Battery Box Drain

[Bill]

If I misunderstood your post, I apologize for coming on a bit strong.

IF the unfinished hole is in the floor of the TM, rather than the box, and IF the battery and box are a dealer-installed item on the Mini (not factory installed), then it is possible that TM purposely drills the hole only partway (most of the way) through. This would make it easier for the dealer to install the battery if/when he chooses to do so. It would also give him the option of putting a hole in another, non-standard, place if he uses a different box.

As for a hole in the bottom of the box? It could be a simple drain, intended to drain off water that is spilled during battery filling. I know I tend to slop a little as I pour from the gallon jug of distilled water into the small battery filler holes. Without a drain, I end up with standing water in the box - not good if I am going into cold weather.

Bill

[Brittany Dogs]

My new 2720SD has a rear compartment and the battery sits inside this battery box as most everyone here is describing. The bottom half of this battery box has an "intake" vent hole that sits in a hole drilled right through the 3" deck plate directly to the outside. I suspect that TM or the dealer neglected to drill the hole all the way through the deck plate on Like2Ride's unit. The top half of the battery box has the same kind of vent hole that is intended to connect to a hose (about 1.5" dia) and vents to the outside usually on a side-wall. The design works as intended if the installation is done correctly.

For me, I gave up on high maintenance, vented wet cells a while ago. Too many boiled cells, too many holes in my clothes as careful as I was. I have only considered sealed lead acid or sealed gel batteries for 10 years now. I have been a much happier camper ever since.

When I purchased my TM, I requested the unit be battery-less since I wanted to purchase my own batteries and take a lot of time doing a great installation with the mounting and the cableing. I purchased batteries made in PA. Too many batteries are made in China. That bugs me.

Bottom line is, the hole should have been drilled all the way through on the unit that Like2Ride has.

Previously I mentioned my concern that a drain hole in a battery box was a bad idea, because it would not contain any leaking battery acid.

Searching with Google I found:

The typical battery box serves a number of purposes. In addition to mechanical support, the obvious one is to contain acid and water spills and the nasty damage they can do.

at:

http://www.yandina.com/hints.htm#BatteryBox

This seems to be written in the context of marine applications, where there is something under that battery that could be damaged by leaking battery acid.

So as long as your battery has nothing important under it, like the TM floor, then go ahead a and drill holes in the bottom.

On the other hand, I have rarely seen a battery leak acid.

[Barb&Tim]

For those of us with the battery in an inside compartment the hole in the bottom of the battery box going on through the floor of the TM to the outside is more important as a intake vent so that any gases put out by the battery will be vented to the outside.

Tim