Battery Venting

[trailrider]

I installed two 6-volt golf cart batteries inside my All Terrain Camper. I built a battery box out of wood and modified the vent caps to vent the batteries to the outside. I caulked the inside seams of my battery with 100% silicone and coated the inside with PlastiDip liquid rubber coating. I figured it was easier to vent the batteries than trying to seal and vent the battery box. Batteries in the trunks of cars vent directly to the outside via a hose connected to the case. I could not find any vent caps with a hose connection so I modified mine. I took the vent caps apart and drilled and tapped into them using 1/8 in NPT thread. I bought polypropylene 1/4 in hose barbs with a 1/8 in NPT pipe thread and threaded them in. Polyethylene will also work. Nylon (found in some hardware stores) will not work in sulfuric acid service. You can find them at Grainger or McMaster Carr. I sealed the bottom of the caps (thread of barb fitting) with 100% silicone caulk. I joined the hoses from 3 caps together via barbed tees and ran to the outside of the camper (between camper and truck bed). I made sure my hoses sloped upwards and had no low spots. Each battery has it's own hose venting to the outside. My vent caps had a rubber gasket on the bottom of them. You could make a gasket for them if needed. You could also seal off the existing vent caps and tap into the top or upper side of the battery case. I ran 00 welding cable to my batteries for fast charging.

I did not want to buy AGM batteries due to cost.

I have a thick skin so please point out any design flaws.

Mike

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Looks like you got it figured out just fine.
What is the Ah of the battery's?
Frank

 

[DrJ]

Mike,
This looks fine to me.
Tell me about your hookup to the truck batteries. 00 cable?
I doubt you'll have any voltage drop with that!

 

[trailrider]

I have 215 amp/hrs. Here is my previous setup with one group 24 battery.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/9262-2nd-battery-install-isolation/


I previously had ~85 amp hours. I think I had 4 ga cable originally. Instantaneously I could send 90 amps to the battery. It would settle in at 50 amps. This is when setting my idle at 1500 rpm while camping. I could idle for an hour and get a fair amount of charge. I would use maybe 0.5 gal of gas. I just removed my group 24 and extended my cable back to the camper. I sized it to have the same voltage drop as before. I have not charged with it yet but expect the same results. For weekend trips I will charge with a slow charger at home. Long duration dry camping trips I will use the alternator.

Mike