curiouscarbon
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It's the Wild West - RV's w/Chinese Prebuilts
- Thread starter EcoRV
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curiouscarbon
Science Penguin
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2020
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today i learned the term gator for this type of road hazard
LOL - You are correct on many occasions. This is certainly not used for serious us road use but we do have forest roads with debris, ruts. IMO its not the location of the batteries under the coach its the lack of frontal impact protection combined with front facing terminal posts. Also i dont think several in this thread have yet taken a look at the image i shared of SOK saying the case was not waterproof or tested.
Listed below is the same exact type of RV but the stainless steel case which drops down for cabling and locks up back into place with a cover of the front facing surface. These currently house BBB but its being iterated (larger and fully covered front) to hold up to 4 - 280AH batteries.
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Posted earlier in the thread but didn't think it was easy to see. The screenshot below was an attempt to collect information for the original person that posted the SOK batteries lying on their side. He said SOK told him it was ok to lay the batteries on their side like that so i reached out to via FB chat to verify and ask additional questions. Please take a look at whey the said about testing.
Then after verifying with SOK i put some additional context next to the text so that others in that less technical FB group could better understand what was being said and why it was important to consider.
Then after verifying with SOK i put some additional context next to the text so that others in that less technical FB group could better understand what was being said and why it was important to consider.
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Yikes! I consider these packs safe for a marine environment over a steel case variant, but this is just awful. Those terminals are exposed to the elements. This is just asking for problems. Those terminals need to be covered and protected.
Having the cells oriented on their sides should be fine. The more people I ask about this, the more that it does not seem as big of a problem as we are all making it out to be. They will vent fine on their sides. The big issue is saturation of electrolyte on the lattice in the cell. This was an issue on older cells. But considering how many manufacturers are making packs with prismatics on their sides, I do not think it is that big of a deal. If it needs to vent, it will vent. Those cells will break that case before they vent. Look up videos of cells when they vent, and you will notice that they will look like a balloon. The steel case would be able to handle that pressure without breaking, though. But again, should be able to vent.
The main point to consider is that you should never mount a battery like this, ever. Lead acid or lithium etc, they should not be exposed in this way. Just imagine how these batteries will look covered in mud and rain after the first storm. The salts in the mud alone could cause a problem with those terminals. Yikes.
Thank you for commenting @Will Prowse and sharing your thoughts on side placement and venting. If you have a moment can you look at what SOK chat said in post#29? It might be nice to bring up or clarify in a future video.
There is a good ending to the story on that the original poster received the information well and has decided to go in a more traditional direction.
Thank you,
Danny
Yes. The photo is slightly out of context in that it seems to portray the batteries in a more exposed position than they actually are and I assume some cover would be added to protect the terminals.
Anyone have any images of how electric Vans incorporate their batteries in the build?
I actually own the same FRONT Wheel Drive model of RV and trust me the photo is not out of context. I have 4 BBB mounted under mine in the same location in a stainless steel enclosed tray system. I've had rocks from forest roads and hi-way speed debris strike the enclosure.
Batteries exposure is not the only concern to me on the first picture. You can clearly see a red wire without protection chaffing against the frame...which is connected to ground. As it does not seem there is any fuse after the battery, it is a problem to come!
Good catch. I saw the fusing issue but not the chaffing wire.
I hear the points of "prismatics should be ok on their sides", but the logical part of my brains starts to smoke up a little because there's no way the cells on the bottom aren't more 'compressed' than the ones on the top row. And either too much compression is a bad thing, or it isn't. These things aren't feather light, as we all know, and rows on top of rows has to factor in somehow.
I guess I'm living in the wild west.
My Thor Outlaw Class C has only 1 small storage compartment so I can't use that for batteries.
So I have 1 battery under my RV.
4 280AH cells are in one of these boxes AliExpress Battery Box , The AliExpress box is is sitting inside one of these boxes Torklift Hidden power Mounted above the Frame.
With the Torklift the battery is well above anything else. So if the battery got hit, I would have already lost the tanks, generator, stairs etc.
I also have a 2nd battery in another AliExpress box in the stairs compartment. It was ~1" too small to get the 2nd inside.
My Thor Outlaw Class C has only 1 small storage compartment so I can't use that for batteries.
So I have 1 battery under my RV.
4 280AH cells are in one of these boxes AliExpress Battery Box , The AliExpress box is is sitting inside one of these boxes Torklift Hidden power Mounted above the Frame.
With the Torklift the battery is well above anything else. So if the battery got hit, I would have already lost the tanks, generator, stairs etc.
I also have a 2nd battery in another AliExpress box in the stairs compartment. It was ~1" too small to get the 2nd inside.
Can you tell me the delivery time for the battery boxes and if that delivery was recent. I need 4 boxes and am finding it difficult to get them quickly and the company from the link you posted does not have a way to interact / ask them questions.
I bought them back in February sorry. But back then they only took 3 weeks.