Battery Containment

[Yojimbo]

Doing some legwork for a friend- if this is in the wrong forum please have the mods relocate.

My friend is replacing his dedicated winch battery. He purchased the new battery of the same class/size- not certain of the correct term- but same amp hours/voltage. His old battery was located on a shelf below the sole in the salon. The shelf is glassed into a bulkhead and the other 3 sides of about 3" deep and glassed in as well. We are assuming it is cored ply.

The new battery is about 3/4" wider and does not fit into the original shelf containment so a solution to rebuild the shelf is needed. My initial idea is to cut out the side of the old containment shelf and simply bend up a bracket of Stainless Steel that would be about 24" long with to 90 degree bends about 3-4" deep and secure it the the original shelf sides with a few wood screws. I'm confident it could be built strong enough to hold the battery in place and snug enough to prevent movement.

What I don't know is whether I have to account for potential leakage. The original shelf is 3" deep- replacing the front side of it as described the new shelf would not be leak proof- the bracket would hold the battery in place but not contain any leakage- new battery is a gell not liquid.

Objective is to keep it as simple as possible and avoid a lot of fiberglass work if that's possible.

Any thoughts or ideas appreciated.

[smac999]

Return the battery and buy the right one.

Battery group sizes are all the same size between brands and types. . So you did not buy the same group size as the old one.

[Yojimbo]

One would expect that. Unfortunately different sources will manufacture to different tolerances apparently. The difference is about 1/2" width- 0 difference in length. Possible discrepancy is from application- forklift/equipment compared to marine application. A containment solution for the replacement battery has been determined. Thank you for your input.