Electrical upgrade, stage 2, I've installed the two golf cart batteries in my 1...

I've installed the two golf cart batteries in my 16' Freedom Deluxe, and they do fit, but just barely. Below is a picture of the slide-out battery tray I built out of 1/8" aluminum L stock, drawer slides, and 10/32 machine hardware. Note how the electrical conduit and water pipes have been re-routed to clear the space under the seat aft of the water heater. More on what happened to the water pump which used to live in this space later.

Upgrade stage 1 thread

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Here's a detail shot of the method I used to secure the drawer slides when the batteries are not extended. You don't want 120lbs of lead and acid sliding back and forth while you're going down the road! I would have preferred a method that would have secured the slides from the front of the tray, but this was the best I could come up with so far.

The drawer slides are 18 inches long (16" would have been better, but 18 was all the hardware store had) and are mounted to the floor with 1/8x2" aluminum L stock and four 3/8" bolts with fender washers on the outside. The L stock is shorter than the slides so that the slides extend over the wood that runs around the bottom of the seats.

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As you can see from the picture, the clearance between the batteries and the top of the seat is minimal. I would have preferred to use a battery box that would have completely enclosed the batteries, but all the ones I could find would have been too tall. There is some chance that I'll experience problems from acid splatter as a result, I'll worry about it later.

The drawer slides are rated for 100lbs and the batteries are 20% over that, so they sag a little when extended. There are problem more heavy duty slides that would have worked better, like for electronic equipment racks, but I haven't been able to locate any so far.

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Picture of batteries in traveling position. The door didn't quite fit flush, I'm not sure if the door was warped or the seat wall was. Since the area is primarily used for storage with the bed made up, I'm not too worried about it. If I can locate an appropriate latch, that will help.

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Eric, how do you plan on sealing the battery compartment from the living area, and not get any fumes, or outgassing of the batteries?

Landscapes of America

Here's the water pump in its new home between the wheel well and the water tank, under the stove. I took out this seat entirely because I found some wood rot. (Looked like a leak in one of the mounting holes for the brake light.) While I was in there, I seriously considered upgrading the 9 gallon water tank. There was a 20 gallon tank available that I think would have fit, but when I sumulated a full tank with the batteries, the tongue weight went down too low for comfort. I guess I'll just have to get better at conserving water consumption.

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I'm not too worried about sealing the compartment. I've worked with these batteries in my home for a couple of years and never noticed a problem, and the compartment does have a vent in the floor and another in the outside wall. Also, when the Trace inverter is charging at bulk rate, its fan turns on and pulls air from the battery compartment.

I'm more worried about possible electrolyte splatter from the battery vent caps. With the Trace there is virtually no overcharge, so splatter has been non-existant in my testing, but there may be some as a result of road travel. I'll find out this weekend when I take it on a trip. At worst, I'll have to come up with some kind of plastic cover to trap the droplets, but there isn't much room for one.

Impressive job Eric! Good job of reporting it! You should be in battery power for the long-haul now.

However, I do share Bob's concern about battery outgassing.

Like you, I'm not concerned about an unenclosed battery outgassing inside my garage or house ... because the amount of outgassing is minimal and would be hard to collect or pool in a large area.

But unfortunately, I have seen a battery "explode" in a car while being jumped. Battery acid flew everywhere, including on the guy jumping the car.

I'm a little concerned that the battery outgassing might pool under the bench. Hopefully nothing in close proximity will spark ... otherwise you might have a problem.

Also, I guess I'm old enough, too, to worry about the effects of you laying down on top of the dual batteries and sleeping, breathing in the fumes night after night after night.

No sure how real any of these fears are. Just concerns. So think about them.

Looking at your set-up, one easy way to "box" the batteries would be to cut the side off a collapsible plastic 5 gallon jug (sold at most sporting goods store, Walmart, etc. and vent the plastic cover via plastic tubing to the outside.

Something to think about.

But I remain impressed with your ability to retro-fit stuff into a Casita. Impressive stuff!

Yep, like you Charles, your concerns were the same as mine, except I just diden't convey them as well. Eric your did a real neat job. It does look good, and......talk about putting 6 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket (so to speak), man you did it on this job. I'm glad all went well, and hope you have the success your striving for.

