Eagle HT battery aolution

DBuley · 03-08-2020, 01:53 PM

For those like me who feel Jayco dropped ball on battery containment, here is my solution. About 20 bucks in parts. Used 1/2 plywood cut to fit current enclosure. Marine battery trau from camco for 24 series battery. One nylon vent plate and cover. Drilled 2 inch hole in plywood to match that forward hole in frame. Painted and secured battery tray to wood, added vent... presto, battery secure and neat compared to that useless strap that came in camper. I have pic of what i came up with if anyone interested

TnHiker · 03-21-2020, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBuley

For those like me who feel Jayco dropped ball on battery containment, here is my solution. About 20 bucks in parts. Used 1/2 plywood cut to fit current enclosure. Marine battery trau from camco for 24 series battery. One nylon vent plate and cover. Drilled 2 inch hole in plywood to match that forward hole in frame. Painted and secured battery tray to wood, added vent... presto, battery secure and neat compared to that useless strap that came in camper. I have pic of what i came up with if anyone interested

I would like to see a pic of your mod. I have an HT and am not really that happy with my battery enclosure.

DBuley · 03-21-2020, 06:32 PM

Here is what I did....
Took top shelf out, removed those useless battery straps and brackets. Cut 1/2 inch plywood to fit then painted it black. Camco 24D battery tray with stainless steel hold down brackets. Plastic RV vent cover held in place with truss head 1/2 screws. I lined up vent cover to match that square hole in floor of that compartment so battery vapors still go out. Mounted battery tray as far forward towards that vent cover so I could mount another tray behind the current one should I need more battery power or add a solar solution. I plan on install handle to very front of that wood so that I can pull the whole tray out should I need to pull battery or do maintenance. Ran screws up from underneath through existing screw holes that had originally held the battery strap brackets so the wood floor is secured down and wont come loose.

Mcart5102 · 04-16-2020, 05:27 PM

How did you remove the shelf? I’m installing two 6 volt Trojan T-105 and that shelf is useless! Can’t get to top of batteries to make connections.
I like what you did, so I’m going to do the same thing.
Thank you.

DBuley · 04-17-2020, 08:14 AM

There are 4 self tapping screws holding my enclosure in place in bottom. Two more above on the front lip. Took them out and turned whole thing on its left side to remove from open bay. Them just drilled out all the rivets to take ahelf out. I have heard others who have found and used 12v batteries that have good storage capacity in lieu of running group of 6v batteries. I was looking this direction and that is why i left space for another tray in back in case we go that route for solar

DBuley · 04-17-2020, 08:15 AM

Btw, when i put enclosure back in, i used flat head 3/16 snowmobile track bolts instead of self tappers on the bottom.

Mcart5102 · 04-21-2020, 08:16 AM

OK I didn’t know the entire battery box could be removed. Did you have any trouble getting it out? And did you have to disconnect the wire tie down off the side of the box to get it out? Ant issues getting it back in? I originally thought you drilled out the rivets while everything was still in place..

Thanks,
Mark

DBuley · 04-21-2020, 08:27 AM

Nope, pulled the entire enclosure. It was simple. I disconnected res lead from that splitter on right side. I guess it is there if you run solar as i think charging controller comes into play. I then pulled red and black out of that hole and took out the 4 self tappers along bottom. There are two on top of enclosure that hold it to upper front of bay..... simple to get out as well. Turn in down on its side to left and whole thing came out..... less than 5 minutes to remove. Hardest part was drilling out rivets..... had to use vice grips to keep crappy rivets from turning whole drilling them out. I chose this route soci could reinstall that shelf down road if i ever felt it was useful. I originally bought a enclosed nylon battery box with vent hose.... going that route sucked as it was pain to get battery wired and actually held down so it didnt slide around in box as those cheap straps didnt help. Since jayco put that cutout on floor, i decided to keep it but put that cover over it to keep critters out. Then used that battery tray to aid in battery removal while having good tie down so nothing gets out of place. Still thinking about putting battery switch in place of that spliiter block as i found out that battery kill switch inside cargo bay does NOT kill power to entire camper as i thought it did.

klassic · 04-21-2020, 09:06 AM

My battery compartment was the same...useless.
I used to have 2 105’s in it, but there is no way of easily checking the water level. Almost impossible.

Here’s what I had...and what I have now.

DBuley · 04-21-2020, 09:18 AM

I like it. I thought about also putting slide out tray in there, we dont camp dry so i never needed the huge battery bank. My thought was similar to yours and get ride of metal enclosure all together and install tray if i ever did go that route. Given how more common solar is, i am surprised Jayco still not fully embrace all the rest of solution and simply stop once they run wire in coach. I realize many options for solar, but no matter what you choose, all require a battery bank for large capacity storage. That crappy metal enclosure even a poor solution for single battery let alone multiple ones..... maybe Jayco get it right in 2021 model

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