Trail Lite B+ 235s - Trap door in floor for battery access?

[ImaginaryNumber]

I don't know how R-Vision expected owners to maintain their house battery when it was placed near the middle of the vehicle, with only a tiny port hole to make sure it is there. Forget about trying to fill it with water and have acid drip down in your face.

I am thinking about cutting a hole in the floor above the battery so I can check the fluid level and replace the battery if necessary. Has anyone tried this approach?

The battery location is between the dinette benches under the drop-down table, and my thought was to pull up the carpet, drill holes in the floor from underneath to mark the corners, cut out a rectangle slightly larger than the battery, and frame a screw-down or hinged trap door for occasional access.

I don't think the live load of the floor should be too great under the table since nobody typically stands there, and the carpet could be pulled over the trap door and secured with normal tack strips.

Does this sound like a reasonable plan?

Thanks.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

What BCI group size is the battery? Is it something weird?

[MNtundraRet]

Before reducing the value of your MH by drilling holes, I would have checked with the manufacturer, or dealer, to see how the battery is replaced. The trap door may have to do with lowering the battery.

If removal is difficult then replacing with a sealed battery make the most sense.

[subcamper]

If your trailer uses a "aluminum frame laminated system" then the foam is part of the floor system. Rectangular aluminum tubing is welded together to form the floor framing system. Foam the same thickness as the aluminum tubing is placed between the tubes to fill it flush with the top and bottom of the tubing. Then a floor on top and a underside layer on the bottom are laminated to the whole assembly to create a composite floor. This may be what you are seeing.

Steve

[ImaginaryNumber]

Thanks for the suggestions. I thought I would follow-up to report on what I found.

From the bottom of the vehicle, I drilled an exploratory/pilot hole at one of the corners of my proposed trap door, using a small drill bit that was about 3" long. To my surprize, after drilling through the thin waterproof outer layer, my drill bit went through about 2" of rigid foam insulation and barely made it into the coach floor.

The presence of a floor insulation layer was unexpected, but makes sense in our climate (Colorado), and the fact that the coach has tank heaters and such for winter camping. But the thick insulation layer also complicates the design of what I thought was going to be a simple 3/4" trap door, and the support flange I was contemplating to provide structural support for the floor rectangle I was proposing to remove.

So now I am wondering if there is any 2x2 wood framing I might run into in the insulating layer. Anybody familiar with the floor construction of the R-Vision Trail Lite 235s?

Thanks.

[westend]

Sounds reasonable but I'd forgo the tack strip and use velcro or similar to hold the carpet in place. You could even have a cutout at trap door location in the carpet bound so that it appears like forethought and have immediate access to the battery. That is mostly a cosmetic/ease-of-use consideration.

[HiTech]

Or go AGMs.

Jim