Thread: Riddle me this Puma owners.

Originally Posted by PAT303

So the tube bumpers on,the light rail and driving lights so I'm about to order a Traxide dual battery system,looking under the seat as to fit a second battery,how in the life of me do you fit it in there.I have spent the last half hour measuring and moving,measuring and moving and I cannot see how I can fit another in there,me thinks an X-box and the second under the drivers seat as per my Tdi is the go. Pat

Hi Pat, DaveP130 has cut out under his drivers seat and fitted a larger (Deeper) battery tray to fit a decent battery in his Puma 130. It is a really neat job. He and I expressed annoyance at the same issue you have, and this was the best solution he came up with.

If you like, I can ask him to post pics etc, he is away OS at the moment but back next week.

JC

Pat,

I've had the same headscratch. The space is no smaller than any other Defender (or is it? ), but in an effort to make it look tidy they've somehow cluttered it up! Even the new style mat that keeps flapping down is enough to drive you to throwing tools...

Not a bad idea under the driver seat! I've opted for an occasional external (National Luna) with a big Anderson plug linking a permanent fix in stead of the crocodile clips. The 90 is too small to leave the fridge in permanently, so my aux battery is only packed and linked when neccesary.

Try this thread;

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130...tteries-2.html

I have got a separate ARC power box and a deep cycle battery. After my experience of a fire in the wiring harness of a SIII I had on loan, I still don't trust Lucas wiring.

I find the separate power box great when camping as I can put the fridge & battery box in the awning of the tent. This has worked well on short trips.

Hi Pat, Here's a photo of the dual batteries in my Puma. I made a replacement battery tray but did not modify the size or shape of the battery compartment. I carefully measured the available space and researched battery sizes to choose the highest capacity battery (100 Amp Hrs in my case) that would fit. From memory, height was the most difficult constraint to satisfy. As you can see, the batteries are held down by a 10mm galvanised bolt and flat bracket. The replacement battery tray has retainers that prevent the batteries from moving forward or backwards and there isn't any room for them to move sideways. When removing the batteries, the auxiliary (grey) battery has to come out first.

The breather tube on the standard battery still exits through its original hole however I had to slightly re-route the wiring that comes through the side of the battery compartment so that it did not get squashed by the batteries. There's a dual battery controller mounted on the inside of the forward wall of the compartment. All my auxiliary wiring (except for the winch cable & dual battery isolator) is located in the Ex-box, so I was able to keep the battery compartment relatively tidy.

JC,I cut the floor out under my Tdi's seat and had a sheet metal shop make me up a new floor.I was hoping to leave the drivers seat clear as I want to fit a compressor and tool box under there but looks as if the battery will have to go there. Pat

I fitted a Traxide Ultra Smart Solenoid and a Optima D34 (55 amp) into my Puma.

Plenty of space, no tray needed and a good charging system - might not be enough capacity for some though?

I have 3 batteries under my passenger seat in the puma. 2 optima blue tops and the standard. It is possible to squeeze them all in.

Rob

I have the Optima 31T 75AH and the standard battery under the seat. Easily enough Space for the Traxide 80 and a fuse box etc. I removed the standard battery tray and made up my own brackets with some 10mm threaded rod and flat bar