Replacing "house" Batteries

 Replacing “house” batteries

by Robi Robison

 

If you (like me) are crazy enough to attempt to replace the RV “house” batteries by yourself (as a one-person job), the following is a description of the hoist-system that I created to accomplish the task.  My 2016 Winnebago TOUR is a Freightliner chasses and the “house” batteries (six, group-31’s) are located directly below the sliding cargo tray “mid coach”.  Lifting the old batteries out of their well is nearly impossible by one’s self.  This is a tight space.  There is little head room in the area.  You can’t position your body and find the leverage needed to extract each 80-pound battery (well: I can’t do it).  To accomplish the job, a homemade “winch/hoist” fabrication (a one-off creation) was undertaken.  For any Dogwooder that has a similar coach and might want to use the contraption, I’ll be happy to loan it to you for an extended amount of time.  Just let me know.

 

Pictures sez it all:

 

Pic-1:  

Pic 1

The extended sliding cargo tray as seen from the RV’s “curb side”.  The “road side” of the sliding cargo tray (Pic-2) was pressed into service as the “movable crane”.

 

Pic 2

Pic-2:  The round/black shaft is acting as my hoist.  It has bearings (of sort) at each end.  The silver-ish braces at each end (supporting the hoist) are shelf brackets from Ikea (found on-the-cheap at the Habitat ReStore).  The black shaft was originally the linear actuator that extended and retracted the Winne’s up-front generator.  The actuator had failed a couple of years ago and a new unit acquired.  I performed the swap-out, so the broken actuator found itself stored in my garage awaiting a future use in some other application.  It turned out to be the perfect winch:  Nice and strong over the span of about 40 inches.

Pic 3

 

Pic-3:  The “all thread” lever-rods are acting as hand-driven twisting levers of the “hoist” … used to apply torque to raise or lower the battery.  Each all-thread rod allowed me to turn the black shaft about a quarter of a turn, then I’d remove one lever in order to reposition it … and continue the twisting motion.

Pic 4

Pic-4:  The hoist was used to lift/extract the old batteries from the battery well; And the new battery (positioned on the asphalt just outside the RV) was lifted about 2 feet … ready for its transit toward the battery well.  While “in transit”, the hoist needed to be fixed-in-place so that it would not unspool.  The steel rod in the picture performed this locking function.

 

Pic 5

Pic-5:  Now in the cramped space with my contorted body, you can see the large cover that normally covers the battery bay located below the cargo tray.

 

Pic 6

Pic-6:  The battery cover now removed, you can see the two new batteries that I installed already, and battery 3 is about to be lowered in place.

 

Pic 7

Pic-7:  Job complete.  I installed only 4 batts where 6 were there originally.  The new batteries have a slightly higher Ampere-Hour rating and should provide similar-enough service.  The Winnie is an all-electric coach which means that when dry camping, the batteries (through the inverter) power the residential refrigerator and/or any 12-volt system needing power (i.e., the Aqua-Hot system).

 

It was a fun and satisfying project.  Constructing the “crane/winch” in my garage took about 8 hours total, so I would argue that my time expended wouldn’t really offset the estimated $400-or-so labor expense of battery swap-out at an RV dealership.  My source for the new batteries is where the money savings occurred (CraigsList).  At the end of the job:  My 75-year-old body was sore all over, and my left hip and left elbow were really “talking” to me due to the extended time I spent on my left side.  But fortunately, all now is well.