Battery sealing

[Parazine]

Apologies if this has been covered before...

The project Chummy is near completion and is entered for it's first event, the VSCC Hereford trial, as a standard car, class 1a.

   

However, the entry regs. state:

J5.14.1 (WET BATTERIES) If located in the Driver/Passenger compartment, where a Passenger/Co-Driver is present, the battery must be situated behind the base of the Driver or Co-Driver/Passenger seat. Any wet Auxiliary batteries in the passenger compartment (including under the seat), must be enclosed in a securely located leak proof container (in the event of the battery being damaged and the car rolls over, this will stop battery acid leaking onto the occupants.) Fully wrapping the battery in heavy duty plastic is an acceptable leak proof container.

Anyone have any wisdom on this? 

Is the location OK (completely standard, under the passenger seat, in a standard battery box) and how do I seal a wet battery, especially around the leads?

I know I have to put some restraining straps/bars on it to physically locate it....

[leaf200]

In my chummy I have screwed a plate over the area under the seat so the battery is now outside of the passenger compartment. Simple to do and not had any issue on the many trials I have done.

[Reckless Rat]

That sounds like an excellent remedy. You could belt & braces it by going round the edges and the exposed battery cables (if there are any) with a mastic gun.

[Steve Jones]

The screwed down plate under the seat separating the battery box from the cab area as David describes is the way most solve this problem. If you want belt and braces then stick some close cell draught excluder strip to the underside edges of the plate. In the longer term, though, unsealed lead/acid batteries don't have a real place in cars used for motor sport. Sealed and/or gel batteries are much safer. Even if spilled batttery acid is confined to the battery box area and doesn't reach the car's occupants, it's still got the potential to make a hell of a mess of your car.

That photograph looks familiar, Tom

Steve

[Alan]

Just remember making the cover of metal, above the battery terminal is not a really good idea. Mine is aluminium but lined with plywood so the battery cannot contact the metal