Hi,after many years of camping under canvass I finally went & bought a 2008 Abbey Safari caravan.
The question... I went & put a battery in it the other day & there doesnt seem to be anything to clamp the battery down. It looks like there may be a hole in the front vertical face of the compartment for some sort of fixing but theres nothing actually there. Can anyone offer some advice as to whether I'm a bit missing or weather you dont actually have to clamp the battery in.
Many thanks
Caravan batteries are usually held in with a strap.
On mine this strap was missing so I drilled 4 holes in the back battery box and mounted 2 metal plates front and back through the rear wall. I sealed these with mastic to stop any air leaks through these holes.
A strap went through the mounting plates inside the battery box and around the battery with the buckle to the front so that the strap could be undone to remove the battery.
Thanks guys. My battery (Halfords Leisure battery) hasnt got any lips on the bottom but I'm thinking along the lines of either a small st/st piece of metal with a 10mm 90deg return fold shaped piece of metal (The return will take up any tolerances in the battery depth & the side of the battery enclosure) or a longer st/st strip which will fold over the top of the battery & if I slot the fixing hole I would have tolerance for different battery heights..
My last van had a step in battery box which battery sat on, the vertical wall of this step was drilled and tapped for 6mm bolt tapped insert .
There was a lenght 100mm by 15x22 x2 mm angle drilled in 22mm side for 6mm bolt, above bolt hole was a piece of nat rubber sponge bonded to angle which compressed when angle was screwed up against battery.
On front and back wall of battery box where two vertical strips of sponge to cushion battery if slid fore or aft but never saw any evidence of this when clamped with angle plate and sponge, round headed bolt with screw driver slot.
drop down door also had two strips of sponge which compressed against battery when closed beside the usual door seals
i put some white packing foam around mine as well to stop it moving about.. a cheap and easy fix.. just wedge it in front back and top.. not too tight but tight enough..
my battery stays on the van though i dont plan on taking it out often..
However you fix your battery, remember to make sure that any holes you make in the box must be sealed. This to prevent any vapour's escaping from the battery to get inside the living area.
Current state of play is that I've made a bracket to lip onto the top of the battery but still struggling to find out what size the screw should be to fix it in place. I thought it was an M6 but although that seems to fit the hole it doesnt screw into whatever is in the hole itself
Hi, i have Sterling Elite of the same year what your missing is a small bracket with a hole in it, i think its an M6, the screw fixing should be long enough to reach the thread in side approx 25mm, i'll have to check mine.
i have had several swift caravans over the years and they have all had these missing, for some reason they get taken off and lost, i don't think you can buy them, i made one on my last caravan.
------------- A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.
Thanks fella. Pretty sure I tried a M6 in there over the weekend....seemed to just push into the hole (which was virtually the same size as the bolt. either that or there isnt anything to screw into. I've made the bracket which in theory will work & I've decided the best thing I can do is get a rivnut tool & insert my own thread into the hole to make things simple.