# Running battery exposed okay, or need box?



## Shallows (Mar 29, 2020)

Is it generally okay to run a battery open to the elements if you use rubber terminal boots? 

Just wasn't sure if this was frowned up as have read the reason for using a battery box is in case they explode, but is that common?!


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

A plastic box is not going to hold up to a battery explosion. If the batter only ruptures it will leak out the holes in the bottom.

Just make sure it is securely fastened and the terminal covers are very secure. All of the covers I have seen just flop in place and would not be acceptable to me. Tape them down.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

A battery box is something very much worth having if your battery isn't in a closed compartment with a lid... You don't want anything bad to happen to either your battery or it's terminals - that's the main reason for that relatively light battery box. Yes, it needs to be properly secured (both box and lid) and you'll soon figure out that you want that battery somewhere it can be easily gotten to for maintenance purposes... Rubber terminal boots aren't much protection for your terminals or cable ends.. They're better than nothing - but I'll have a box every time.... 

I have three batts on my old 17' Maverick skiff -but only one is in a battery box and then only because it's exposed on deck, just under the rear platform (my old skiff doesn't have built-ins under the rear deck so coolers of one size or other slide under it where that battery is..). Batts for the trolling motor are in the bow hatch and aren't in boxes at all (they have a "table" on top of them instead (but that's another story entirely...).


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## Frank Ucci (Jan 20, 2019)

I've never been comfortable with an exposed battery on a boat. My biggest concern is acid leaks from the caps or from a ruptured case. That acid is nasty. It will burn your skin and destroy any metal that it comes in contact with. If it leaks into your bilge, you'll have no idea what has been damaged. I think a sturdy plastic battery case costs less than $10.


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## Shallows (Mar 29, 2020)

Frank Ucci said:


> I've never been comfortable with an exposed battery on a boat. My biggest concern is acid leaks from the caps or from a ruptured case. That acid is nasty. It will burn your skin and destroy any metal that it comes in contact with. If it leaks into your bilge, you'll have no idea what has been damaged. I think a sturdy plastic battery case costs less than $10.


I actually bought a battery box, but I will have to drill holes through the bottom of it and my floor to mount; whereas with the battery trays they have little tabs outside of the battery tray area for screws - which I was thinking I could glue a weld-on stud and run up through those tabs if that makes sense. So was basically trying to avoid drilling new holes as my floor is foam filled, but I am going back and forth on this - a box would be nice to have.

Down the road I think I will just build a box out of fiberglass and permanently glass it in, but got too many projects with this boat going right now.


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## Shallows (Mar 29, 2020)

lemaymiami said:


> A battery box is something very much worth having if your battery isn't in a closed compartment with a lid... You don't want anything bad to happen to either your battery or it's terminals - that's the main reason for that relatively light battery box. Yes, it needs to be properly secured (both box and lid) and you'll soon figure out that you want that battery somewhere it can be easily gotten to for maintenance purposes... Rubber terminal boots aren't much protection for your terminals or cable ends.. They're better than nothing - but I'll have a box every time....


Thanks, agreed, a box is definitely something I would like - its just mounting it with screws that I was concerned about. I saw those epoxy weld-on studs and was thinking that may work great with the tabs that battery trays all have.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

My battery boxes have always been strapped down to nylon cleats with a strap that runs all the way around the box and lid holding it all place... The only trouble I ever had was finding decent quality for all the various parts... It would be a simple matter to glass a set of cleats onto your floor to serve the same purpose... then simply set up a bungee cord tie down for the lid of the battery box instead...


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## Shallows (Mar 29, 2020)

lemaymiami said:


> My battery boxes have always been strapped down to nylon cleats with a strap that runs all the way around the box and lid holding it all place... The only trouble I ever had was finding decent quality for all the various parts... It would be a simple matter to glass a set of cleats onto your floor to serve the same purpose... then simply set up a bungee cord tie down for the lid of the battery box instead...


Thanks, okay - so you never actually screwed the box down, just the cleats right? So the box was free to move based on the strap tension correct?

If that is the case I may actually just screw the cleats down as I have some stainless ones I think I can seal good with 4200; I was more concerned about putting screws through the box itself as it would be so hard to seal underneath it if that makes sense.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Two kinds of cleats... if you have a strap, the cleats you're wanting are brackets that are screwed into the deck then the strap runs under them before being secured around the box and you'll only need two of them... Battery box straps usually comes with matching nylon cleats.

The other kind of cleats are made from wood or a synthetic, like starboard. They're usually three to four inches long about one inch or 3/4" square and are actually simple brackets screwed down into the deck so that the battery box sits inside them (here we're talking four brackets one for each side of the box that are set up so that the box can't move at all (unless you lift it out of the brackets (my batteries in the bow compartment sit in brackets or cleats.... and they don't move at all in the roughest seas...). No strap needed at all with this kind of setup (but you will need a bungee cord to keep the lid on the box or it won't stay in place... ).

Hope this helps "aren't boats fun?".


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