battery upgrade questions

[nhlakes]

That looks like a "better than factory" installation. Curious why you put in the two length wise aluminum members. Wouldn't drilling through the box and screwing to the cross wise aluminum members work just as well? I would have thought that Noco box would be plenty strong mounted that way.

Also another 100 lbs near the tongue will help sway tremendously with or without the Andersen.

Davod

Thanks.  The Noco box has external slots on the 4 corners to screw through.  While unlikely, it seemed it could potentially slide left or right out of those slots.  The side brackets I made lock it into place - and the added weight of the extra aluminum angle that I had left over is noise.  So, while I may not have needed it, it me feel better.

Sway was never really an issue.  I figured the trailer would be fine 95% of the time.  Going over bridges in strong wind with trucks passing I could feel it a little, but it did not bother me (although it made my wife a little nervous).  I haven't used a WDH with sway in 15+ years.  I  suspect I am going to like it - especially because I'm pretty sure I'll be able to put my tailgate down easily once I get it fine tuned.  (ie. shave off enough plastic from the jack cover )

[GrampaKilt]

There are $$ consequences to appreciating this forum, this thread; herein, FWIW, is my inspired effort to install double 6 Volt batteries on the 14DB. It includes an aluminum angle frame* and 2 single battery boxes (NOCO $14 CAD from Amazon at the time). Obviously, a double box or one made out of checker plate aluminum are nicer, but I felt the huge price difference didn't warrant the investment. #4 AWG lines replaced the #8 AWGs back to the Progressive Dynamics (PD4045KV) power center. At the B-, I reworked my old negative disconnect to fit onto the terminal (and get it out of the weather). Attached to that is a shunt rated at 50A for this: Battery Monitor detector 80V 50A Capacity Tester lithium lead-acid 12V 24V from Ebay/Aliexpress. (I have no inverter, and no plans to get one, so the 50A is plenty.) Finally, some scraps of plexiglass were fashioned to make a cover for it all.

At B+, and as recommended by several on this forum for overcurrent protection, a 50A ANL fuse was installed. Not seen in the pics is a PD EMSPT30C Surge Protector.

Costco Canada also carries 6V deep cycles at around $140 CAD. However, I picked up some Trojan T105's for $180 CAD (now $185) feeling that the increase in AH and their reputation was worth it. https://www.myequipment.ca/listings/view/20455/trojan-t-105-6-volt-deep-cycle-battery-canada

When the great wizard (Merlin) makes a suggestion, it is wise to get 'er done. Hence, the water pump switch is now lighted . GK

*Also seen in the pic is the aluminum tube structure needed to raise the propane tanks in order to accommodate the WD bracket.

[nhlakes]

Cool.  I still need to add a real battery monitor. 

Dry camping for a few days and testing the pair of new 6volts ... stock monitor still reading 2/3 after 2 nights of watching movies (streaming via Roku stick in the 12v tv w/cell hotspot), running cpap all night, generously running lights, lots of fan use during the last 2 afternoons, water pump, charging phones, etc... 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gary M]

I use the Victron with the Bluetooth to monitor mine on my phone. Well worth the $ in my opinion. The range on it is great too. Here's a screenshot of mine right now..

[GrampaKilt]

There may be some readers whose LSWs will not take kindly to spending a couple of C notes on a battery monitor like the Victron. I pushed hard but in the end had to settle for this much cheaper one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/80V-350A-100A-50A-Waterproof-Digital-LCD-Battery-Voltmeter-Voltage-Meter-Monitor/332761873997?hash=item4d7a273e4d%3Am%3AmxEEj0z_8ERacti4cWgipqQ&var=541887530445

See "Bat Ind" picture in my last post.

If ordered, it will not come with instructions that one needs for setup. I emailed the vendor who responded in a timely fashion with this address for a PDF http://115.28.16.44:81/file/6177.pdf .

Another indicator of an inexpensive product was that the cable to the monitor was only 1 foot long ! It took a few hours of searching, but I finally found some card reader shielded cable from a local security system install company and spliced it in. Electronically, the product is working well. GK

[Firetruck41]

There may be some readers whose LSWs will not take kindly to spending a couple of C notes on a battery monitor like the Victron. I pushed hard but in the end had to settle for this much cheaper one  https://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=183258431923&view=all&tid=1843804184008 as pictured in my last post.

I could not get the eBay link to work, is there another link or description?

[GrampaKilt]

This is a better link. It also gives one the option to purchase 100A or 350A versions. I will also insert this link into my previous post. GK

https://www.ebay.com/itm/80V-350A-100A-50A-Waterproof-Digital-LCD-Battery-Voltmeter-Voltage-Meter-Monitor/332761873997?hash=item4d7a273e4d%3Am%3AmxEEj0z_8ERacti4cWgipqQ&var=541887530445

Also Amazon.com has them.

https://www.amazon.com/AiLi-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Voltage-Motorhome/dp/B07FGFFHC6/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_13?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DCEZT2DVJHPNZTAE9MEW