Sealing the battery vents

[Crutch]

I am switching to lithium and before I seal up the old vent holes from having the lead acid batteries, has anyone used those vent holes for something else? Alternatively I could cut some rubber bungs to plug them in case I want them for something down the line. But being low down at the back of the trailer is a very wet area and would rather permanently seal them up. I can’t really see any use for them down the line.

 

[fudge_brownie]

Following

 

[Ron in BC]

Handy, no drilling necessary, to run out any future cables. Just did that when I installed my alarm system.

Ron

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I installed a 2 pin 'trolling motor' receptacle in mine, fused at 40A, for external DC and/or connecting aux portable solar panels. The trolling motor plug has a Andersen PP40 on the other end and I have PowerPole widgets so I can connect multiple DC things to it. I used a trolling motor receptacle on the theory that its reasonably waterproof.

 

[DT6]

I used some putty to fill up the vent holes on ours. Since we didn't buy a Lithium batter from Escape, they had to provide the stock OEM and of course that came with vents.
I can't remember the name of the putty I used, but it was from Home Depot and I think it was in the electrical department. It is grey and about half the size of a regular red-brick.

So I don't have to worry about water leaks and if I ever want to run something into the trailer from the back (where my vent holes are) all I have to do is dig it out. Three years so far and no issues.

 

[Jeremy Kessenich]

The two OEM battery boxes from ETI had 2 factory vent holes in each box. Each box had one hole capped and one hole had a tube to vent it outside. So two caps and two vent tubes to two outside vents. I removed the vent tubes from the boxes to the vents. The diameter of the two vents holes on each battery box is the same as the outside vent. I left the outside vents in place and I just took the caps off the unused vent holes in the battery boxes and used them to put where the vent tubes used to connect to the outside vent. If that is as clear as mud I'll post a picture. So no rubber bungs needed, just used the cap(s) that came with the boxes to seal the vents from the inside of the trailer.

 

[Ron in BC]

So no rubber bungs needed, just used the cap(s) that came with the boxes to seal the vents from the inside of the trailer.

Makes sense, why burn a bridge when you don't have to and then later have to drill a hole to get a future cable in.

Ron

 

[jjdeluca]

When we converted to lithium, I used these caps from Home Depot: 1-1/2 in. ABS Pipe Test Cap with Knockout
They were recommended in another post, which I can no longer seem to find. Very simple solution & they work great.

 

[TZBrown]

I used these
https://www.homedepot.com/s/rubber pipe cap?NCNI-5

 

[kernwig]

Back when I had AGM batteries, I ran power through that vent to the backup/rear-view camera on the bumper.

When I put a lithium battery in, I just dropped it into the same battery box. So, still vented and still wired to power the camera.

 

[Chacoman]

When I upgrade to lithium (hopefully next year), I intend to use one of the vent holes for some sort of Starlink port.

 

[SteveSgt]

When I upgrade to lithium (hopefully next year), I intend to use one of the vent holes for some sort of Starlink port.

I have a much more ambitious plan. But I haven't quite had the courage to cut a larger hole in the fiberglass… YET!

I cut a piece of flat, 1/8" PVC to match the vent panels, and installed some coax cable connectors: Two "TNC" connectors for an external highly-directional cellular data antenna, and another "UHF" (or SO-239) connector for a VHF/UHF ham radio antenna. (See below).

So a year and a half has gone by since I said I would carry out my ultimate plan, but this is as far as I got.