My Weekend Warrior Optima battery upgrade ...
Struggled to find detailed info and a combo of stuff that would work for what I had in mind so thought I should share.
I have always had good luck with Optima YellowTop batteries so wanted these and to go from two batteries to three. My previous batteries had the extra 5/16in accessory posts next to the main terminals which makes all the RV accessories easy to attach so looked into the BlueTop batteries and found the D31M was exactly the same as the Yellow tops I have always used in other stuff so went with them. I have not had good luck with RedTops as they never seem to be the same after draining them all the way down once which will happen in an RV.
To connect the batteries together in parallel I needed four heavy gauge wires. Cheapest I found were 19in (yes they were long enough and would not go much shorter) Coleman Cable Road Power SS19-4 Switch-Starter Cable.
Like to keep my batteries in storage boxes when possible especially with the Weekend Warrior mesh bottom compartment that can get very dirty. My main reason for liking them is can then throw other junk on top of the batteries as can never have enough places to store stuff. An added benefit is it hides the bulk of the wires ... my previous batteries without them just looked nasty. Was disappointed could not find any three battery storage boxes and was ready to pay but happy saved a little money here in the end by going with some fairly cheap ones after extensive research to try and verify they would fit. Went with the NOCO HM318BKS Group 24-31 and they fit well. These include a plastic insert on the inside that keep the battery from sliding around as were a little longer than really needed. They are close on having enough height by the time you add all the heavy gauge wires to the accessory post but there is enough height. I also had to cut some holes in the back of them to run the wires to hook the three batteries in parallel but easily done with a small hack saw. I might go back and fill these holes with some of that expanding sealant but really not that big of holes to have much concern. Picked up some 1/4in bolts, fender washers (bigger than normal washer like 1in), and normal locking washers to mount the boxes to the metal mesh panel to not have to worry about them moving at all. Drilled a couple holes through the bottom of each box after lining them up in the compartment from the bottom of the RV up into the box so could make sure would be able to install a bolt through the metal mesh. The large washers worked well to secure them properly with good torque on both the underside of the mesh and also within the boxes.
Wanted to add some security as the Blue Tops are not cheap. Not enough to really make them steal proof but will keep an honest man honest. Found a Yakima RipCord that is a flat rubber strap with metal in it that I thought would work well as can go underneath the boxes through the channel they have to connect all three batteries together. It also worked well to keep the battery box tops without using the cheap straps they come with. I then added a chain and lock around the RipCord connected to the frame just incase someone was going to try to move all three at once. The bolts, RipCord, and chain are enough to make me feel like not going anywhere down the road or for someone to get an easy steal.
The final touch, and my favorite feature, was to add some external terminals. Since everything is secure wanted to have an easy way to attach my jump pack when I run them down as that is one of the negatives of having a battery box. Was a little challenging to add these as again there is not much extra room in the battery box but since they are a little long this was fairly easily done on the long side of the box away from the Optima terminals. Found the best (cheapest)solution for this that has terminal covers was a Battery Post Wiring Kit from Bryke Racing as it has the terminals and the heavy gauge wire included.
Got all the above including the batteries from Amazon except the terminals (eBay) so was also a convenient purchase.
