LarryJRogers
Austin, TX
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Joined: 04/17/2007
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How a mistake turns into a blessing
I started having issues with my house batteries and decided it was finally time to replace them. They lasted almost 4 years and in Texas that is a long time.
I ran to Walmart to buy batteries when I came across a couple of 125 AH batteries. I got so excited I didn't bother to check the measurements. After all the battery trays were slightly larger than the original batteries. Should fit right?
I get home and spend about an hour trying to pull the battery trays out. I don't know about you all but I am not exactly enamored with the Roadtrek battery tray design. I go to a lot of places with sand and this tends to accumulate in the battery compartments. Especially the rear compartment. This jams up the slides. Greasing the slides makes things even worse because the sand simply gets captured by the grease.
I finally get the trays out, remove the batteries and go to place the new one in place. You got it - slightly too big for the tray. I was a bit perturbed at myself at not "measuring twice, cutting once" and the thought of having to load up and driving to Walmart for the exchange.
Then that Gremlin "What If" started talking in the back of my brain. You know, that little guy that sits just on top of our primordial brain and only steps aside for food and chasing the opposite sex? Most women dont understand it but almost all of them have experienced it when it takes over their significant other. That singular focus us guys get when we just know better than the engineers who made the thing. Hell or high water, we are damn well going to improve it!
For you guys out there that just know your going to do this even better than I did, let me give you a list of tools and supplies ahead of time so you dont have to take the 3 or 4 trips to the store I ended up doing. Would of been easier to simply trade out the batteries for the right size ones.
7/8 box end wrench
small square bit
ratchet with 7/8 socket
flat head screw driver
Drill with 5/8 drill bit
Mallet
blow torch (for that rounded out nut that just wont budge)
WD-40 (try this first!)
A couple packages of universal automotive battery tray hooks, prefer L Hooks, not J.
package of 1/4 fender washers.
battery terminal spray.
Rubber battery terminal covers
Bottle of Crown (for you, not the van. Should wait to celebrate the job well done but in my case I used it to figure out what the hell I was doing)
Spray all bolts and nuts with WD-40. Remove the batteries. I like to wrap the cable ends with electric tape before I move on to the next cable. Sparks just don't thrill me.
The rear battery tray is riveted to the compartment. Pull the tray all the way out and you will see a couple of rail stops on the side of the rails.
Push the stops in with the screw driver and the tray will come out from the main rail. Dont worry about the main rail as it is not in the way.
The front tray is bolted to the bottom of the compartment. Use the ratchet and box end to remove the rear bolts and the square bit to remove front two screws. This is where I had to use the torch to get a rusted nut off. Be careful, fiber glass burns.
Drill two holes in each compartment. Each compartment is 14 inches wide so center is at 7 inches. The on the back of the rear compartment I drilled just inside of the overlapping lip. The front hole is 7 inches from the rear hole.
The front tray I drilled the front hole in 2 1/2 inches to clear the rubber stops and the tab for the door lock. Fom here I drilled the rear hole 7 inches. Remember the center width is also 7 inches.
In the rear tray, insert a L hook in the rear hole. I used a rubber grommet inside the battery compartment to prevent the L Hook from slipping out of the hole when I let go. At the top of the rear L Hook I mounted a nut, screwed down 1/2 inch, placed the battery strap and topped with another nut. This maintains the height for the strap without you fighting with it.
Slide the partially battery in. Make sure you have the battery in the right direction for mounting the battery cables to the right terminal. It's a tight fit. You'll have to hold it with your leg. Doing this starts you thinking this wasn't so smart after all. slide a runner terminal cover over the cable ends and attach the battery cables. Spray with terminal spray and cover with the rubber covers. Slide the battery all the way in. Here you get the first clue of an issue in the future.
Insert a L hook into the front hole and the battery strap. Make sure the L is away from the front lip so you can remount the body panel. tighten the nut for the battery strap and make sure you have no play.
The front battery tray is essentially the same but here you want to use the fender washers on the L portion outside of the battery box. This box is fiber glass and I think the hook would eventually eat into the fiberglass, giving slack for your battery to bound around.
