Battery Box

[cdnrver]

I have the 2009 Sundance 2900mk. I'm really pleased with it so far but there is one thing that I believe Heartland should have put more thought into.

The battery is in the front storage area on the right side. A square hole was cut in the metal floor and a plastic battery box was recessed in the hole so that approximately 1/3 of the battery is above the floor and the other 2/3 is below the floor area. It has a plastic cover that is vented.

This is a very poor design for those like me who want to eventually replace the single 12 volt battery with two (or more) 6 volt (golf cart) batteries. A better design would have been not to cut the hole in the floor. Because the hole is between the back storage wall and the leg post (tucked in the corner) it's impossible to make the hole wider to accommodate a second battery. It would have been better just to have the battery box sitting on the floor (with tie-downs holding it in place).

Has anyone put two 6 volts in their sundance and how did you do it?

 

[Freckles]

I agree with poor design!! My dealer even gave up trying to install cover.The connection strip for all the wiring is in a bad location.reroute of wiring should help this problem.If you do a search for 6 volt battery you should find alot of info.

 

[judyq]

we also have the 2009 Sundance 2900MK, which we love. we ordered a second 12V battery from the dealer and then installed 4 6v batteries in the same area. we equipped each set with a battery disconnect. we do a lot of boondocking and needed the extra power. The one drawback is that is supposed to be the clothes chute area which is useless to us since it is full of batteries.

 

[Freckles]

Generator

We bought a generator last week and just filled with oil and gas and gave it a try today. Checked it out runs great its not as quite as a Honda.The Honda 1000eu list at 59db and about $800. I bought a UST 1200 from Wal-Mart list at 67db and with taxs $207. We also saw that the Honda dc amp charge is 8.5 amps and the UST dc amp charge is at 10 amps.I hope this fill my need for battery charging. I'm a person that would say you get what you pay for!!! Time will tell !!!

 

[samtoby]

I had two 6 volt batteries put in my 2009 2012RE at the dealership. They installed a big plastic box that had the batteries end to end which wasted a bunch of space. What i did is I ended up throwing up the plastic box, and putting the one battery back in the factory location and the other one in front of it (it just fit). I cut some plastic to ensure the front leg mechanism didn't rub on the side of the battery, but it worked great. I then rigged a ratchet strap across the two of them to snug it down.

 

[Alligator Al]

How did you hook the batteries up? Is there any chance of these batteries doing damage to your electrical system?

 

[timk]

We bought a generator last week and just filled with oil and gas and gave it a try today. Checked it out runs great its not as quite as a Honda.The Honda 1000eu list at 59db and about $800. I bought a UST 1200 from Wal-Mart list at 67db and with taxs $207. We also saw that the Honda dc amp charge is 8.5 amps and the UST dc amp charge is at 10 amps.I hope this fill my need for battery charging. I'm a person that would say you get what you pay for!!! Time will tell !!!

Freckles, It will take forever to put any useful amount of juice back in your batteries at 10 amps per hour. At the very least pick up a cheap automotive charger and run that with the generator. Lets say you get a 50 amp charger and run it for an hour, it would take 5 hours to get that same 50 amps back at 10 amps.
Happy charging.
TimK

 

[Freckles]

TimK : Thank you for the info .I had posted a ? after this post regarding the best way to charge. Most threads came back saying to plug camper to generator and charge using camper convert !! Battery will not over charge doing it this way.

 

[sunriverman]

secibd battery box

I had the dealer mount a second box next to the recessed box and anchored it with the box straps and plumbed in a second vent. It is on a different level but it works. They screw the first lid of the cover down for venting purposes, I just use a bungy as I disconnet and remove my batteries each time when I return. The cost of the 6 volts and also just keeping them on charge with the battery tender is my logic. rod

 

[sunriverman]

I agree but it is not that big of a problem. Just buy another batery box with tie-down straps and mount it to the left of the original. You will need a cover/lod and then a pvc fitting to add a second fume exhaust tied into the single vent hose that should have been installed on the first battery. Two six volts make quite a difference when dry camping.

 

[Sundance_kid]

When I added two 6V I got this Rubbermaid box at Wal-Mart for $20, perfect fit.

 

[Duramax1]

View attachment 7320My dealer installed this box to accommodate my requested upgrade to 2 six volt batteries. I installed the battery cutoff switch that you can see in the background.The box is installed sitting overtop of the original location for the single battery on the right side of the storage area.

 

[Stinger381]

Sundance Kid I like the battery box that you made and I have one of those boxes just taking up space in my storage shed! I may have to do that too but I haven't even picked my camper up yet! I'm still waiting on the hitch to arrive and be installed. I don't remember my 3300 RLB having a recessed spot in the floor though! Is it really better to run two 6 volt batteries vs two 12 volt batteries ? I have run two 12 volts for years and had no battery issues at all, just curious ?

I really like the Fishing Rod holder too!

 

[Sundance_kid]

We went with the two 6 volts as we boondock in the desert during the winter and the furnace doesn't eat them to fast.