Lighting and USB off car battery - not leisure battery

[abaron]

Hi all,

I have a 2004 2.0 HDi Berlingo with modutop.

So the idea is to tap into the wiring that goes to the two 12V sockets held within the overhead compartments. I'd like to run some 12V LEDs and 4x USB sockets along with a voltmeter, housed in various places in the back of the berlingo.

The main objective is to be able to draw some power to charge roughly 2x phones, a portable charger and run the LEDs for a couple of hours maximum. The obvious potential issue is the battery running flat, hence the voltmeter to keep an eye on things getting too low. I figure that with driving the car between overnight camps, I shouldn't run too low on battery capacity to get it fired up in the morning.

I know a leisure battery is the way to go, but with a relatively low consumption is this necessary?

My main questions are:
1) Has this been done, and is it a silly idea.
2) Will using the existing fuse that heads to the modutop sockets be sufficient? Should I add another?
3) Any foggiest of ideas whether the battery will be able to take it?

Thanks all, any comments or ideas are more than welcome.

[evdama]

Rig up a test harness and attach it to the battery terminals and monitor the drain down
If it seems ok then proceed with the installation.
A decent battery is a good foundation to start with.
Not sure about other types but B9 vans can accept larger batteries than the original equipment supplied so its worth checking if you could upgrade the capacity.

[Mark604]

My question is, will the wiring you're going to connect to be live with the ignition off?