The front battery box isn't much of an issue when you need to pull the battery out in the future. But the rear is a tight fit. This is the issue I was referring to earlier. On my box it had two 1" holes in the rear back side. I used a dowel to push the battery forward until I had enough to grab the front with my hands.
Batteries are heavy and the trays certainly have their advantages. But in my case they are more of a hassle. This mod allowed me to get rid of problems with the trays and gave me another day boondocking without the generator.
If you have any of that Crown left over after this, call me. I still have muscles hurting.
* This post was
edited 02/07/10 08:30pm by LarryJRogers *
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GizmosMom
Central Texas
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Joined: 02/18/2002
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Did you miss the Super Bowl after all that work?????
Marilyn w/ Joe, 2000 Xplorer Class B van, usually pulling a Ranger bass boat.
Smudge, (in photo) a Shih Tzu/Yorkie Mix and Gizmo is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge
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LarryJRogers
Austin, TX
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Joined: 04/17/2007
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Unfortunately I did. I'm not a real big football fan but I like watching a good game. Who figured the blowout would turn into a real contest.
All the good stuff happened on my multiple trips to Walmart. :-(
The good side is I beat the heavy rain.
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markopolo
New Brunswick
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Joined: 05/15/2005
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Are they wet cell batteries?
If so, get Qwik-Fill for 12v batteries if you have space at the top.
http://www.flow-rite.com/battery-watering/qwik-fill
You can get it at Camping World.
Then you won't have to remove the batteries to check water levels.
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Hit The Road Jack
Treasure Coast of Florida
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Joined: 10/20/2005
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markopolo wrote:Are they wet cell batteries?
If so, get Qwik-Fill for 12v batteries if you have space at the top.
http://www.flow-rite.com/battery-watering/qwik-fill
You can get it at Camping World.
Then you won't have to remove the batteries to check water levels.
Or top'm off with mineral oil to slow evaporation...
2006 DIY Dodge Badged Sprinter Conversion
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Hit The Road Jack
Treasure Coast of Florida
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Joined: 10/20/2005
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LarryJRogers wrote:Unfortunately I did. I'm not a real big football fan but I like watching a good game. Who figured the blowout would turn into a real contest.
All the good stuff happened on my multiple trips to Walmart. :-(
The good side is I beat the heavy rain.
If I may ask Larry, what sized battery cable is installed?...IMHO should be Battery Cable #0000 AWG...
BTW, glad you beat the rain...
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wsfurrie
Florida
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Joined: 09/14/2007
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My kind of guy, this is why we have tool, right? Anyone can do it the easy way.
Wayne
Wayne
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LarryJRogers
Austin, TX
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Joined: 04/17/2007
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Thanks for the ideas on the qwik-fill. Anything to keep from picking those heavy b----rds multiple times. Don't know about the mineral oil though. You sure you can do that? I think of oil, sparks, flames, me pulling a Richard Pryor act.....
The batteries are sealed wet cell. Supposedly maintenance free. Right.
I wanted AGM but funds are too tight right now. I thought about moving my lifelines from the DYI van but not up to another project venting the old girls battery box. Too bad she isn't 4x4, she has held up so well considering the abuse I put her through.
The cabling is still stock for now. Not sure what it is, maybe #04? #0000 sounds nice but would be fun trying to route around the chassis. You sure were a glutten for punishment. That or you walk around telling Arnold he's a "girley man"
I have about 20' of #02 left from what I used in the DYI van I may use in the future. Anything to squeeze a bit more out, right?
The rain has come down heavy today. A bit of thunder. Great sleeping weather. Turned on the news. Gee, possible snow next week. I so miss the coast.
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wsfurrie
Florida
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Larry, since you are not using the house battery for starting you do not need as large a cable. I checked the reviews on Qwik-Fill and found several problems reported. I would want to know how high the caps are as I don't have a lot of clearance over my battery set. Mineral oil is an old trick and will not do any harm.
Wayne
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markopolo
New Brunswick
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wsfurrie wrote:I checked the reviews on Qwik-Fill and found several problems reported.
Wayne
Send me a link to those reviews via PM please. (or post it) I'd like to read them.
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