Thread: dual battery

There are a few earth strap/points on the D2.
Not being an auto 'lecky I would ASSUME any solid connection to the chassis should surfice.

Isnt there a dedicated earth point near the Fuse box?
You dont realise just how long a D2 is till you have to run cable from the front to the back

if you are going to use the empty space in the engine bay on the firewall (which i did, i used the arb tray and modifyed it to fit an optima battery) i used the engine earth point (just the lead from the block to the firewall) the stud on the firewall is long enough to fit both earth leads onto it

mines a V8, i dont know if the td5 earths to a different point

Question for the people who put the battery in the rear. How much cable was used? I've bought 10m of 8mm cable so far. Going to earth it behind tail lights. Will I have enough cable? Also what size battery fits in the box with the cover still on?
I want as much power as I can get to run the amp and sub as well as some led work lights and fridge.
Going to run cable and wiring today while I wait for the redarc to be delivered and I make up my mind on which battery to get.

I just scraped in with 6m of red 8mm cable and 1 meter of black 8mm, I mounted the dual battery controller under the drivers seat also earthed the second battery behind the rear tail light as you've suggested. i fitted a 120AH in mine quite easilly, i think max width of the inside of the box is 190mm. all you will need to do is raise the battery off the base of the box as the bottom of the box is curved and the facia has tabs which you need to slot into the bottom of the box.
Also you going to need a small hex socket set to get the facia screws off.

Figured it out yesterday. Fitted all the wiring for the battery. Had about 1.5m left over after I used some for the earth as well.
Does the 120AH need the facia removed to remove it from the box? Not that I think I'll need to remove the battery regularly.
I also put some supporting bits of wood underneath the box at a suggestion from HastyKiwi to support the plastic underneath the battery.

So a summary for those interested.
I ran the cable along the chassis then up through the vent on the driver's side behind the box. Then earthed it to the point behind the tail lights. I also fitted two switches in anticipation of LED camping/fishing light's. I also fitted a heavy duty 12v socket on the same side underneath the seatbealt.
Was reasonably easy once I got all the panels off and found a spot to get the cable inside the car. I then realised there is a bung on the passenger side I could have used as well. Oh well, would have meant more cable anyway.

You can try and squeeze it out as the facia will flex a bit but probably easier just to undo it if you ever wanted to remove it.
Looks like a good install, and have to agree suprising how much cable you actually need.

Can you tell me if the isolator depends on what size battery you are putting in? Did you need a 120Ah isolator? I am thinking of getting a 150Ah battery and hence working out what isolator i need.

any advice would be great!