How much "breathing room" does a battery need. My truck has the battery mounted in the bed. I have a vintage style cooler that a battery will fit in perfectly. There is about .5 inches on all 4 sides, the cables will come out of the back. Is that enough or do I need to vent the cooler substantially? Thanks!
If you are using a sealed maintenance free battery, it will be fine. If it is not, you have to have a vent to air. It's not about space around the battery it's about allowing the gasses to escape (hydrogen Sulfide? is that correct?). Short answer, just use a sealed maintenance free battery like an AGM or SLA style. I don't think there should be any heat issues.
i looked at one and the guy lined it with stainless because the last one he had got ate up. cool idea post some pic's.
Easy to vent the case, some "Tygon" tubing,(clear aquariam type) a distriutor nipple,(plug wire type) Drill hole in cooler in an out of the way location,attach nipple with your choice of sealant,insert tubing, run to hole in floor, done.
You don't want your AGM(absorbing glass mat)battery to vent any water at all. The mats internally are intended to totally absorb the acid/water solution and there should never be any free water. If the battery does lose water then the mats will dry out and potential is lost. Unlike a standard submerged or flooded lead acid battery where water is free to move around the plates and such. Even the so called "maintenance free" batteries have water free around the plates, problem is they cant be replenished if they lose water. The current designs are called refillable maintenance free batteries, and they look just like a standard battery with caps to access the cells...funny how terminology doesn't mean what it meant before.... Prolly didn't answer your question did I....
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