Purchasing Battery Trays

[chrisski]

Any tips on purchasing Solar battery trays for a fifth wheel RV?

I've spent some time trying to find battery trays for solar batteries, and it seems I can't just purchase them and will need to fab them myself. I'm down to a couple of types:

Group 903
Group GC2

I just find it odd that battery manufacturer websites do not list these trays for purchase as an accessory on their site.

I can't just plop my 240 LBS of batteries on the same place that basically held a car battery and not expect to see a hole in the bottom of the RV with the batteries hanging on by their cables as I drive down the road. I would expect to fab something to make it strong enough, but I would expect the manufactures to have a battery tray I could attack to this?

What am I missing or will I really be building my own battery trays out of inch Aluminum angle and a TIG welder?

[Mike90250]

You want a slide out tray, maybe modify a generator slide out.

[chrisski]

I'm actually getting some search results now for both classes of batteries. Thanks.

Looks like the tall Group 903 batteries I'm thinking of would require further modification to these trays to keep from falling over when driving, but the more normal sized Group GC2 Batteries would be fine.

Next, I have to figure out what to do for venting inside the RV compartment. There's already a hood and hose and vent for the normal sized RV battery, I just need to figure if this will be big enough for the newer solar batteries.

[Mike90250]

This might be a rare case where a Li battery may be a better fit, but you have to triple check all voltage settings of all the charging gear

[chrisski]

This might be a rare case where a Li battery may be a better fit, but you have to triple check all voltage settings of all the charging gear

I do want to hold off on lithium batteries for a bit. I see myself getting lithium's two to five years as a replacement for the original lead acid ones. Honestly, don't see myself using this enough to truly justify the cost.

There's plenty of fifth wheel RVs with solar that have the same battery placement problems I do, and I'm sure some have even been solved safely. I'm giving myself until the beginning of Oct to figure out every little bolt, wire and piece I need to buy for this system and have a good plan to get it assembled safely.

Keeping the batteries from falling through the shell is probably as simple as getting the generator slide out you mentioned and mounting the batteries in there. I found a generator slide out rated at 400 LBS for a reasonable price, and the heaviest set of lead acid batteries I'm getting would be 250 LBS plus cables and mounts. I will probably secure it to the floor of the luggage compartment by drilling through and using fender washers.

Problem with these RVs, is they are not built very well. I did not realize until I bought mine new that they are pushed out of the factory incomplete and that means the dealer needs to fix any problems found on the purchase inspection. Aside from that, the cabinets etc are just not made to last.

[chrisski]

I bought GC2H Batteries, which are the same as the GC2, except about a half inch higher. That total height of 11.74 is really preventing me from finding a lot of encoded cases. Most are stopping at 11.5". I found one at Grainger I can pick up tomorrow that is vented and will fit the GC2H's, and I found another better one from Moeller, but the inside dimensions for height, match the outside, so I know that's wrong, but think it will fit. "I think it will fit" is a terrible way to make a purchase. So, I contacted the manufacturer, and we'll see what happens.

Also not going to do a slide out for this.

I wish I could find an industrial sized grade plastic box that I could bolt in my RV, with inside dimensions of 24" long X 16" Wide, by 13" tall, but I can't figure out where to start, and a plastic tote off the shelf at Walmart is not an option.

I may construct this out of plywood so I can vent to the outside. The front would be the same as the back, and would be removeable with draw latches. The top is sloped like a roof so the gas does not get trapped inside. I would then drill a couple 90° elbows in the top and attach 1 3/4" battery venting hose.Battery Box.jpg

[chrisski]

You want a slide out tray, maybe modify a generator slide out.

I did find a case from Grainger for a GC2H battery, so far the only one, and I was going to bolt this to the floor, but then I realized with a 13” case and maybe 22” to the ceiling,I would not be able to get the battery in the case, so may be back to a slide out tray and the case. I just need to be sure that it slides out enough to take batteries in and out.

The fact I went with GC2H and lead acid batteries is making this more difficult than I thought.

[chrisski]

In case anyone has this problem in the future:

I bought four GC2H batteries Cases at Grainger, the only place I could find cases. I will have to do a little work to seal the vent holes that come with it and then install my vent up top. A local RV shop had Battery hose and I bought 9' of that, I bought two outside vents with 1' of hose, and from a hardware store (after wandering the PVC section for about 30 minutes) I got two TEE junctions so I could split each outside vent to two battery cases.

Intent is to get a sliding 100% extension battery tray that holds four GC2 batteries and mount the batteries on that.

The devil is in the details in this project, and I will post pics when done.