Thread: Kea Conqueror - Fitting a 120AH AGM House Battery

Kea Conqueror - Fitting a 120AH AGM House Battery

My 2008 Kea Conqueror Pop Top Campervan is based on a 2008 VDJ78 Troop Carrier with a 4.5 litre V8 diesel.
The original batteries were two N70ZZ types at about 75-90 AH capacity at C20 (although manufacturers don’t rate starting batteries in AH).
As my frig is a Waeco CF80 with a BD50 compressor, I wanted to get two days and nights at least before the house battery approached low state of charge.

I looked for the largest capacity AGM battery which would fit into the present second battery carrier in the engine bay.
At conversion, Kea had used a Piranha BT70 series battery carrier tray in my vehicle for the second battery.
I found that I could fit a Ritar RA12-120SD battery (bought Dec 2012 for $285 at Wynnum Batteries Brisbane), but I had to modify the BT70 tray first. (this article was first written 12 months ago in its first iteration).

I cut off the tray front attaching metal strap with an angle grinder, then flattened the bottom front tray edge, and attached a new strap made from 3 x 25 mm steel.
The front strap still effectively locates and holds the battery, even with the flattened tray bottom.

I drilled holes in appropriate places to allow attaching the new 45 deg support strap to the tray at the bottom of the driver’s side front corner with 2 off M6 x 20 CSK screws and nylock nuts, and an 8mm clearance hole at the strap top, so as to use the original top attachment to the engine bay side wall threaded mount.

I also added an additional mount bolt and nylock nut (always use nylock nuts wherever possible) to the rear attachment “foot” of the carrier, which Kea did not originally use, as the new battery is quite a bit heavier than a N70ZZ type.

Battery tray P1130151.jpg

I discarded the original piece of plywood used in the tray bottom (never do this!) and I cut up a piece of polypropylene garden lattice (40mm squares) to use as a tray bottom spacer; this allows water in the bottom of the tray to dry out properly if wet.
The original plywood would never completely dry out, and allow the tray to rust.
I painted my modified tray with Silvafros (aluminium rich paint).

I modified a standard battery hold down top clamp and threaded rods to suit my application, and used nylock nuts.
I positioned two small pieces of tough 6mm thick plastic sheet to act as side spacers between the battery and tray bottom sides to reduce battery movement.

Battery tray 2 P1130158.jpg

I additionally used two 175mm long pieces of 25x25x1.5mm aluminium angle at the passenger side corners of the battery, in a vertical sense, as a wear strip for the battery case against the tray angled supports.

I now also use a 25mm wide fabric ratchet fastened strap around the battery and tray as an additional hold down restraint, mostly for the unforeseen situation if the standard hold down clamp has problems on the road.

When you are bolting your carrier into the vehicle, make very sure that it can survive vibrations from endless klm of corrugated road.

This 120 AH AGM battery is quite heavy at 32Kgm, and lifting the battery into position is quite a task, as it just fits in, and at an awkward angle, and, there is really only room for one person.
Add temporary protective covers over the fender to avoid vehicle damage whilst fitting the battery.

I find that using a temporary step, of the size of an old milk crate, placed next to the vehicle passenger side to stand on whilst lifting then lowering the battery into position helps immensely, especially when you are as old as I am.

Caution with the closing of the hood that it doesn’t touch any of your battery terminals and fittings, and has plenty of clearance.


Battery tray P1130162 lo.jpg

(My battery has a current shunt directly attached to the rear of the positive terminal, which is why my photo shows “something” attached. That is another story).

Next we just have to state that, yes, we are mixing two battery types, and we know about …
I just don’t worry about this.
There are all kinds of factors and consequences here, which for me all add up to possibly a reduced battery life for one or both batteries. Travelling around in a 4WD like this, and the associated vehicle and travel costs, makes battery replacement costs seem low in comparison.
The engine bay heat will probably affect the AGM battery life a little anyway.

Hopefully of interest to someone,
Cheerio, Mike