Batteries Stolen...Now What?

[campin_in_the_r]

Our 2 12 Volt batteries were stolen (off the tongue of our trailer which is parked next to our house) this week. I am very disappointed, but I need to move forward so I am trying to decide what to replace them with.

The wires were all cut by the thief (thieves) so I am going to have to replace some wiring as well as the batteries. Since I am starting from scratch on the batteries should I do something entirely different from what we had?

Do we buy two new 12 Volt batteries, two 6 Volt, four 6 volt, something else?

Do we find a way to place the batteries in our pass-through storage to keep them safer or are there off-gassing issues with having them "inside" the trailer?

I know there are a lot of people here who have tried a lot with batteries so I am open to ideas (and some opinions).

[pianotuna]

Hi campin in the rain,

When the battery bank was new it was 875 amp-hours. I can do one night when day time temperatures stay above freezing by heating only the bedroom area.

[campin_in_the_r]

pianotuna, I'd be interested in knowing how you can go all night on electric heat. Our two 12 volt batteries, which were well tended and less than a year and a half old, started out at 100% and dropped below 50% after only about 6 hours of running the heat at night. The heat hardly used any propane, but the batteries were done supporting our heat at night.

[chr_]

Here we go again. When two saggy pantsed punks from across the tracks came into my neighborhood and hit every RV, they came just short of stealing my 6 VOLT batteries. I guess one of them could read short words and some numbers.

I bought a locking metal tongue box at Harbor Freight and solved the problem. I also looped a heavy bike cable through the LP tanks and frame and locked them to the same hasp I used on the box.

What sucks is that my DW noticed them earlier in the day. The Cops caught them with a carload of batteries, and let us know. Lucky for them they didn't know I was out of town and came into the house, or DW would have given them some "other" lead based products.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Not only is it possible, many folks have plenty of 12 volt power for camping in the cold. In fact, I can manage one night using just electric heat. If I use the furnace I would run out of propane before I ran out of power to run it.

campin_in_the_rain wrote:
We do boondock a little throughout the year (and would like to do more) and when we were out a few weeks ago the temperatures at night dropped just below freezing and the daytime was around 40 degrees. Even a huge battery bank wouldn't be enough to keep our furnace fan running throughout the night even though we've done about everything possible to add insulation around our rig, but I like the idea of having enough battery power to keep the furnace going throughout the night as needed; although, this is probably an impossible request.

[Briand]

Dr Quick wrote:
Just a thought.
Most RV deep cycle batteries have both a "post and wing nut" attachment for the wires. If you use the wing nut fasteners, I would cut the post off at the base, just lead and it is soft. That way if the thief wants them for a car, they would be uses to them. Unless it is someone wanting them for another RV, in which case they would be easy to identify if they show up, as no post on battery.

Cutting the post off is a bad recommendation. 1) Useless to you if you ever need that post. 2) Warranty voided. 3) Dangerous.

[campin_in_the_r]

We do boondock a little throughout the year (and would like to do more) and when we were out a few weeks ago the temperatures at night dropped just below freezing and the daytime was around 40 degrees. Even a huge battery bank wouldn't be enough to keep our furnace fan running throughout the night even though we've done about everything possible to add insulation around our rig, but I like the idea of having enough battery power to keep the furnace going throughout the night as needed; although, this is probably an impossible request.

[myredracer]

That wasn't a great photo to show how it would fit in a TT. There is typically lots of room to leave the propane tanks in place in a TT. In fact, there may be more clearance for tanks than compared to the ones that sit on top of the A-frame. TTs that have a fiberglass cap with a pronounced forward curve to them can be more of a problem and would force the box to be lower down towards the ground. I made a cardboard template before I ordered the box to make sure it would fit okay. You can always cut the angle iron for the mounting the batteries and have it re-welded a few inches lower and you may find that you have enough room to shift the tanks forward an inch or so. Personally I like the look of a tongue box sitting between the A-frame rather than sitting on top because it looks less like a retro-fit. The one I bought is like the one in this photo. The top rear of the box is notched and the hinge is a bit more forward giving more clearance when the lid is opened.

