Battery box

[SKI367BHS]

Thought I'd share a mod I completed.
Under our bedroom and behind the pin box we have a storage compartment that I've used to store wood we haul to various sites, some tools and those marshmallow/hot-dog roasting sticks. In that compartment sits the single 12v deep cycle battery that leaves me cold while hunting as it NEVER runs the furnace all night. I've also worried that the wood might break the fragile OEM battery box and that box has never connected right due to the cables no matter how I tried. Yes' I could have cut reliefs in, but knew that the one battery wouldn't be my final set up.

So, I did some research on the batteries and just couldn't afford the L-ion batts so I opted for 2 of the 260 amp hr golf cart batteries. I ordered a battery box off of ebay as it was half the cost of the same one locally, and then ordered a master shut off switch. I've read enough posts here to know that the OEM shut off does not actually shut off the battery.
I looked at a lot of the switches but when looking at the amps they could deal with, I wanted some wiggle room in case I decide to add to this or eventually drop in the l-ion batteries.
I didn't like many of the shut off switches I was finding and again the ratings were not what I was looking for.
I also ordered a cheap meter to give me an idea of the charge percentage remaining instead of just the 4 led lights on the panel inside.
Once it all arrived I went to work.
I ripped the OEM battery box junk out and put a plate over the existing battery box hole. I then started modifying the new box to accept the switch and the little meter. When the shut off arrived it was a tad bigger than I thought and sat deeper in the box than I wanted. So, I improvised and used some trex decking as a spacer. This provided the room inside the box to clear the switch's posts and not rub on anything. It also gave some more surface area for the bolts to bite on than just the 1/8 plastic side of the box.
So the trex was painted and I drilled the holes to mount it to the box.
I cut the access for the little meter and then mocked it up in the compartment. After getting it where I liked it, drilled mounting holes through the bottom plate and used stainless hardware to mount it.
I cut some dense foam to take up the relief areas (holes) for other cables. I have two cable reliefs in the back that I'll add some to as well. I also have some sticky back foam to apply around the top edge so that when the lid is attached that way I'll have a somewhat sealed box.
I also ordered some little valves to fit in each cell of the battery to help me add water to each with a squeeze bulb. Those aren't here yet but I'll update this once they are installed.
Here are two pictures of the box. The painters tape is holding in the little meter while I seal it up.

I'll have to figure out during use, how the 4 led's and the meter line up but I can do that over time.
Now I'm hoping I'll be able to run the furnace all night while hunting and not kill my battery by discharging it too far.

[traveldawg]

Clever - putting a meter and a disconnect switch integrated into the battery boxes. Nice job.

[Ynot4me2]

Clever indeed. Can we see pics of inside the box also? Which meter and switch did you get?

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[SKI367BHS]

So here are the items I used, sorry, I should have posted them in that first post. I'll get some pics inside the box, Both batteries take up most of the room and there is about a inch around the side for cables and some room for the add in's.
Here is the link to the meter; https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is the link to the box; https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOCO-HM426-...72.m2749.l2649

Here is the link to the disconnect switch; https://www.waytekwire.com/item/4405...yABEgLeCvD_BwE

I found the boix locally, but it was around $130 and that is more than it should be. It's a good box but not that good. The box came with two lid knobs, and a battery strap.Free shipping and I had it in 3 days.
I feel much better about this set up than the OEM one I think the only draw back is getting the batteries in the box. You have to lift them a tad higher and within the cramped space it's not as smooth as dropping them into the cut out. Not bad, just not as convenient as the other. That said, the batteries are much better protected and not hanging below the deck. I'll post some inside pics later today.

[SKI367BHS]

I apologize for not posting a pic of the insides earlier. We ended up taking an unscheduled trip as my wife's vacation has been all messed up due to the lock down. Use it or lose it kind of a deal.
Here is the internal snap of the box.
I have a battery watering set up, so each cell will fill with the pump of a bulb, and the little white circles on the blue caps are a float to indicate when the cell is full.
It's tight, and will require some work to disassemble but I'm hoping to see that kind of maintenance as minimal.
I also forgot to mention that I cut a hole in the new box top and used some PVC to connect my existing vent hose. I used some plastic epoxy to weld the PVC to the box.

