I am replacing my two engine batteries with three new Optima red tops. The anchor mechanism for the two batteries was a metal angle with a long bolt on each end. It did a pretty good job of anchoring the batteries. I had planned to use a longer angle to anchor the three batteries.
My new red tops have a slot on each side near the end of the battery. It looks like I could use those with zip ties to anchor the new batteries. Has anybody tried this method? What do y'all think? Would it work to secure them? (My coach batteries do not have any king of a hold-down mechanism, but they are about 165 pounds each.)
Thanks for any input,
Trent
I have a long piece of angle steel to hold mine down with the long bolts. I would not use zip-ties as eventually the plasic will get hard and break putting you back in the same spot at before.
I do have a strip of hard non-compressable, thin, foam under the bar to prevent chafing of the battery tops.
Speedbird 1.
When I made my sliding battery trays I used stainless threaded rods together with angle iron wrapped in rubber to protect and secure the batteries.
Trent I would recommend not using zip ties to secure at battery - just too much weight when you hit a bump. Steel angle with a rubber strip on the contact surface is what I have used along with self-locking nuts on all-thread. You only want light torque on the bolts to prevent cracking the battery case. And the self-locking nuts wont back out with light torque. I used either 5/16" or 3/8" all-thread.
I wouldn't hesitate to use some big zip ties.
They shouldn't be exposed to enough heat
that they will break. Even if they get brittle you can replace them cheaply and easily.
I personally try to avoid using a metal bar to go across my batteries. I have had good luck using the plastic or composite deck boards cut down to my dimensions and then a bolt at each end
We added a 3rd optima to our 2 battery start battery bank, and secure them all with a longer new aluminum angle. I use a lot of plastic cable ties, but over time they can fail, and the heat of the engine doesn't help. Not recommended for batteries, especially because the angle is easier and better.
We use 'military' battery terminals with a bolt through each terminal to connect to a common bus bar. An easier alternative is to use arched short battery cables between military terminals.