![]() Once we had the battery box positioned where we wanted it, we screwed it directly to the laminate flooring and bed frame using a whole bunch of 1-½” angle brackets and ¾” self-tapping screws. It’s always important to take the time to reflect on your progress. Step 11: Admire the Finished Battery Box That’s a nice-lookin’ box! To fix this, we cut the lid in half and added another hinge, so that it needs less overhead clearance to fully open. In practice, it proved a bit difficult to fully open the lid of the battery box once it was mounted under our bed. Then, we set the lid in place and installed the piano hinge and safety hasp latch. Step 10: Install Lid, Hinges and Latchįirst, we screwed and glued a nailer strip to the flat section at the top of the battery box using 1-¼” GRK trim head screws and Titebond II wood glue. Note: This step is not strictly necessary with AGM or LiFePO4 batteries. We thought lining it with plastic was easier. If you want something that looks cleaner and you’re willing to get your hands dirtier, you can also use epoxy and fiberglass to layer the inside of a wooden battery box. We also used Gorilla tape to stop the top from folding in. We bought a roll of 6-mil plastic sheeting and glued in four layers (extending about halfway up the inside of the battery box) using 3M High Strength 90 spray adhesive. Battery acid will eat right through wood, but plastic will contain it. We layered the inside of the battery box with plastic – just in case something goes catastrophically wrong and we have an acid leak (again, very unlikely with AGM batteries). Step 9: Layer Plastic Sheeting Inside Box (optional for AGM or LiFePO4 batteries) ![]() To install them, we used a piece of ¼” plywood as a spacer, Titebond II wood glue, and ¾” self-tapping screws. Two D-ring anchor points inside the battery box (one on the front and one on the back) let us strap our batteries down. Step 8: Install Anchor Points for Ratchet Straps We also drilled holes about halfway down on the left side (the side closest to the rest of the electrical components) to run our wiring through. ![]() We drilled holes right at the top of the angled side pieces and three more holes along the top of the back piece to let any released hydrogen rise up and escape (this is very unlikely with AGM batteries). The front of the battery box got four holes a few inches down to allow for fresh air to flow in. Step 6: Make Sure the Batteries Fitĭry-fitting the batteries proves that we didn’t screw up any of our measurements! Step 7: Drill Holes for Vents and Wiringįor ventilation, we drilled several holes in the front, sides, and back of the battery box using a 1-½” spade drill bit (a hole saw would work too). Once the spacer was set in place inside the battery box, we permanently attached it using 1” GRK cabinet screws driven in from the outside. The spacer fits perfectly in the bottom of our battery box. So, we made a spacer out of 1×3 furring strips arranged into a square and attached together using pocket holes and 1-¼” pocket hole screws. Since we designed our battery box with some wiggle room to allow for airflow, we needed a way to keep the batteries in place inside the box. And because our batteries are a weird size, we couldn’t find any commercially available battery boxes that would fit them. Some may argue that a battery box is unnecessary for AGM batteries, but we just felt safer having one. Provide some insurance in case something did go catastrophically wrong with the batteries or charging system. ![]()
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