Battery box construction tips?

[yakscientist]

Can someone point me in the direction of a good online source for constructing a nice waterproof (ish) dry box for a small 12v battery. Right now all I run is my FF, but I would like to also run an emergency bilge pump from it, and maybe another small accessory in the future, so it would need to have the ability to run multiple connections from it. I would like it to have a switch maybe for the bilge pump, and maybe even a volt meter, but that's not completely necessary. The battery is here: http://www.amazon.com/Sealed-Lead-Ba...ASY77QWK0JED3E and it's 6 inches long by 4 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep. The FF is an elite 3x if that matters also. Thank you!

[J.A. Veil]

There are various shapes of food storage boxes with snap-on lids. I used an old Tupperware box for my 5 amp-hr battery. I used a large potato salad tub from Sams Club for a 7 amp-hr battery. Most recently, I used a larger food storage box from Bed, Bath, and Beyond for my 12 amp-battery. You can drill a hole in one end of the box to allow the wires to pass through.


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You can be much more sophisticated than that if you are into tinkering. But functionally, the plastic boxes work fine.

[archeryrob]

FYI, Water will not hurt your battery, but salt and corrosion will. You can, I have, in fresh water submerged a battery. Remember is TV shows and the car sinks and the lights are still on, well its true, it works like that. Guys make motorized duck butts with bilge pumps and use the battery as the anchor, in fresh water.

I used a small battery and used the WP box you can get at walmart. I do not think a 7ah SLA battery will fit in that one. It's on my blog linked below under the fish finder how to, if you're interested.

[sb220]

For mine I used a plastic ammo box.

Google watertight ammo box and youll find many options ranging from ten bucks and up

For connections just google marine 12 volt outlets. You can rig your box up with 12 volt outlets, usbs etc

I used some foam/styrofoam board to put around battery to keep it tight in the box



like this

and I'm sure theres better vids on youtube....just first one I saw that was similar to what I'm talking about

[jelake]

I personally went with a small pelican case for mine. As long as you dont mind the price tag, they are military grade construction heavy plastic and waterproof. I bought a set of four waterproof rocker switches which is where all of my electronics will run from- all the box will house is the battery and two wires runnign out from it to the rocker switches.

Nice thing about the pelicans is that they come with modifiable foam on the inside so you can adjust it to fit exactly what you ne

[Jaspratt]

I use a knock off pelican dry box, can house upto a 12ah battery i also use a fully water proof 12v plug the kind that screws tight like how some ff plugs are. I put dielectric grease on everything. That keeps everything worry free. Last thing you want to deal with on the water is electrical issues. image.jpg

[Huntrava]

Price tag scared me away from the pelican box. $20-$30 for an admittedly nice case just wasn't in the cards for me.

I just found a locking tupperware at Walmart for maybe 2 or 3 bucks, soldered an in-line fuse into the hot end of the pigtail, dropped in some foam blocks for padding and have never opened it since.

Just charge the battery via the pigtail. No need to ever open the case again.

[PigPen]

For mine I used a plastic ammo box.

Google watertight ammo box and youll find many options ranging from ten bucks and up

For connections just google marine 12 volt outlets. You can rig your box up with 12 volt outlets, usbs etc

I used some foam/styrofoam board to put around battery to keep it tight in the box



like this

and I'm sure theres better vids on youtube....just first one I saw that was similar to what I'm talking about

This is what I did and no complaints other than needing to add padding to the case to prevent bouncing around the storage area. Maybe I van velcro it to the hatch.

I bought a 5 pack of fuze holders and 1 Amp fuses for this build so PM me if anybody is interested in some parts.

[mikelreidd]

I think I got the cheap lure box at BassPro, cut out the dividers and installed a cheap grommet.

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