Landscapes of America

The primary gas produced during charging is hydrogen. Hydrogen is very light and passes through anything porous. While working in the battery compartment, it was obvious to me that there was good air circulation in there from the two vents, especially during the time of peak charging when hydrogen production is at its greatest, since the fan in the Trace comes on and pulls more air through the compartment. I initially thought I would have to seal up the battery compartment, but in talking to some friends who work at a physics lab I realized that that would make the situation more dangerous, since it would concentrate the hydrogen more than leaving it alone. If you're still worried, think about it this way: The compartment has more ventilation now than the battery box that the factory installed.

As I mentioned before, acid splattering is my primary concern. The plastic boxes the batteries sit in will catch any spills, but there may be some aerosol produced. If I do run into problems I will report back to the forum. At that point I am going to have to put a lid on the batteries, and I will have to make sure that that container is adequately vented.

If you know of some gas other than hydrogen that is produced from the batteries that I should be worried about then let me know, but as far as I can tell these are the only factors that could produce a problem. The battery you saw eplode probably did so because of extreme heat caused by a short or reversed connection, not because of some explosive chemicals in the battery. Jumper cables don't have fuses to prevent such things from happening, the 200 amp fuse and holder I installed in my system costs as much as one of the batteries.

I also forgot to mention that all the battery connections were liberally coated with petroleum jelly to prevent corrosion.

Ok Eric ... as I said, I'm not an expert, and didn't know how realistic the fear was ... but it sounds like you have it covered.

As long as you know that the outgassing (hydrogen) and oxygen mixtures are highly explosive which can be ignited with a spark ... and take the necessary steps to avoid it, go for it!

Hey, you've detailed the charging system, the storage system ... how about some words on your "collection" or solar panel system. I'd be interested in reading it.

I can't talk about it because I haven't done it yet. I think I can use pieces of rubber hose to make a flexible mount, but I want to think it through and make sure I'm not compromising the weather seal. I'm going to give the battery system a shake-down this weekend in the Nevada desert and hopefully find out if there's any problems.

I just came back from 5 days in the Nevada desert. The road going in was very rough, I had to improvise bridges to cross three gullies and the spare tire came off its mount from all the shaking. Through all that, the golf cart batteries didn't break loose and stayed completely dry on the top, no leaking or splashing.

The electrical system worked very well. I ran lights and water pump, and used the inverter to run my CPAP machine all night every night. At worst, the batteries were down to 94% capacity, and the solar panel (not on the roof yet, but leaned against the trailer) brought them back to full in 3 or 4 hours.

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Eric, thank you so much for sharing. I too have a CPAP maching and have used solar to keep a battery charged when tent camping. I haven't figured out how to mount my solar panel on the Casita yet. The CPAP is the main reason I got the Honda generator. My thinking was I could make sure I had a full battery every night. My little battery will run the CPAP for three nights. I run the CPAP on the 12 volt option.

When you get your solar panels mounted, please post a photo.

Thanks, Michael

"I had to improvise bridges to cross three gullies and the spare tire came off its mount from all the shaking". Ummmmmmm, I was wondering why the trailers needed a 3 inch high spacer over the axel. Now I know. :-)

Landscapes of America

Just a short update: The golf cart batteries have worked well so far, but I did have some electrolyte spillage from the vent caps -- not much from traveling, but when the batteries are operating they produce gas pressure which pushes the electrolyte out the caps. But I think I've found a solution: a product called "water misers" that are replacement caps that collect the electrolyte aerosol and drip it back into the battery. Preliminary test so far show a big improvement: no sign of moisture on the battery tops. With a little shopping you can find these caps as low as $4.50 each.

I've replaced the trailer's axle with a "lift" version from Casita, and replaced the 13" wheels with 15" ones. I can now get in and out of the camp site shown above in this thread without scraping any dirt from the road, but I think I need to reduce tire pressure a bit since the more capable axle and tires seem to be giving the interior a more thorough shaking.

Water Misers

Eric, site refers to 'battery equalization.' Call me dodo, but what does that mean? Don

Equalization is where you temporarily over-charge a bank of lead-acid cells in order to mix up the chemicals in the electrolyte (with the bubbles of hydrogen that the charge produces), dislodge sufate crystals from the plates, and to make sure all the cells are reaching 100% charge. It's a maintenance procedure that's done periodically to make deep-cycle keep their capacity longer, some modern charge controllers will equalize batteries automatically.

Battery info

Eric, Thanks a whole heap for the reply! Have added the battery site to my list of favorites for future reference. Hey, maybe sometime I will catch up with you and the others, ya suppose? Don