WARNING: WB house battery trays can slide out!!!!

[taoshum]

The battery tray is a Kwikee product and of all of the forums I have actively participated in for the last five years, yours is the first report I have ever heard of with this problem.  This is not to diminish the severity of the issue - having a couple of hundred pounds of lead and electrolyte come flying out would not make me a happy camper.

Mine seems well designed and happily staying in place.  Sorry you had a bad experience.

It's possible that this is another, less significant for sure, "Black Swan".  An unlikely event at the extreme tail end of the distribution curve but like all "Black Swans", it has significant consequences.  The most famous "Black Swan" in recent times  appeared on March 9, 2009 at the NYSE.  The one before that took out Lehman Bros.  The fact that it is statistically unlikely (in hindsight) and does not show up in existing models does not necessarily mean that it should be ignored.

The only counter strategy to a "Black Swan" is robust countermeasures.  Belts and Suspenders and, maybe, a bungee...LOL.  If I were you or anyone else with a Kwikee, I'd install a double latch retainer on both trays.

Your choice though.

 

[RedT]

My reaction to "Black Swans" is preventative maintenance and inspection. At the end of a 1,000 mile trip home from picking up my Meridian in 2003, the power compartment door swung open, giving me a bit of a sweat, since I was in the middle lane on a busy three-lane surface street. Once home, I determined that the latch plate needed a shim in order to latch properly, and installed same. Now, nearly 7 years and 66K miles later, it continues to operate as designed.

I could have re-engineered it or submitted quality reports, but fixin' it seemed to be the way to go.

 

[taoshum]

My reaction to "Black Swans" is preventative maintenance and inspection. At the end of a 1,000 mile trip home from picking up my Meridian in 2003, the power compartment door swung open, giving me a bit of a sweat, since I was in the middle lane on a busy three-lane surface street. Once home, I determined that the latch plate needed a shim in order to latch properly, and installed same. Now, nearly 7 years and 66K miles later, it continues to operate as designed.

I could have re-engineered it or submitted quality reports, but fixin' it seemed to be the way to go.

I'm definitely fixin' it!  It's ironic, in a way, that a few weeks B4 this incident, I did a thorough inspection and maintenance.  I cleaned everything and put some corrosion inhibitor/lub on the tray.  Now I think, I'll put a small c-clamp in place to make sure the slide doesn't move, in or out... completely independent of the Kwikee latch.

 

[enjoylife]

Just a note in passing last winter I installed two battery boxes , each one holds 4 golf cart size batteries. Each battery box was made from stainless steel and mounted on accuride drawer slides . In my case  each pair of slides will carry 500 lbs and each slide has a yellow locking tab enabling it to be locked in and locked out if required.The slide are available from www.drawerslides.com. There is also a compartment door that triple insures nothing is going to move. This  is kind of a major modification but the info might help.

 

[taoshum]

Especially for John but anyone who's interested... some photos

John, I just took some photos.  The photos showed me details that I could not see with my unaided eyesight.  The story just became more and more curious.  These photos look very similar to your photos which makes the "Black Swan" aspect even more likely.  The springs are there, the metallic pieces look "ok" and functional and there is no obvious reason for the incidents...

first photo is an overall picture, shows the cable ties installed, "battery tray.jpg"
second photo is the top tray(the one with 4 GC2 batteries) closeup of the spring, "battery tray (1).jpg"
third photo is the top tray, forward spring and pivot, "battery tray (2).jpg"
fourth photo is the brand, "....(3).jpg"
fifth photo is the bottom tray (2 Gp 31 engine batteries)... no spring but this tray did not slide out, ...(4).jpg"
sixth photo is the top tray with the latch arm raised, showing the condition of the metal surfaces and parts, "...(5).jpg"
seventh photo is the top tray, latch in the release position, side view, "...(6).jpg"
eighth photo is the top tray, latch in the release position, view of other side, "...(7).jpg"
nineth photo is the top tray with a C-Clamp installed, very tight. "...().jpg".

for the record, I guess.

 

[maddog348]

??  BlackSwan ??

 

[taoshum]

??  BlackSwan ??

I don't know the "official" definition but it's something like--- an unexpected event with high consequences.  There are very, very few "Black Swans"... most people have never seen one; and it's so unusual that no one believes it can happen but when it does it changes the whole scheme of things, like the recent economic situation.  This battery thing is, maybe, a very small one but fits the definition since no one believed it could happen, including me... but it did. 

Thx.

 

[maddog348]

ThankYou    ~~~  K.