Battery Box Upgrade

Our Hitchhicker II LS came stock with two 12 volt batteries. This was not ample for more than one or two days of dry camping. Therefore I decided to install 4 new 6 volt golf cart batteries and hook them up to give us more dry camping power. The problem was where to put the extra two batteries. The original batteries were located port and starbord in the front of the basement by the 5th wheel legs. They each had a seporate battery box and vent hose. I removed the original plastic battery cases and cut out the plywood inbetween the two battery box holes making one long rectangle hole. Then I had a friend manufacture a box out of sheet metal to fit in the hole. I attached the box to the plywood with eye bolts which also act as tie down sites for the box lid. The sheet metal box has a lip welded to it to hold it in place in the hole. I used plastic edge guards (available at any hardware store) and on top of that I put a rim of pipe insullation to form a tight seal. I chose a wooden top since I did not want any material that would conduct electricity over the top of the battery terminals (the lid has plenty of clearence above the battery posts). I used snubbers for tie - downs. I also reconnected the original vent hose to the box which also has vent holes in it. If you use wet batteries, you must vent them as they produce toxic fumes. I used a 1 1/2 plastic electric conduit nipple and screwed one end into the flex hose, passed the nipple through the pre-drilled hole in the box and attached it with an electrical conduit nut. I put a long rubber floor mat in the bottom of the box for the batteries to rest on. I used a one inch wooden plank as thecover.