Battery position / location

[AdamB]

Hello again, I have another question for you experienced egg campers. I have a 13' Burro. It currently does not have a battery system and I wish to install one. My question is where should it go? I have looked up old plans for the Burro and have found that it originally may have been under the farthest rear seat. However, I hear a lot of talk about it being moved to the tongue of the trailer. I have 2 20lb tanks on the front and am not sure if this will weight it down to much. My other concern is if I find one battery is not enough and need two. Any suggestions or coments would be appreciated.

Thanks Guys !!
Adam

[Doug Mager]

Adam, even if you put the battery in a front cubby hole you WILL be adding extra weight to the tongue, so in the interest of health/safety, I'd suggest an outdoor mount in a plastic case designed for that purpose. Leave the cubbyholes free for other necessities!!!. If you decide on an inside placement, I might suggest something like an 'Optima' battery. They are sealed and gelled so that they may be used in any position, which MAY help you decide WHERE to place the power supply. The two 20 lb'ers on the tongue?? Do you really need that much propane? You can really reduce your tongue weight by downsizing these tanks or even going to one small one if you only plan to use the gas for emergency heating/cooking usages. (....just FYI)

[AdamB]

The two 20 lb'ers on the tongue?? Do you really need that much propane? You can really reduce your tongue weight by downsizing these tanks or even going to one small one if you only plan to use the gas for emergency heating/cooking usages. (....just FYI)

I am new to camping in an Egg, so I am not sure what my consumption will be. The propane will be used mostly for the Fridge and heater/furnace when reguired. I plan on putting a quick disconenct outside the trailer to plug a portable bbq in. There may be times when I would be using the trailer with no hook ups for 4-5 days. That's how it came and I just assumed that's what I needed. Any idea of average consumption?

[Booker B.]

Just to clarify what Doug mentioned - batteries outgas while charging unless they are sealed which is why he is recommending them if you do an interior install.

We have a single tank on our current trailer and a single battery. We did a 10 day dry campout (no hookups) this summer. I run both my exterior cookstove and a Weber Q bbq off the propane tank as well as the interior stove and fridge. I found that cooking for 5-8 people emptied the tank in around 5 days - we did a lot of BBQ's which suck back the propane. The fridge itself is fairly frugal. We were chinzy with the 12v lights and the battery handled the 10 days no problem.

So in summary unless you are planning on long dry camps away from propane sources I would stick with 1 tank and 1 battery on a 13' trailer.

[lizandjola]

Hi, we just bought a 1974 Trillium (13') and love her. The propane tank is held on my bungee cords and the battery is in a large, oddly shaped container on the tongue as well. Would anyone be willing to show or tell me how these two can be placed outside in a safer, more correct position?
-Liz & Jola

[Booker B.]

With a single battery and propane tank you can either put them side by side or in front of each other (with the propane tank generally in the back). We had our battery installed in front because our tank had a solid mounting. Here's the links to some pics:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...c=30146&hl=

[Doug Mager]

Hi, we just bought a 1974 Trillium (13') and love her. The propane tank is held on my bungee cords and the battery is in a large, oddly shaped container on the tongue as well. Would anyone be willing to show or tell me how these two can be placed outside in a safer, more correct position?
-Liz & Jola

WHATEVER YOU DO.....GET RID OF THAT BUNGEE CORDED PROPANE DEVICE!!!

Its just not safe enough secured to the trailer like that...

[Donna D.]

WHATEVER YOU DO.....GET RID OF THAT BUNGEE CORDED PROPANE DEVICE!!!

Its just not safe enough secured to the trailer like that...

No kidding, here's a topic worth reading: Propane Tank hold-down

[james kent]

I put our batterie box on the tongue by welding on a couple of pieces of angle iron to hold it in place and I now use a ratchet strap to hold it even more securely. The propane tank can't move with the straps and screw downs and it makes it less likely to walk off with some passer by. The extra padlock is for our little 10 lb tank and a chain that we use on the coleman stove just to keep it in camp.

[james kent]

[April Wilcox]

We were thinking of adding a "cage" to put the battery and possibley the propane tank inside on the toung... but I can not seem to find any online that are cage style, only tool boxes. Anyone know what I am looking for? Maybe I am not calling it the right name.

If we can't add something like that, how do you secure a battery to the toung? Our propane tank would be in front.

[Glenn Baglo]

Just to stray a little bit, my buddy, where we're camped, has spent a lot of time worrying about somebody stealing the battery, located in a plastic box on the rear bumper of the Escape. I messed around with a cable lock, but gave that up when it became apparent that the cable could just be slipped over the cover.

So, my main question is, is battery theft a problem? And, if it is, what have you done to prevent it?

baglo

[Doug Mager]

IMHO:
IF you are concerned about battery theft, you'd better be worried also about propane tank theft as well. The BEST locks/security devices are only meant to keep out the HONEST thieves.
CAN'T go through life feeling paranoid about EVERYTHING.

[Kevin K]

All locks can be picked. Campers are very honest.

[Benny K]

Howdy, I have my battery and propane tank side by side......battery mounted on a steel tray in a battery case and a steel cable and lock to keep it in place....propane tank was moved over a bit and it also has a steel cable looped thru the tank handle.....tank held in place by two hold downs.....you can see it on my webshots site....Benny

[Gerry]

I am new to camping in an Egg, so I am not sure what my consumption will be. The propane will be used mostly for the Fridge and heater/furnace when reguired. I plan on putting a quick disconenct outside the trailer to plug a portable bbq in. There may be times when I would be using the trailer with no hook ups for 4-5 days. That's how it came and I just assumed that's what I needed. Any idea of average consumption?

As a camp ground host I've had my fridge, running on propane 24/7 and the heater at night going now that it is fall and a 20# has lasted me going on 21 days now so one tank is more then enough.
My Boler also had no battery hook up but I installed one inside for the 1'st year then wanted the room for storage so I placed it on the tounge.
A metel frame to fit the plastic box was welded onto the frame of trailer close to Jack.
I then bent a 1/4 rod, threaded ends go through holes in bottom frame, to go over box to hold in place. (see red in attachment)
The propane sits behind this.
Gerry