Battery Boxes

[Ron in BC]

Well, 12 years down the road and there hasn't been too many more discussions about this topic.

Over the years there have been a few reports of E17 batteries stolen off the rear bumper. I think some folks use some sort of cable lock if they're leaving their trailer in a storage lot.

Ron

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

as an alternative a steel box, riffing on the original cable around the plastic box idea, I think I would take some 10-12" long 3/4" angle iron pieces, and have someone weld rings to them that you could thread said lock cable through.... but any sort of locking cable can be snipped pretty quickly with a hand held cable cutter.

 

[Veewee67]

The replacement AGM batteries we bought last summer are a bit over 70lbs each.

We have a chain inside a bike inner tube around the box and bumper with a padlock to discourage anyone who’s looking for easy pickings.

 

[RGL2]

B & D RV Battery Lock For RV travel trailers and popup campers.

Perhaps something like this and a shackle protected lock should act as a mild deterrent.

 

[GinoandLinda]

When we lived in New Mexico, nothing was safe no matter how well it was locked down. So when we stored our previous camper at our home and later, a storage lot, the batteries (stored on the tongue) and propane tank came off and were stored at home until our next trip. Batteries were hooked up to a smart charger and propane bottle outdoors under the porch.

Fun fact. When marijuana was legalized in NM, the theft of propane tanks skyrocketed. Police attributed it to the use of propane heaters used in greenhouses where pot was grown.

 

[Ron in BC]

And has been said many times, something is better than nothing. Especially now that the use of lithium batteries is much more common. More valuable and lighter. Too bad the tongue weight on 17s precludes their factory installation inside. Although my friend does have his single lithium battery inside and lives with a slightly heavier tongue weight. Not sure what the difference in tongue weight is by it being less than 2' more forward.

Ron

 

[SRS]

And has been said many times, something is better than nothing. Especially now that the use of lithium batteries is much more common. More valuable and lighter. Too bad the tongue weight on 17s precludes their factory installation inside. Although my friend does have his single lithium battery inside and lives with a slightly heavier tongue weight. Not sure what the difference in tongue weight is by it being less than 2' more forward.

Ron

I moved both my two 100ah lithium batteries into the back of the rear PS dinette bench and have no tongue weight issues. Tongue is 420lbs with the trailer loaded. I still store stuff in the two battery boxes mounted on the bumper. One with wheel chocks and the other holds my Progressive Industries coupler lock. It probably weighs as much as one of the batteries though so that adds a little compensation.

 

[Ron in BC]

Some variation between my friends 2023 17B with his single 100AH lithium battery in the rear locker and a rubber boat on a rack on the rear bumper. He's still pushing a 500# tongue weight.

Ron

 

[SRS]

B & D RV Battery Lock For RV travel trailers and popup campers.

Perhaps something like this and a shackle protected lock should act as a mild deterrent.

I purchased a pair of those for my rear bumper mounted boxes. Since the boxes are sized for G2C deep cycle 6V batteries, I got a pair. Unfortunately I found they wouldn't work because the space between the battery box and the trailer shell is too narrow. They are also designed for battery boxes mounted in parallel steel angle and the bracket goes around both the box and the steel angle. On an E17, the bracket would have to go around the bumper which is not designed to do. Probably someone more creative than I could come up with a different solution, but moving the batteries inside was so easy, much easier than I thought, I'm glad I went that route. Also, moving the batteries near the inverter really reduced the length of the wire for the round trip from inverter to the batteries. The wire was undersized for the distance to the batteries mounted on the bumper. With a much shorter round trip, the wire gauge was correctly sized.