Battery Pack Enclosures

[momo]

Honestly battery bags on rear brackets very unprofessional, especially duct tape. Custom battery enclosures to fit our rides is what we need. Here is a list put together by Marty of different enclosure companies. Most of the sizes available really do not help us. I tried emailing Polycase and they responded by saying they do not custom
manufacture them. If i were in need of dozens i bet you they could. I thought of building my own using sheets of lexan
glued together. The glue used for lexan is very strong but not sure it would do the job, possibly epoxy would work best.
Don't know if any other company here can custom build for us. Example a box with a measurement of 16" long x 2.5 x 3"
could work great for 3 dewalt packs. Mounted on the upper or down tube of a bike.

http://www.budind.com
http://www.hammondmfg.com
http://www.hoffmanonline.com
http://www.altechcorp.com
http://www.boxenclosures.com
http://www.daviesmolding.com
http://www.okwenclosures.com
http://www.pactecenclosures.com
http://www.polycase.com
http://www.pomonaelectronics.com
http://www.serpac.com
http://www.tekoenclosures.com

 

[D-Man]

Batteryspace has one but it has 24v 9ah nimh already in it. Mounts on the downtube somehow. Maybe you can get the box somewhere without batteries.

 

[Ypedal]

After spending big $$$ on different methods... including Sheet Metal, Lexan/polycarb/macrolon, jerry jugs(gas cans) , tool boxes, side sadle bags, rubbermaids, etc.....

The lexan/polycarb was the best, hard to work with until you figure it out, the special glue would be the best solution but it's very liquidy so unless your cuts and seams are very tight it's a hard fit..

5 minute, 2 part epoxy will hold it nicely and will fill a 1mm gap easily.. if you absolutely have to open the boxes.. with a putty knife and a hammer it will break cleanly... the solvent glue might not.

Anyone got a spare vaccum forming machine for sale ?

 

[tomv]

Big electronic part distributors carry huge selections of enclosures. The only hard part is to pick one. Material (plastic, steel, aluminum), size, waterpoof, mounting options, etc. Try newark.com/mouser.com - both have over 5000 options.

My only concern is tradeoff between thermal management vs watertightness. Good cells/low loads might allow you to get away with completely watertight box. For big power I'm thinking to do a sort of double box - interior box is fan cooled and open. That box would be placed inside another box on shock mounts that would have ducts for air circulation but would not allow in any rain.

Another idea I've seen and hope to try eventually is assembling your batteries inside a water bottle. You could fit about 5Ah, 36V pack inside a standard size water bottle. With 10C cells thats plenty if your trips are short (say 5-10 miles). It solves problems with mounting, center of gravity, watert proofing, quick mounting/releasing.

This is only ideas of course. My current packs is held together with duct tape and I hardly ever use it. Any rain would kill it. I dropped it once less than 2 feet and hat to rebuild it. Another big enemy is vibration - it will shake loose solder joints (dead pack), rub through insulation and short out cells (big bang!). I'm still thinking about how to hold cells together. Shrink wrap + molded holders+ shock mounts seems to be the way tool packs are made.

Any good leads on waterproof low resistance connetions. I'm using Anderson powerpoles, but any water on those would most likely cook my pack.

 

[vanilla ice]

If anybody wants a cheap black plastic motor-scooter type rear hard case, I can get those.

 

[Link]

Anyone got a spare vaccum forming machine for sale ?

If you seriously want to try it, I know of a place that tells you how to make simple ones.

http://www.instructables.com should have a few things on vacuum-powered vacuum formers (say that five times fast. it's amusing.). I might try one myself.

I also learned how to make a flail out of a single piece of rope 8).

 

[marty]

Some plastics can be welded by people called Plastic Welders. Look under Plastics in the phone book. Some plastics can also be bent with heat.

Some plastics can be glued. Good place to learn about different plastic glue is a Auto Collision Supply Shop. Newer cars are made from plastic and collision people glue them back together when they break.

Another idea is if you can't find the proper size box? Buy one that is good on 2 dimensions and too large on 3rd dimension. Cut center section out with table saw [2 cuts] and glue or weld box back together. Or if it is too small? Buy 2 plastic boxes the same size, cut center section out of one [2 cuts] and glue or weld extra section into second box that was cut in half. Do my words make sense?

Or send Email to Ping Ebay Duct tape battery guy and tell him to start selling batteries in plastic boxes.

Here is list of plastics I made a while ago for a different plastic project.

Plastics with recycling numbers:
#1 - Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
#2 - High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
#3 - Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC)
#4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
#5 - Polypropylene (PP)
#6 - Polystyrene (PS)
#7 - Other (which commonly includes: Polycarbonate, ABS, Nylon, Acrylic or a composite of 2 or more resins)

More Plastics:
epoxy resins
polyacrylics
polycarbonates
polyethylene
polyolefins
polypropylene
polystyrene
polyurethanes
polyvinyl chloride
vinyl plastics

 

[momo]

Marty , you sure know your plastics.

I was able to get a bionx empty battery container from a dealer. My 19.8volt 9.2ahr lithium pack will fit
inside. I will post pictures tomorrow if i have time. The 2 and 3 dimension project would have been my next
work of art.

 

[momo]

Here are the pictures. A bionx battery enclosure can hold 24 possibly 28 a123 cells made up for 19.8v 9.2ahr.
The front battery hub can only hold 30 a123 for 36v 6.9ahr. The remaining 2.3ahr 36v pack will go inside a bike light water bottle. The total voltage to controller is 52.8volts 16cells in series.

 

[momo]

wavecrest battery hub with new cells.