StarEcho
Well-known member
I've been working on a battery box for underneath the bed in my trailer for at least 6 months off an on, mostly in the planning stages. So now I finally got my butt in gear and got most of the items I needed to make the box the way it would work best for me. At least I thought.
Now I know that there is the issue of offgassing when the batteries are being charged. I think the bed seals itself pretty well to the bed frame and under the bed is the storage opening to the outside of the trailer, so there is plenty of ventilation. I still wanted to make some type of compartment for my 4x6v golf cart batteries and organize my wiring so I can fix things more easily.
So this is what I've had for the past 8 months or so:
[img=800x450]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/s...x53e2nHfTiCfF5wGCjovPuyy3=w1202-h676-no[/img]
that board dividing the batteries from the rest of the compartment is just a freestanding board that seems to work ok, but it was never meant to be permanent.
So I decided to use a tough plastic tote for my box mainly because of finances.
[img=500x889]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/T...culZxMrZ4BcNI6JVDM9qUg2f4X=w381-h676-no[/img]
Here's what it looks like with the batteries in it:
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/T...OokbEACryxYeaAF4-92KHg9wc=w1202-h676-no[/img]
I drilled a hole in the front of the trailer and put one of the battery box vents on it, attached the hose to the other side of the white pvc pipe piece you see on the top right of the picture. The smaller tube goes to the bottom of the box, with my theory being that air would be heavier and go down to the bottom of the box to circulate around the batteries with the hydrogen and whatnot being heaver and flowing out the vent.
The bolts you see on the front of the box are the firewall bolts so that I only need to connect the battery wires inside the box and then one set to the inside of those firewall bolts and then everything else will attach to the outside set of firewall bolts. The basic goal is to have everything that I need to access or might want to access on the outside of the box. I set up a battery watering system to fulfill that wish as well.
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/M...ejjQuEz52FMSjcbH5aFyGPVaj=w1202-h676-no[/img]
The tubing runs out the right side of the box ----
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/X...eoakWqJLTSx_RCSoOp0wWa_-J=w1202-h676-no[/img]
And through the grommet. I plan to put some sealant where I didn't get a perfect fit.
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/W...VqwJ6vC0LJ_EbOfViUxBTggfc=w1202-h676-no[/img]
Ok, so what's the problem? Where is the question? LOL Well, in all my planning, I didn't take into account the wires from the inverter and trailer to the battery box. They fit perfectly where the batteries were located before, but where I put the firewall bolts is about 2-3 ft or so farther away.
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/U...0NWVAJ-LAlFT7z09C3ZNDFnFw=w1202-h676-no[/img]
First of all, I had help before -- ok, friends from the winter did it for me-- Kirk cut the trailer wire to fit and added the lug nuts. I don't understand why the inverter positive wire is doubled?
[img=400x712]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/v...PkgUfF59ZvcYTQB9Ibvl3no3WT=w381-h676-no[/img]
I'm not sure what to do now, other than some type of connector. 1 ) Cut the lug nuts off, put the trailer wires into positive and negative bussbars and then another stretch of wire to go from the bussbars to the firewall bolts? I don't have any tools to put lug nuts on wire that big.
2) Why is the inverter positive wire doubled? If there is such a solution as I've guessed above, how do I deal with that?
I do have a fuse on the outside of the trailer for those trailer wires. And I got a fuse panel for all my internal 12 volt stuff. The wires from the charge controller are long enough I believe and if they are not I know how to handle them.
2) I'm also toying with the idea of cutting a hole in the side of the plastic box and putting that computer fan in there and wiring it to my solar panel "load" inputs so that it only runs dawn to dusk (while the batteries are being charged) Is that necessary? I'm worried that since I'm trying to make it airtight so that doesn't leak fumes, that will also do away with a lot of the natural ventilation of an rv storage bay. Or will the ventilation tube be enough for that?
Ok, fire away. Just please lets go with the assumption that I'm not overly worried about outgassing but more want this to add a measure of orderliness and ease of access to my setup. On the other hand if you see anything that is absolutely horribly wrong please tell me.
