Twin battery on Disco

[Julian]

Hope this may help others with starting problems.

For some reason my Discovery has always been sluggish to start in cold weather.  If left for 4 or 5 days it wouldn't start.  I've tried fitting a new earth lead straight to the engine and replacing the battery which only improved things the first year.  When jump started from a charged battery it was fine.

It was a bit like the battery had a slow drain on it when parked, but putting an ammeter between the lead and the terminal only showed a 0.02amp drain which I guess was the clock and little else.

Having a few half good batteries kicking about I decided to fit it with twin batteries.  If you remove the jack and the wheel chock and throw them in with the back with the rest of the detritus, and displace some rubber mounted gismo on the inside of the wing (think it's something to do with the EGR which I don't use anyway), there's just enough room to slot in a second battery to the right of the radiator.  A couple of heavy cables run across the front of the radiator, rather neatly held in place with printed clips finished the job.

Although we haven't had any really cold weather yet, it's made a massive difference to the way it starts ... well pleased.

[greasemonkey]

I find two batteries better than one myself as well. Big fan of the idea.
I have a spare battery, and the leads, neatly chucked in the mud, where I left them when I pulled the unsecured second battery off for the MOT.......

[Julian]

I find two batteries better than one myself as well. Big fan of the idea.
I have a spare battery, and the leads, neatly chucked in the mud, where I left them when I pulled the unsecured second battery off for the MOT.......

Speaking of which, this morning the Disco sailed through MOT first attempt (with two secured batteries!).

The guy gave me a funny look when I asked if he was sure he'd done it properly.

[therecklessengineer]

Be careful if you're connecting two batteries directly together. If left to rest in that state then they'll fight and knacker each other pretty quickly.

You can get batteries that are designed to be permanently connected in parallel. The plates are laser trimmed to ensure they're as close to identical as possible.

Or fit a big solenoid to disconnect one when resting.

[greasemonkey]

 I put a Picasso through an MOT yesterday, been sat under a hedge since July. Needed a wiper blade and a bulb.
Highly delighted.

[greasemonkey]

Be careful if you're connecting two batteries directly together. If left to rest in that state then they'll fight and knacker each other pretty quickly.

You can get batteries that are designed to be permanently connected in parallel. The plates are laser trimmed to ensure they're as close to identical as possible.

Or fit a big solenoid to disconnect one when resting.

Oh, never knew that. Makes sense though.
I've got a proper split charging system still fitted to my last van. I'd better go and pull it off and stick it on this one.

[Julian]

I never knew that either!

My first Land Rover had two 6v batteries in series ... I guess that arrangement is OK?

Split charging may be the way to go then.

[knighty]

naaaa, you don't to worry about them knackering each other

if you live off grid, and run from batteries or have a battery backup system then it can be a problem

but on a car they get a 14+volt charge every time you drive, which is more than enough to fully charge and equalise them


we've been running twin batteries for years on all the work vans and never had a problem, started doing it because the tails lifts used to kill batteries and after it making a big difference stuck with the idea... thinking back it was my job to sort out fitting 2nd batteries on my dads vans before I could drive and I passed my test in 99

[K.H]

Mitsubishi Pajeros are all twin batteries

[Julian]

Mitsubishi Pajeros are all twin batteries

Parallel or series?

[K.H]

In Parellel, only thing i was told was to replace both at the same time, not that i ever did tho.
The idea was to give more power for cold starting in Japan

[Chug]

As per Alan, I've always had twin batteries coz of my tipper body, never had a problem.

[Manfred]

I put a Picasso through an MOT yesterday, been sat under a hedge since July. Needed a wiper blade and a bulb.
Highly delighted.

  That's cos it's Freench see, not as good as a Landy.

   Well done Julian. Just nod knowingly and walk away neat time.


  Gaz.

[therecklessengineer]

I've just been trying to find some sources for this. I can really find very little.

Maybe I'm talking out of my arse.

As I understood it - connecting batteries in parallel and allowing them to rest for long periods of time is a bad thing. It's OK,if the batteries are identical, or they are under constant charge or discharge - i.e. connected to a solar power rig. Yet I can't find much to back this up.

I had a Landcruiser with twin batteries. One was disconnected without the engine running. When cranking they were connected in series to provide 24V for the starter.

[kamaangir]

What you want is a nice Japanese truck, most are twin batteries. Only trouble with them is that you will never be forced to learn how to wield a spanner!