BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Fred Brooks on May 02, 2020, 05:10:58 PM
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Looking for best location on 2005 Thunder to add 2 more Trojan 6volt deep cycle house batteries. Trying to stay away from the engine compartment because of the heat unless wrapping them in 1" styrofoam is an option. Not sure of any locations close to exising house batteries, Maybe Mike Shumack has some ideas. Thanks for some ideas. Fred
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I am not sure what the layout is on that MH, but if it is like my 1998 Patriot and the batteries are all on a slide in one compartment you could possibly move the Chassis batteries to new location closer to the engine and put more 6 volt batteries in their place.
That is what I am considering "IF" I decide to add more house batteries. That way I could still get easy access to the house batteries to check the water levels, and the Chassis batteries being sealed would not need to be accessed as often.
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There is not a lot of unused space on the '05 PT (besides the storage compartments which are too far from the engine area. IMO). In the rear curbside compartment where batteries are located, there is space available if you dont mind adding some framing/flooring above the muffler. That is where I mounted the hyd pump and tank for my HyrdaLift (motorcycle carrier).
The heat from the muffler is not an issue. The fuel filter is closer to the muffler than your batteries will be. And I (you will) have a metal floor or shelf above the muffler. That is the location where I would move the chassis batteries to.
In the fist picture - that shows the stock setup.
The second photo shows the new framing and shelf where the hyd pump/tank is now mounted.
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Thanks Mike, Very professional installation. Definitely what I was looking for and in my "wheel house" to fabricate. I'm trying to help a friend who wants to spend more time off the grid but has a Samsung RF-18. We are going with 700 watts worth of panels and a 60amp MPPT contoller. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks again, Fred
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Maybe move the chassis batteries to the new 2nd floor 'apartment' above the muffler, the 2 new GC2's could then go next to the existing house batteries keeping all the cables as short as possible.
One thing; going from 4x GC2 to 6x GC2 results in 50% increase in total battery weight, but only a 33% increase in storage capacity (amp hours). 6x GC2 lead acid=335AH or so, factoring in the <50% discharge limit. Consider 4 lithium GC2 12v batteries instead. 4 Lipos will give you 400 AH, but only weigh half as much as lead acid.
https://battlebornbatteries.com/shop/100ah-12v-gc2-lifepo4-deep-cycle-battery/
Also comes with a 10 year warranty-try that with lead acid.
As for me, I don't yet have the scratch saved to pop for the Lipos, maybe someday.
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Bill, Good point, power to weight ratio. However I don't think a Cat C-12 really can tell the difference. Not sure my friend Bob wants to POP the $4200.00 for the 4 Lipo's. If that was the case, I could replace the GC-2's and not add 2 more. Sure is fun making a great coach even better! Smilin Fred
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Battle Born's parent company Dragonfly, is marketing a GC3 battery; 250AH. I think they are 12vdc, so 2 in parallel would get you 500ah. Now that will run the fridge a while. They are an option (2x GC3) on a Montana 5ver now. An 8D battery is set to be released by Battle Born by the fall. I just replaced our Norcold with an 18 cuft residential. We aren't going anywhere (yet) so I haven't loaded it up with food or checked the amp draw. It scared me when I went to test our new inverter/refrig set up and the inverter display showed the batteries falling fast. I quit the test rather than damage the batteries. Will try again another day.
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Instead of looking for locations for additional batteries, you might look at the option of putting batteries with additional amp hours in the original battery box. About 7 years ago when my 6 volt Gc2's needed replacing, I examined the battery box. It was built with 2 group 31 starting batteries on one side and 4 gc2 6 volt batteries on the other side (400 amp hours from the Gc2's). Three was an angle iron bolted to the box to encapsulate the Gc2 batteries since they are shorter than the group 31 batteries. I removed the angle iron leaving the full length of the battery box for battery space. I installed 4 group 31 size 120 amp hour agm batteries in the box (for 480 total amp hours). They have worked very well, but are now aging out. After some research, I found batteries with the same footprint as the group 31 batteries but the taller height of the 6 volt batteries. I am considering ordering the Vmax Tanks XTR155 agm batteries. Four of them should fit in the original battery box. That will give me 620 amp hours of capacity. I am a bit concerned about weight. The Gc2's weighed about 75 pounds each. The group 31's weighed about 80 pounds each. The XTR155's weigh 90 pounds each. So, my battery box will need be support about 60 pounds more weight then it originally did. The advantage, of course, is that I do not have to find additional space to carry batteries. I hope this works out for me, and thought you might want to consider it as an option.
Richard
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I think I recall a member who removed the propane tank in favor of a residential fridge and replaced the gas cooktop with induction. The extra batteries were installed where the tank was.
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Fred,
Own an 05PT and we moved chassis batteries aft of battery compartment above muffler (about 12 inches). Built a shelf for them and changed to AGM which require only keeping them clean. Between battery shelf and muffler, we put a heat shield wide enough to cover muffler and allow batteries to keep cool. That left battery compartment for house batteries. Have lived this way for about 6 years and 75,000 miles. If you would like photos, let me know.
Roy Warren
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Thanks Roy, I appreciate the feed back. Please provide the pix so we can move forward with the project, I was going to weld up a tray and heat shield like Mike Shumack did, but I always welcome successful engineering and fabrication!
Blessings & Joy, Fred
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Roy, Thanks for the pictures, I am pretty sure this is what Bob is looking for. Did you do the Mod or have it fabricated at a local welding shop? Fred