Battery relocation

Battery to boot (or indeed anywhere else!)

Why would you want to move it anyway?

Well there are some good reasons. It is heavy, it is infront of the front axles and it is fairly high up. Also it is fairly large and you might want the room for other engine bay items, such as large air filters etc.

OK so you want to move it. Where to put it? Well ideally not in the passenger compartment. It contains sulphuric acid, and gives off hydrogen when it is charged so all in all it is best kept as far away as possible from people. Wherever you put it, it needs to be in a box, with a vent/drain to atmosphere under the car (a drain incase acid leaks out). It also needs to be very well secured as it is very heavy and you don’t want it moving anywhere in an accident. OK so now you have it bolted down securely in a box which is vented under the car what to do with the wiring. Well this is the most important part and makes the difference between your hardwork being worthwhile and your pride and joy burning to a crisp, and that is no exaggeration!

The first debate is whether to fuse the new power lead or not. Many will say you must, many will say it is fine without. Both are valid answers. If it were me I’d add a fuse to it as a safety feature, however it can be safely done without adding a fuse, indeed many cars have such a setup as standard.

The two things that are vital is that the cable is of sufficient thickness, as it has to carry enormous currents when starting the vehicle (hundreds of amps), and that the cable is secured and fixed so that it cannot chafe or rub on anything that may cause a short circuit. If a short occurs and no fuse is present the battery is quite capable of delivering such high current levels that it can cause a fire to develop, (hence why I recommend a fuse as an extra safety feature).