Thanks for the help.
Now I know that there is the issue of offgassing when the batteries are being charged. I think the bed seals itself pretty well to the bed frame and under the bed is the storage opening to the outside of the trailer, so there is plenty of ventilation. I still wanted to make some type of compartment for my 4x6v golf cart batteries and organize my wiring so I can fix things more easily.
So this is what I've had for the past 8 months or so:
[img=800x450]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/s...x53e2nHfTiCfF5wGCjovPuyy3=w1202-h676-no[/img]
that board dividing the batteries from the rest of the compartment is just a freestanding board that seems to work ok, but it was never meant to be permanent.
So I decided to use a tough plastic tote for my box mainly because of finances.
[img=500x889]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/T...culZxMrZ4BcNI6JVDM9qUg2f4X=w381-h676-no[/img]
Here's what it looks like with the batteries in it:
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/T...OokbEACryxYeaAF4-92KHg9wc=w1202-h676-no[/img]
I drilled a hole in the front of the trailer and put one of the battery box vents on it, attached the hose to the other side of the white pvc pipe piece you see on the top right of the picture. The smaller tube goes to the bottom of the box, with my theory being that air would be heavier and go down to the bottom of the box to circulate around the batteries with the hydrogen and whatnot being heaver and flowing out the vent.
The bolts you see on the front of the box are the firewall bolts so that I only need to connect the battery wires inside the box and then one set to the inside of those firewall bolts and then everything else will attach to the outside set of firewall bolts. The basic goal is to have everything that I need to access or might want to access on the outside of the box. I set up a battery watering system to fulfill that wish as well.
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/M...ejjQuEz52FMSjcbH5aFyGPVaj=w1202-h676-no[/img]
The tubing runs out the right side of the box ----
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/X...eoakWqJLTSx_RCSoOp0wWa_-J=w1202-h676-no[/img]
And through the grommet. I plan to put some sealant where I didn't get a perfect fit.
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/W...VqwJ6vC0LJ_EbOfViUxBTggfc=w1202-h676-no[/img]
Ok, so what's the problem? Where is the question? LOL Well, in all my planning, I didn't take into account the wires from the inverter and trailer to the battery box. They fit perfectly where the batteries were located before, but where I put the firewall bolts is about 2-3 ft or so farther away.
[img=600x337]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/U...0NWVAJ-LAlFT7z09C3ZNDFnFw=w1202-h676-no[/img]
First of all, I had help before -- ok, friends from the winter did it for me-- Kirk cut the trailer wire to fit and added the lug nuts. I don't understand why the inverter positive wire is doubled?
[img=400x712]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/v...PkgUfF59ZvcYTQB9Ibvl3no3WT=w381-h676-no[/img]
I'm not sure what to do now, other than some type of connector. 1 ) Cut the lug nuts off, put the trailer wires into positive and negative bussbars and then another stretch of wire to go from the bussbars to the firewall bolts? I don't have any tools to put lug nuts on wire that big.
2) Why is the inverter positive wire doubled? If there is such a solution as I've guessed above, how do I deal with that?
I do have a fuse on the outside of the trailer for those trailer wires. And I got a fuse panel for all my internal 12 volt stuff. The wires from the charge controller are long enough I believe and if they are not I know how to handle them.
2) I'm also toying with the idea of cutting a hole in the side of the plastic box and putting that computer fan in there and wiring it to my solar panel "load" inputs so that it only runs dawn to dusk (while the batteries are being charged) Is that necessary? I'm worried that since I'm trying to make it airtight so that doesn't leak fumes, that will also do away with a lot of the natural ventilation of an rv storage bay. Or will the ventilation tube be enough for that?
Ok, fire away. Just please lets go with the assumption that I'm not overly worried about outgassing but more want this to add a measure of orderliness and ease of access to my setup. On the other hand if you see anything that is absolutely horribly wrong please tell me.
Thanks for the help.