7'*18' V-Nose Cargo Trailer Toy Hauler Conversion

[flboy]

The perspective of the camera distorts the relative size, but these batteries individually weigh the same. So I am only adding a total of 60 lbs to the trailer for the additional battery and 85 aH. Aside from the increased capacity, I am assuming the Golf Car batteries will be able to cycle deeper, recover better and last longer.



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[flboy]

The new battery bank is installed. The converter/smart charger is charging them up. I'll be boondocking for a few days after Christmas. That will be the real test.

I expect my battery vents to be in this week, so I will install those before I go. Right now, I just have the compartment opened up to the interior and have the top vents wide open.

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[McDave]

You could probably get a pretty penny for those exides still. Nice upgrades this weekend, and that pad sure is nice to park and work on. Say Don, is your old buddy Benz still around? Haven't seen any pics lately with the tailwagger in there. I hope so, but I know they get old. Might be a good thing to have a friend like that when you travel, and one to keep an eye on mama too.

McDave

[JRAnt74]

This is what I have for the battery compartment vent. The cable pass in the floor through serves as an fresh air inlet and will allow the heavier sulphuric gas to drop out in the event of overcharging. I am going to use 2 of the louvered vents on the side at the top of the compartment above the batteries since the compartment is long. Lastly, I need to put some rubber weather seal on the dinette seat lid and the lid in the bottom of the closet. They may not be 100% airtight, but with the vents... I do not think any gasses will have the chance to accumulate.


Now that I do not have SLA batteries.. I think this is needed for safety.




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Thanks for the vent info, will look into a couple of them for my battery box. I'm thinking of doing the 2 6v golf cart batteries myself. Not an imediate need but I would like to get the box built now. If it isn't too much to ask what are the dimensions of one of those batteries? Trying to build out my new cargo trailer as a mobile workshop. Thanks again in advance kind sir.

[flboy]

Thanks for the vent info, will look into a couple of them for my battery box. I'm thinking of doing the 2 6v golf cart batteries myself. Not an imediate need but I would like to get the box built now. If it isn't too much to ask what are the dimensions of one of those batteries? Trying to build out my new cargo trailer as a mobile workshop. Thanks again in advance kind sir.

The Duracell GC2 dimensions are: L- 10 1/4", W- 7 1/8", H - 10 7/8"

Good luck with your build.

[flboy]

You could probably get a pretty penny for those exides still. Nice upgrades this weekend, and that pad sure is nice to park and work on. Say Don, is your old buddy Benz still around? Haven't seen any pics lately with the tailwagger in there. I hope so, but I know they get old. Might be a good thing to have a friend like that when you travel, and one to keep an eye on mama too.

McDave

Hi McDave. Benz is still around (thanks for asking). He's not doing great with his hip dysplasia that is common in German Shepherd Dogs. He can barely get up and walk outside now and you can tell that is just killing him emotionally more than the pain. GSD's just want to work and please their owners. Really sad. It will be a very bad day when I have to make that decision to limit his suffering. We are doing everything we can to keep him comfortable and spending a lot on adequan shots once a week and for gabapentin and carprofen which he gets daily.

Benz has been such a good loyal companion and never misses the opportunity to screen the folks that show up at my front door occasionally when I am not home and just my wife is. He will back them up if he doesn't like something about them or if she doesn't immediately react to tell him it is okay. He is almost 11 years old which is getting up there for a purebred GSD. He is still 115 lbs. and has a look that reminds me of that song that has a line that says "I aint as good as I once was, but I am as good once as I ever was." I think it is "Good As I Once Was" by Toby Keith"

When he goes, I will get another German Shepherd companion and get him or her use to the truck and CTC right off. Hopefully that will still be a while. But I could never get another with Benz still here. It would break his heart.

