Battery Horizontal, or vertical?

[Yawppy]

This last week, apparently my bracing for my Walmart Everstart 12V battery broke, sealed top, (so leakage should not pose an issue), and the battery shifted, and broke the cables off the post. Now am repairing this and am contemplating laying the battery on it's side, rather than the normal vertical way .

My guess is a 50/50 shot it (will /will) not perform on it's side, then I wonder of safety , which I do not see any issues, but as I look at the space, I could vertically mount it, just not sure of mounting it to prevent this issue in the future, as in the space I have it it would be great to have the posts facing out. ( Its a conversion high top, the area where the tv vcrs are mounted) as once it is closed access is very limited, and removing the panel covering is at times inconvenient.

I have looked around a bit, but it is not the normal question as most times the battery is stored vertically rather than horizontally. I am just looking for any performance or safety issues. Like if it is not placed vertically, will it charge normally, will it discharge properly. Are these designed to be vertically placed for a reason, right? I really can not say I have seen them ever placed horizontal. 

TY Look forward to any thoughts on this subject.

 

[BradKW]

AGM and Gel batteries can be mounted on their sides with no problems, but should not be mounted upside down.

However, I'm not sure that a Walmart SLA (sealed lead acid) falls into those categories and might well kill the battery if mounted sideways...

 

[LeeRevell]

You have a lead acid battery mounted above your head.....?
I have seen these batteries crack and leak. Nuff said.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

If the battery contains LIQUID electrolyte (acid) I would not mount it any way but vertical.  There has to be some pressure relief valve to let excess gas escape even from a sealed battery, and I don't know if it would leak if in contact with liquid acid.  More importantly, if liquid is blocking the valve, either excessive pressure CAN'T escape, or it will FORCE battery acid out of the valve.

As others have said, AGM and Gel batteries are fine on their side.

 

[ArtW]

Do not mount liquid acid batteries on their sides, the battery could leak, for one, and the liquid won't properly cover the plates, reducing the batteries capacity and damaging it

 

[highdesertranger]

what type of battery is it? got a link? highdesertranger

 

[Yawppy]

You have a lead acid battery mounted above your head.....?
I have seen these batteries crack and leak.  Nuff said.

Yes the battery is mounted in the overhead area of the usual tv vcr area, the original roof is there and it is centered between center line of van, braced etc.

Do not mount liquid acid batteries on their sides, the battery could leak, for one, and the liquid won't properly cover the plates, reducing the batteries capacity and damaging it

It is the usual Wal-mart 12v battery everstart, figured the plates would be negativly affected, so keeping it vertical, may look into these Gel batteries, later on down the road.

 

[MrNoodly]

I don't think it's a great idea to have the weight of a battery high in a vehicle. The more weight you have at the top of the vehicle, the more it will sway, and the longer it will take to recover from swaying. That also means objects near the top move back and forth farther and faster than objects down near the suspension. That increased movement and speed puts greater loads on whatever you use to hold that mass in place. If you beef up the mounting system to compensate for the greater loads, you're adding more weight, which just increases the problem. It would be better to find a way to secure the battery closer to the floor.

 

[SternWake]

Marketing wins again.
A sealed flooded'maintenance free' lead acid battery must use a higher percentage of calcium in the plates which reduces water loss when charging. The battery should fail long before it ever requires watering.

These make for HORRIBLE batteries in deep cycle applications, and require higher charging voltages when they are cycled.

Maintenance free calcium calcium batteries make for good starting batteries, on vehicles whose owners will say
" change it to what?"
when asked when they last changed their oil.

Do not put a maintenance free flooded battery on its side, and I would say to avoid such a battery all together for anything but a vehicle starting battery. In fact the only time I would use such a battery is when the vehicle came with such a battery in the first place.

If Wally world is throwing a Marine/RV/trolling/Deep cycle sticker on maintenance free flooded batteries, this is just an example of how horribly wrong marketing has become in the quest for maximum profit at the expense of the consumer.

 

[GotSmart]

Any vehicle design is best when the majority of the weight is low.  Mounting a battery overhead is asking for trouble.  That is a flying 60 lb (each) acid filled mass heading for whatever is the most expensive item... 

I have my batteries mounted IN the floor.  The effects of wind on vehicle sway is bad enough without loading an extra 240 lbs 8 feet above the ground.

The reason the battery broke lose is simple.  A battery on the floor of the van is subject to the same cintrivugal forces as everything else.  The higher the item, the more force it is subjected to from swaying.  It also contributes its weight to the exosting forces, magnifying them.

I used to work construction.  A 1,500 lb load of cement in the back of a pickup truck is easy to allow for in driving and breaking.  The same 1,500 lbs in lumber on a rack causes the truck to sway and handle like a boat on a rough sea. Step on the gas and it lifts the front end.  Step on the brake and the front drastically dips. 

Center of gravity is critical.

 

[galladanb]

Here's a thought for ya...

My van sits tail high, a lot... And I usually park it nose low in the driveway, like backed in, so I can work on it...

Do I need to worry about the cells being tilted to the forward edges? I'm not sure how to measure the tilt, but it looks like a lot.

Looking into the cells, they don't seem to be having an issue?

Your thoughts?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Trojan says 22º  http://www.trojanbattery.com/tech-support/faq/  question #3

If you have a smartphone, it will have an inline gauge; it is with the compass on the iPhone.

 -- Spiff

 

[SternWake]

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/flooded_battery_orientation

 

[GypsyDogs]

My 3 worries are:
a- weight is far too highly mounted.
b- leaking acid bomb over the driver's head.. bad idea
c- aren't high tops generally fiberglass? Wouldn't that make the battery a Missile flying through the front or side during a wreck or really hard stop??

all are bad ideas.