Sealed battery box5/1/2023 If you only have vents at the top, the wind can block the airflow and have the gas remain trapped inside. Usually, they are just small gaps to let enough air flow in. They are located just under the rim of the lid and are not that large. Most RV battery boxes come with vents that seem to be hidden away. It is just common sense to put vents into an RV battery box as it is a safety issue no matter how you look at it. The most serious mention of vents is a highly recommended piece of advice and it is good advice to follow. We found no real government regulations governing the venting of RV battery boxes. Vented Battery Box Ventilation Requirements Plastic bins would be the cheapest way to go and you do not have to worry about gluing and screwing the sides together. Putting holes in plastic takes some care as plastic can easily crack. But if you use the cover, you will still have to put holes into the plastic bin to make sure it is properly vented. You can seal the cover or leave it off if you want. Then you would need to drill a couple of lower vent holes as well as a couple of holes for the battery cables.Īnother way to make a battery box is to buy heavy-duty plastic bins and put your batteries inside of those. The 5 pieces cover the 4 sides and the bottom. There is a lot of good waterproofing materials you can use for that part of the project. It is best to waterproof the inside of the boards first before you put them together. One method simply puts together 5 pieces of 3/4 inch plywood into a box and you are just about done. This is not really a difficult task if you have carpentry skills. This gas is heavier than air and would need bottom vents to make sure it gets expelled from the battery box before it does any harm. Besides hydrogen, an overcharged battery can produce hydrogen sulfide, another dangerous gas. These vents will not interfere with you being able to seal the battery box and lock to prevent theft. For a properly vented battery box, there should be vent holes on the top as well as on the bottom. This is something that is easily prevented if you have the right type of vents on your battery box. The different RV discussion forums are filled with stories of how batteries explode during charging. This gas needs to be vented for it does not take much for it to explode and cause a lot of damage. Plus, when you go to charge your batteries, hydrogen gas will be created. When it overheats, you can have a lot of problems and lose your electrical source for your DC-powered items. As described earlier, one of the dangers that come without vents is an overheated battery. It is best to be on the safe side when it comes to batteries and make sure they are protected from all sources of harm.īattery boxes are lightweight and do not tip the scales so much that you have to sacrifice anything important to have them on board. When the battery gets damaged it can lead to an acid spill that creates further problems. Sometimes, someone forgets to secure other pieces of cargo and in a quick stop or accident, that unsecured cargo can fall into the battery and damage it. That is not all the battery box protects the battery from. A battery box will provide the necessary barrier that will protect your expensive battery from damage due to those elements. Water, rain, sunlight, etc., all can do damage to the battery or shorten its lifespan. The battery box will contain that acid spill so it does not do any further damage.Īlso, a sealed battery is still vulnerable to the elements. What that means is that some of the acids inside the sealed battery can get out at some point in time. It is said that a sealed battery is not necessarily non-spillable. Do You Need a Battery Box For a Sealed Battery? As long as there is good airflow, you should not be at risk at any time. Sometimes those vent holes can do double duty and act as cable access holes. As long as you have the proper vent holes, you should be fine. Many of these boxes are made from heavy-duty polypropylene materials but there is some leeway in the construction materials you can use. Those incidents could be water or acid spills, free-falling cargo or debris, and so on. These boxes are designed to protect your battery from several incidents that could damage it. The duties of a battery box are quite simple.
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