Modifying the battery well

Topic: Modifying the battery well (Read 745 times) previous topic - next topic

Modifying the battery well

April 08, 2024, 07:58:42 am

Here is the problem. Our batteries are under the lift-up stairs in the entry. There is a vertical wall on the side towards the door. This wall is about 12" high and the 8D battery and the starting battery have to be lifted out of the battery well, over this wall.
Every fall I have to lift the 180# 8D battery and the 60#+ start battery over this wall. Every spring I have to lift the batteries over the wall to reinstall them.
Why? Because we store the coach 30 miles away in an unheated non-electric storage building up here in Wisconsin. I keep the batteries charged here at home over the winter.
So, here is my question: Has anyone modified that wall so it can be removed for installation and removal of the batteries without lifting them over the wall? Is that wall a screwed up design by a draftsman that never took into consideration the effort of lifting those batteries?
I will be 82 this year and arthritis is really starting to reduce my lifting ability and I still want to continue my winter storage practice.
Any help or ideas?

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #1 – April 08, 2024, 09:08:56 am

I hate the location too and have thought about relocating it but there just isn't much other dead space on the coach that'd be any easier to work with. A slide out tray in one of the storage bags would be ideal, but it's just not worth the effort to build that.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #2 – April 08, 2024, 09:15:08 am

Get a engine hoist from harbor freight

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #3 – April 08, 2024, 09:33:07 am

Problem with the hoist is that I would have to dismantle it to fit in our car, then haul it up to and reassemble it to remove or install the batteries and then dismantle it and bring it back and reassemble it and use it to remove the batteries from the car and then use it to repeat the cycle in the spring. The "floor" in the pole barn is crushed granite so nothing heavy on small casters rolls easily.
My thought was to alter the battery well so I could just pull the battery or batteries out--without lifting them up, and then slide them on to this caster equipped cart I have and roll them into the garage and leave the batteries on the cart until spring.
Up in the pole barn I would use a short plank to transfer the batteries to our Vue--without having to lift them much. Installing them--reverse the procedure. At home my custom built cart would accommodate removing/installing the batteries from either the Vue or the coach. And our driveway and garage are asphalt and concrete.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #4 – April 08, 2024, 10:02:17 am

On "battery swap day" twice a year hire a high school football player to make trip with you. Give him $20 or $40 or whatever counts for a decent "tip" these days to do the heavy lifting. To keep him entertained on the drive, you can regale him with exciting tales of your days traveling in your coach, and how much "fun" it is being the dedicated caretaker of a complex machine.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #5 – April 08, 2024, 10:38:07 am

Sorry, Never liked being at the mercy of someone else's schedule. Just too independent I guess.
Trying to use mind over matter to resolve my problem without reliance on outside forces.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #6 – April 08, 2024, 11:13:23 am

I use to have no problem with 8D batteries but now I know how you feel, they are a real struggle now.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #7 – April 08, 2024, 12:02:54 pm

All of the walls are structural. The floor will sag as it is and the floor will fall out if you remove the walls IMHO.
I've had to rebuild the floor already .
Ask for a little help.
Get lighter batts ?

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #8 – April 08, 2024, 12:05:23 pm

OK - another armchair idea from my prolific mind. The steel framing at the top of the entry door should be plenty strong. Drill and tap a receiving hole for a large threaded eye bolt. On "battery day" insert eye bolt into hole. Attach light weight (but good quality) simple block & tackle to lift battery up out of the "hole" and then swing it over to land on a cart or the "plank" that you mentioned. Reverse process to reinstall.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #9 – April 08, 2024, 12:36:19 pm

OR, if you have a 2" hitch receiver on your Vue, they make a variety of portable lifting devices. See below for one example:

Amazon.com : octora Truck Hitch Mounted Crane- 600lbs Load Capacity, 2 Inch...

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #10 – April 08, 2024, 01:24:54 pm

Any way to rig up an external solar panel? Otherwise the hired labor would be my choice.

