couple of battery in trunk questions

[FORD FAN]

Are you guys using a vented battery box? Is it needed,If so what kind?
Also, I realize bringing the neg. cable all the way up to the engine is optimal,but is there any problem gounding it to the frame and running a seperate cable from the engine to the front frame? What gauge cable you using?

Thanks in advance,
Don

[Fat Hack]

The vented box is a good idea...batteries give off explosive gasses as they age and charge/discharge...newer ones are a little better, and sealed gel types might be pretty safe, but venting is still worthwhile.

Summit and Jegs sell vented boxes cheap.

I had a trunkmount battery in an old Mustang and it was just secured to the trunk floor with no box, but I ran a vent tube through the trunk area that exited below the tail light panel.

The ground cable really depends on your engine. My car had a stock 351-W, so one thick positive cable running up to the relay, and a ground cable bolted to the trunk floor (unibody car) worked fine. For a high compression engine, I'd run a second heavy ground wire right to the engine block as close to the starter as possible.

[bustingear]

Welding cable from Starter Solenoid to pos battery in trunk. Ground from battery to frame in the rear. Working fine. I use a fusible link.

[Toqwik]

I used a boat battery box from wal mart 6 bucks, ran O guage from neg to floor, then another short piece from the floor to the frame, then gronded engine to frame. Had starting problems without the engine being grounded properly.Toqwik

[warbird]

I'm running an Optima battery in the trunk of my roadster, no box around it yet. I'll take care of that when I finish the trunk off this winter.

I had a local automotive electrical rebuilder make up a custom length positive cable. Then ran a ground strap from the battery to the frame in the trunk and another short ground strap from the frame to one of the starter mounting bolts. Has worked well so far.

[36-3window]

if it is all possible , i'd recogmend running the ground cable all the way to the block.. then run a grounding strap from there to the frame , and a ground wire from the block to the body. i know it sounds like overkill...but it will be worth the effort...your starter will perform better, and you will have less problems when everything is grounded properly.

that's how i do it , but i know a lot of guys gound from the battery directly to the frame and then to to block without problems. running the ground cable to the block gives you less connections to corrode and less resistance,which means more power

i like to use #2 cable when going dierct to the block. the cable will cost you about $1.25 a foot...the ends are about 75 cents....you can crimp them or solder with rosin core solder...or both like i do.. then use some heat shrink tubing to protect the connection


if you are gonna ground to the frame , i'd use #1

[tredboy]

man, you guys are gonna really rag on me for this confession, but here goes. i am here to say that yes, batteries do put off gases, but an explosion is not at all a factor worth considering here, just the smell of off gasing coming inside the car. i had one of those hydraulics hopping cars when i was younger, i had fourteen bus batteries in the trunk of a lincoln coupe, you read that right, fourteen! i never had a single issue with that set up. once in a great while you would smell a faint odor (the gases from the batteries) but if you're only running one battery, you'll probably never even notice (smells). but those new gel cel batteries are smaller, lighter, and longer lasting, and in most cases more cold cranking amps. they are well worth the investment.
as for grounding, i've always been taught the shortest possible ground is the best, but keep it simple, ground the battery directly to the frame, not to the floor first. i can forsee any problems in doing so.

tred.

[tredboy]

[ QUOTE ]
i can forsee any problems in doing so.



[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, duh. that is supposed to say 'can not' see any problems... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif


sorry.
tred.

[Fat Hack]

Ha Ha...hey, Tred...I'm here to tell ya that a battery can explode like a BOMB...

...Just lucky for me that I turned around and bent over about a second before it went off!

(Blew one up when I was 18...acid and plastic shrapnel everywhere!)

[tredboy]

not to hijack the post, but here's what 84 volts to each front wheel gets ya...


hey, don't knock it, i was just a kid...





later.

[tredboy]

hack, what the hell went wrong?

[Fat Hack]

Strong Dude! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Fat Hack]

[ QUOTE ]
hack, what the hell went wrong?

[/ QUOTE ]

I dunno...one little spark is all it takes though!