house battery inside van?
- Thread starter luke-o
- Start date
dcguillory
Adventurer
If it's standard wet cell then people typically do not want it inside because of toxic off gassing that is created as the battery cycles. If you are going agm or better then there is no problem.
Joe917
Explorer
Anybody building a battery box should read this:
http://www.bdbatteries.com/hydrogenventing.php
cheers, Joe
http://www.bdbatteries.com/hydrogenventing.php
cheers, Joe
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Open Cell (removable caps) Flooded Lead-Acid (FLA) batteries vent hydrogen and oxygen whenever they are being charged. They must ALWAYS be vented to the outside.
Sealed lead-acid batteries (known as VRLA or Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid) of all types (Flooded, AGM and GEL) only vent hydrogen and oxygen when they are *over*charged. The buildup of internal pressure causes the pressure relief valve to open and hydrogen and oxygen then escape.
Once that happens, the battery has lost some of its electrolyte (sulfuric acid diluted with water) - and since it's sealed, there is no way to replenish the lost water. Thus the battery is now on a downhill slide to failure (which can take a long time).
Overcharging generally consists of holding the battery at too high a voltage for too long, which causes the battery to get too hot.
So...
Technically, you don't need to vent a VRLA because it doesn't vent anything unless overcharged.
BUT...
Technically, you are supposed to vent any lead-acid battery - even VRLA because something could go wrong and it could get overcharged and vent.
And hydrogen + oxygen = rocket fuel. Or, a fuel-air bomb.
Sealed lead-acid batteries (known as VRLA or Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid) of all types (Flooded, AGM and GEL) only vent hydrogen and oxygen when they are *over*charged. The buildup of internal pressure causes the pressure relief valve to open and hydrogen and oxygen then escape.
Once that happens, the battery has lost some of its electrolyte (sulfuric acid diluted with water) - and since it's sealed, there is no way to replenish the lost water. Thus the battery is now on a downhill slide to failure (which can take a long time).
Overcharging generally consists of holding the battery at too high a voltage for too long, which causes the battery to get too hot.
So...
Technically, you don't need to vent a VRLA because it doesn't vent anything unless overcharged.
BUT...
Technically, you are supposed to vent any lead-acid battery - even VRLA because something could go wrong and it could get overcharged and vent.
And hydrogen + oxygen = rocket fuel. Or, a fuel-air bomb.
Frame Rail Box
I have installed the GM frame rail boxes and they work very well, did not need to use space on the inside and the batteries are well above the bottom of the frame rails. This mount also allows the under side of the van in running cables from side to side, Rockauto.com has 8ga wire on closeout at just $2.22 and battery dis-connect switches along with other items for the install that you or others may want to research. As far as maintenance you need to only remove one nut and washer and loosen the hold down block, to me space and safety are the key points.
I have installed the GM frame rail boxes and they work very well, did not need to use space on the inside and the batteries are well above the bottom of the frame rails. This mount also allows the under side of the van in running cables from side to side, Rockauto.com has 8ga wire on closeout at just $2.22 and battery dis-connect switches along with other items for the install that you or others may want to research. As far as maintenance you need to only remove one nut and washer and loosen the hold down block, to me space and safety are the key points.
Heloflyboy
Adventurer
I posted same question in power systems section a couple months ago.
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Sure. Everyone has to decide on what level of risk they are comfortable with.
Here's a guy who tried everything to get a battery to blow up. Overcharge, dead short. He got the VRLA valve to blow and start venting, and even had candles setting on the battery and it wouldn't blow:
Here's some guys who made a regular open cell battery, on a regular benchtop charger blow up easily:
Also, it doesn't have to be a buildup of gas which fills the the entire vehicle, it can happen in a small space:
Personally, if I was putting a VRLA in a van (and I have a van and I've measured the space under the couch and might just stick a battery under there one of these days), I would stick it in a plastic box with a tube running out the side. For two reasons - one to vent any gas out, and two to keep any sparks on the other side of the plastic box.
I would go with a dry cell, such as an optima yellow or red top. I say this for many reasons.
1) you don't have as big a concern about venting.
2) They seem to have a better copacity. i.e they don't die as fast.
3) They are more durable. They last longer and hold up better against deep charge/discharge cycles.
They cost more, but in the long run they are worth it. I upgraded my van to a single yellow top for everything (plan to add a house battery eventually). The van has an LED TV, blu-ray player, a 500w amp for the TV system, mood lighting and 2 DC-to-AC power converters. I have watched 2 movies in a row and ran a small fan and haven't had an issues starting the van. I use the van for over night camping regularly.
1) you don't have as big a concern about venting.
2) They seem to have a better copacity. i.e they don't die as fast.
3) They are more durable. They last longer and hold up better against deep charge/discharge cycles.
They cost more, but in the long run they are worth it. I upgraded my van to a single yellow top for everything (plan to add a house battery eventually). The van has an LED TV, blu-ray player, a 500w amp for the TV system, mood lighting and 2 DC-to-AC power converters. I have watched 2 movies in a row and ran a small fan and haven't had an issues starting the van. I use the van for over night camping regularly.
Cole
Expedition Leader
The blue top is the deep cycle battery for RV/Marine use.
I've had several Red tops and ALL DIED an earlier death than standard batteries. Loved that they recovered quickly when winching, but that was about it.
You would need to check the wattage ratings on the devices to be sure, but I'm fairly positive that running your tv and dvd will draw more power than charging a cellphone. The cell and dvd alone might be close in power, with the dvd drawing a little more, but your TV, espcially if its an older one will be your power hog.
I just upgraded my 2001 van to a lower wattage LED TV and Blu-ray. I had to install a power converter to run them, because its difficult to find the style that my van uses in a DC powered option. The Blu-ray cost me about $110, got a steal on the TV at $99, and the power converter was around $75. I ha issues with the sound system from the original TV so I also installed a 500W car stereo amp and 9in speakers that I had laying around to run the TV through. I had to do the amp, because the house style TV I was using didn't put out enough power to power the speakers.