new leisure battery in Duo Hylo

[gill]

Hi Ant,
My lovely 1998 Duo hasn't got a leisure battery (nor EHU, but i'm not bothered about that) and I have recently been to a very reputable garage who say they need at least a day (at £65 per hour plus vat) to go all through the wiring to familiarise themselves in order properly to do the job - fitting the new battery under the passenger seat. At the same time, they will try to make the 12v fridge work - it only works on gas at the moment. Peering under the bonnet the chap remarked on two relays near the vehicle battery. He knew one is for the fridge but is unsure what the other serves. I downloaded the C15 manual from our website - the nearest I could get to a duo manual - which has a wiring diagram but no colours and which according to the garage man is not very helpful just in black and white! Anyhow, by my calculations the whole procedure will cost at least £600, possibly more. Do you think this is over the top? Perhaps it would be better not to have a leisure battery as I never stay in one place longer than two days and always drive the van every day so the vehicle battery might suffice. I also carry a Rolson 3 in 1 Quickstart which I keep charged in case I have a flat vehicle battery at any time. Incidentally the vehicle batt. is ah 20 hours 72 amp.
Any advice or guidance you could give me would be helpful. (I live in Gwynedd where auto electrical engineers are scarce. The garage I am talking about is 40 miles away from me!)

[ant]

Hi Gill.
£600 is about 6 times what it should cost to fit a 2nd battery to a Duo. The two relays you mention, one ( with the yellow wire coming from it) is for the fridge, the other (with heavy reds) is the split charging relay for a 2nd battery. Romahome nearly always ran the loom for a 2nd battery as it nearly always got fitted from new. I suspect, if you rummage around under the passenger seat under the carpet you'll find the battery leads coiled up waiting., if not both certainly the positive lead. The negative was just bolted to the chassis under the seat. All you will then need to do is swap the feed going to the fuses next to the battery so that the 2nd battery wire coming from the relay feeds the lights etc, remembering to leave the fridge wire connected to the 1st battery via its relay. I recon a competent auto electrican could sort it in not much more than an hour so even at £65/hr ( must put my rates up!) plus the cost of an 85 amp/hr leisure battery ( about £50) a total bill of £120 + vat would more than cover it. I suspect once you give your man this infomation he'll be less spooked by the job and quote a true price rather than one that covers all possible outcomes.
Ant

[gill]

Hi Ant,
Thanks so much for your help.
Gill.

[Graham]

Hi Gill

Alternatively you could take your van to Ant who you can trust to do a brilliant job at a fair price, have a nice nights camping, (there is a campsite just up the road), a meal out and still be well under £600. (p.s. I'm not related to Ant, just a satisfied customer).

Graham

[gill]

Hi Graham,
You are right. I've been thinking about asking Ant to do it. OK, Bristol is a fair hop from the Llŷn peninsula - where I live - but perhaps... Anyhow, I'm very grateful to Ant and to you for the support .