Removing battery box

[jwashrn]

Am upgrading to lithium and need to remove the battery box. Know lots of people have done this, just wondering what to expect. Many thanks

[Centex]

BTDT, I found the box was screwed to the floor with a through-the-shell drain tube underneath.

All easy to remove with the battery out of the box, you'll need to plug /seal the drain tube hole unless you've got another use for it (e.g. a passage for some other wire / cable).

Have Fun!

[jwashrn]

There is the drain but the other connections look like rivets....going to try and drill them out

[hugh]

Can't imagine how they would rivet the battery box to the floor. Are you sure they're not just the Robertson screws Escape uses everywhere?

[mr.stang]

I kept the box and use it to store a 50 Ft, 30 amp cord that I rarely use. Devised a locking system for it. Stan

[Centex]

Originally Posted by hugh

Can't imagine how they would rivet the battery box to the floor. Are you sure they're not just the Robertson screws Escape uses everywhere?

Just FYI for the OP - "Robertson" being square-drive screws, used almost exclusively by ETI, both flat-head and round-head versions.

https://www.harborfreight.com/square...ece-68461.html (there's an HF store in Turlock, CA)



Or on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Robertson-Scr...1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Extensive mods and I've not found anything "riveted" to my floor

[jwashrn]

That's what I thought! But they are rivets...why? Rivets came out by drilling them

[jwashrn]

Yes I have done several remodels on my trailer also and got quickly introduced to Robertson screws....tried several different Robertson screw head sizes (thanks for the picture) None would seat so I took a magnified photo of it and it sure did look like a rivet to me...and drilled out easily too

[Centex]

Is that rivet through the battery box, plywood floor, and shell of your trailer to fasten the battery box to the floor?

[C&G in FL]

Having purchased 2 - 100 AH Battleborn lithium batteries to replace lead acid batteries, I removed the battery box (it was screwed down, not riveted) and cut the box to about 3-inches high using a rip fence on a table saw. I reinstalled the box, essentially a high-sided tray using the screws with which it was originally attached. After connecting the batteries, I used the original wood retainer and threaded rods ETI installed to hold it in place, along with a thin sheet of plywood cut to a similar size of the original cover to protect the battery terminals and to prevent anything from contacting them. I did remove the vent and plugged the opening with piece of high density foam.

[hugh]

Yeah, that looks like a rivet to me. Crazy! And that is on the bottom of the battery box, attaching it to the floor?

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by hugh

Yeah, that looks like a rivet to me. Crazy! And that is on the bottom of the battery box, attaching it to the floor?

Been giving this some thought. My battery box under the dinette bench was attached to the floor with screws. Sometime after 2015, ETI started putting a raised floor in the 5.0TA in the dinette area, creating a hollow space which if I recall correctly, had some wiring beneath it. I would imagine a rivet could be used on a “false” floor but I fail to see why use a rivet when a screw would suffice. Also, I did not have a drain hole in my battery box, nor a tube running out below the trailer. I do have the spray foam covering the area where a drain would protrude. However, I also do not see the need for a drain. Before I modified the box for lithium batteries, I never saw any liquid accumulation in the box, either water or battery acid. It would seem to me that should the batteries leak acid, the box itself would contain it preventing damage unless a severe shock cracked both a battery and the case, as happened to one EOF member, and a drain would not have prevented damage in his situation.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

..... Sometime after 2015, ETI started putting a raised floor in the 5.0TA in the dinette area, creating a hollow space which if I recall correctly, had some wiring beneath it. ....

FWIW in my 2021 5.0 ('YMMV') ....

• The bottom of the fiberglass shell 'steps up' at the rear, closely corresponding to the 'step up' of the finish floor inside the trailer.
• There is no 'hollow space' under the majority of the dinette subfloor - the plywood subfloor is 'bedded' in an adhesive (resin?) bearing directly on the corresponding raised section of the fiberglass shell
• There IS a 'hollow space' under the width (side-to-side between the wheel wells) of the raised subfloor extending ~6" to the rear from the interior face of the step-up to the dinette finish floor. I have accessed this space and run two 'conduits' in that space to facilitate routing wires across the width of the trailer at this location between the benches. IOW, the exterior shell steps-up ~6" to the rear of the interior finish floor step-up, creating this narrow (measured fore-to-aft) hollow space across the width of the dinette between the benches.
• I've found no evidence of OE / ETI-installed wires anywhere under / between the dinette area subfloor and the fiberglass shell (neither the exposed floor between the benches nor the subfloor under the benches nor in the mentioned hollow space; nor for that matter under / between the subfloor and shell anywhere within the trailer).

