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Each of us has developed our own solutions. I like to keep batteries in
a tempered space, to maintain reasonable winter temperatures. Tempered
doesn't mean thermostatic heat, but an insulated space with a trombe
wall that holds 50F or more in winter is sweet. I often put batteries
indoors in the living space and have never had a problem with either a
homeowner or an inspector. We have cultivated a woodworker to build boxes for us. He knows what we want. I like plywood, because it's familiar, attractive, versatile, dimensionally stable, and strong. At my suggestion, our woodworker uses 1/2" "Baltic Birch" plywood from a woodworker's supply or better lumberyard. It has 9 thin plies, so is very stable, and it comes in 60" X 60" sheets, so it fits many battery sets without the waste created by 4' X 8' sheets. It's commonly used to make cabinet drawer carcases. The primary problem is that plywood rots in contact with acid, so the boxes are primered on all the inside surfaces to form an acid barrier, and a liner of 40 mil EPDM rubber, pond liner, or shower pan liner is placed in the bottom and about 7" up the sides with folded corners. Above this level we put inlet ventilation holes, typically 3 1-1/4" holes across the front. The exterior is painted or given a clear finish, or left for the homeowner. The box is caulked and carefully weatherstripped, using RCI neoprene. The lid is sloped, partly to draw vapors up toward the vent but mostly to discourage the owners from storing things on the box and forgetting maintenance. We build the carcase on a 3-1/2" high toe kick, like a kitchen base cabinet, so it's easy to lean over to add water. We use a piano hinge for the hinged top, with a level top rear portion as a surface to drill for the vent stack. If there are kids or grandkids, a lockable hasp is easy to add. With this approach we always include a 12V Power Vent inline in a 2" white PVC vent pipe to the outside. A shower drain hair screen gets trimmed down and used as an insect screen. The Power Vent runs off of a charge controller's auxiliary circuit. I use two concentric hole saws from opposite sides to create a 1/4" thick flange to fit a lock ring around a 1-1/2" or 2" battery conduit, with duct seal around the cables to keep gases out of the electrical equipment. I teach people (and post an instruction sheet inside the box lid) battery care, including where to fill cells to to avoid spillage or splattering. To each his own; this has worked well for us and our customers. Allan . Allan Sindelar Mick Abraham wrote: Hi, Mechanix~ |
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