Re: Has anybody modified Batt. Compartment for 6 Volt Batts?
Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 7:26 pm
http://1drv.ms/1VIgUCH
Steve K,
As requested, I am sending along some info on how I put two T105’s in my 2012 BF. The basic problem is the height of the batteries or conversely, the lack of height in the compartment opening. The newer body style on my BF shares the battery compartment door with the generator compartment and for reasons unknown to me the opening height is less than on the older body styles. This, along with the height the EZ Glide drawer raises the batteries off the floor of the compartment, it’s impossible to get the T105’s through the opening.
I was determined to get the T105’s in because the original Interstates had failed me this past summer and having had such a good experience with the Trojans in my previous motorhome I wasn’t going to give up. I was never a fan of two 12Volts in parallel and have never gotten more than 4 years out of them while my last set of T105’s were still going strong in their eighth year when I sold that motorhome.
In order to figure this all out I visited a Trojan dealer near me and they conveniently had two T105’s with the lead and acid guts removed that weighed a mere few pounds. With these I was able to monkey around and determine that if I could get the batteries through the small opening of the compartment there was plenty of room inside as long as I removed the EZ Glide drawer. The roof of the fiberglass compartment is almost three inches above the top of the opening sill and with the batteries in place I could still get my hands and tools in there to make the cable connections. At this point it was my plan to abandon the EZ Glide drawer and come up with my own design for a hold-down strap or bracket to securely mount the batteries directly on the fiberglass compartment floor. I was then planning to purchase the Trojan watering kit and pump to service the batteries since it would be rather difficult to remove them for this purpose alone. I think this is a very workable solution and except for some creativity needed to make a hold down strap/bracket everything can be purchased.
What actually happened is my son saw my approach to all this and had to get involved. In about an hour he had modified the EZ Glide drawer to lower the tray down to about ¼” off the fiberglass compartment floor and had cut off about ½” of excess fiberglass from the upper compartment sill opening. I am lucky because he has cutting, welding, and grinding tools enough to supply a pro- garage. With these modifications the drawer opens and closes as designed and the battery posts just make it past the upper sill opening. I had not yet purchased the watering kit so nothing was lost and it's all working OK so far.
I might add that I’m going to fix one more thing that’s been bothering me. I noticed that a steel support member of the coach’s under-structure is positioned just above the positive terminal of the battery pair and it nags at me to think what would happen in an accident if the un-fused positive terminal hit the frame member. I plan to adhere a heavy sheet of insulating material to the steel member to disallow this. It’s worth noting that the original Interstates were prone to this same potential problem albeit with more clearance.
Steve K,
As requested, I am sending along some info on how I put two T105’s in my 2012 BF. The basic problem is the height of the batteries or conversely, the lack of height in the compartment opening. The newer body style on my BF shares the battery compartment door with the generator compartment and for reasons unknown to me the opening height is less than on the older body styles. This, along with the height the EZ Glide drawer raises the batteries off the floor of the compartment, it’s impossible to get the T105’s through the opening.
I was determined to get the T105’s in because the original Interstates had failed me this past summer and having had such a good experience with the Trojans in my previous motorhome I wasn’t going to give up. I was never a fan of two 12Volts in parallel and have never gotten more than 4 years out of them while my last set of T105’s were still going strong in their eighth year when I sold that motorhome.
In order to figure this all out I visited a Trojan dealer near me and they conveniently had two T105’s with the lead and acid guts removed that weighed a mere few pounds. With these I was able to monkey around and determine that if I could get the batteries through the small opening of the compartment there was plenty of room inside as long as I removed the EZ Glide drawer. The roof of the fiberglass compartment is almost three inches above the top of the opening sill and with the batteries in place I could still get my hands and tools in there to make the cable connections. At this point it was my plan to abandon the EZ Glide drawer and come up with my own design for a hold-down strap or bracket to securely mount the batteries directly on the fiberglass compartment floor. I was then planning to purchase the Trojan watering kit and pump to service the batteries since it would be rather difficult to remove them for this purpose alone. I think this is a very workable solution and except for some creativity needed to make a hold down strap/bracket everything can be purchased.
What actually happened is my son saw my approach to all this and had to get involved. In about an hour he had modified the EZ Glide drawer to lower the tray down to about ¼” off the fiberglass compartment floor and had cut off about ½” of excess fiberglass from the upper compartment sill opening. I am lucky because he has cutting, welding, and grinding tools enough to supply a pro- garage. With these modifications the drawer opens and closes as designed and the battery posts just make it past the upper sill opening. I had not yet purchased the watering kit so nothing was lost and it's all working OK so far.
I might add that I’m going to fix one more thing that’s been bothering me. I noticed that a steel support member of the coach’s under-structure is positioned just above the positive terminal of the battery pair and it nags at me to think what would happen in an accident if the un-fused positive terminal hit the frame member. I plan to adhere a heavy sheet of insulating material to the steel member to disallow this. It’s worth noting that the original Interstates were prone to this same potential problem albeit with more clearance.