Just sharing my observations FYI. As always (though IMO unlikely), it's possible that ETI practices in this regard may vary among builds.

[C&G in FL]

Probably correct Alan. When they first introduced the step up under the dinette, I vaguely remember reading a post that ETI was running some wires underneath it. I could search for the thread, but it is not an issue for me. That thread was the basis for my comment, and it was speculation on my part trying to figure out why ETI would use rivets to hold down the battery box. I could also speculate that they temporarily ran out of the correct length screws but that is doubtful. Or more likely it was some dumbass employee who thought use of rivets would be OK. Also doubtful, but less doubtful than running out of screws. My 2015 5.0TA does NOT have a raised floor under the dinette. Any side to side wiring I would do in that area would go through the rear bench of the wrap around seating.

[Jeremy Kessenich]

[QUOTE=Centex;461942] through-the-shell drain tube underneath.

My trailer came with the 4 lithium batteries from ETI and it was vented out the back of the trailer but it did not have any drain tubes through the floor. Either it was missed or they have changed the install process, perhaps with the lithium batteries they don't need a drain where as with wet they did? I think you shared you had it delivered with just a wet battery and added your own lithium system.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Kessenich

My trailer came with the 4 lithium batteries from ETI and it was vented out the back of the trailer but it did not have any drain tubes through the floor. Either it was missed or they have changed the install process, perhaps with the lithium batteries they don't need a drain where as with wet they did? I think you shared you had it delivered with just a wet battery and added your own lithium system.

Correct, my trailer was delivered with the standard wet-cell battery, I upgraded to lithium, which seems to match the OP's similar-vintage (2020 vs 2021, both 5.0) situation, thus my mention of the drain tube.

I'm not surprised that ETI omits the drain tube for an OE lithium installation. I've read here that they continue to vent the box even with the lithium option due to some Canadian rule or manufacture's trade association requirement (RVIA or the Canadian equivalent?). Perhaps that venting practice with lithium batteries has or will change (?).

[John in Santa Cruz]

My 2014 e21 had the battery box under the dinette bench lag bolted to the floor, vented out the curb side wall. No drain. I removed the box when I installed larger lithium batteries, no vents needed, and filled the lag bolt holes with sealant.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Centex

Just FYI for the OP - "Robertson" being square-drive screws, used almost exclusively by ETI, both flat-head and round-head versions.

Seeing that 90% of screws sold at the local stores have Robertson drive heads, it would be the obvious choice.

The only Philips head being drywall screws. A few Torx, hex and the odd imported other Philips making up most of the rest.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Seeing that 90% of screws sold at the local stores have Robertson drive heads, it would be the obvious choice.

Unfortunately, that's not been my observation on the general fasteners aisles at 'local' stores (Lowes, Home Depot, Ace, Tractor Supply, etc) down here in the lower 48.

Sadly, slotted and phillips seem to still dominate the general consumer wood & sheet metal screws market down here. Many if not most folks outside of the production trades are unfamiliar with square drive fasteners and the advantages they offer.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Centex

Unfortunately, that's not been my observation on the general fasteners aisles at 'local' stores (Lowes, Home Depot, Ace, Tractor Supply, etc) down here in the lower 48.

Sadly, slotted and phillips seem to still dominate the general consumer wood & sheet metal screws market down here. Many if not most folks outside of the production trades are unfamiliar with square drive fasteners and the advantages they offer.

I agree. Robertson headed screws are still difficult to find, although most of the hardware stores carry drivers for them.

We started using them when we had to order them by the gross from Canada. A Canadian tour company stopped at our theatre, and watching them use the Robertson screws made us believers.