Hi Shasta, I have to second Ray and say that I'm impressed with the description of the battery boxes you've been making. I've always been dismayed by wooden battery boxes as well, but I have installed a lot of them, both because of the ease of getting materials and because they do seem to hold up fairly well over time.
I'd like to make a move away from them though, and I'm intrigued by your take on construction. Are you using Stainless angle and u-channel for holding plastic panels together? How do you make the box rigid enough with only 1/4 thickness plastic sheets? I guess maybe the rigidity is coming from the angle and u-channels? What is the non-corrosive/conductive coating that you are using for metal pans (made of mild steel, I assume). Just curious. -Luke Luke Christy NABCEP Certified PV Installer™: Certification #031409-25 (Luke Christy) NABCEP Certified Solar Thermal Installer™: Certification #ST032611-03 CoSEIA Certified PV Installer (Luke Christy) Solar Gain Services, LLC Monte Vista, CO. sgsrenewab...@gmail.com On Jan 29, 2016, at 10:08 AM, Shasta Daiku <mjmornings...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have always been dismayed with wooden battery boxes used in professionally > installed power systems. It seems vey DIYer/HomePoweresque. Where else is > wood used in electrical installations? I have on occasion built some BB > plywood core boxes, sheetmetal outer skin/ FRP inner skin/ raw edges and > corners banded with SS angle/ rubber gaskets with lots of latches. > > I build boxes that are made of either plastic or metal depending on the > environment and usage they’ll see. Plastic, that is HDPE or acrylics, I order > online cut to size, or from a glass shop. 1/4” thickness. Metal, heavy gauge > sheetmetal, I have cut by fabricators, and then coated with > non-corrosive/conductive coatings by a cabinet shop. > > Here are some general guidelines > > -With either material, I keep the panels sized small. Less than 2’ x 2’ is > nice, both for shipping and handling. > > -Panels can be attached to each other using H and U channel, and angle stock > (which also gives rigidity). Lids are usually sectional rather than a heavy > single lid. Sometimes, on plastic lids I rout rabbets on the connecting > seams so that the there is a half lap joint. > > -Plastic can be drilled and tapped. I generally avoid using adhesives because > they are toxic as Hell and pieces want to slide out of alignment. > > -When batteries sit on metal racks, I enclose the racks with acrylic sheets > using rare earth magnets. Magnets are attached to the acrylic with epoxy or > the > magnet will have a counter sunk hole and machine screws can be used. > > -I seldom build a box with a back wall. Instead, I apply a sheet of FRP > (fiberglass reinforced plastic) to the wall that the box sits against, smooth > side out. > Side panels butt against, and are attached to the wall using U channel or > angle stock. This accommodates a wall that may not be flat or a > wall/floor intersection that isn’t square. Corners, That is sides to front > pieces are made with angle stock. They knock apart by using wing nuts or > magnets. That way the front of the box can be removed for > placement/replacement. > > -I stopped using hinges for lids along time ago, when I started making lids > that were sectional. Lately I run a length of U channel against the back > wall, the > length of the box. The width of the channel is wider than the thickness of > the sheet, so that the sheet will slide in easily. The lid section is removed > rather > hinged up. You know the saying “Don’t let the lid hit you in the head!" > > -Over the years I have tried a lot of coatings in my metal boxes. All have > held up well, but I have found that engine compartment type undercoatings to > be > my favorite. > > -If I have a say in the power room/shed design, I will specify a concrete > slab with a shallow basin for the batteries to sit in. The basin has a floor > drain and is epoxy coated. Otherwise I have a sheetmetal tray fabricated and > have it coated. The tray is separate from the enclosure. > > > -In very hard use applications I have the box made by a company that outfits > utility and work trucks with beds and boxes. These are just large custom > “truck boxes” > > -With smaller banks, I have successfully retrofitted both gang boxes and > truck/utility boxes. The simplest setup being adding some cross members to a > $300.00 gang box so that the batteries sat elevated within. That makes a > very nice servicing height! Again interiors are coated. > > Growing up, I had a lot of exposure to both industrial off-grid power systems > (mining, oil/gas, research, telecomm) and Maritime systems and thats > where my sensibilities originated. Lately I have found myself the sole > off-grid specialist in a fairly vast area, and so what Im doing mostly is > replacing battery banks. Lots of battery banks, and lots of rotten, corroded, > nasty toxic boxes! A few weeks ago my helper and I donned Tyvex suits, rubber > gloves, > goggles, and respirators to Demo a box that was in a dilapidated and soon to > be be razed structure. The general contractor and client stood by laughing > and commented that it looked like a scene from Breaking Bad! > _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
