Community Forums

Waggy · 08-02-2016, 09:45 PM

I have a 1999 Pace Arrow and the battery area is poorly designed in my opinion! The thing is 13 1/2" D, 22" W and 24 1/2 " H. so you have room for 2 batteries on the bottom. (You kill yourself taking them out!) The opening has round corners and is 15" W and 18" H.

Any ideas on getting four 10 1/4 L x 7 1/4 W x 11 1/2 H deep cycle 6 v batteries in there?

I was thinking of an elevator or two due to the weight. A cage that I could raise and put the bottom two in it and then lower it and put the top two in it, then raise it to regular high and pin it there. I was going to use draw sides to run the cage on. I just have no idea how to lift it or lower it.

Maybe I could have 4 shelves, two coming out of both sides 7" which leaves 8" in the middle to place the battery and move it up or down to the shelf I want it on then slip it in.

Connecting the cable will be interesting!

Any ideas?

UFO Pilot · 08-02-2016, 09:57 PM

I don't know about the weight issue but AGM's can be mounted on their sides. That would allow you to use the height of the space to your advantage.

wanderso · 08-02-2016, 10:39 PM

I agree about those nice benefits of AGMs. Very happy with our lifeline batteries.

Easyrider · 08-03-2016, 08:42 AM

I don't know if this works for your situation, but I've read in the past where some have turned their batteries 90° and been able to fit 4 batteries where there was just 2 before.

jelag · 08-03-2016, 11:57 AM

we often dry camp and enjoy the TV, heated mattress we needed more power..

I took a different route.. I mounted an additional (4) 6 v batteries in a different location.. I had a useless spot where I mounted the batteries and of course made sure the area was vented... I found a supplier where I could find some 00 welding wire... this welding lead is very fine wire so its very flexible... ran a short length to ground and a longer length to my primary coach batteries... where I purchased the cable I was able to purchase solder on connectors...

Hope this helps...

TdogKing · 08-03-2016, 12:48 PM

I own a 1998 Bounder and put in 2 extra 6 Volts years ago. I'm a fabricator sort of guy so I found room up towards the inside and back of the front wheel well and made brackets and mounted them there. I put my system on a Battery watering system so that takes care of having to check that. It's a bit of a job to lower them down but my first set of 4 batteries lasted 9 years and still hadn't failed when I replaced them so it's not something you have to do much.

Name: ImageUploadedByiRV2 - RV Forum1470249919.633224.jpg
Views: 634
Size: 97.3 KB

Name: ImageUploadedByiRV2 - RV Forum1470249919.633224.jpg
Views: 634
Size: 97.3 KB

.

**CountryFit** · 08-03-2016, 01:26 PM

if you would like to step into the water of lithium, the space might be ok

.

Waggy · 08-03-2016, 04:36 PM

I love the idea of the 4 batteries on their side. That would work great, BUT I am told my Costco golf batteries would leak. It is hard to pay $500 to $700 to replace 4 good batteries.

I have something right behind the batteries that I may have to see what it is and if it can be moved, put two somewhere else or just use 2.

Scottybdivin · 08-03-2016, 05:16 PM

If you have the space around the battery tray, you could do some fabrication to the existing tray. I went from 6 to 8 batteries. Think everything through several times over. We did a little trial and error, learning curve.
Here is that topic.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/my-b...-a-273727.html

Dutch Star Don · 08-03-2016, 09:08 PM

I double stacked mine, but had a little more height than you do.

TQ60 · 08-04-2016, 08:03 AM

If you use Agm and have extra funds you can use front post batteries used for cell sites.

These are long narrow talk units with posts at end and can fit into smaller hole then slid sideways.

Gc 12 - 160 may be a part number for one *early and just trying to guess) but these are "funny" about your charger so be sure proper considerations are done.

Gary RVRoamer · 08-04-2016, 09:03 AM

There are many sizes and shapes of deep cycle batteries available, so if 4x of the GC2 (golf cart size) doesn't fit, look at some others. And don't get hung up on "golf cart" stuff - there are excellent 12v deep cycles available too. Plus, there are AGM VRLA batteries that don't need vertical mounting or ventilation. 12v deep cycles are readily available in sizes 24, 27, 29, 30, 31 and 4d & 8D, and with the larger sizes you may be able to get the amp-hours you want without 4 physical battery cases.

Another alternative is two mount additional batteries elsewhere near by. On a previous coach I added two more batteries in an adjacent compartment and wired them in. I used AGM batteries so I would not have to add ventilation there.

PbdBlue · 08-04-2016, 07:38 PM

Have you thought about using two lf16 batteries. Roughly the same footprint as a gc2 but taller. About double the capacity of a gc2.

Easyrider · 08-05-2016, 01:19 PM

[QUOTE=Waggy;3192327]I love the idea of the 4 batteries on their side. That would work great, BUT I am told my Costco golf batteries would leak. It is hard to pay $500 to $700 to replace 4 good batteries.

I don't know if you're replying to my message about turning the batteries 90° or a different message, but in my message I meant the battery still stays upright but is turned 90° so instead of the batteries facing north and south they now face east and west.