Battery relocation

[Decade]

I am planning to upgrade the batteries with a series of 6V Golf cart batteries.

Instead of building a box and put it at the A-frame, I am thinking to put these batteries under the U-Dinette. What do you think? Is that safe to do so? Any pro and con? Thanks.

[sennister]

Beyond the minor issue of moving around the weight the biggest problem I see is venting.

When batteries are charged they can release some nasty gasses and you wouldn't want to have that in the living quarters.

What hazardous gases are associated with lead acid battery charging stations? | GfG Instrumentation

[bankr63]

Ventilation would be my primary concern, unless you are planning to use fully sealed batteries like lithium. Even my "sealed" AGM car battery (mounted inside the passenger compartment) has a special venting system. Most batteries produce explosive gasses, and need to be well ventilated; perhaps if you add some exterior venting to the side of the trailer?

[mike837go]

Venting, rewiring the runs to the converter, tongue jack and the breakaway box.

Personally, I wouldn't want the gasses and acid inside my living space.

[Decade]

Thanks for the information. I will leave it outside.

[Marcm157]

Agree with the masses here. I would not want batteries on the interior of my camper.

[SICARIO]

I have the dual 6v on mine. I bought a single box sized for two batteries and welded up a frame to mount it. Works well:

[chrispitude]

Resurrecting an old thread...

I would not be afraid of putting AGM batteries in a living space. BMW puts their batteries in the passenger cabin, under a plastic cover in the trunk. I always thought they used some exotic venting system. Guess what? It's basically a piece of nylon vacuum tubing that goes through a grommet to under the car.

But putting regular old SLA batteries in a living space? Absolutely no way.

We haven't purchased our Jayco yet, but I'd really like to relocate the battery when I get it, and I'm wondering about the electrical and structural logistics.

[Scott91370]

Of course depending what trailer you have it may be slightly different than mine (19x).

Mine has a single lead from the battery to about midway down the left side a-frame then it splits into three wires. These three all go up through the seating with all of the trailer wiring (signals, and lighting). when I started working on the floor I realized the feed wire to from battery to this three way split was only a 14g at most. I changed it out for a 6g then put that into a circuit breaker. From there to a distribution block (both parts mainly used in stereo installs).
So depending on where you put the battery you may have to run a single long wire from battery to this three way junction.