Foretravel Owners' Forum

 I give up.  Where are the house batteries located on a 2005 U320.

If like our 2003, look on the rearward (side) wall of a bay on the curbside for a panel.  If there, remove the panel and batteries will quite possibly be behind it.

Michelle,
Are those tubes to the right of the batteries air vents for same?
Don

Thanks Michelle.  I have that panel but it is covered by my slide-out tray. Unfortunately, where I am parked there is a wall that prevents full extension of the slide.  I will try access in the morning with more light.

Nope - shelf supports Steve added for the back of the bay (the bottom one in the photo is detached and laying on the bay floor.)

Steve - Michelle's pic shows the same location where the house batteries are stashed in our 2005.

Found the batteries.  Waiting till I get home so I have help moving 150+ lb batteries around.

Our batteries are in what I believe is the same place. Smack dab in the middle of the coach, blocked by the slide tray. When we had the old batteries checked, the panel that covers that cubby hole was cut to allow access to the batteries with our having to remove the slide tray.  Later, when we needed new batteries, we could slide the guy doing the work in on the tray, he could remove the batteries, and we slid him out again.  Just like the knuckle busting panel in the utility bay that we have had to remove (and others have learned to carve into manageable segments) this is a panel that needs to be in pieces.

I think a mod is in the immediate future.  Should be home by Sunday. Batteries will be out soon after.

I believe that all was needed was to cut the access panel in half. It can then be removed and replaced without having to unbolt and remove the entire slide tray. Makes it easier to check on your batteries ... although there is still the matter of unloading all the crap from the coach so that you can begin!!

Looking at the pictures, I am wondering if you could build a rack that allowed the batteries to slide out for better access.

The person who chose that location has never done physical labor. Maintenance-Free batteries are not maintenance free. You shouldn't have to crawl in to a space and drag 163 lb batteries around.

IIRC, on earlier years (prior to 2003-ish), the Aquahot was often located in that general location.  One needs access to the AH much more often than the batteries (if the latter are Gel or AGM), so that was the thought process.

It is kind of like the refrigerator ... everything can't be in the front!!  Once we had the panel cut so that removing the sliding tray was unnecessary, changing out the batteries was not difficult. There is always a skinny guy and a beefy guy on the crew who each have their job.  Tight spots and muscle work.

"hiding" three 150 lb. house batteries makes it hard on humans to maintain them. BUT it makes it much harder on the batteries to be in a confined area that heats up over 100 degrees. And it can take hours longer to charge hot gel batteries than cooler gel batteries, due to their requirement to only be safely charged at 13.5 volts instead of 14.5 volts.

Mine were at 107F the other day. Definitely hard on the batteries. Needs a cooling fan in that area.