[Ynot4me2]

I apologize for not posting a pic of the insides earlier. We ended up taking an unscheduled trip as my wife's vacation has been all messed up due to the lock down. Use it or lose it kind of a deal.
Here is the internal snap of the box.
I have a battery watering set up, so each cell will fill with the pump of a bulb, and the little white circles on the blue caps are a float to indicate when the cell is full.
It's tight, and will require some work to disassemble but I'm hoping to see that kind of maintenance as minimal.
I also forgot to mention that I cut a hole in the new box top and used some PVC to connect my existing vent hose. I used some plastic epoxy to weld the PVC to the box.

Nice job, real nice. Love the battery watering setup.

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[JohnJCES]

Looks great, but how are you venting the battery box? I see the vent tube but just wondering how you attached it.

Thanks!

John

[SKI367BHS]

John.
So I left the existing vent and tubing on the trailer in place. The new box did not have a vent, so I drilled a 1 1/4 inch hole in the top and added a 2 inch section of 1 1/4 PVC for the tubing to attach to. I used a plastic epoxy to attach the PVC to the lid. The lid isn't a pure seal as there are reliefs in place for cables and a bit of an overhang but I wanted to give some of the fresh air and use the existing components.
Sean

[DaveMatthewsBand]

Thought I'd share a mod I completed.
Under our bedroom and behind the pin box we have a storage compartment that I've used to store wood we haul to various sites, some tools and those marshmallow/hot-dog roasting sticks. In that compartment sits the single 12v deep cycle battery that leaves me cold while hunting as it NEVER runs the furnace all night. I've also worried that the wood might break the fragile OEM battery box and that box has never connected right due to the cables no matter how I tried. Yes' I could have cut reliefs in, but knew that the one battery wouldn't be my final set up.

So, I did some research on the batteries and just couldn't afford the L-ion batts so I opted for 2 of the 260 amp hr golf cart batteries. I ordered a battery box off of ebay as it was half the cost of the same one locally, and then ordered a master shut off switch. I've read enough posts here to know that the OEM shut off does not actually shut off the battery.
I looked at a lot of the switches but when looking at the amps they could deal with, I wanted some wiggle room in case I decide to add to this or eventually drop in the l-ion batteries.
I didn't like many of the shut off switches I was finding and again the ratings were not what I was looking for.
I also ordered a cheap meter to give me an idea of the charge percentage remaining instead of just the 4 led lights on the panel inside.
Once it all arrived I went to work.
I ripped the OEM battery box junk out and put a plate over the existing battery box hole. I then started modifying the new box to accept the switch and the little meter. When the shut off arrived it was a tad bigger than I thought and sat deeper in the box than I wanted. So, I improvised and used some trex decking as a spacer. This provided the room inside the box to clear the switch's posts and not rub on anything. It also gave some more surface area for the bolts to bite on than just the 1/8 plastic side of the box.
So the trex was painted and I drilled the holes to mount it to the box.
I cut the access for the little meter and then mocked it up in the compartment. After getting it where I liked it, drilled mounting holes through the bottom plate and used stainless hardware to mount it.
I cut some dense foam to take up the relief areas (holes) for other cables. I have two cable reliefs in the back that I'll add some to as well. I also have some sticky back foam to apply around the top edge so that when the lid is attached that way I'll have a somewhat sealed box.
I also ordered some little valves to fit in each cell of the battery to help me add water to each with a squeeze bulb. Those aren't here yet but I'll update this once they are installed.
Here are two pictures of the box. The painters tape is holding in the little meter while I seal it up.

I'll have to figure out during use, how the 4 led's and the meter line up but I can do that over time.
Now I'm hoping I'll be able to run the furnace all night while hunting and not kill my battery by discharging it too far.

Sorry to play devil’s advocate but instead of spending the time and money on this, why not just replace the two lead-acid batteries with a single AGM (which is much cheaper than lithium) and would have resulted in zero maintenance and the exact same capacity?


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[SKI367BHS]

Play devils advocate all you want, it's how we learn and see things we might not have thought about.
I was looking for a way to pass some time during the lock down, and fix the OEM battery placement "hanging" below the deck. I also thought I'd try something different and I might be weird, but there is a certain level of user involvement I like. I don't mind the yearly wheel bearing repack, or battery maint, it gives me some hands on up close inspection time. I know what shape my RV is in then and don't have to worry about it.
I've been running AGM's in our other trailer and haven't had much luck with them. I've also run them in a generator shed (whole home version) and they seem to last about a year then give up the ghost.