Connecting leisure battery to starter battery

[ADW74]

Hello, I am converting a a 2015 Vauxhall movano and

trying to connect to the starter battery which is hidden beneath 'stuff'. However there looks to be some sort of electrical connection point outside of the battery cover and I'm wondering if I can connect to that rather than removing all the stuff to access the actual battery terminals themselves.

 

I'm very much a novice with vehicle electrics.

 

Any help or advice would be much appreciated

[Alanb]

The term "stuff" is not very descriptive, and most of the knowledge available on this forum will relate to the Fiat Ducato range, as it is probably the most common base vehicle.

 

It may help if you could confirm that the "stuff" is something like the battery mounted fusebox shown in the photograph attached to the recent thread entitled "ducato 2.3 battery".

 

The electrical connector to which you refer could be a "convertor connection point" provided by Vauxhall, but its suitability for your intended use would have to be checked, also you would need a matching connector.

 

In general you should not need to connect directly to the starter battery +ve post, and any such connection must be fused as close to the battery as practicable.

 

Please excuse the capitals but this is important basic safety. DISCONNECT THE BATTERY NEGATIVE BEFORE CARRYING OUT ANY WORK.

 

May I suggest that you l you study this web page provided by aandncaravan.

 

Alan

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

ADW74

 

The Opel/Vauxhall Movano, Renault Master and Nissan NV400 are (essentially) triplets (rather like the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer and Citron Relay/Jumper).

 

Replacing the starter-battery of a 2015 Movano is covered in this recent YouTube video

 

 

and it will be apparent that (like 2006-onwards Ducatos/Boxers/Relays) there’s a lot of ‘stuff’ above the battery’s positive terminal.

 

There’s a 2015 Movano Owner’s Manual here

 

https://www.opel.ie/content/dam/opel/ireland/owners/manuals/pdf/movano/om_movano_kta-2683_9-en_eu_my16_ed0615_16_en_gb.pdf

 

that mentions (the now commonplace) jump-start connections in the vehicle’s engine compartment, but I’m doubtful that this is the "electrical connection point outside of the battery cover” that you’ve referred to.

 

I’ve no hands-on experience of Movano but (as Alanb has advised) you’d need to be very careful attempting to use an external connector without knowing what it is intended for or how suitable it is for what you want to do. (Presumably, despite being a novice with vehicle electrics, you are comfortable with your leisure-battery-related connection plan?)

 

If you don’t get a black-or-white answer here regarding the electrical connection point, I suggest you ask about it on the Movano/Vivaro forum

 

https://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/index.php?forums/movano-and-vivaro-including-renault-nissan-derivatives-commercial-vehicles-owners-forum.174/

 

and - if you haven’t already joined - you should be able to get advice about the electrical side of your conversion task from the forum of the Self Build Motor Caravanners Club

 

https://sbmcc.co.uk/

 

[Alanb]

ADW74,

 

On following the youtube link provided by Derek, I have been able to see that the "stuff" on top of the battery is a battery fuse box, and associated cables. (I agree that access seems to be poor. In the video it seemed as though at one stage there were three people involved in the battery change.) Unfortunately it seems that Vauxhall have not included details of these fuses in their owners manual. I have not counted the fuses but I would expect to find a "Midi" fuse for each of the other fuseboards, perhaps a "Mega" fuse for the alternator, and an even larger "CAL" fuse for the starter motor

 

You have mentioned an electrical connector external to the battery box. If this is suitable for your proposed connection, I would expect it to be connected to a dedicated Midi fuse in the above battery fusebox. Is it possible to trace the wiring? If the connector has been retrofitted and tapped onto an existing fuse, I would avoid using it. The alternative would be to connect to the battery side of one of the fuses in the battery fusebox, and install a 50A fuse in close proximity.

 

 

Alan

[Derek Uzzell]

The following link

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvk48WmX-tB1PXb3JaAcSjg

 

includes the entry "Vauxhall Movano Camper Van Conversion - Full Build Series” and one of the videos is titled “Installing the split charge kit - Vauxhall Movano Camper Van Build"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqVWofHsX3U

 

1.25 minutes into that video is shown how access to the vehicle’s starter-battery is gained but, in this instance, the battery is housed in a lidded compartment in the cab’s floor (similar to how the starter-battery is located in a 2006-onwards Ducato/Boxer/Relay) rather than as shown in the link I provided in my posting of 7 June 2019 7:41 AM above. The extra cable was connected to the starter-battery’s positive-terminal clamp and led from the battery compartment through a cutaway in the compartment’s metal lid.

 

Just to further complicate matters, I now notice that ADW74 asked about this on Tuesday May 4 on the VxON forum

 

https://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/index.php?threads/connecting-leisure-battery.863617/

 

saying

 

I am attempting a conversion on my Movano 2015 mwb and now trying to connect leisure battery to starter battery. I thought this was going to be the easy bit but lifting the bonnet the battery is covered up with other 'stuff', but there appears to be an electrical terminal box on the side of the battery cover. Is this where I should attach my leisure battery positive lead or do I have to remove the 'stuff' and find and connect to the actual battery terminals.

 

So, if ADW74’s Movano’s starter-battery is actually located under the bonnet, neither of the YouTube videos will directly apply.

 

(My experience is that it’s normally straightforward to attach an extra cable to a starter-battery’s terminal clamp without needing to remove any ’stuff’ that’s above the terminal. That’s what was done in the split-charge relay video and would have been practicable in the battery-replacing video. I had little difficulty attaching cables to the terminal clamps of my Ducato's starter-battery to allow me to connect a battery-charger to it without first having to remove the carpet and lid above the in-cab-floor battery compartment.)