Sealed battery box?

[MWP]

Finally got through to my engineer...

He said if the Merc/BMW/VE do it with a breather tube battery, then all is good with using one of those.
He said a sealed gelcell would be fine also.

I think im going to make up a alu box anyway.
Now ive thought about it, the battery will be clearly visible in the back of the '28, so spending a bit more/time effort to make it look decent should be worth it.
If i get all the alu cut to size by the shop, itll only take a few hrs to build (angle & poprivet).
That way i can also run any battery i like without problems.

[Esteban]

SLA's can still leak on occasion, so I'm planning on boxing the battery and venting the box anyway. Then there can be no legal issues, and as a bonus, if your expensive SLA does die in the ass, you can replace it with a normal battery for the interim.

That said, I too am having trouble locating suitable battery boxes. I don't want a cheapy snap top lid, and I want it to have smooth lines as it will be in the boot (for the Aristo anyway) Can anyone comment on the sealing properties of these from VPW?

I don't think I can justify the cost of the Moroso Sealed Aluminium Battery boxes, they look nice, but cost way too much :-(

Unless somebody knows where to get them cheaper than VPW?

I also like the look of the Moroso Plastic Sealed Battery boxes, they're pricey but not ricey :-)

[Kyosho]

If' you're going to that trouble of getting a shop to cut it, get them to weld it up too, then polish it right up, and spray it with a 50:50 mixture of clear coat and thinners once polished to a nice shine (Stops it going dull, welds look nicer then pop rivets)

[takai]

I run a SLA in the back of the race car, when it was engineered as a road car they had no issues. But they did double sided tape a plaque to it which said "If this is replaced with a non sealed battery then a box must be used"

[barned01]

how does aluminium cope with battery acid?
mwp you can borrow my welder if you want to do it with the ferrous variety of metals.

curiously if you have a metal battery box, do you have to line the inside to avoid a potential sparking situation with the battery and the box?

[clubagreenie]

You could get the plastic dip stuff and pout it around the inside of the box or line with sheet rubber.

But some tabs welded into the base to clamp it inside the box to stop it moving would be best

Now ive thought about it, the battery will be clearly visible in the back of the '28, so spending a bit more/time effort to make it look decent should be worth it.

Acrylic with pink and blue neons? You know you want to.

[MWP]

I have some strong rubber sheet ill line it with.

Acrylic with pink and blue neons? You know you want to.

Well actually, ive bought one of these for the side of it:
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SZ6002

Ive tested the voltage display, and it is actually accurate, so it may come in handy.

[ed]

reckon 120A wili hold for starting?

[MWP]

We will soon see. Its a cheap crappy chinese made thing.
I pulled it apart, made sure its not going to break down (faulty switch, etc), cleaned it up, etc.
Looks like it will take >120A for quite a while before it heats up enough to switch off.

One of the autospeed articles says they used a similar 70A breaker with no problems for starting.

[takai]

I would use a seperate line for the starter, and use that one for everything else. That way you can put the Alternator through the hard line to the starter, and then have the CAMS breaker on the other line. Ill do up a dodgy MSPaint in a minute.

Dodgy MSPaint ho:

[MWP]

Thats pretty much the plan.
I also got a dual 60A breaker box, and a cutoff switch.

So...

+BATT ---- CUTOFF ----+---- 120A Breaker ----- Starter & Alt
                                       |
                                      +---- 60A Breaker ------- Everything else
                                      +---- 60A Breaker ------- More of everything else

Cutoff and both breaker boxes will be mounted on the side of the battery box.

[LeeRoy]

Looks good mate. I like those circuit breakers, nice and functional and saves you blowing fuses.

Any decisions on a battery box yet? I think maybe the alloy one is the way to go. Especially when it wont be too much more expensive than the plastic box imo.

[MWP]

Oh, im 1/2 way through making one out of Alu atm.
6mm base, 3mm cheq sides, all held together with alu angle and a crap load of rivets.
Its looking good so far, ill put up photos later.

[takai]

120A should be enough for cranking. Its what i use, and unless im cranking for 30s+ its fine.

[psychofox]

As has been said, 120A is going to be ok for starting, you just need to be careful about the characteristic curve on the circuit breaker - some are quite "touchy" and will trip at high currents very quickly. Although I dare say for automotive use it will probably be designed to ride through that for a couple of seconds.