Battery Box

**101RRS** · 28th September 2011, 05:06 PM

Because of the small size of my camper van the battery is stored on the draw bar. The current battery is quite small, probably only about 40a/h and is in a small battery box. I have a quite good spare UPS battery that is about 120Ah that I would like to put on as a replacement. I bought a battery box from BCF and the big battery fits in fine length wise and width but the UPS battery seems to be about 1cm higher than similar capacity deep cycle and automotive batteries - as such does not allow the lid to fit correctly. I have been around just about all the car parts shops, camping shops, battery shops and they all have the same box (different branding) as I have like this eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

These boxes have an internal height on about 20 - 22 cm and I need one about 24cm.

Anyone have an idea where I can find a battery box that may be a tad higher than normal - pricing would need to be less than a $100 so I am not interested in hi tech models with inbuilt chargers etc.

Thanks

Garry

**alien** · 28th September 2011, 05:43 PM

Could you make a extension up to fit between the case and lid?
I was thinking maybe a strip of stainless steel about 5cm wide bent to suit.
It all depends on the top of the box for securing it.
You could also cut the box around 1/2 way down and rivit it from the inside to extend the hight.
Not as good as a new box but something to think about.

**101RRS** · 28th September 2011, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by alien d2

Could you make a extension up to fit between the case and lid?

thanks for that - one step ahead of you

. After visiting all the auto shops I going to go to the aluminium shop and get some 2" wide strip to pop rivet around the top but then I thought that it might be easy to short the battery so I went to the hobby shop to see if they had some strip plastic but they did not have any.

As I can return the box I have for a refund I thought I would ask here before looking at the options you have suggested.

Thanks

Garry

**Hoges** · 29th September 2011, 08:59 PM

FWIW: are there any plastic welders in fyshwick or Mitchell who may be able to tack a stip of pvc or whatever instead of the metal option?

**steveG** · 29th September 2011, 09:17 PM

How about this one:
https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_i...AbsolutePage=2

Steve

**rovers4** · 29th September 2011, 09:35 PM

Hi,

Why not use a strip of garden edging either as mid-rif fill-in or as an extra strip around the top of the lower sction?

**101RRS** · 29th September 2011, 09:53 PM

Originally Posted by steveG

How about this one:
https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_i...AbsolutePage=2

Steve

While it looks similar to the one I returned to BCF today it might have the right height - I will look into it - thanks.

Garry

**101RRS** · 30th September 2011, 11:23 PM

Change of plan - going to leave the small battery on the draw bar in its little battery box and circuit breakers and other wiring and place the big battery in one of the wheel arches storage areas that has external ventilation.

I will connect the two batteries (same type just different sizes) in parallel via heavy duty wiring and a cutoff switch. This will leave the camper wiring basically as is, keep the draw bar weight lower and increase available a/hs from about 45 to about 165.

As far as I can tell there should be no issues with the different size batteries as they are the same type.

Thanks for all the input and comments.

Cheers

Garry

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