RV Battery Box

[BaileyNo5]

I looked all summer for an RV battery box that will hold two golf cart batteries. Boxes that hold a single battery are usually on the small side, but they are cheap at $10 each. They are typically used for marine batteries, and the golf cart batteries stuck out the top, the lids didn't fit right, etc. I started looking for a two-battery box and found they were mostly for commercial installations, and cost $200 - $300.

So I went to my local plastics shop and bought some 3/8" PVC and built my own. I had some Weld-On 2007 from a previous project and used that to fuse the PVC together. It's ugly, but it works. Still have to drill some ventilation holes and holes for the cables. If I get ambitious I might paint it. Cost was about $60.

[WaterlooMarc]

Never realized golf carts used different batteries. Funny looking things they are.

[jasfrank]

I like that heavy duty box. I have a pair of those in my RV and they sure make a mess. They make the slide theyre on pretty rusty in no time at all. Those plastic boxes should be standard equipment.

[blackhat]

I wonder how a plywood or sheet metal box sprayed with Rhino liner or similar would work? I'm thinking of getting some steel shelves in my service truck done.

[DieselDennis]

I'm slightly jealous that you have a source where you can just waltz in and buy sheet like that.

Might want to hit those edges. A hard plastic 90 deg edge can sure put a hurtin' on some fingers.

[Cooler]

With sheets of Kydex and a heat gun you can make any sort of box. You need to make a form first, but the Kydex slumps into the form or over the form easily. A large oven is even better.

But why not just use two commercially available single boxes and cable the batteries externally?

For those not familiar with Kydex it was originally designed to be used in aircraft interiors. Most of the interior panels in a commercial plane are made of the stuff. A simple form and some heat are all that are needed to form the stuff. There are tutorials online and the stuff is available for purchase many places.

The gun holster manufacturers adopted this stuff for handgun and knife holsters because the tooling is so simple and the process needs nothing more than a toaster oven (for small pieces). The stuff is tough.

I was going to link a tutorial but there are millions out there so if you are interested google "Kydex forming tutorial".