On the Exides, I have a good Hydrometer with built in thermometer on the way so I can hopefully confirm whether or not they are taking a full charge. They just don't seem to be holding up like they were when they were newer. I will try to Equalize them individually with another charger I have to see if I can bring them back some. In any case, there is still some life in them. I wanted to upgrade to the Golf Car batteries and I felt this was a good time since this is the time I tend to camp the most.

I may keep one or two on my workbench even if they are not 100% anymore. They are nice to have around for testing or troubleshooting 12V radios, inverters, LED light strings, or etc... I had to pay core charges at Sam's and will get refunded $18.00 a battery with core returns.. so I either want to find a use for them, find somebody who can really use them, or just get my $18.00 a battery back at SAM's. .

Take care and try to stay warm up there. I saw another thread a week or so ago and it sounded like you were having some challenges keeping it all working with the onset of winter. Have a Merry Christmas if I do not chat with you before.


Here is old grey beard. He likes to stay near the front door so he can see who is coming.




That's the look that says "I aint as good as I once was, but I am as good once as I ever was" if you ask him "who's there?" Ears go back and he thinks it is all business.

[flboy]

I found this muffin fan that works off 110VAC in my drawer that I had bought for ventilation and never used. I think I am going to install it with my battery vent to pull out air of the compartment only when the Shore Power or Generator is on and I have the charger/converter running. I will wire it onto the same switch as the converter which only has power when shore or gen is online. The batteries, if they are going to out gas, are going to do it only when charging and, from what I understand, usually only during equalization cycles.

Of course it won't run with the solar charger, but solar doesn't work at night, so I don't have to worry about it outgassing while I am sleeping. During the day, I am in and out of the CTC and usually have windows open and fans running. Convection should still work within the battery compartment as it is.

In any case... may as well use it since I have it. It can only improve the ventilation in the battery compartment and it will use only a few watts of power. That's what I am thinking.

[McDave]

Well alright then. Ol' boy looks pretty good. His eyes are clear and his ears are good. That dysplasia is a bitch though, for dogs and their people. But you are right about Shepherds, and most working breeds, they just want to do their job and make you happy. I can tell he still has enough in him to TCB at the homestead. Let him post up with the Mrs. while you are out in the boonies. Don't forget to take your little black dog SW.
So, I had a ol' boy name of Duke. Smartest dude I've ever known. He gave me 19yrs of faithful service before I could let him go. His hips went bad at about 15 and he was blind and deaf at the end, but still a happy boy. We tried to give him Rimadil but he was just too smart. I would put it in a hot dog and toss it to him, but every time he would leave the bite with the pill. I didn't have the heart to force it on him. In his day he was a scary dog. I watched him take down a deer and bring it to the truck one day. That was the day I knew I was not the Alpha... He's been gone ten years now and this is really the first time I've been able to talk about it. Here is a photo when he was in his prime.


McDave

[John61CT]

for batt box, always leave some extra room

ventilation

next bank. size may vary a bit

can always insert shims at the top edge if you want to clamp tight, but not necessary IMO.

[flboy]

I got the battery hydrometer in today and checked out my new battery bank to baseline readings. The bank as a whole reads 12.8VDC and individual batteries are reading 6.4VDC +/- 10mV. All the specific gravity measurements were the same @1.271 corrected -.004 for temp. I should be able to keep up with the State of Charge well with this new tool. It is easy enough to use and is inexpensive.

I posted the SOC table I found on the internet on the inside of the closet door . It is a good reference.



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[featherliteCT1]

I am no expert and am easily confused …but does it make sense that the chart says at 50 degrees at 50% charge, the battery would read 11.596 volts? And at 50 degrees at 90% charge the volts would read 12.116 volts?

I have read that we should subtract 0.024 volts for every ten degrees F, if the temperature is below 80 degrees F ... does that sound right?

The chart does not agree with the data at http://all-about-lead-acid-batteries.ca ... orrection/

I wonder … which chart is correct?

Also, a while back, I bought three different hydrometers from three different manufactures that looked similar to the one you posted ... but all three gave wildly different readings. I never knew which one was correct.

