a 110 take out the centre rear seat and built a battery box in it's place and strap a fridge on top ???
It's harder in a 110 i guess

I trimmed one edge of the seat box hole to make it easier to get the batteries in and out. They have a block of wood to level up the bottom and fit so snugly that they are held down by the seat box lid....

Which has a really thick layer of heavy duty rubber underneath to prevent shorting.

Have a look at the deep cycle batteries they use for electric wheel chairs etc. I have two of these which fit in easily beside the main battery. Not quit the total amps as a car battery but have not had a problem keeping the batteries in the camper trailer charged, but I supplement with solar when camped. Also is more expensive than one care battery but a lot less stuffing around.

Had a similar problem fitting my dual battery arrangement. RFM and ARB sell battery trays that take the two batteries which is what I fitted. Having fitted one of these, I would not do it again and would certainly not spend the money on the tray but simply fabricate something to hold the two batteries in place.

The hooked rod is pretty standard but not very pretty.

Rubber sheet is good. Stick some under the metal slide out tray to avoid shorting. With the tray, the battery terminals in my 95 Defender are very close to the top.

Here's a pic of my arrangement if it's of any help. The 'second' battery is a dual type with four terminals. One pair doubles up with the main car battery, the other is the deep cycle for the fridge. The battery management box is tucked away just out of sight in the bottom right pf the pic.

A bit more room than you probably have but I agree the retaining 'rods' are a bit of a pain but this is still using the original retaining system. As with others I've used a sheet of rubber on the underside of the box cover.


Martyn

If I get a chance over the weekend I will take photoes of the Pumas set up as done by ARB Midland,its tight but a very tidy setup

Allan