Positioning of 2 coach batteries in motorhome

[Newbiecampers]

Hi all,

Just purchased a Class C and had a second battery installed for the coach.

When picking it up I noticed that the second battery is butted right up against the other battery (in other words they are touching on one side), and they share the same hold-down strap.

That struck me as a little odd. Should they be separated by some space for better cooling/prevention of potential damage as they rub together/etc..?

Or am I being paranoid or overly anal.

[Newbiecampers]

Hi all,

Wanted to reply to this topic while we were on our trip but my tablet would not open this website ("secure connection could not be established"). Anyway...

dodge guy wrote:
Just being held in place by one strap. They are not installed properly, they will move around. And yes they could run together. I would get some mounting trays and mount them seperatly with some space.

Yep. This is exactly what happened. The batteries moved from their starting position which was to the left side of the battery box to the right side during the trip.

It looked like a cheesey set-up and proved to be one on the road.

I haven't dug into it since returning but I am guessing that I will have to replace the cables running between the batteries in order to have more length to accomodate moving them apart and providing their own mounts/straps/trays. Thats the way it always works for us, lol.

[dodge_guy]

Just being held in place by one strap. They are not installed properly, they will move around. And yes they could run together. I would get some mounting trays and mount them seperatly with some space.

[SCVJeff]

Ivylog wrote:
Yes to last sentence.

what he said
Unless they are allowed to slam into each other in motion. That wouldn't be good

[westend]

You will never wear through a battery case by rubbing two together.

[dave17352]

The only consideration I would think would be heat dispersion.

[K_Charles]

If the battery are secured with a hold down, why would they be moving around. Your good the way it is.

[pnichols]

Newbiecampers wrote:
Should they be separated by some space for better cooling/prevention of potential damage as they rub together/etc..?

That depends on whether or not you will be traveling much on rough road surfaces.

We take our motorhome off-highway so in our case, yes ... I do keep some separation between our batteries and each one has it's own metal hold-down bracket.

You are not being paranoid. You are wise in being thoughtful, careful, and like a Marine ... "hope for the best and plan for the worst".

P.S. "Rough roads" does not mean only off-highway or off-road ... I assume you are familiar with some of the terrible highway road surfaces we all have to travel on nowadays. Make believe you are a heavy battery being transported along these roads, and then take action accordingly. 😉

[turbojimmy]

Ivylog wrote:
Yes to last sentence.

Agreed. I have 3 jammed together. It was manufactured that way.

[Ivylog]

Yes to last sentence.