Battery Under the Floorboards: Don't it Get Wet?

The****le of the post is my question.
I think it was stock on my 38 (Chrysler) to put it under the floorboards with an access plate under the front seat, but the battery box that's down there now is open enough it seems like on a wet day the battery could get wet all the way up to the terminals/cables.
Is this OK??

 

I suppose the only threat there is the tray rusting out or water getting into the cells through the vent holes in the caps........apart from that, it wont do it any harm........I change them all day out on the road and what seems to kill a battery is heat{near exhaust} or shaking{not being bolted down}.......water will get in and sit under it which will corrode it one day....Cheers, Bert

 

I've got a 57 Dodge truck with the same mounting location and as strange as it may seem I've not had any problems with water or corrosion. I did wonder about this right after I got the truck but it works well.

I wouldn't go fording deep water with it though.

 

If you're really worried used a sealed (Optima) battery. Mine is hanging upside down under the bed of my truck behind the rear wheels.....

 

It won't hurt anything. The battery is not made of a material that rusts---the cables are (or should be) copper, and the terminal connectors are lead. Unless you are running for hours with the entire bottom of your car submerged, (which isn't very likely unless its a submarine) it won't bother the battery at all.

 

Um, you ever open your hood after driving on a rainy day?

 

I got my battery in a stock Model A battery box on my 28 Model A Woodie...no problems...never any trouble. Go for it.

 

Good thread. My 40 Plym has the same setup...only, the bottom of the battery box has rotted away.

 

In my experience underhood heat is hell on batteries.

 

No problem at all. The water won't cause as much of a problem as vibration, loose cables, or heat.

I took care of a fleet of 85 electric golf carts for 5 years, we washed the batteries pretty often. With the golf carts, the batteries got alot of dirt and grass on 'em. This would hold moisture, causing a constant drain. You could actually use a digital volt meter and get a reading across the tops of the batteries, inches away from the terminals. Washed down, this went away. Also helps to stop corrosion by washing away any acid.