Lifeline 6V batteries install in AF996

[CAJW]

I ran into a slight snag installing a set of Lifeline 6V batteries in my Arctic Fox 996 that I haven’t seen addressed. Measurements from the manufacturer are to the top of the post, but don’t take in account the height of the cable stack and retaining bolt. The result is that although my battery box door had enough height to accommodate the batteries, once the cables and bolt were installed, the battery would not clear the top of the opening to slide back into the compartment on the sliding tray.

The fix was to remove the sliding tray as these batteries are AGM (sealed) so no servicing is necessary as with my old wet cell 12V with caps and more recently a battery fill system.

Updated with Pics added below:

Battery tray removed to gain more vertical clearance



Factory hold down strap re-positioned



Rubber strip installed to protect battery case from screw heads



Foam blocks to keep batteries parallel to each other (right rear corner of compartment is angled, not square)




Hold down blocks installed



Batteries securely installed, ready for boondocking!

[Steve_in_29]

dave17352 wrote:
I think I would leave the tray out and leave the battery upright. Even though they can be laid on their side. Probably won't come out again until it fails which could be like 8 years?

My Lifeline AGMs are still going strong after almost 10 years.

[deltabravo]

I see a shunt in there. My shunt is mounted on top of the battery enclosure.

Back when I worked at Heart Interface, one of the other customer service / tech support guys came up the a phrase "Shunt Happens!"

[deltabravo]

Here's mine:

[Mello_Mike]

Nice job!!! I just put a pair of these in my Laredo.

[hedge]

very nice, I want a set of those.

[deltabravo]

Congrats on the AGM and "ditch the battery slide tray in an AF" upgrade.

I ran in to the same issue when I wanted to go with Deka AGMs. Batteries fit, but the cable stack would not clear the opening of the door. The battery slider tray is kind of useless too, because you cannot expect it to support the weight of two batteries when extended all the way out, such as when checking the water level.

The only way to service my wet cells was to totally dismantle all the connections and pull both batteries out. Imagine doing that on a ladder?!?

NO BUENO!

That's what killed my wet cells is not servicing them often enough, which was a result of the difficulty in servicing them.

My AGM setup is pretty similar - I used small sticks of wood as spacers and gap fillers that hold the batteries in place, though I went with Group 31s, which are a bit taller and wider. There's very little space left in the box.

[jimh406]

Looks good to me!

[2oldman]

very good

[CAJW]

2oldman wrote:
I see that, but he may be able to put the tray back.

No way, unless you want to remove/install the cables while in the retracted position. There is extremely limited vertical clearance with the slide tray installed, which makes installing/removing the cables very difficult, which would be necessary to operate the slide tray. No need to service them so taking the slide tray out just makes sense.

[dave17352]

I think I would leave the tray out and leave the battery upright. Even though they can be laid on their side. Probably won't come out again until it fails which could be like 8 years?

[2oldman]

jimh425 wrote:
I think the OP fixed their issue,

I see that, but he may be able to put the tray back.

[jimh406]

I think the OP fixed their issue, but I can't see the pics either.

[2oldman]

Link error: "Not authorized to view this page."

Could you lay them on their sides?