Fitting a group 27 battery?

ScottG

@glesieutre, glad to help, and thank you for the tip on the battery. My NOCO box is a little bigger than what I need for the existing battery, so I may look into upgraded options when it's time to for a new one.

BrianZ

@glesieutre, how is your Trojan T-1275-Plus battery working for you?  Do you think you are getting at least 75 usable amp-hours from it?  Glad to hear it fits in that NOCO box.  Did you get the battery on Amazon, or were you able to find it locally?

glesieutre

@BrianZ -- The T-1275 is working great. I don't have a high-fidelity monitoring system, but I'll go out on a limb and say yes. We boondocked for a week in June among some trees with a lot of cloudy weather. We watched our consumption using @jkjenn's spreadsheet, and used 100W solar to charge when possible.  I don't think we dropped below 80%, so I was quite happy. 

jkjenn

glesieutre said:

@BrianZ -- The T-1275 is working great. I don't have a high-fidelity monitoring system, but I'll go out on a limb and say yes. We boondocked for a week in June among some trees with a lot of cloudy weather. We watched our consumption using @jkjenn's spreadsheet, and used 100W solar to charge when possible.  I don't think we dropped below 80%, so I was quite happy. 

That's awesome! When I bought my T@b I was too overwhelmed to care about estimating power consumption but it is truly empowering to know what you have and what you use.

TerryV6

ScottG said:

PXLated said:

ScottG - What battery did you buy as a replacement?

Nothing fancy--an Exide Nautilus/Stowaway 105 Ah flooded cell. It's just the bigger version of what I had in there before. I figured I'd give myself a chance to kill another relatively cheap battery before plunking down the coin for an AGM.

Just got back back from four days of dry camping and the battery held up fine with just a little solar charge when I could get it.

So ScottG, I'm curious to know if you still have this battery, or did you upgrade?

TerryV6

Also wondering, I read a post from the great RZRBug (wonder how booger is doing?), who I think didn't replace his bracket..  He said,"The new box I ended up using did not fit the original bracket.  I screwed two pieces of treated 2 X 6 into the bracket, then screwed the new box to the wood".  

dsfdogs

@TerryV6 in this thread, page 2, you'll see how @Hops used plywood on top of the bracket.
https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/110230#Comment_110230

BrianZ

@TerryV6, if you wanted to avoid messing with a steel frame, you might consider combining both of the last two mentioned methods, by filling the existing metal frame with a ~2x8x11" piece of treated lumber, then add a sheet of 3/4" outdoor grade plywood to support a new box.  You could use the same bolt to go through the box, both boards, then into the old frame.

I'd suggest using 2 or 3 elevator bolts, because they are very flat, and you would need to get every bit of vertical space you can inside a group 27 box if you went with a Trojan 1275 battery, for example.  Even then, you'd probably need the "plus" version with the low profile terminals.

Careful placement of the boards & box would be critical, if it could even be done, because the heads of the bolts are fairly wide & may need trimming/filing on one edge.  Or you might use carriage bolts if you could grind them flat.

dsfdogs

Maybe the heads of the bolts could be sunk into the plywood so they are flush with the board?

BrianZ

True, but the box needs to be anchored.  The Noco boxes come with brackets that can be screwed down for fastening the box/strap to the board.

BrianZ

You could also screw some additional small angle brackets to the board to keep the battery box from sliding around.

Homebodyatheart

I had my dealer install a group 27 battery before I took possession. They somehow mounted the 27 bracket over the 24 bracket. Not sure how, but after two years everything is still fine! 

ScottG

TerryV6 said:

ScottG said:

PXLated said:

ScottG - What battery did you buy as a replacement?

Nothing fancy--an Exide Nautilus/Stowaway 105 Ah flooded cell. It's just the bigger version of what I had in there before. I figured I'd give myself a chance to kill another relatively cheap battery before plunking down the coin for an AGM.

Just got back back from four days of dry camping and the battery held up fine with just a little solar charge when I could get it.

So ScottG, I'm curious to know if you still have this battery, or did you upgrade?

@TerryV6, I've completed three seasons with that first group 27 battery. It's showing its age just a bit, but I anticipate reinstalling it this year. I haven't seen the need to replace it, and when I do, I might just go with the same thing since it cost me all of $90.

I am pretty frugal with power, and deploy my 100W solar panel full time in camp. Keeping it in the sun is sometimes a challenge on wooded sites, but it keeps up enough for what I do. I don't think I have ever had the battery below 12.3V, which may explain why it has held up so well. YMMV!

ScottG

TerryV6 said:

Also wondering, I read a post from the great RZRBug (wonder how booger is doing?), who I think didn't replace his bracket..  He said,"The new box I ended up using did not fit the original bracket.  I screwed two pieces of treated 2 X 6 into the bracket, then screwed the new box to the wood".  

You are correct. I think RZRBUG was the first to put a larger battery in the plastic tub, as it was his post that convinced me it would fit. I took his idea a step further with the metal frame 'cause I like building stuff and had time to kill and a bunch of junk I could use lying around, but I don't know that is was necessary. As long as the battery box is secured to the new platform (however you construct it) it's not going to go anywhere.

BrianZ

Well, many thanks to all you pioneers whose ideas I've benefitted from!  👍 🥂

TerryV6

Well, this task was completed with minimum fuss.  I didn't build a metal frame.  Instead, I cut and fit some wood to fill and level the space in the existing frame.  I then put in the new battery case and screwed it down.  I had to remove the old hose holder, (just drilled out the two rivets.)  It did take a bit to make to cover fit properly, I cut off a smigeon (technical term) on one side of a vent.  Now I'm good to go...

Does anyone keep their old batteries or trade them in for the 10 bucks?

ScottG

Sounds good, @TerryV6! When I made this mod my original battery was toast, so gettin' ten bucks for it was a great deal!

My current bargain basement group 27 wet cell is going on its fourth season. It still seems to be in pretty good shape, though I'll know better after the first outing. If I do decide to drop $100 for a fresh unit, I most likely will keep the old one as a backup--an idea discussed here.

TerryV6

Thanks for the redirect.  I think there is nothing involved with T@bs that hasn't been discussed before... grin.

My battery choice was a bargain basement type as well...