More Power?

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Redsand

Here's some better pics for those that asked:
Front view
with door open
left space next to gen
right wide open space



A no brainer to locate it to the right hand side with lots of clearance. Guess my work is cut out. Curious if I can buy a wider access door. I'll be checking on that today.
RS

The size 27 batteries should fit sideways side by side the batteries would be about 13 3/4 wide, so if you build the platform they should fit

[Redsand]

The original rack is about 10" wide 16" deep 12" high made of 1-1/2" x 1/8 angle iron. A $20 bill buys 6' of the iron at Home Depot. Not terrible and I could probably cut up an old bed frame from Good Will a bit cheaper as well. Some sawing and drilling to size and I'll be in business.
I think Thor moved the battery location to under the steps on the other side a year or two after mine was sold and offered a dual setup as well. Not a big deal just time and some puttering. Looks easier than moving cables to inside the rig.

[Chateau_Nomad]

My 24F has the generator just behind the driver's door; then a small storage compartment, then the propane tank just in front of the rear wheel. There's enough room under the entry steps for two batteries.

[ofracer]

I have a 24' Chateau on a Ford 350 chassis. This summer I added a
2nd battery to the frame near the existing coach battery (same setup as your coach). I found a company, Torque Lift, that makes bolt-on battery boxes. Not cheap but well built and the installiation was fairly easy. I used a floor jack to lift the battery box to the frame. It bolts around the truck chassis.

I used a mount for a 450 chassis. Planning on what I wanted to do took
longer than the actual work. The kit comes with heavy duty quick
disconnects so I can make the connections to the top of the battery
on the ground and add it (or disconnect it) to the circuit (in parallel at the orginial battery posts) once it's installed. The only change I had to make was a couple of longer mounting bolts, my chassis was wider at the top I need 1" longer hardware to span it.

I replaced my 2yr old group 31 Duracell with a pair of new
Group31's, all from Sam's Club so they would have similiar charging
profiles. The old one went into my race car trailer for lighting power.

e-trailer is a distributor, NFI
https://www.etrailer.com/battery-box.htm

mike h

[Redsand]

Looks like a nice clean seup there. I see what you mean regarding price. They are very very proud of their box.

I think my bill today was around $35 for the hardware at Home Depot but the work will likely take a day start to finish. I get what you mean about the planning though and so far hours of planning and measuring. You probably have the better deal.

[ofracer]

I'm assuming your adding some more angle iron and extending the existing carrier. That was my 1st choice as well but on my shorter chassis, there's a propane feed line, just past the battery box, for the furnace. It goes through the floor and has a loop 6-8" below the deck that prevented me from using that space.

If I wasn't retired and still had access to the model shop at work, I would have bent up my own brackets. At least now, if the battery falls out of the coach, my wife can't blame my welding(I'm an electricial engineer) skills.

I ran a pair of 6 gauge wires, in wire loom,through the closet and a cabinet, to a 1000W inverter (more than I need) with a 40A circuit breaker inline near the TV. I put a couple of underdash USB ports and a battery monitor near it as well. Now the TV will run for over 10 hours (3x more than I normally watch)on just battery as well as charge a couple of phones and a tablet overnight.

good luck.
mike

[Redsand]

Yeah more angle steel. At the last minute I opted for pre-perforated zinc plated angle. A bit smaller gauge than angle iron but will easily support the weight. It will attach to the existing rack with supports. I'm also retired (machinist, app programmer, building maint., electrician) but can't bear to pay someone else for things I can still do. It takes me forever these days and I pay dearly with aches and pains but still satisfying I guess.


You're correct about the space. I have roughly 30" of nothing next to my battery rack and after a few weeks of hum and haw I decided to use it. I'll utilize my hefty 300w inverter for her TV and I'll read a book. Happy wife thing doncha know. Two 100ah batteries due to be delivered today so I'll post some pics when it's all done.

[Redsand]

Way more work than I anticipated but finally finished up the new rack today and had my young helper muscle up one of the new AGM 100ah batteries into place. It's a tight squeeze alright but everything fits. Next on my agenda is to order some cables to connect the two new batteries together. Any size suggestions from the gurus? I see 4ga 2ga 1/0 etc. I'm a bit clueless here. They will be connected in parallel and probably 16" in length.

What a project!


I didn't get a pic of the finished rack which also has two side struts for support, the bolts were trimmed and a 1/4 plastic bottom added so the battery sits on a flat surface. Battery will be inside a Attwood battery box.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Redsand

Way more work than I anticipated but finally finished up the new rack today and had my young helper muscle up one of the new AGM 100ah batteries into place. It's a tight squeeze alright but everything fits. Next on my agenda is to order some cables to connect the two new batteries together. Any size suggestions from the gurus? I see 4ga 2ga 1/0 etc. I'm a bit clueless here. They will be connected in parallel and probably 16" in length.

What a project!


I didn't get a pic of the finished rack which also has two side struts for support, the bolts were trimmed and a 1/4 plastic bottom added so the battery sits on a flat surface. Battery will be inside a Attwood battery box.

My old Jayco came with 2/0 welding cable for the second battery

[ofracer]

Since your batteries are side by side, you can't go wrong with a couple of heavy battery cables from your local auto parts store/ Tractor Supply etc. If your batteries are like my AGMs, there are standard battery terminals as well as one with a wing nut. Standard cables have a regular terminal on one end and a ring terminal on the other. Connect Red to Red, Black to Black for 12V to 12V systems.

For reference, look at the size of the largest wire connected to the current battery. Unless you add another circuit (more on that below) to the battery pack, it can't draw or feed any more current than that wire will support.

I've attached a link to a site that will help you calculate the proper gauge wire, based on length and amperage requirements.

https://www.altestore.com/diy-solar-...lt-dc-systems/

mike h