Battery Box Project

[Jmooney]

The other day I asked about expanding the number of batteries in my array, and what folks had done to expand the battery boxes and necessary vents.

My new 2014 5th wheel came with two separate 12v batteries, each within its own box, vented through 2 ports in the front wall.



The batteries are brand new, so I'm going to pass on converting to 6 volt arrays, and simply add 2 more 12v batteries in parallel.

I was hoping to find a pre-built battery box large enough for them, but short of finding anything on line, I took to the hardware store and bought some supplies.

(1) large plastic utility box (30L x20W x14H), complete with snap down lid. Its a pretty sturdy box with a 500 lb capacity. ($18.00)

(5) 1 1/2 inch plastic pipe fittings, threaded on one end along with corresponding retaining nuts from the electrical isle (5 x $3.99)

(1 ft) of 1.25 inch hose. ($2)

Using 1 7/8" Hole Saw, I cut 2 holes in the lid, 2 holes in the sides of the box ( 1 at each opposite end for wiring to enter/exit through and 1 in the back center of the box, down low to act as an air intake.

Mounted fittings into each hole.



For the two vents on the top of the box, I added about 6 inched of "stub" hose ( 1 1/4"), so that the original black vent hose that was already in place, can simply slide down over the top of the stub with a snug fit, allowing a quick method to disconnect when you want to service the battery array.





Project cost $40.

Now off to buy 2 more batteries and replace the exisitng single battery boxes.

(PS: Two slighly used SINGLE battery boxes for sale)

[muelldawg]

Well Done!

[rotjovi2269]

Pictures when it's done please!! Nice work so far. Have a brand name for the utility box you bought?

[RoyBraddy]

Sounds like a good plan....

My fifth wheel has this somewhat recessed area just inside the front storage door. This area is already open to the bottom for overflow battery fluids and allows for venting. I always wanted to do something like this one guy did with two groups of two each GC2 6VDC batteries in series. this would give him around 450AHs battery capacity... He built a wooden box that sit down into this recessed area to house the batteries.


Then he covered this long box area with this lid arrangement... The batteries were almost out of sight...

Photos from google search...

Looked like a neat way to utilize four each GC2 golf cart 6VDC batteries...

Roy Ken

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by muelldawg

Well Done!

X2

Bob

[Jmooney]

[QUOTE=Jmooney;175766]The other day I asked about expanding the number of batteries in my array, and what folks had done to expand the battery boxes and necessary vents.

My new 2014 5th wheel came with two separate 12v batteries, each within its own box, vented through 2 ports in the front wall.

Attachment 11411



The batteries are brand new, so I'm going to pass on converting to 6 volt arrays, and simply add 2 more 12v batteries in parallel.

I was hoping to find a pre-built battery box large enough for them, but short of finding anything on line, I took to the hardware store and bought some supplies.

(1) large plastic utility box (30L x20W x14H), complete with snap down lid. Its a pretty sturdy box with a 500 lb capacity. ($18.00)

(5) 1 1/2 inch plastic pipe fittings, threaded on one end along with corresponding retaining nuts from the electrical isle (5 x $3.99)

(1 ft) of 1.25 inch hose. ($2)

Using 1 7/8" Hole Saw, I cut 2 holes in the lid, 2 holes in the sides of the box ( 1 at each opposite end for wiring to enter/exit through and 1 in the back center of the box, down low to act as an air intake.

Mounted fittings into each hole.



For the two vents on the top of the box, I added about 6 inched of "stub" hose ( 1 1/4"), so that the original black vent hose that was already in place, can simply slide down over the top of the stub with a snug fit, allowing a quick method to disconnect when you want to service the battery array.


Attachment 11409
Attachment 11410

Project cost $40.

Now off to buy 2 more batteries and replace the exisitng single battery boxes.


Wired up and installed



In photo # 2, you can see the new battery box in pace, with lid on, and the exisitng vent hoses tapped onto the "stubs" that were cut through the lid.