scrap battery box built with minimal tools

t_tberg

100 W
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
204
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I don't have too many posts about my bikes but I figured I should share how I made a simple battery mount in the triangle using some old filing boxes and a terrible light mount that came with the purchase of the 20 watt headlight. I haven't used this 20Ah AODA battery for a while because 5 or 10 Ah of lipo has been sufficient for most of my rides, I'd like to get some more use out of this battery so I'm trying it in the triangle.
I picked this up at my job at a university library, they were to be discarded..IMG_6985-min.jpg
A few measurements of the water bottle mounts on the frame and a few cuts with the dremel left me with these notches for standard m5 screws to rest in.
Most of the weight goes onto the bottom notch. The top two notches provide a little lateral stability as there are two threads side by side on the aluminum light mount which can be seen on the seat tube. The light mount was clearly intended for something else as the light could only be mounted off-center, but it was thrown in with the light anyway, it works great in my application however.IMG_9722-min.jpg
A bent piece of metal that has a hole for a screw on the downtube is epoxied to the bottom of the box, this also provides a little bit of lateral stability..IMG_5111-min.jpg
I plan on building a cover to make the whole thing a little more aesthetically pleasing; as of now I'm using two elastic velcro straps to secure the battery. A 30 mile ride yesterday solidified my confidence in this things stability. I'm a little unsure about how it will hold up in the long term with the lack of lateral support at the very top but so far I haven't had any problems. The weight of the battery (~15lbs) seems to keep it down and packed in tight with the foam on the bottom and sides of the box.
 

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Far from the first L shaped battery tray shown here. But WELL DONE for your use of repurposed scrap to do it.

That battery is still naked though, put something on the sides of it so a tip over end up damaging the pack. I see you did do some chafe prevention on the corner and bottom. Just do the whole pack with something tough to protect all of it.

I like the coroplast box made from for sale signs, but this looks like one of the cases where peel and stick flooring would work well.
 
There are some mail bins where I work that aren't in use. I'll ask my supervisor if I can snag one. They're just like those coroplast signs but might be a little more durable. I think I might use one or two of those to build a box fixed to the bike with a removable side panel. Thanks for the complements dogman, the recycling master himself!
 
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