Installing Lithium battery inside a GD 2950RL cargo bay

[cheil]

Hello
I'm considering a lithium battery to replace the lead acid battery that came with my GC 2950RL travel trailer. Given the cost of lithium batteries, I wanted to protect against theft so I started looking at lockable battery boxes. Surprisingly there aren't many on the market and the ones I've seen range in price from $200-$500. It got me to thinking that I could move the battery inside the cargo bay. I'd sacrifice some storage space but at least the battery would be out of sight and locked in the front cargo bay.

Has anyone done this kind of retrofit? I'm guessing having enough cable to run into the cargo bay might be the biggest issue...anything else to watch out for?

thanks,
Chris

[Jlawles2]

cheil Hi Chris. If you look around, there are a few discussions on battery boxes. Lockable ones are not cheap. You may be able to come up with an alternative, something like making a hold down bracket out of metal that can be locked like spare tires.

Couple of pieces of all thread and a pair of threaded bent pieces of steel will go a long way to making a locking hold down if you want to keep the battery on the outside.

found this idea on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bl_j3rmABQ

[ncitro]

Hello
I'm considering a lithium battery to replace the lead acid battery that came with my GC 2950RL travel trailer. Given the cost of lithium batteries, I wanted to protect against theft so I started looking at lockable battery boxes. Surprisingly there aren't many on the market and the ones I've seen range in price from $200-$500. It got me to thinking that I could move the battery inside the cargo bay. I'd sacrifice some storage space but at least the battery would be out of sight and locked in the front cargo bay.

Has anyone done this kind of retrofit? I'm guessing having enough cable to run into the cargo bay might be the biggest issue...anything else to watch out for?

thanks,
Chris

Most with Lithium move them inside, in addition to more security, locating them closer to the converter/charger will benefit your charge efficiency and rate. One of the benefits of lithium is they can be installed in unvented space. Extending the cable should not be an issue, just abandon the factory wiring from the converter to the tongue and run new wire from the converter to your front bay (if you are lucky you can locate the battery right next to the converter).

howson has a Reflection TT, and moved his from the tongue to the front bay, and I think TucsonJim did as well.

[TucsonJim]

I have all three of mine on the tongue since I didn't want to give up any storage space. But I found battery locking straps that go around the plastic battery boxes. They are very secure and run about $42 each.

Here's a link:

http://b-drvbatterylock.com/

Here's a photo of my set up.




Jim

[cheil]

You guys gave me something to think about...appreciate the feedback. @ncitro - My first thought was next to the converter too for all the reasons you mention but it doesn't look like I can make that work so next best thing is front bay. I'll put a little more research into that.

The DIY lock is interesting, didn't think of that. I've seen the metal locks @TucsonJim mentioned and if I can't make the front bay work, then I think that is a major contender.