Another thought on one of these type of boxes is that if you bought an aluminum one, you could always make a couple of horizontal cuts around the box and weld it back together to create a custom height to fit your specific application. I'm thinking of doing just that with the box we still have if I decide to use it. Our new TT has a very pronounced curve to the front cap which would force the box to be too close to the ground otherwise, which is not good for road clearance or appearance.

Bucky Badger wrote:

myredracer wrote:
Another type of storage box for the tongue is a "trailer tongue storage box" and are available in metal or plastic and different heights. The angle on the sides of these matches the angle of the A-frame in a TT. I bought one for our last TT for storage of sewer stuff and chocks and moved the battery into the front of the pass-through. I still have the storage box and may use it for our battery. These aren't exactly highly secure though and they will still get in if they want to. Maybe a battery lock could be used as well.

where did you put the propane tanks

[coolbreeze01]

When you get your new batteries, write your name on them.

[rbpru]

A great deal depends on the amount you use your batteries. Our battery is the same cheap-o one the dealer gave us with the unit. It would last us 2 or 3 days off the grid.

Since we almost always have electric, it does not make much sense for us to invest in an expensive system that far exceeds our needs.

If however you do use your battery system on a regular basis, then I agree, an upgrade would probably be in order. Making the best of a bad situation.

I doubt whether sawing off the posts would discourage thieves, they are most likely going to scrap them for the core charge. Hence the "snip and go" theft. The last battery I purchased a couple of years ago had a core charge in excess of $10.00.

[myredracer]

Another type of storage box for the tongue is a "trailer tongue storage box" and are available in metal or plastic and different heights. The angle on the sides of these matches the angle of the A-frame in a TT. I bought one for our last TT for storage of sewer stuff and chocks and moved the battery into the front of the pass-through. I still have the storage box and may use it for our battery. These aren't exactly highly secure though and they will still get in if they want to. Maybe a battery lock could be used as well.

[campin_in_the_r]

Great discussion here!

Thanks RoyB for your lengthy post, I really appreciate the detail and images!

Neither of our two dogs alerted us to anything going on outside, but our trailer is parked such that the hitch is only a foot or so from the sidewalk so access to the tongue is quick.

I removed the propane bottles after this happened and I suppose I will start pulling both propane bottles and the batteries each time we park it now.

Since we won't be camping for at least two weeks I have a little time to think about what I'd like to do for securing the batteries while we are camping.

[Community Alumni]

The best idea would probably be to bring them inside the garage and keep them on a trickle charger. As others have said, AGMs on the inside is another good idea. If you have a dinette then the storage underneath would be a good location.

Since all the chemistry is contained in the mats, there isn't a risk for boiling over. AGMs will off gas hydrogen in an emergency, like from serious overcharging, but this is pretty rare. When they do vent there's not a high volume of H2 that gets released. However this gas is still explosive if it has a chance to concentrate, so you still want to vent the booth. You'd be fine to vent a couple batteries of so to the inside of the trailer. Placing a louvered vent on the booth should provide sufficient air to mix with the H2.

[the_happiestcam]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
I wouldn't replace the batteries until the parking is more secure. Good luck.

This is what they would find in my yard:



You can even see him in Google's street view of our house:

[whiteeye42]

Dr Quick wrote:
Just a thought.
Most RV deep cycle batteries have both a "post and wing nut" attachment for the wires. If you use the wing nut fasteners, I would cut the post off at the base, just lead and it is soft. That way if the thief wants them for a car, they would be uses to them. Unless it is someone wanting them for another RV, in which case they would be easy to identify if they show up, as no post on battery.

Even if he did see them somewhere how would he know they were his batteries all the other person would have to say is i cut them off prove me wrong the best thing to do is just take the batteries out and store them in the garage that way you can keep them charged