Chippendale
Well-known member
I have two batteries in my front compartment, and of course they are in a box with a vent to the outside of the bottom of the trailer from the bottom of the box and also a hose from the top of the cover of the box to an outside vent above the compartment door. I understand why you would need and want a cover and this type of venting if the battery was in a cabinet in the "living" portion of the RV, but I do not see why it is necessary to have it in the "front" compartment which appears to be sealed off from the living quarters and is definitely not airtight to the outside.
Checking the water in the batteries is almost next to impossible without disconnecting all the battery cables and the vent hose and completely removing the box lid. I don't remember battery covers on the batteries of a houseboat I owned in the late 90's and I know that there were no covers on the batteries on a cruiser we had later. I can go out on the drive way right now, open the hood on my F350 and checking the batteries is easier than checking the oil.
Has anyone rewired the access cables to the batteries and removed the vent hose from the box so that the cover can be easily removed? I am very tempted to do this as it sure would make it easier to maintain proper water levels in the batteries. My gut feeling is that the vent hose, etc is not necessary in this configuration, but it comes with the box, so the factory installs it and we have to deal with it.
Checking the water in the batteries is almost next to impossible without disconnecting all the battery cables and the vent hose and completely removing the box lid. I don't remember battery covers on the batteries of a houseboat I owned in the late 90's and I know that there were no covers on the batteries on a cruiser we had later. I can go out on the drive way right now, open the hood on my F350 and checking the batteries is easier than checking the oil.
Has anyone rewired the access cables to the batteries and removed the vent hose from the box so that the cover can be easily removed? I am very tempted to do this as it sure would make it easier to maintain proper water levels in the batteries. My gut feeling is that the vent hose, etc is not necessary in this configuration, but it comes with the box, so the factory installs it and we have to deal with it.
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