What I am wondering is can I fit a second battery, say in the boot? My alt's uprated to 120A and the new battery is 80A. Couldn't I hook another battery in parallel and so "never" run out of juice? Any thoughts? And how would I connect it, + to + and - (on the slave) to the body? I don't want to drill holes so was thinking of a seat anchor or something or would I just electrocute everyone?
wel, were you planning on having a two battery system to effectivly double your total amp/hrs or so you always have a carged battery to jump from.
First senareo, match your batterys, and your best finding a place in the engine bay (you may need to start moving stuff and thinking outside of the box. then connect the -ive to somthing like hefty, a massive bolt or engine mount or something connected to the block or chassis. the best place is exactly where the current -ive go's. Just remember you need to do a job as good, or even better than your existing -ive's earth point. when you crank your going to be pulling a metric s**t ton of juice through the joint so it has to be good.
As for the positives, just bridging straight to the existing battery would work, but................. if you totally drain both your batteries, by maybe using your headlight to light a skinnydipping adventure, then you suddenly going to be pulling twice the current from your alternator blowing a master fuse or melting/setting fire to something. this would be the case regardless of where you attach the +ive to. Best thing to do would be to buy a battery manager (available from most boating outlets) and plumb that in on the +ive side. this will manage the charge and drain from each battery.
Personally i'd just contact a battery specialist, as if you get a second 80ah battery, it would just be the same as buying a 160ah battery (which would probably be smaller than the size of 2 80's.
Second senario, Split relay charging. This on one hand will ensure one battery is always topped up, regardless of the state of the other. but, the one always charged will be the one you dont use for cranking. it would be a 'spare'. more of a super jump pack. if you do end up with a flat battery, just slam a positive across the second and flat batterys +ives and you away. alittle hard is its in the boot. Plus putting a SLA battery (Lead acid) battery inside a car may lead to smells and explosive gasses while charging.
the upside to a split relay charged battery is you could get funky and connect stuff to it that you want to use, but dont want to drain the main battery, ie rechargable torch, mini fridge, stereo main feed.
i'd just go for the bigger battery option. for less that a hundred quid you can get a device that txts you when the battery gets to a pre programmed voltage, ie 11.7 volts. giving you enough time to get to the car and take it for a drive.