Battery box filled with water

[Bob in Mass]

Another owner posted that the battery box was found full of water, I found mine that way, too. I don't have a battery switch, I just pull the fuse to keep the battery from over charging. With in 2 weeks, with rain, the box was flooded. Fortunately the battery top was above the top of the box.

Drilled drainage holes, no more floods.

I noticed when I removed the battery from the box that the wire ends had ring connectors that were way too big for the battery screw terminals. Not very good connections. They work, but just not the right way to do things.

All the wiring on the tongue leaves much to be desired. A small project when we get home.

Bob

[firefighter]

Bob, drilling the holes were the right thing to do. If you look ar you battery you will see that one post (i think the positive) is larger. One is made larger so you don't mix them up. The company probably orders one size and uses them on all wires, and you are right, not very good connections.

[RoyBraddy]

Finding water in the battery case always scared me i was boiling out battery fluids - I use to really have to keep a close watch on the batteries when i just had the single mode converter/charger going. Now since I added the smart-mode charging system I don't have to check as often.

Most all of the "deep cycle" batteries I have run into uses the same battery terminal size on either the POSITIVE or NEGATIVE terminals posts. The automotive world START batteries seem to have the POSITIVE Terminal larger than the NEGATIVE TERMINAL.

You also cant depend on the battery cable wire colors to be consistent as well in the RV world. The RV WORLD colors for trailer wiring is BLACK is positive (+) and WHITE is negative (-). In the AUTOMOTIVE WORLD RED was always positive (+) and BLACK was frame ground (-). You will find these two different combination of battery cable colors used in the RV battery installs.

What I do to keep from reversing the connections is to make a mental note of the battery case stamped "NEG" or "-" symbol and make sure this is the battery terminal that goes to the trailer FRAME GROUND regardless of what color the battery cable is.. Just a quick mistakes and one little spark will usually blow the IN-LINE fuse installed real close to the battery install area and also the fuse or fuses(s) in the Power Distribution Center marked "REV POLARITY" or something like that. It was important for me to mark the terminal with a RED DOT using fingernail polish for the one that goes to the POSITIVE terminal.

[clutch]

Battery boxes do two things. They allow unwanted gasses to escape and they let water enter through the vents. Drill a small hole in the bottom so the water can drip out. If your battery is "boiling over chances are that you will not see it. It will be in the form of fumes.

[Fred Korz]

1/4" drill bit, pistol drill, 1 hole near each corner of the box (in bottom).
Problem solved.

[spindrift19]

I found the same thing as I was tracking down the blown inline fuse for my electric jack. I drilled the holes and have had no other issues. In looking for the fuse I realized that Jayco used an interior, unsealed household junction box for all the trailer wires. Looking inside I found simple wire nuts and electrical tape, no waterproof connections. I ordered a waterproof trailer junction box, put on the proper terminal fittings, and used waterproof connections on any connections outside that box, plus I put the wires into those black plastic tubes (don't remember what it's called) to further protect everything. It took a few hours, but it's finally the way it should have been coming from the factory.

[Jagiven]

luckily our dealer did a good job, with our battery box. When they installed it, they drilled weep holes. They also secured the box to the steel frame underneath, so there is no accidental loss from the cheap strap failure.