After driving through heavy rain, I noticed that my battery box (mounted to the trailer’s tongue) had accumulated some water in the bottom. I noticed this because of small puddles on the garage floor below the box. Looking at the box lid, I see that it's formed with generous gaps, probably to allow gasses generated by the battery to escape. Does anyone have a recommendation, either for sealing the box better against road-splashed rain, or maybe drilling some more drain holes in the bottom?
(Sorry if this question has already been asked and answered. I haven't yet figured out how to effectively search prior posts.)
I drilled a couple drain holes in the bottom of the battery box. Noticed the same accumulation of water, thought it might be from water spray off the (tow vehicle) rear tires.
Yes, that's what I figured. The wind vortex behind the tow vehicle carries the water droplets upward into the gaps under the battery box lid. Rather than trying to seal around the lid, I'll add some drain holes, at the back bottom edge of the box, away from the tow vehicle.
I went ahead and drilled some small drainage holes in the bottom of my battery box. It had none, which surprised me a bit.
I noticed that the box lid is molded with open gaps under two corners — probably for ventilation, since the battery emits hydrogen gas while it is being charged. Also the wiring to the battery runs through one of the gaps. What puzzles me is that the side with gaps, is oriented frontward (toward the tow vehicle) rather than rearward. Wouldn’t the ”gaps forward” orientation tend to allow more water into the battery box when driving through rain? Or maybe it doesn’t make any difference. I wonder if the lid orientation was a conscious choice at the factory, or simply for convenience of running the wiring.
I think having the gaps forward is about the battery box sitting closer to the fiberglass front of the Scamp because the gaps in the lid extend around the corner of the lid (to the front in this factory orientation).
On a side note, when I noticed it the box was almost full of water!