Moving Battery Inside

@SLJ - what trailer model and year do you have?

If your batteries are normal lead acid type battereis, they need to stay in the tub, vented to the outside.  If you have AGM sealed battereis or Lithium, you can move them safely, lithium especially to get it in from extreme cold.  The question is, do you have room in the under bench seat compartment to hold the battereis and battery switch, which should get moved with the battereis.
cheers

SLJ said:

Next will be installing a battery box for a larger battery with vents out to the underside of the T@B and a box on the back wall of the tongue box for the connections.

@SLJ Seems an elegant solution.  Do you have any updates on this install?  I am considering putting two lithium batteries in the same place in my TAB 320.  I will include a Victron Smart Shunt inside as well.   I wonder what cable gauge you used in running wire to front tub.  Also, how did you terminate the two wires in front tub?    Once there it seems hooking up to existing leads would be relatively simple.  Any product details would be useful.  Thank you.  

rfuss928 said:

This thread discusses the same topic.
https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/133523#Comment_133523

Thanks, @rfuss928,   I’m reading as much as I can find on the topic.  I am working up a specific plan and believe me I’m a TAB newbie.  I liked @SLJ’s approach because it simply involves bringing positive/negative leads from batteries now located under the passenger cushion compartment directly into the front tub.  It seems that approach doesn’t have to deal with tracing wires and developing a complex schematic.  I believe he ran the battery cable through conduit along the bottom of the trailer to a junction box in the tub.  This junction box essentially would now serve as the posts of the battery.  However, safely drilling a hole through the floor, finding a means of hangin conduit, mounting the junction box and finding the right terminals seems a bit daunting but conceptually simple.  Are there any specific concerns I am not appreciating?

@slj is the written information on your junction box to minimize shock due to the close quarters?   Do you recall what kind of terminals you used at the junction box?  Thanks for the info?

A friend posted these on FB. He just had this done by NuCamp. They built the wood holder and put it on the drivers side in back of the converter and ran all cables from switch, solar plug etc. 

@GatorEgg,
I think there are a few reasons folks are considering mounting their lithium batteries inside: 1) Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries have a much more stable chemistry than other lithium batteries and do not have to be vented/maintained, 2) Some companies, e.g., Battleborn, make a very sturdy housing for the battery cells, 3) Mounting them inside the tub increases the risk of theft relative to housing them inside the cabin, 4) Additional accessories, e.g., smart shunt, etc. are more environmentally vulnerable in the tub than inside the cabin, 5) Inside temperatures address some of the temperature charging concerns, although the batteries can be purchased with internal/external heaters, 6) Getting more than one 27 Group battery in the tub is a real challenge.  

Despite these arguments for mounting them inside, I am still on the fence with where to house my lithium batteries.  It seems simpler for one battery for sure, but for two, I would prefer a lockable outside housing for two batteries alongside a propane compliant container.  I am curious about what others think about your question.

@AnOldUR,
Your point is well taken.  I really like your set up.  I know I have seen your post  before on the modification and would consider it as an option.  However, I would feel more comfortable with a way to deter theft without locking the box because of propane concerns.  

WayneW said:

It doesn’t qualify whether the trailer is moving, parked, unattended or anything else.

Denny16 said:

Yes, but a firefighter or other first responder, has no way of knowing if the gas valve is open or shut, without looking first.  A locked tank access area makes that hard to do.  

Cheers 

Yep, and tanks can still fail when shut off. Had it happen in the late ‘90s with a horizontal permanent mount tank on a class C. Was loads of fun getting a call from my then father in law telling me the fire department had evacuated the neighborhood and wanted to talk to me. 

@Denny16 All the best RV stories I have were from that rig…if by ‘best’, I mean, “those that left deep, long lasting mental trauma”. 

(No houses or vehicles were damaged in that incident, just had to apologize to a lot of grumpy people who were inconvenienced.)

@Denny16 Oh dear. I know that feeling too…a year or two before the propane incident, I got into a sway disaster with a boat trailer that lost a wheel on the transition from one freeway to another, which ended with me out of control across 5-6 lanes of traffic during rush hour. Ended up completely off to the side, jackknifed, having ‘sunk’ a Boston Whaler upside down on dry land. Somehow, no one hit me and the car was fine. The boat, not so much.

And that’s why I get so twitchy around here whenever the topic of tongue weight comes up. Sway is not something I want to mess with. Which actually ties back to the topic of moving the battery inside on a 320. I love the idea in theory. I do not love it when I look at the reduction in tongue weight. For those considering it, for safety in towing you need to make certain that moving your batteries inside doesn’t reduce your tongue weight below 10% of your loaded trailer weight. Likewise, this needs to be considered when swapping lead acid for much lighter lithiums.