WK2 dual battery system. Interested?

[BatteryBusiness]

Originally Posted by Bomber

The Full River FAT series is an IT/ Telecoms battery. Go ahead and try but I'd be very surprised if it survived the rigors of a 4WD in full flight.

Yes, it is primarily a Telecoms battery but we have used it in 4WD's for years and with excellent results. So far not one battery failed and some have had a very hard life.

[BatteryBusiness]

It always takes a lot longer than we think but my WK2 now has a second battery under the floor. It took a few tries to get it correct but now I'm very happy with the result.

The battery box is actually a full enclosure consisting of an upper and lower shell. It's made of 3mm galvanised steel bent and welded to the proper shape and painted black.

The end result is nicely tucked away and pretty much invisible unless you get down and look under the car.





Here the box in more detail....



More pics in next post.

[BatteryBusiness]

Here the upper shell. It is bolted to the chassis rail and at the back three bolts through the floor with threaded aluminium plates on the inside. Very secure mounting, no way this will ever come loose.



The lower part...



The battery sitting in the tray. There is enough space to cater for some differences in battery size. We were discussing how to hold the battery in and after a lot of nice and complex ideas, we decided to go back to the simple solution. A piece of wood cut to size prevents the battery sliding around and some rubber on the bottom and the top of the battery will prevent any bouncing. We may revisit this but for the moment, it seems to be sufficient and works well.
There is enough space so the Redarc BCDC charger fits in the case as well (you can see the cut out to the left of the battery) and plenty of space to tuck away all the cabling.



I have not yet wired up the battery and Redarc charger. There are still some holes to drill to the battery box for the cables and then get the power inside the car as well as adding an Anderson plug at the rear.

The battery box is very well protected simply by it's location. If you hit the box during wheeling I would think you are in a lot more trouble. Even so, the box is built to take a hit and is pretty much closed to protect the battery and charger/wiring you may have inside. It is not waterproof though but by selecting a sealed charger, the battery can handle a bath.

[Trailhawk]

Interesting, its my opinion that the waterproofing of this is most important.

[BatteryBusiness]

Originally Posted by Trailhawk

Interesting, its my opinion that the waterproofing of this is most important.

Water only can get in if you are driving through deep water, not through rain or wet roads. If you are crossing deep water it will be the same like other engine parts which will take a bath. Everything will still be working fine but you may want to clean it out afterwards.

I prefer some ventilation over a fully sealed box but I guess if you really want, it is quite easy to fully seal it.

[Numb Thumbs]

Salt water would be a worry, though...

Cheers
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