Extra battery.

I have tried to search but no luck. Can anyone tell me how to wire an extra battery . The vehicle is a Series 3 with the battery under the front passenger seat.

Why do you need a second battery? What about a larger one instead?

I read somewhere that if you wanted to fit a winch it would be a good idea to have an extra battery in the circuit. I don't know the truth of this and the existing battery I have is a big one and given no trouble at all over the last 5 years. Not fitted winch yet, its still in its box.

A winch will flatten a battery in no time, even a big one.
Best off installing a second big battery and charging it separately so it doesn't impact the main engine battery.
B2B chargers are a good option in my opinion, or a voltage sensing relay

kermit_rr said:

A winch will flatten a battery in no time, even a big one.
Best off installing a second big battery and charging it separately so it doesn't impact the main engine battery.
B2B chargers are a good option in my opinion, or a voltage sensing relay

Click to expand...

Will investigate, thanks.

The simplest method is to fit a split charge relay. That way ancliaries such as a winch will not flatten your starter battery.
If you google split charge relay there should be plenty of info.

Rougharse Racing said:

The simplest method is to fit a split charge relay. That way ancliaries such as a winch will not flatten your starter battery.
If you google split charge relay there should be plenty of info.

Click to expand...

Thankyou.

Split charge relay, big fuse and a big manual switch. BUT. Unless you really really need it a winch weighs a lot and hardly gets used, and the 2nd battery weights a lot too. Look at the total KGs your are planning to add and where it is as it can mess the road manners up for little benefit. My preference is for a Tirfor. OK hard work (and more..) but you can recover in any direction and you can leave it at home if you are only going to the shops. The problem with all electric winches is that they don't work well underwater, also you may need to run the engine to keep the volts up but that's only possible if you are not about to roll over. Hand winches just work whatever. 800kg Tirfor and a snatch block should do most jobs.

rob1miles said:

Split charge relay, big fuse and a big manual switch. BUT. Unless you really really need it a winch weighs a lot and hardly gets used, and the 2nd battery weights a lot too. Look at the total KGs your are planning to add and where it is as it can mess the road manners up for little benefit. My preference is for a Tirfor. OK hard work (and more..) but you can recover in any direction and you can leave it at home if you are only going to the shops. The problem with all electric winches is that they don't work well underwater, also you may need to run the engine to keep the volts up but that's only possible if you are not about to roll over. Hand winches just work whatever. 800kg Tirfor and a snatch block should do most jobs.

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Yes that's food for thought. I will investigate Tirfor prices. Cheers.

better question: why do you want to fit a winch?

Just to clarify, the genuine Tirfor winches are steel, heavy and expensive but will last your lifetime. The aftermarket ones are are good, ally and about 1/3 the price. Also Tirfor use slightly odd wire sizes whereas the aftermarket ones use standard sizes which can save quite a lot if you need new rope. (Tirfor, an old English company now belong to the French, but lets not go there...). For a level recovery you need somewhere around 1/2 to 3/4 the vehicles weight, there are reasons why you may want more than the vehicle weight, (sticky mud) but then you are really saying "I'm happy to l load my vehicle up with 1/2 ton then lift it up by this ring" and put that way you may not feel so comfortable with 3T pull on it. I now think that 800 kg and a snatch block is the sweet spot, you are pulling up to 1600kg and carrying equipment that is manageable. I had a 1600kg Tirfor which is what a lot of off roaders recommend, but it was damn heavy, I sold it and got a 800 kg aftermarket one that weights about 1/3 as much. I have the wire rope in a Vespa tyre so that it and the snatch block fit inside the spare and the winch goes in a box between the dumb irons. Most of the time the winch is in the shed and the box is full of beach toys, and the BBQ is in the spare. But the BQQ and the beach toys get 20x the use that the winch does. (But very handy for getting old fence posts and tree roots out..)
This is the kind of thing:
https://www.liftinggear-shop.co.uk/...wWG-GRWD1OmJimZ4NIesAtAaskt5ggAsaAoorEALw_wcB

[QUOTE="rob1miles...
https://www.liftinggear-shop.co.uk/...wWG-GRWD1OmJimZ4NIesAtAaskt5ggAsaAoorEALw_wcB[/QUOTE]

I think you've just talked me out of buying a winch

gymmaniac said:

[QUOTE="rob1miles...
https://www.liftinggear-shop.co.uk/...wWG-GRWD1OmJimZ4NIesAtAaskt5ggAsaAoorEALw_wcB

Click to expand...

I think you've just talked me out of buying a winch [/QUOTE]
Don't be too hard on yourself!
We used to use a Milemaster hydraulic winch for recoveries on rallies etc, but that is heavy duty stuff!
However, we always carried a Tirfor and I have winched a Disco 2 (mine) up a 45 deg slope onto a trailer with one.
There are of course the detachable mobile electric winches you can carry and mount wherever you can put a mounting point. They have their place too.
Don't knock the use of snatch blocks and doubleing or more the length of the winch rope/wire, using them so a lower power winch can still pull a lot!
All good fun!

Agreed, no one on here is against you spending your money on bits for your Landy (we are all similarly afflicted) but you may get more bang for your buck with a hand winch and some other goodies that will get more use.