Lost battery going down the road

[jtstromsburg]

A trucker waved me down and when I got stopped I found one of my two battery boxes had broken thru the bottom of the battery area in my sabre 34TBOK. Thankfully it hung by the ground cable and didn’t get run over. Pretty sure the battery is ruined as the outer plastic is worm thru on a corner and I’ll defiantly replace the cable.
Any links to online retailers for a new box though?

[ependydad]

Can you just close up the bottom of the compartment and put the batteries on top of it? Or is it the compartment too short to do that?

I know my batteries were just short enough for it.

[jtstromsburg]

That’s what I think I’ll try and do. They seem like they’d fit and it sure ain’t a tightly sealed area so they’d still vent out the vent if needed. I see little to no reason to have them in boxes in the batter compartment. [emoji848]

[ependydad]

I forgot about venting. I didn't need to worry about that with my batteries.

The other option would be to have someone orgami fold some sheet metal for you into the shape of the box with a lip. It would give you a stronger box than the plastic that comes with the rig.

[jtstromsburg]

That’s seems like a good idea also. I can do that in our shop at the school I work at. [emoji1360] guess I may need to read up on the venting also. Guess it would seem to me that I could lay the lids on top with the vent hose hooked up and that’d be good enough. Not like they are air tight in the boxes anyways. But I guess I don’t really know how big a deal that is or what could go wrong.

We camp so little anymore I’m trying to either get everything perfect and try to camp more or I’m gonna sell this beast. Gotta keep all up to snuff either way.

[jtstromsburg]

Battery trashed? Kinda assuming it is but maybe there’s two layers and I could “patch” the outer?

[jimmoore13]

I know car batteries are often held in cradles made of steel angle, but perhaps it would be better to reinforce your battery compartment with plastic...to reduce the potential for corrosion related to outgassing.

If your batteries were in plastic battery boxes, that may be one of the reasons why.

A good strong material is a plastic cutting board. This 1/2" thick example is overkill. 1/4" should be plenty to effect a good repair. I'd be inclined to use that over conductive and easily corroded sheet metal.

Just a thought.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by jtstromsburg

Attachment 174235
Battery trashed? Kinda assuming it is but maybe there’s two layers and I could “patch” the outer?

And take a chance of leaking battery acid on the frame of your camper?

NOT a good idea

[sunnyinfla]

if that would of fell off and hurt someone you could of been charged with 'ASSAULT WITH BATTERY'

[camaraderie]

Originally Posted by jtstromsburg

Attachment 174235
Battery trashed? Kinda assuming it is but maybe there’s two layers and I could “patch” the outer?

Totally trashed...don't attempt to charge or use. Likely dangerous to do so.

[rock-rocker]

The reason they put the batteries in battery boxes with tops is so they can install a vent hose routed to the outside of the compartment. When batteries are charging they produce hydrogen gas which is very flammable. Get enough buildup of that gas along with an ignition source you'll be heading to Mars on a one way ticket. Definitely don't use that damaged battery. For less than $100 I'm sure it will be worth it to get a new and prevent the problem of the highly corrosive battery acid from getting on/in everything.

[jtstromsburg]

Just a quick update. Made it home fine. Getting ready for next big trip and thinking I need to do something with the good and still in place battery. Glad I’m on it as it’s box is ready to pull thru as well. I’ve removed it all and am adding a plywood floor and will figure out a box next. I don’t Camp without hookups so not sure I’ll replace the battery that fell out.

[Oaklevel]

As long as you have one battery for the breakaway, there is no need for two if no boon docking is done.

[jtstromsburg]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

As long as you have one battery for the breakaway, there is no need for two if no boon docking is done.

Definitely. I added the second when I should’ve just upgraded the converter sooner.
As far as breakaway cable, last time I needed it the brakes weren’t any help for some reason[emoji849][emoji51][emoji848][emoji12]


edit: would’ve been funnier if I could get the pics to post... laid out previous sabre 34tbok over when we hit some black ice a couple years back. Use your imagination or look at my old posts.