This is a condensed description of the golf cart battery (GCB) install.

• The container I found suitable and available is a RubberMaid Action Packer.
• (4) 2” holes were drilled in the four corners of the bottom for drainage and aid in ventilation.  (Four may have been overkill.)  Screen is to be added to prevent bugs from entering.
• A rubber truck bed mat was cut to line the truck portion of the basement trunk compartment.  The box was set on top.
• Matching holes were drilled in the basement compartment trunk and mat.  PVC bushing placed through the box and bottom of compartment trunk.  They were caulked in with silicone, to seal the drainage area from compartment exterior and interior of the box.  View from below.

• Two 3” straight bayonet sewer fittings and sewer hose were used for the vent.  I cut the bayonet clips and lip of flange off to create a flat flange on the fittings.  One flange was secured to the top of the box, over the vent hole and caulked and the other secured and caulked to the inside of the compartment where I drilled the vent hole to the outside.  A stainless steel louvered vent (purchased at Boaters World) was installed on the outside to keep water and bugs out.  Sewer hose was installed to complete vent.

• Adhesive backed foam tape was applied to the lid, to provide a lid seal.  The corrugations of the lid were cut to prevent hydrogen gas from accumulating in lid cavity.

• A piece of ½” plywood was cut to fit in bottom of box, with cleats installed to keep the 2 GCB from sliding in the box.  Gorilla glue was used to attach these cleats, no nails or screws.   The wood was painted to prevent water spillage from absorbing.  If battery leaks acid, wood will need to be replaced.
• Charge/aux power terminals - Two 5/16” bolts with wingnuts were installed through the front of battery box.  This allows easy connection of Vector Smart Charger and a source of 12 volt power.  Terminals are color coded with plastic peanut butter jar lids and the + terminal is recessed in a plastic cup for fault protection.  These terminals are protected by a 30 amp in-line fuse.

•  A pair of 20’ 2 AWG welding cable (4 AWG may have been fine) was run from compartment under floor and up into kitchen cabinet with existing single Group 24 battery in existing box.  I had to remove corrugated plastic belly cover to run the wire.  Getting the cover back in place and secured will take some time and maybe some help.  I did not have the help.  I did fix some other things under there that I saw might be a problem down the road.
• I installed a 2 battery Perko selector switch in the kitchen cabinet, to the 2X6 wood block supporting the back of the battery box.  The original 24 group battery was kept as a back up and wired to “bat 1” terminal.  The GCB bank was wired to “bat 2” terminal.  I installed an insulated terminal block for the – wires to connect (common).  The existing wiring, 8 AWG (a very short run), was used from the switch to converter.  This will be upgraded at a later date.  A 12 volt lighter plug was installed (on 20 amp in line fuse) in cabinet to operate accessories and give me a point to check “bat 1” voltage from inside 5er.

• I also ran (2) 10’ 4AWG welding cable to the entertainment center, protected by a 50 amp circuit breaker, according to inverter spec.  I installed a 400 watt inverter to power the TV, VCR, stereo, and/or DVD.  Only two can be powered at a time.  I chose to have it at the point of use so the inverter could be switched off from inside the 5er.  A 12 volt lighter plug was installed as well in the base of the entertainment center for powering accessories.  It is protected by a 20 amp in-line fuse.  This also gives me a point to check GCB voltage from inside 5er.

• This is only the high points of the install. 
• Below is a wiring diagram of the upgrade.  The wiring and devices in the dashed line box were items added as per the text above. 

Battery charging while dry camping. 

1.      Switch Perko to “bat1” (single group 24 battery).  This provides a ballast to the converter while connected to 120 AC volt power.  During charging, the converter and the single group 24 battery are providing the power to operate the 5er.

2.      Start EU2000i and connect 5er shore power cord to generator.

3.      Connect the battery charger to the exterior charging/aux terminals on GCB battery box.  This prevents having to open battery box for charging purpose.

4.      Connect the Vector Smart Charger 20/10/2 amp to generator or to the 5er 120 AC volt receptacle.  The 20 amp charge rate is within the C/10 factor.  See the web article “The 12 volt side of life”.  http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/tech.htm  This site also provides other specs that may be helpful.  You may want to print it for future reference.

5.      Start charger.  At this time, the different battery banks are isolated from each other.  I dry camped 8 consecutive days in the Smokey Mountains this fall powered by this setup.  I experienced no problems.

            Future modifications will replace the factory converter/charger (60 amp Progressive Dynamics w/ Charge Wizard or Iota w/ IQ4) with a three level charger to provide faster recharge and not have to use the external automotive charger.  Also, I hope to install two more 6 volt batteries and remove the 12 volt group 24 battery.  Another battery box will be built to house all the batteries.  The battery switch will be used to separate the battery banks.

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