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Old 05-23-2008, 11:11 AM   #1
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Battery Mounting Location?

Hi Gang
Anybody have experience mounting a 4D under the chassis?
Im finishing up the interior myself and wold like to mount the 4D just aft of the rear dif under the floorboards. Im concerned about cold temps and waterproofness. Ill build a basic metal box for debris protection but am concerned about the need to make it fully waterproof.
I think SMB mounts some of their batteries under the chassis in a cut out under the side doors. Are they waterproofed?
Regarding cold temps - If its really cold my reefer wont be running. The only load would be heater fan and occasional lights. I would think the cold temp capacity reduction of 20-30% would not be a big deal. SMB does not seem to be worried about it.
Thanks
Aaron

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Old 05-23-2008, 01:40 PM   #2
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Aaron on my rig SMB mounted the batteries on rails bolted between the frame where you are talking about. I had just enough room for 3 or 4 rails holding two 4-D batteries just in front of the XL storage box. EB vs RB matters here. On these rails they used a marine type box that has rope handles on the sides in which (to my surprise) are zip tied down to the rails. There may be other tiedowns but I can't find them. As heavy as the batteries are they stay put on the roughest trails. The batteries sit on a rubber type matt and no bolts or sharp points hit the batteries. The boxes are not water tight but keep most of the debris and mud out. They mounted the temperature sensor inside the box on the side of one of the batteries. I would prefer a light weight heavy duty sealed box with a thought of some way to make installation/removable easy, which is not the case in my install. A metel box could be a mistake for obvious reasons. Another thing to take into consideration is spacing it to run an 8-D or space it for running twin 4-Ds if possible. I also think a strong aluminum frame would help reduce weight instead of channel iron but it would have to be very sturdy. Good luck.
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Old 05-23-2008, 03:07 PM   #3
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The zip ties better not be all that's holding the battery- both sides of mine were broken.
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Old 05-23-2008, 08:04 PM   #4
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The zip ties were the only thing holding the battery on mine. I now check them monthly, when mine broke I believe it resulted in a worn battery cable.


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Old 05-24-2008, 01:12 AM   #5
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Battery mounting

The zip ties are basically just there to secure the battery during installation. The battery mounts inside of an angle iron frame, with a sheet of 1/8" thick ABS plastic underneath it. The battery is secured two ways. There is an ABS cover that was designed to act as a spacer between the top of the battery and the bottom of the van floor to keep the battery from rising out of the angle iron frame once installed. There is also a small gap (about 1/4") between the angle iron frame and battery case sidewalls. This gap is filled with Sikaflex sealant which secures the battery to the frame. The Sikaflex sealant also prevents small pebbles from becoming lodged between the angle iron frame and battery case, which will wear a hole in the battery case.

If you don't have the ABS cover or Sikaflex sealant, you'll need something more than the zip ties to secure the battery (and to prevent small pebbles from causing major problems).

While I haven't seen a battery ever come out of the angle iron frame, I have seen the damage a couple little pebbles can cause!

John K.
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