Battery position on new van

Wanda · Guru

Battery position on new van

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Putting heavy items at the ends of a van will create dangerous instability.
DO NOT DO IT.

www.youtube.com/watch
http://caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/caravan-dynamics/
caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/making-caravans-stable/

Cheers,
Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Tuesday 8th of December 2015 09:40:08 AM

wasn_me · Guru

Positioning three 120 a/h batteries at the rear of the van will increase yaw (sway) effect dramatically.

Can they be placed over the axles somewhere, even if an external door has to be installed to access them.

Cheers Pete

Wanda · Guru

Thanks for input so far, no other choice as far as battery position, will not fit under van "alltogether". I guess on the back of van they are counter balancing to some degree the front! I have spoken to RAA and their opion is that it "should" tow ok, not sure who else one can contact for correct advise. The axles(tandem) are set back as we have a front door, so limited room behind axles. No room either, I am told, for one tank between axles.

thanks

Ian

Yuglamron · Guru

Bailey are one of the largest Caravan Manufacturers in the UK ,and this YouTube video will explain why "Balancing" your load by putting weight at both the front and back, affect the stability of your Caravan and Tug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFzrWHTG5e8

iana · Guru

You haven't mentioned what the weight of the van is, unloaded and loaded, nor the length. What vehicle are you using to tow it. And is it a custom build?
Tow ball weight should be about 10% of the caravan weight.
Weights at the extreme ends of the van can cause what they call a pendulum effect, best avoided.

Cooper12 · Member

What was the advertised ball weight of the van? Are you within your GCVM?

KevKim37 · Senior Member

If it is possible do some checking to see whethr a Battery Box can be fitted in the floor so the Weight is as close to or over the axles. I fitted extra 2 x 100Ah in an Alloy box fabricated by a mate , measured floor space between Chassis Rails/Cross Beams, cut floor to suit then dropped box just Forward of the Front Axle.

With a Screwed/sealed lid and external vents this kept the Towball weight vet close to the previous figure. Yes there was an extra 66 kgs on the LHS of the van but it didn't cause any handling issues as the Weight was below the chassis centreline.

I have now reduced the 400Ah of Battery weight from 132 kgs of AGM's to approx 70 kgs of Lithiums and overwhelmed with there Performance.

Our van has Cafe Dinette on that LHS so this was fitted under the floor still allowing storage between the seat and floor internally.

Cheers Kev.

PeterD · Guru

The other thing that has not been considered is that battery chargers should be fairly close to the batteries. There are some chargers like the Morningstar solar controllers that have an extra pair of terminals to run voltage sensing wires direct to the battery. This is to compensate for the voltage drop in the cables. Yes the voltage drop in the cables may only be a few points of a volt but this is significant for the charger measuring the battery voltage. If you are going to shift your batteries then shift the charger as well.

Neil n Chris · Veteran Member

Another option, I've taken, change to lifepo4 battery set up, one third the weight and the batteries can stay in the front. It is a lot more cost initially but in the long term is better economically. Always a trade off!

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Maybe trap door through the floor in a box ?? Under seat etc..