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Old 12-01-2022, 09:27 PM   #1
Djerin234
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Default 197BH 2nd battery

I have a 2021 197bh and a second battery doesn’t fit on tray. Any ideas where to put a second battery.
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Old 12-01-2022, 10:26 PM   #2
NavyLCDR
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Maybe get some aluminum "diamond deck" to mount on top of the a-frame (tongue), and mount a dual battery box on it, instead of trying to fit two batteries into the tray built into the a-frame?
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Old 12-01-2022, 10:38 PM   #3
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Default Battery

Tried that. The front of trailer rounds out right at that point and can’t fit battery there
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Old 12-01-2022, 10:45 PM   #4
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Upgrade to a Lithium Ion and put it wherever you want to put it!
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Old 12-15-2022, 04:33 PM   #5
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I have the same year and model trailer and know exactly what you're going through. I ended up going lithium and putting it under the sink. I also tucked an inverter and DC2DC charge controller under the sink too. Given the round at the front of the trailer, there's not much room on the tongue for anything.
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Old 12-15-2022, 08:40 PM   #6
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Under the kitchen sink? Or bathroom?
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Old 12-15-2022, 09:09 PM   #7
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Sorry, I should have been clearer, under the kitchen sink. If you pull out the two drawers, there's a space on the floor behind them between the back of the drawers and the wall. I then put the inverter right under the two drawers, screwed to the floor.

I also took the battery wires from where the external battery was and pulled them back inside the trailer, shortened them, and attached them to the lithium battery inside.

A photo should now be attached if I did this right.

You won't get the full benefits of the lithium (e.g. the lithium won't charge 100%) with the factory charger, so eventually I swapped that out for one that would charge lithium batteries 100% (but it worked just fine with the factory charger for a while).
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Old 12-15-2022, 09:36 PM   #8
Djerin234
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What size lithium did you put in there. 200ah? Did you wire the inverter to use all the plugs in the camper?
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Old 12-15-2022, 09:40 PM   #9
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Yup, 200AH and it's great. The inverter is 2000W and runs all the receptacles (plugs), but not wired into the AC, water heater, microwave, etc. The charger swap from the factory one was super easy too.

To get the battery in behind the drawers, i did remove the panel with the carbon monoxide / gas detector mounted in it. You can either reinstall that panel when you're done or relocate the detector and put a a door or something to cover the hole. There's a lot of unused space behind that panel, my wife calls it my RV garage, as that's where a lot of tools, spare fuses, etc now live.
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Old 12-15-2022, 10:58 PM   #10
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Amazing how much space is wasted in this camper. Under the storage shelf for the Murphy bed is a big empty space. I want to find a small Exterior door so I can store my fishing poles in there. Also they covered a section inside cupboard above table where the radio wires hide. I pulled that panel inside, took off staples, added Velcro and a finger hole to pull it off. That’s where my fuses and electric stuff hides. I also want to take that front panel board under couch off and make it a door so I can have better access to that storage. Thanks for the ideas and for the pic. I will definitely look into this.
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