What? Another battery holder? Well, yes. The two house batteries I have are doing an excellent job but in order to run the extraction fans decently I do need to add a 3rd battery. I'd decided this months ago and had tried running the fans directly from solar which had worked very well. I wanted more of an inclusive battery system though, hence the addition of the new battery mount.
I started by doing the usual measuring of a standard U1 battery and then added half an inch to the length and width. As this battery will be mounted in the battery compartment with my driving batteries, I decided to do a slightly different mount from that used in my two battery hangers. I couldn't have the tie down sticking out the side - I needed a piece of flat steel on each side just to protect the batteries next to it.
So, I cut the main pieces. This is a fraction longer than the group 31 batteries used for starting the bus but that's no problem - the battery bay is massive. It's possible to see where the U1 battery is going to go!
Having cut the basics of the battery holder, I added the sides and the anchors for the battery tie down. That was all pretty straightforward. It used up most of my 72 inch piece of steel angle.
By the end of the cutting all I had left was a 3 inch piece. I'd used 69 inches of steel angle. Of course, during construction, one of my tie down anchors needed modification so I modified it. Then the modified anchor fell into the leaves and I couldn't find it even with a magnet! There was only one thing to do - cut another. That took a minute or so with the angle grinder (who on earth uses a saw to cut steel). Then several minutes drilling the anchor hole with a 5/16 drill bit in a Harbor Freight mains power drill set on low speed. In order to save the drill bit from burning out, I used low speed and lubricated the drill site with WD40, reapplying WD40 every minute or so.
Eventually, welding time arrived. I started by using 3/32 6011 rods but they were slow going. Then I found my 7014 1/16 rods and went quite a way with those before deciding to try my 5/64 6013 rods. Well, I laid my best bead ever with the 5/64 rods. The only problem was it didn't adhere properly. That steel is anything but clean! I chipped the 6013 off and went back to my 7014 rods and completed the task thus far.
The next stage will be to put an upright close to the far end on which I can attach a sheet of flat steel through which I can mount the battery kill switch that I've been using for the driving batteries. To that upright I will also add a couple of threaded sleeves. That way in order to get it secured tightly to the battery compartment all I have to do is to tighten the bolts against the existing battery retaining strap. This also allows the next set of group 31 batteries to be a slightly different size. Batteries in the same group are only nominally the same size. I found that out with my U1 batteries.
With luck and a fair wind I should be able to complete this tomorrow!
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