Water in battery cases

[Pioneer]

Is it normal to get 1 1/2" of water in my battery cases in 2 months? It rains a lot here. The water is leaking in the air vents when it rains. Contacted the case
company and was told not to drill holes in bottom and that I received too much
rain. I was told to live with it and take the batteries out of the cases and bail the water out. In the late fall this water will freeze and this is what happened to me.
Has anyone else had this problem? What should I do?

[escape artist]

Hi: Pioneer... I have only had the battery case( located under the rear dinette bench) opened once to top up our single 12V with distilled water. No water in the case but lots of dust& dirt. When I wash our 5.0 I make sure I don't point the hose directly at any of the exterior vents.
You could buy a cheap plastic syphon to drain off the water so you don't have to remove the batteries!!! You could also make sure the vent hose, same type as water fill hose on our trailer, has a bend upward( reverse P trap) in the length of hose to lessen any chance of water running into the cases. You may have to buy a length from a RV. dealer...but it is avail and not to expensive. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Hokie Escape]

Pioneer, when you finally get your 5.0 (you lucky man) you won't have to worry about it, the batteries (hope you ordered the twin 6V) are inside, and sheltered from such things. Until then, empty out the boxes and loosely cover them with a tarp while in storage. Hope you got the extra lift axle, the Titan will be tight.
PS: Another possibility is to move somewhere that doesn't have that much rain : - )

[Pioneer]

I do not have a 5.0 Escape. The battery boxes are located outside near
the front hitch behind the lp tanks. I think the water is leaking in the air vents.
Next spring I will run a hose over the vents and see what happens. Right now
I do not want to use a hose in the winter. I am just trying to get a jump on
this spring when everything needs to be done.

[GaryH]

I'm curious as to why they said not to drill holes in the bottom, as long as it's outside. I've done this in the past & haven't noticed any problems (4 @1/4" holes). Could be the cases are meant to contain any battery acid spills, but there are lots of older units out there with no cases at all. I find the tops of the batteries need regular cleaning as dust gets on them, that's all.

[Pioneer]

Thanks for the last input. You were right to contain the battery acid.
If the battery is leaking, it must be old and should have been checked
and replaced. If I do nothing and the leaking water freezes it could
cause the battery case to crack and leak acid anyways. I have never
had a car battery to leak acid. So I do not think that the battery
case has a primary function of catching acid, but to protect the battery
and to keep it clean and dry.

[reace]

We found this problem early on and have since always drilled 4 1/4" holes in the bottom of the box to let the water out. I can understand the comment of catching the battery acid but the water problem seems to be a bigger problem.

Reace

[Pioneer]

Thanks Reace for your input. I think I will drill 4 holes and solve this problem for good.