Got tired of not having enough juice and upgraded from a single 12v to 2 6v Trojan T145's. Took some pics along the way. Here are the components, supplies and process we took.
First...thanks to a fellow MOC member, Bill Van Nuys, for his description recently and pics. Always a tremendous help to see it done!! He helped me take this project on!
Components/Supplies:
2 Trojan T145 6v Batteries
Dual Battery Box: NOCO HM426 Dual 6-Volt Commercial Grade Battery Box for Automotive, Marine and RV Batteries
http://amzn.com/B003VAUG5A
Hole Saws: 2 3/4 (for bottom vent) and 1 1/4 for poles and top vent
Bottom Vent: Valterra A10-3305 Battery Box Cone Vent
http://amzn.com/B00HSO4IQI
Top Vent (PVC Elbow): LASCO 1-in Dia 90-Degree PVC Sch 40 Elbow
http://www.lowes.com/pd_22706-1815-4...+dia+sch+elbow
5/16 Hex Nut to Secure Top Vent: Gampak 2-Pack 1-in Rigid Lock Nuts
http://www.lowes.com/pd_75464-15527-...ductId=1100181
Battery Cable to connect batteries in series (Positive of Battery 2 to Neg of Battery 1) 4 Gauge 18in - 5/16 in Hole Sizes Red Solar Battery Cables Power AWG Solar Inverter Golf Cart Car GLUE SEALED
http://amzn.com/B01154Q18E
Weather Stripping (Marine Use) Frost King 0.75-in x 10-ft White Vinyl Foam Window Weatherstrip
http://www.lowes.com/pd_96113-1410-R...99b6ef3cc#noop
Great Stuff Sealant to fill cable holes in box..near lid. Dow GREAT STUFF Window and Door 12-fl oz Spray Foam Insulation
http://www.lowes.com/pd_15634-236-23...pl=1&Ntt=15634
Loctite 2-in-1 Seal and Bond: LOCTITE 2-in-1 White Paintable Latex Window and Door Caulk
http://www.lowes.com/pd_85671-69-209...t=loctite+2-in
Poles in New Lid were removed from old box lid.
Existing hose and hose clamp used.
Process:
Old Box:
Loosen hose clap and disconnect vent hose from old box.
Remove Cables from Old Lid Poles
Remove Old Box Lid, old battery and Base. Before removing base, you'll need to remove the 2 self tapping screws holding box to floor. Save self tapping screws used to screw old box to floor of RV.
Remove pos and neg poles from old lid.
Review location of vent hole in floor to new box.
Review location of poles to be installed in new lid. Note: these need to fit in the center, in effect, between the two batteries' caps when batteries in new box.
Review location of new vent hold...where pvc elbow will be installed.
Drill a 2 3/4 hole in bottom of new box in prep for vent installation. Note we had to router off about 1/8" of vent flange to have it fit in hole near edge of box. Used Loctite seal and bond around base of flange. Base of flange really snaps into the 2 3/4" hole. Fits well.
Can now position box back in RV, placing vent through the bottom of box into the original vent hole in floor of Monty. make sure box is square in Monty.....use Self tapping screws from original box and drive through the new box and into floor of Monty. We installed screws in 2 opposite corners of box where the base of the box was touching the floor of Monty.
Box is in Monty.
Put one battery in box. Slide to one side. In out case, pos pole was at 1 o'clock and neg was at 7 o'clock. Put in 2nd battery. We added a handle to one battery for when one needs to be removed down the road.
Connect batteries in series. Using new red battery cable, connect the pos pole of battery on left to neg pole of battery on right.
Take lid. Determine best location of pos and neg poles in lid being sure to check that pole sticking through bottom of lid wont hit the batteries below. Best place for us was in the center area of lid....just above where the two batteries met...appox 7 3/4" from each edge of lid.
Drill two 1 1/4 holes for the poles. Install poles in new lid.
Locate best place for pvc elbow...lid vent. We put it in corner nearest to existing vent hose. Drill 1 1/4" hole for pvc elbow. Pvc elbow actually fit the hole perfectly. We really threaded the elbow right into the hole. Put the hex ring on inside of lid on the threaded pvc elbow. Added seal and bond to threads of pvc elbow to be sure ring stays attached.
Apply weather stripping to top of box. Cut off weather stripping where brass lid nuts would screw to box.
Using a piece of cardboard to prevent Great Stuff from dripping in box...form an inner wall by one of the boxes' cable slots and fill with Great Stuff. Be sure all cavities of battery box are filled.
Lid is ready.
Using cables from old battery, connect battery poles to poles in lid. Pos to Pos and Neg to Neg.
Connect the original 2 Monty black (pos) cables to red/pos terminal of lid.
Connect the original 2 Monty white (neg) cables to the black/neg terminal of lid.
Using Nuts that came with the new box and lid, secure new lid to new box.
DONE!
Linear Mode