Peace,
Don

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #11 – April 08, 2024, 02:50:27 pm

LiTime 12V 200Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Battery, 100A BMS, Deep Cycle Battery 48lbs my 300AH are 67lbs each

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #12 – April 08, 2024, 03:43:13 pm

How about the old, tried and true method of the lever and the fulcrum?
What if I lay a 1-1/2" dia wrecking bar across the stairwell and up against the door casing and then use another long steel pry bar and chain to lift the battery end up. Probably in increments, using a chain with a hook end to change lift angle of the pry bar while slowly increasing a support stack of wood spacers under the battery?
Once the bottom end of the battery is above the well wall it then just becomes a matter of pulling the battery out on to my cart.
Rube Goldberg was my idol.
In a former life I was an injuneer. Know how to become one? Fill your pockets full of marbles. Go off to school. Every time you learn something new, throw away a marble. Once you have lost all your marbles you are an injuneer.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #13 – April 08, 2024, 09:38:31 pm

It takes a strong young or the right tools/equipment to deal with those 8D's, especially when they are in a compartment.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #14 – April 09, 2024, 12:42:17 am

How about replacing the single heavy 8D with two batteries where you wire pair of 6v in series or pair of 12v in parallel. Perfect solution for this area and one others have done.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #15 – April 09, 2024, 09:16:45 am

I'd opt for coming south- forget all that snow and ice crap

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #16 – April 09, 2024, 10:04:23 am

I agree with you, Ernie, but need two things: Fountain of Youth and winning Powerball ticket.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #17 – April 09, 2024, 11:00:34 am

Here is how I moved mine. Wish I was next door to help. I liked the idea of the lifting point above and a block and tackle. Blocking up and using a ramp to drag up certainly would work. Just remember old age and treachery will over come youth and skill.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #18 – April 10, 2024, 09:04:32 pm

I am not sure that you couldn't cut that wall loose so you could slide the batteries out and make it so that it could be bolted back in place or otherwise secured. I know on our 84 there was 2 8 D batteries and it was even deeper in than in your coach. I was able to lift one end up and set it on the other battery then lift the other end with some yankee ingenuity. The other one was a real hard job. I am 81 and not as strong as I used to be.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #19 – April 11, 2024, 11:42:57 am

Unfairly I'm certain that the effects of gravity has been increasing and the time to recover from injuries also has increased. We need to demonstrate some of the life skills we have accumulated and learn to take advantage of our superior mental abilities by using mechanical advantages. Or bite the bullet and take advantage of someone else's ability on some of our tasks we have always accomplished prior without thought. If you get the batteries out of the coach you still need to load in your vehicle to transport and repeat at the other end. Time to realize this and make some changes before you get hurt. I'm six months out of shoulder surgery and really have been making changes in my personal life. Changing to 67 lbs lithium batteries was not my plan but is now making more sense not to mention I could have gone with more smaller capacity once also. I literally used my forklift to unload and load. The reason I will always keep and maintain a forklift is many things I want to do can be done without but I'm getting tired of getting cut on for repairs. It's not a very high bar to be smarter than me, but in the past years I've been trying to raise it. I used a cradle straps tied to the handles and a lever to winch them up to clear the floor 158lbs is now beyond my lifting capabilities.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #20 – April 11, 2024, 12:37:37 pm

Cranes work too but not as handy as a forklift.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #21 – April 11, 2024, 12:54:43 pm

Lithium batteries are making more and more sense every day.
When the golf cart batteries I was using for house batteries went bad a couple years ago I decided to go with lithium but the price was prohibitive so I went with one of these to tide me over and it has worked like a champ.
EverStart Platinum AGM Battery, Group Size H8 (12 Volt/900 CCA)
$169.84/EA

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #22 – April 11, 2024, 01:05:55 pm

Quote from: Dakota Slim – April 11, 2024, 12:54:43 pm

Lithium batteries are making more and more sense every day.
When the golf cart batteries I was using for house batteries went bad a couple years ago I decided to go with lithium but the price was prohibitive so I went with one of these to tide me over and it has worked like a champ.
EverStart Platinum AGM Battery, Group Size H8 (12 Volt/900 CCA)
$169.84/EA

Forgot to mention say a torn repaired bicep tendon cost included in the monies spent. This certainly is a consideration to me now.

Re: Modifying the battery well

Reply #23 – April 12, 2024, 09:03:51 pm

Quote from: dsd – April 11, 2024, 01:05:55 pm

Forgot to mention say a torn repaired bicep tendon cost included in the monies spent. This certainly is a consideration to me now.

And Walmart offered a 5 year free replacement guarantee with this battery.
I see that the price has gone up $10 on this battery and they cut the free replacement warranty to 4 years but it could be the answer for a few folks.
Robot or human?

*This battery fits most European imports; VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes and late model North American luxury cars and trucks.

Affiliate Notice