Community Forums

Nodrama43 · 09-25-2018, 06:50 PM

When I purchased my 2019 ORV the dealer supplied me with one dinky battery and then wanted 1250.00 to install four 6 volt batteries in a horribly designed set-up. I decided to do it myself. I made the platform bracket and installed it on top of the factory bars plus attached it in four spots to the frame. I bought the box that holds four batteries and installed it with the plastic lid. Then I made a diamond plate lid and added threaded rod (inside the polished aluminum tubing) to hold it all down. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Total cost was about 675.00

Off Road · 09-25-2018, 07:54 PM

Nice work. Well designed and looks great too.

Searching_Ut · 09-25-2018, 08:56 PM

Good job, nice bends on the lid. I assume you have a plastic lid under the diamond plate. If not, you might want a coating of some sort to prevent corrosion from battery outgassing. Something similar would be a great option from the manufacture.

spogdog · 09-27-2018, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nodrama43

When I purchased my 2019 ORV the dealer supplied me with one dinky battery and then wanted 1250.00 to install four 6 volt batteries in a horribly designed set-up. I decided to do it myself. I made the platform bracket and installed it on top of the factory bars plus attached it in four spots to the frame. I bought the box that holds four batteries and installed it with the plastic lid. Then I made a diamond plate lid and added threaded rod (inside the polished aluminum tubing) to hold it all down. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Total cost was about 675.00

I had the extra duty platform and 4 batteries installed as part of my initial purchase. My dealer used individual battery boxes which I swapped out with the plastic one that you used. I am interested in the diamond plate top you built. Do you need special equipment to make the bends for the box? Also I'm wondering about your wiring of the batteries. I'm not an electrician and don't even understand all I know about electricity, but are the negative leads leaving the battery bank to the trailer attached to the wrong negative lead. It looks like they should be attached to the negative lead that is diagonal from the positive one that has the leads going to the trailer.

jfriedhoff · 09-27-2018, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spogdog

I had the extra duty platform and 4 batteries installed as part of my initial purchase. My dealer used individual battery boxes which I swapped out with the plastic one that you used. I am interested in the diamond plate top you built. Do you need special equipment to make the bends for the box? Also I'm wondering about your wiring of the batteries. I'm not an electrician and don't even understand all I know about electricity, but are the negative leads leaving the battery bank to the trailer attached to the wrong negative lead. It looks like they should be attached to the negative lead that is diagonal from the positive one that has the leads going to the trailer.

Agree with poster about negative lead being placed diagonal from positive lead to get current draw across ALL batteries... In this case would require negative wire(s) extension to bottom right negative post versus top right negative post as indicated. Otherwise great install - looks professional.

twinboat · 09-28-2018, 05:35 AM

Looking at the relatively light gauge of the wiring going into the RV and comparing it to the, probably 4 times larger, jumpers, there will be no reason to move any wiring.

At maximum draw of the RV, the voltage drop thru the jumpers would be practally un-measurable. Both series sets of batteries will discharge and re-charge evenly.

Your setup is wired perfectly.

Nodrama43 · 09-28-2018, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spogdog

I had the extra duty platform and 4 batteries installed as part of my initial purchase. My dealer used individual battery boxes which I swapped out with the plastic one that you used. I am interested in the diamond plate top you built. Do you need special equipment to make the bends for the box? Also I'm wondering about your wiring of the batteries. I'm not an electrician and don't even understand all I know about electricity, but are the negative leads leaving the battery bank to the trailer attached to the wrong negative lead. It looks like they should be attached to the negative lead that is diagonal from the positive one that has the leads going to the trailer.

I have a welding shop about 2 minutes down the road from me. He does a lot of custom work and can fabricate about anything you want. The diamond plate aluminum lid is one piece of metal that he bends on a special press he has. He then welds the corners. The top bar is also welded from the inside to make it all one piece. I also had him leave the rear edge open so that I could remove it easier with the propane tanks in place.

Yes I have the factory plastic lid under the aluminum top. I used 3/8 threaded rod inside the polished aluminum uprights to dress it up a little and to also keep the lid from flexing the plastic box underneath.

The battery jumpers are #2 welding cable that I made myself. They will carry way more amps than the camper will ever draw. With everything wired the way it is I have one big 12 volt 450 amp hour battery to draw from.

brulaz · 09-28-2018, 02:42 PM

Beautiful box!

But you might want to consider some sort of locking mechanism if you're away from the rig any length of time. I've lost a couple of batteries when in storage in Florida.

60sumtin · 09-28-2018, 09:09 PM

Looks good.

I wish my trailer had the room for that many.

WNDOPDLR · 09-29-2018, 07:21 PM

Nice job. Can you supply a link for the 4 battery box?

Nodrama43 · 09-30-2018, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WNDOPDLR

Nice job. Can you supply a link for the 4 battery box?

https://allbatterysalesandservice.co...tteries-gcq-g/

Nodrama43 · 09-30-2018, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brulaz

Beautiful box!

But you might want to consider some sort of locking mechanism if you're away from the rig any length of time. I've lost a couple of batteries when in storage in Florida.

Thank you for the compliment. As for the theft I keep the camper locked in my heated barn unless we are using it. Hopefully I will not have an issue. I have thought about possible attaching some sort of lock to it but have not come up with any idea I like yet.

60sumtin · 09-30-2018, 05:50 PM

To stop the thief from doing a lot of damage trying to get them out its probably better to make them easy to steal than hard to steal.

Searching_Ut · 09-30-2018, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 60sumtin

To stop the thief from doing a lot of damage trying to get them out its probably better to make them easy to steal than hard to steal.

Hopefully the thieves are smart enough to figure out the easy way. I used to do a lot of backpacking and hiking from assorted trailheads and often returned to the car to find a smashed windows. My trailhead vehicle was an old chevette that I left nothing in, not even a radio. I started leaving it unlocked and the window still got broke a couple times. Don’t think they even tried the handle first.