Battery Box

[1stgenbird]

This may sound like a dumb question, but I need to know how battery boxes are used.

I found a plastic battery box about 30 years ago and put it in my garage since I never had a boat that used a battery until now. It has the top, bottom, and a strap. My recently acquired boat just has the battery sitting on the deck next to the engine. Under the battery are a couple of strips screwed to the deck which I believe the battery box strap runs under the strips then up and around the box containing the battery. The cover of the battery box fits on securely and there are no holes or cutouts for the cables.
It would seem that I have to create the holes for the battery cables to run through by either drilling or punching them out. Is that correct?

It just seems odd to me that a battery box wouldn't have cable access holes already there or at least areas marked where the holes would go.

 

[Don S]

Re: Battery Box

Post a picture of your 30 year old battery box, it may be nothing like todays boxes.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Battery Box

Battery box covers typically have protrusions that serve as a handle when the straps are applied but not passed under the retainers on the floor. The cables pass into the box through those areas, or there are separate areas where cables enter between the cover and the top of the box. I've never seen a battery box that has actual holes in it for the cables.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Battery Box

Battery box covers typically have protrusions that serve as a handle when the straps are applied but not passed under the retainers on the floor. The cables pass into the box through those areas, or there are separate areas where cables enter between the cover and the top of the box. I've never seen a battery box that has actual holes in it for the cables.

If it doesn't allow gasses to escape it is not a battery box to be used for anything other than possibly disconnected storage such as on a shelf in a garage. You can easily modify it to make it work, just make a couple of holes for the cables to fit through and leave them open (don't try to seal them up). A battery isn't going to get hurt by water getting on it, the box is designed more around keeping the battery in one place and keeping metal objects from falling across the terminals, etc..