Chevrolet Roadtrek - 2nd Coach Battery

senf wrote:
We have two coach batteries. One in front of the passenger rear wheel and one behind. The front compartment stays clean and dry, the rear compartment picks up every bit of rain, construction debris, road dust and any other muck around.

I have "boarded" up the back top half of the compartment but it hasn't reduced the inflow of dirt and debris. I could block the holes at the bottom of the battery tray and those of the compartment, but that may stop the water from draining out. Has anyone done anything to reduce or prevent the accumulation of dirt?

I have a 2002C 190P Roadtrek which had the same two coach battery locations and why RT selected these two locations I don't know. First when powering an inverter 12VDC battery leads should be very short - 12 to 18 inches is ideal, but not 6 foot. Three years ago I moved my batteries inside below the rear passenger seat removing the drawer and changing it to a sealed compartment with 4 deep cycle 6-volt batteries an a 1,800 watt inverter. The system provides 464 amp hrs and has worked flawlessly for nearly 4 years powering my microwave, a small convection oven and fridge while driving. The batteries stay very clean and I can't recall the last time I had to add water. I didn't loose any storage converting the drawer because the two outside compartments are now used for storage.

I also made a "plastic corrugated" cover to fit as a cover in front of the battery. This seems to keep it a bit cleaner, although the design of the battery compartment is terrible. Take the advice and grease your slides at least every 2-3 months. If you don't, you're going to be stuck with a big problem.

I did seal up ours quite a bit a few years ago, and more recently added a mudflap at the rear of wheel well, for other reasons.

To seal it, I used silicone to caulk up holes and seams toward the wheel, and made a rubber flap to go over the upper holes on the inboard side of the box. Those are the holes that let in almost all the dirt and water. It doesn't seal tight, as the cables are there, so you get air circulation, but any dirt and water go down and out the bottom holes and don't get to the slides. I removed the slides and cleaned them completely, and bolted them back in, in case I need to do it again, which I haven't in over 3 years. I put a very heavy layer of grease on the slides, covering the entire metal surface. The grease will grab any dirt that gets there and keep it and any water out of the moving parts of the slide. When the grease gets a bit dirty, I just wipe it off the surface, with the dirt, and put on clean grease. I have not had to regrease the moving parts to this point and it still slides very well. The compartment mess has been reduced by at least 80-90%.

The real inconvenience is freezing up the slides with dirt and rust so you can't pull the battery out for maintenance. I recommend you grease the slides liberally with a spray lithium grease every time you open it for any reason. You're battery is not being harmed by the mess of dirt you see. BTW, I use a silicon lubricant on the slides in the front compartment. Also, you don't want to seal the compartment too tightly or the gas created by the battery can't escape.