Friday was only day 2 without Donna, but it seems like she’s been away for a long time. After I posted to the blog, I got busy on the battery project. The first step was to walk out to the trailer and pick out a handfull of tools I would need. Having the trailer in a remote lot is a pain when I want to work on something. After looking over the connections and thinking about how to get the heavy starting batteries out, I dove in.

First, I disconnected the ground cables from the chassis batteries, then the positive cables. I also disconnected the cables from the 6-volt house battery located in front of the starting batteries. The other three house batteries are located on the right side of the battery bay. One house battery and both chassis batteries are on the left. I taped the connectors on the battery cables with duct tape to prevent any possibility of shorting to ground. The batteries are held in place with angle iron and metal straps. I removed the hold downs, then I pulled the 6-volt house battery out from in front of the chassis batteries. These 6-volt deep cycle golf cart batteries are heavy!

Thankfully the big group 31 maintenance free chassis batteries had folding handles on top. This made it much easier to lift and pull the batteries from the compartment. It wasn’t easy though. I was surprised to find these batteries are heavier than the Optima batteries I’m replacing them with. I would guess they weigh at least 70 lbs each. I placed the old batteries in the empty cartons from the Optima batteries so I can transport them to a recycling center.

Old battery out, ready for recycling

Once I had the old batteries out, our friend Bob Schmitt came over to offer assistance. I appreciated the offer, but it really is a one-man job. There isn’t enough room to get two sets of hands in the battery bay.

Next I placed the 60 lb Optima batteries in back of the compartment. I took several breaks as I worked. The heavy lifting and muscling of the batteries had me sweating and huffing and puffing. At one point, Gayle (Life’s Little Adventures) stopped by to chat briefly. It was a welcome break from the work.

First battery in place

Although the Optima batteries I used are classified as group 31 batteries, they are slightly smaller than the group 31 batteries I took out. This is due to the spiral wound plate construction. Each cell is cylindrically shaped. The six cells are arranged three to a side with an offset. These batteries are leak free and can be installed in any orientation. I have them upright as they fit just fine that way.

Second battery muscled into place

Connecting the batteries with the stiff 2/0 copper cables came next. I connected the positive cables first with the ground connectors still insulated with duct tape. I did this to prevent any accidental grounding of a positive lug. If the ground cables were attached first and my wrench inadvertently touched the metal frame while in contact with the positive lead, it would create a dangerous short to ground. Sparks would fly and the wrench could get very hot!

Cables connected

With everything connected and the hold downs tightened, it was job done! The whole operation took about two hours – I took many short breaks while doing the work. The battery bay looks awful in the photos. The bay is exposed on the bottom by necessity. Batteries can create hydrogen gas when they are charging. The battery bay must be well ventilated to prevent explosive hydrogen gas build up. A result of this open bottom of the bay is dust collects in the bay. I’ve cleaned it a few times and used a baking soda solution to neutralize acid build up from the flooded wet cell 6-volt house batteries. I need to repaint the trays and hold downs. That will be a project for another day.

In anticipation of the possibility of sulfuric acid getting on my clothes, I wore an old pair of jeans. I’ve had them stashed away for a job like this. When I was done, I put the jeans in the trash. When sulfuric acid gets on fabric, you often can’t tell right away. When you wash the clothes, the sulfuric acid causes the fabric to disintegrate.

After cleaning up an putting my tools away, I rewarded myself with a trip to the beach. I had a rolled taco plate for lunch on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach. It was relaxing to sit in the sun, feel the ocean breeze and people watch.

I came home at 3:30pm, parked the scooter and walked out on the Rose Creek Trail. I walked a little over a mile to the Enterprise Rental Car agency on the corner of Garnet and East Mission Bay Drive. I picked up a Ford Focus there. Donna had reserved the car so I can pick her up in Los Angeles tomorrow. Enterprise has three-day weekend specials for $9.99/day. It was cheaper to get the three-day deal than to rent a car for Sunday only.

Today I’ll kick back and watch the Detroit Red Wings play game two of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Tampa Bay. Detroit is in the playoffs for the 24th consecutive year! I’ll follow that with the Formula One qualifying from Bahrain. We have more beach weather today, but I think I’ll just be a couch potato.

Tomorrow morning I’ll drive back to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles and pick Donna up. We’ll come home via I-10 to I-405 so we can drop off Ingrid, our friend from Holland at the L. A. airport (LAX).