Battery box's

[martinriches]

I am replacing my battery's this winter and wondering whether I should make some box,s for them. Is there anything apart from securing them to the boat and covering the terminals that they do ? Would plywood be OK?

Martin

 

[Seastoke]

How many do you have are you out boad or in ,you can get plastic boxes which can catch spilled acid

 

[Dill et Bound]

Seastoke is right, you can get plastic boxes.
They are often a bit lightweight, and I have seen them with holes in the bottom to fix them down.
Building your own is really easy..
Battery manufacturers sometimes change the sizes, so it is not without problems.

What is a battery box?
Its a way of securing batteries so that if they should split..
The contents are held in the box, and do not escape into the bilge.
And should you drop a metal object on top, they don't short out.

So what you need is a acid proof box,
Strong enough to hold the batteries.
With a lid or cover to prevent shorts.

So build a ply box at least 25mm all round bigger than the batteries you wish to contain.
Also make it taller, to allow for cables and cut outs for them round the top.
Fiberglass it inside and out. Then build a lid, which you need not fiberglass.
Fix the box down securely fill holes, and then paint the inside with a coat of Epoxy resin.[ Acid proof, or near as.]
Drop in the batteries, and use long wedges of wood to hold them securely in the box.
Cable them up, and put the lid on.

That should do you until they change the size of batteries!!!
Best Wishes, and Good Luck

 

[Dill et Bound]

Seastoke is right, you can get plastic boxes.
They are often a bit lightweight, and I have seen them with holes in the bottom to fix them down.
Building your own is really easy..
Battery manufacturers sometimes change the sizes, so it is not without problems.

What is a battery box?
Its a way of securing batteries so that if they should split..
The contents are held in the box, and do not escape into the bilge.
And should you drop a metal object on top, they don't short out.

So what you need is a acid proof box,
Strong enough to hold the batteries.
With a lid or cover to prevent shorts.

So build a ply box at least 25mm all round bigger than the batteries you wish to contain.
Also make it taller, to allow for cables and cut outs for them round the top.
Fiberglass it inside and out. Then build a lid, which you need not fiberglass.
Fix the box down securely fill holes, and then paint the inside with a coat of Epoxy resin.[ Acid proof, or near as.]
Drop in the batteries, and use long wedges of wood to hold them securely in the box.
Cable them up, and put the lid on.

That should do you until they change the size of batteries!!!
Best Wishes, and Good Luck

 

[Tam Lin]

I bet that was a bit of a *** typing all that out twice!

 

[Dill et Bound]

Internet crash...

 

[Beamishken]

I can never see the point in battery boxes,all batteries gas off when charging, even sealed ones especially if heavily discharged as with domestic batteries, the gas given off is an explosion risk They are best well ventilated,personally I prefer them strapped down in the open
In the unlikely event you do burst a one assuming there in the engine bay of a fibreglass boat the leakage will be diluted by any bilge water or could be easily hosed Down & wouldn't cause any harm
maybe a different story in a metal or wood boat

 

[Robg71]

The batteries we used in armoured vehicles specifically had hose connections on them, so any venting of hydrogen was safely dumped overboard. Something I have not seen on civvy street batteries.

 

[martinriches]

Seastoke is right, you can get plastic boxes.
They are often a bit lightweight, and I have seen them with holes in the bottom to fix them down.
Building your own is really easy..
Battery manufacturers sometimes change the sizes, so it is not without problems.

What is a battery box?
Its a way of securing batteries so that if they should split..
The contents are held in the box, and do not escape into the bilge.
And should you drop a metal object on top, they don't short out.

So what you need is a acid proof box,
Strong enough to hold the batteries.
With a lid or cover to prevent shorts.

So build a ply box at least 25mm all round bigger than the batteries you wish to contain.
Also make it taller, to allow for cables and cut outs for them round the top.
Fiberglass it inside and out. Then build a lid, which you need not fiberglass.
Fix the box down securely fill holes, and then paint the inside with a coat of Epoxy resin.[ Acid proof, or near as.]
Drop in the batteries, and use long wedges of wood to hold them securely in the box.
Cable them up, and put the lid on.

That should do you until they change the size of batteries!!!
Best Wishes, and Good Luck

Thanks for the detailed reply.
I was going to make them out of ply.Mainly to aid securing them and to guard against dropping a spanner etc. Is the fibreglass to make them acid proof ?.BTW the boats steel.

Martin

 

[Dill et Bound]

Martin
The Fiberglass allows you to use any old ply to make the boxes, as it effectively waterproofs them.
Also makes them very strong.
GRP is pretty acid proof, but Epoxy is much better.
I have in the past used a webbing strap to secure the lid, and also Incorporated a tray in the lid to take a bottle of Distilled water.
Also a funnel and a spare Alternator belt. All things that you may need if experiencing problems of a battery type.
Ian

 

[stelican]

The batteries we used in armoured vehicles specifically had hose connections on them, so any venting of hydrogen was safely dumped overboard. Something I have not seen on civvy street batteries.

Quite a few of the Italian boat builders vent the battery boxes overboard obviously the vents are at the top of the boxes!

 

[VicS]

Internet crash...

You could delete one !