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Thread: Dual battery & on-board compressor install, Discovery Sport

  1. #31
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by drivesafe View Post
    Hi Mick, the problem with the Discovery Sport, like with the Freelander, up to now, no one has found a reasonable and safe way to get thick cabling to the cargo area, where the auxiliary battery has to go.

    In this case, a DC/DC device has been the best option to charge the auxiliary battery. This is because while the current limit of a DC/DC device will cause a much longer recharge time, but it is a simple and SAFE way to use the existing wiring.
    I've run two 16mm2 wires from the start battery to the rear of the vehicle through the existing wiring conduits. I would say it's both "reasonable" and "safe" but admit it is quite fiddly and takes some time as the wiring channels are not easy to access and already quite full. But, with a bit of perseverance and a few scraped knuckles I managed.

    I went through the firewall at the existing grommet that takes the main wiring loom from the engine bay into the passenger compartment, those are my two new wires in the corrugated conduit...

    Wiring loom.jpg

    Past the wiring and fuse box behind the glovebox, where I located a new relay, activated in parallel with the existing trailer socket relay, so the new connection is only live when the engine is running...

    IMG_20180324_144224 (1024x768).jpg

    Along the wiring conduit under the front and rear passenger side door sills with the existing wiring. Getting round the B pillar was the trickiest part of the whole exercise…

    IMG_20180324_144300 (1024x768).jpg

    Up over the rear wheel arch...

    IMG_20180324_144339 (768x1024).jpg

    And through an existing wiring conduit into the boot and the rear junction box, and from there down to the spare wheel well...

    IMG_20180324_144422 (768x1024).jpg

    At that point mine goes through a grommet in the bottom of the spare wheel well to an Anderson plug on the tow bar, to charge the battery and run the fridge in my caravan, but it could just as easily feed a fridge or Aux battery inside the boot area, although my setup is only sized for a 50A current, and the maximum I draw in practice is 30A.

  2. #32
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    Hi Mamil and an excellent post.

    That’s a brilliant bit of work!

    One question, why did you say it is a 50 amp setup?

  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by drivesafe View Post

    One question, why did you say it is a 50 amp setup?
    That's just what I specced it to, knowing that my max. current draw would be 32A, and with a bit of 'spare' for good measure! So I have a 50A fuse and 50A Anderson plugs, and then it was just a case of selecting appropriate cable that is rated to carry 50A and is large enough to keep voltage drop acceptable given the length of run to the caravan, but small enough for it to be manageable running it through the small spaces and tight bends. The only thing I deliberately oversized was a 200A relay hoping that would improve the life of the contacts considering it operates whenever the car is running.

  4. #34
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    Hi again Mamil, with that setup, you could easily charge a battery in the rear cargo area, and provide the 32 amps you want for your caravan and it would carry 60 to 70 amps for up to 30 minutes, without blowing the fuse.

    If your Andson plugs are genuine Anderson plugs, then, with that size cable, they can safely handle up 90+ amps.

    So I you need to supply more power to your van or cater for battery power in the rear cargo area, you are well and truely covered for any future expansion.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by drivesafe View Post
    Hi again Mamil, with that setup, you could easily charge a battery in the rear cargo area, and provide the 32 amps you want for your caravan and it would carry 60 to 70 amps for up to 30 minutes, without blowing the fuse.

    If your Andson plugs are genuine Anderson plugs, then, with that size cable, they can safely handle up 90+ amps.

    So I you need to supply more power to your van or cater for battery power in the rear cargo area, you are well and truely covered for any future expansion.
    Thanks, that's good to know.

  6. #36
    Join Date
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    Hi Scott and Mamil

    I ran a single 16mm2 SDI cable under the car, sited above the guards and brake hydraulic lines, then tied it to the brake line support brackets with a sleeve of pvc tube over the cable at each spot it is tied on for additional protection, then went through a unused grommet under the foam around the spare.

    I terminated on a stud in the under the cargo area behind the foam around the spare tire, then connected at 2 x 6mm2 lead to it and an earth stud in the same area with a Anderson plug at the other end. As i don't have a van i curled it up beside the spare to bring out when the fridge is in the back. I didn't run a negative as although copper is a better conductor than steel the amount of CSA in the steel body seams to have limited resistance, so i connected the negative from the Anderson plug lead to a earth stud with a smear of conductive paste for good measure.

    At the battery end i fed the 16mm2 to the area behind the battery where i made up an aluminium bracket holding a 50A DC circuit breaker and 140A VSR, then ran 6mm2 from the battery positive to the circuit breaker, then circuit breaker to VSR, with the 16mm2 fitted to the Aux side of the VSR. The negative from the VSR is terminated on the body earth lug behind the battery.

    Photos below

    IMG_1633.jpg
    Battery compartment showing bracket holding CB and VSR

    IMG_1631.jpg
    VSR and back of CB

    IMG_1632.jpg
    Front of CB

    IMG_1639.jpg
    Cable run above brake lines and guards

    IMG_1628.jpg
    Cable coming through grommet under foam around spare tire

    IMG_1627.jpg
    Positive terminal post in space behind foam around spare tire, lead to Anderson plug terminated on positive post and body bolt adjacent

    Only problem is the VSR cycles each time the motor stops in Eco mode, so when the fridge is on board i will have to remember to turn off the auto stop.

    Future project is to add auxiliary battery in this area and a auxiliary power feed back to the console

    Regards

    Ian

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