Where oh where should the battery go?

[Looneytoons]

After extensive research on this forum, and from other sources, I have decided to go with an AGM battery and this charger http://www.batterymart.com/p-battery-te ... arger.html

My question is, should I:

1) Mount the battery and the charger in a galley cabinet?

2) Mount the battery and the charger in a tongue box?

or

3) Mount the battery in a tongue box and the charger in a galley cabinet?

I assume the fuse block should be mounted in a galley cabinet. Or can it be mounted in a tongue box also?

My primary concern is safety, with the economics coming in second, but still a concern.

[Ageless]

It depends on balance; do you need more or less tongue weight. Either way, battery, charger and fuse block are best located close together. The wire from battery to fuse block has to be 10 gage with 30 amp fuse; wire that large is more expensive.

Another point to consider is how much room the galley has; can you sacrifice it?

Sometimes, it's best to sit down with colored pencils and make wiring diagrams showing 110V run, 12V runs, placement of lights, fans, etc. Think about where in the unit you will be able to safely run the wires. A live 12V from a battery can short almost as exciting as 110V.

[wlooper89]

All the points that Ageless mentioned are good. I will vote for keeping the battery, charger and fuse panel close together and that would be either option 1 or 2. But if you prefer the fuse panel some distance away you could put a master fuse near the battery and that should protect against a short anywhere in the DC system. You would probably still want a fuse panel to protect your circuits from overload.

My galley space is very limited so I opted for putting the electrical components in a box on the trailer tongue. The wires can exit in the back of the box and go under the trailer, entering through the trailer floor as desired. I have also seen some very nice looking galley electrical compartments that others have made.

The charger you mentioned is very nice at 5 amps. For just a little more you can get a 3-stage converter that is 25 amp and includes a panel for fuses and circuit breakers. A charger that size can power everything in the trailer while it charges the battery. If you would like more info please send me a PM.

My tongue weight is close to 300 lb on a 1,100 lb trailer and it tows fine, so there must be other factors besides tongue weight that affect towability. Is that a word?

Bill

[Looneytoons]

Thanks for the advice.

I would like to locate everything in the galley area. My tear is 5 feet wide so I think I should have plenty of room. I have read however, that the battery shouldn't be located in the galley due to the gassing of the battery during charging. I would think that would be mitigated by the AGM type battery.

What do you think?

I decided on the battery charger instead of the converter because 85% to 90% of the time, we'll be camping in areas without electrical hookups. All my lighting will be LED so about the only real electrical draw will be the fan and perhaps a radio and/or a DVD player that will probably only be used on rainy days.

Other thoughts?

[Ageless]

The gas is hydrogen which is lighter than air; as long as you give it a path to the outside; no problem

[Looneytoons]

How about something like this that I can cover up from the inside when the charger is not in use. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... _sku=24823

[eamarquardt]

Thanks for the advice.

I decided on the battery charger instead of the converter because 85% to 90% of the time, we'll be camping in areas without electrical hookups. All my lighting will be LED so about the only real electrical draw will be the fan and perhaps a radio and/or a DVD player that will probably only be used on rainy days.

Other thoughts?

The closer to the axle that you mount the battery the better. Forward of the axle is preferable (IMHO). I agree with your choice of a small battery charger. If your trailer is at home you have all the time in the world to charge the battery and keep it charged. If you are at a campground w/o ac no battery charger is of any use. If you are at a camp with ac your 5 amp battery charger can put 120 amp hours into your battery bank each day. This is more than you could get out of TWO 100 amp/hour batteries. Unless you go hog wild, try and run a microwave, air conditioner, big fan, or some other power hog you'll be just fine (again IMHO) powering a few lights, radio, and computer/dvd player. I'd consider a laptop with dvd drive for viewing movies as it can to a lot of other cool stuff also. Guy stayed at a camp this summer in Oregon (I think) that had wifi so he could surf the net and email, cool.

Can you mount your battery in a box below your trailer. I think Danny in Washington does this. Look at his album pics. This way you can put it very close to the axle and also it is very low which is a good thing for handling. Putting it in the galley way behind the axle is not an optimal place.

There you have it, the world according to Gus.

Cheers,

Gus

[Mightydog]

Our battery is in the tongue box with a couple of heavy wires running back to the galley where the charger and fuse panel are located. It all seems to work just fine. We wanted to keep the battery as far away from sleeping/working area as possible.

[Shadow Catcher]

AGM batteries are recombinant they do not outgas the same way a conventional battery does so venting is not a big concern. Converter and AGM battery will be in the Galley in our next Mega-Mini, simplifies wiring and shortens large gauge wire runs

[DrCrash]

The Ultima yellow top dont take a charge well. I distroyed 3 of them befor switching over to a wet batery, havent had a problem since. Oh and there alot cheaper!

[Shadow Catcher]

The Optima is a dual purpose, starting deep cycle battery and the specs on charging look to be exacting http://www.optimabatteries.com/_media/d ... cs/D34.pdf
I will be using a Lifeline/Concord battery, they developed the valve regulated AGM for aircraft use in 1985. the cells are sealed with a pressure relief valve that prevents gasses with in the battery from escaping. The gases are recombined inside the battery and is nonspillable even when turned upside down. some ventilation is necessary but much less than a conventional Led Acid which may actually boil during charging (not necessarily a bad thing but water has to be added).
The how a battery is charged, seems to be fairly critical for long life, the Lifeline care and feeding http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/manual.php

This was a good reminder that I need to be having a conversation with Progressive Dynamics and make sure that the Lifeline AGM and the Charge Wizard play well together.
"The heart of the PD4000 is the INTELI-POWER Converter. The built-in Charge Wizard® microprocessor constantly monitors the
battery voltage then automatically adjusts the converter output voltage to provide the proper charging voltage for fast recharges
and long-term maintenance." There is a period of 15 minutes every 21 hours of 14.4V to equalize and prevent stratification which should not be necessary with an AGM.

[planovet]

My battery and charger are in the tongue box and the fuse panel is in a slide out in the galley. The battery adds a little weight to the tongue but I didn't want it in the tear. I used a blue top Optima battery and a Deltran Battery Tender. So far the arrangement is working great.

[Sparksalot]

I happened to have a 92Ah Ni-Cad (~75#) on hand. That would have given greater than 200# tongue weight.

I opted to locate it at the back of the galley, immediately over the axle. Negligible impact this way.

[Lgboro]

Not sure where a battery should go but I mounted mine under the trailer just behind the axle. Its in a thick aluminum box for protection from potential flying objects - now if I don't drag over something I think it will be ok as I have 7" of clearance from the ground. Will post a pic if I can ever get off work long enough to take one.