Battery ventilation

[Wooden Rivet]

I can't find much posted about battery ventilation, and am becoming concerned because the battery is located directly under the head of my bed in my '71 Tradewind LY. As far as I can tell, there is no ventilation at all. There is a black plastic device located curbside above the battery access door. Does anyone know what purpose this device serves? I have become concerned because I am trying to recover from years of smoking, and am pretty sure that breathing battery fumes is not very helpful. As always any ideas and help greatly appreciated.
Tom

[PLDodd]

If you can can find on that fits, Get a battery with a vent tube that can be routed outside. Cars that have a battery in the trunk have this. I do not know if you can get a deep cycle battery like this though. Good luck, PD

[azflycaster]

The best way to prevent the gases from occurring is to replace the Univolt with a modern 3 stage converter and to replace the battery with an AGM. It's a costly solution, but worth the money, IMO.

I have done both to my TW and I am very satisfied with the results.

[markdoane]

Here's some previous info.

[mello mike]

Here's my battery compartment. It's in one of my bathroom closets. A Previous Owner built the compartment and made a vent to the outside. The battery box you see here is simply a plastic tote modified for use as a battery box. A cheap and effective solution.

I have two 6v golf cart batteries providing power to my Airstream. Great batteries made by Johnson Labs and are only 75 bucks at Costco. I used to buy the Trojan T105s but they're now close to 130 bucks now, OUCH!

[bryanl]

see Vented Battery Box as an example of a commercial product.

The issue isn't so much a breathing hazard as it is an explosive and corrosion hazard.

Code 'requires' a proper box with ventilation, AGM or no, but many (myself included) have tended to ignore it with SLA batteries of which the AGM is the premier example. As Richard notes, the problem is most likely when charging a bit more than the battery can handle.