Battery Compartment Venting

[Korbe & Diana]

Can someone explain the reason for the vent hose that is in my battery compartment that exits to the front? The interior end of the 2" corrugated flexible hose is just resting at the bottom of the compartment and I can't see how gases would find their way to the hose for venting out. Should the interior end of the hose be supported somewhere? Thanx.

[Stan]

The vent hose is suppose to terminate to the top of the battery box lid. When heavy charging occurs, the gases fill the battery box and then are vented out the hose. You might have an aftermarket battery box without the hose/vent adapter.

[Korbe & Diana]

The compartment just has two batteries. Did it originally have an additional box in there?

[Stan]

From the factory, your rig probably had a single battery in a single box with a vent out the top. Someone converted the arrangement to two batteries without a box and left the vent resting on the bottom of the compartment. If the batteries are not in a box and the compartment has openings/gaps in the area you are probably OK. When driving, air will come in the vent and purge the compartment. You might try and get a dual battery box and vent it correctly, otherwise I would put the batteries on a board or other platform so they are not rested directly on the compartment bottom. It is easier to replace a corroded board/platform rather than a corroded compartment bottom.