Any thoughts?

[flboy]

I am no expert and am easily confused …but does it make sense that the chart says at 50 degrees at 50% charge, the battery would read 11.596 volts? And at 50 degrees at 90% charge the volts would read 12.116 volts?

I have read that we should subtract 0.024 volts for every ten degrees F, if the temperature is below 80 degrees F ... does that sound right?

The chart does not agree with the data at http://all-about-lead-acid-batteries.ca ... orrection/

I wonder … which chart is correct?

Also, a while back, I bought three different hydrometers from three different manufactures that looked similar to the one you posted ... but all three gave wildly different readings. I never knew which one was correct.

Any thoughts?

Honestly, I do not know if this chart has errors or or how accurate this hydrometer is. The voltage readings at 70 to 80 degrees F. does seem normal to most charts I have seen. I will look closer at the temperature compensation . That is impressive that you look at those numbers in that detail however.

I agree.. cheap off the shelf meters of different manufactures and of different quality may likely give different readings. "Wildly" different would concern me and I would make sure there was not some other variable like technique or etc. involved. The only way to know if it is off would be to have a few meters/gages or a known good standard to measure.. which I do not have. In this case, I started with 4 known good batteries with three cells each that all measured the same several times each, so at a minimum, I know the gage is repeatable and relatively accurate at the high end.

One of the most important things to me given a reasonable accuracy is a repeatable reading. Meaning if I measure the same thing 10 times... I get the same reading 10 times whatever it is... next is linearity when it comes to fault finding. I did check the readings several times and the gage was consistent. In this case... new batteries, fully charged (per charger), and consistent readings in the normal range as I'd expect. Unless the gage is not linear.. I'd expect to see a relative deterioration (in volts and SG) when the batteries start to fail.. In any case.. probably good enough for this job.

That is why I think it is good to take baseline readings when brand new and then start plotting the values as you measure at maintenance intervals. You will be able to see relative change and then absolute accuracy is not as important. Don't get me wrong.. it needs to be in the ball park but a 100mv or a few points of specific gravity is not going not make or break you when it comes to a battery measurement/maintenance which the tool is for. For what we are doing, you really just want to know if it is changing over time and by how much relative to a known good condition.

I use to maintain some very accurate temperature controlled voltage standards for our metrology lab at work long ago. The meters we used to measure them with were no more accurate than the standards themselves( 1:1 or less in some cases), but were very repeatable . By measuring the cells and plotting values and comparing against baselines and against each other... I could tell which standard was drifting off and exactly how much compared to the others. If they all drifted the same direction... I knew my meter was going off.. if only one cell changed compared to the other two....then I'd suspect the single cell and off it would go to the higher level standards lab. Anyway.. that is how I look at this process.. except no ramifications other than my time.. and in a strange way.. I enjoy the process.

[flboy]

Battery compartment vent is in. The fan will run whenever the Charger is on to ensure a good air flow through the compartment to the outside. JUst another hole in the side of the CTC. What's one more!














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[Hader]

I paid $199 to flip both axles and it would be about half that. Tommy had his single axle flipped and it was about half. The axles are not welded to anything... the "perches" where the axle engages the leaf springs is welded on and they welded new perches on the opposite side and leave the originals in place. The axles do not really "flip in the this case... they are just mounting them under the leaf spring instead of on top. I hope this helps.

Thank you Don.

Merry Christmas.

[Rainier70]

Maybe I am overly cautious, but I don't think I would put an electric motor of any kind in an atmosphere that has a Hydrogen and Oxygen mixture. It is very explosive with the tiniest of sparks.

In my opinion it is best to allow air to come in at the bottom and any hydrogen that escapes from the batteries to passively find its way out the top vent. It escapes quickly on its own because it is so much lighter than air.

If you think you really need the fan, then use it to push the bottom air in. In the bottom it is not exposed to direct contact with the hydrogen.