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Cloudy nights make for DIY projects - Power Station


astroimpulse

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Hey all,

Well, I'm going spare with the amount of cloudy nights since that beautiful night, last year, which inspired me to finally get some decent kit.

I know I'm not alone :(

One of the projects I've been doing is a power station for all of my gear (with room for more).

I opened up the £19 power station from Maplin to see what was going on and wasn't impressed. The amount of gear I'll have rigged up may not be huge but the terribly thin gauge wire in these Maplin jobbies was never going to suffice.

I had a spare flight case so I figured I'd do my own.

The battery from the Maplin's PS is used for the 2 left hand plugs and will be primarily for the dew heaters and Flat panel. The new (and not so cheap) 86AH leisure battery would power the 6 plugs on the right.

One of the 3 plugs on the left is actually a vent as the main battery is sealed but has pressure valves. Better safe than sorry :)

It looks like a lot of wiring (and it is) but it's neat. The fuses had to be accessible so they're on the back wall along with both busbars. If they were near the plugs I'd have to take the batteries out to change a fuse (plugs have to be at the top for me).

Both Live and Neutral, of each circuit, are fused for protection (various amperage) and the mini voltmeters on the top let me quickly check the batteries without opening the box.

Oh, I had to add extra hinges and latches for strength and also a steel plate in the lid so the handle wouldn't rip out as I picked it up. It's heavy :(

A bit boring...I know...but thought I'd share :) Other bits and bobs were done but I could go on forever :(

All in all it cost a small fortune! But I've been buying bits over the months so wasn't too much of a hit. But I'm not adding it up :(

Powered

Small Battery 17 AH

1: Dew heater controller

2: Panel for Flats

Basically stuff I feel may cause interference on the other battery (founded or not ;) )

Large Battery 86 AH

1: Mount

2: Camera (450D)

3: Netbook

4: USB Hub

5: Inevitable, unforeseen item

6: Inevitable, unforeseen item

Thanks for reading this far ;) Maybe one day I'll post an image of the actual stars :(

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Thanks Doc :)

It's probably overkill for many but it's rocking for my usage needs ;)

If I was a star party I could comfortably power a heater for when I get my head down at the end of the session.

Those new generation Lucas batteries are good for 500 cycles too :(

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:)

I actually got the ones you see off the bay too. They're kinda tongue in cheek.

I bottled the radio active one because I saw myself being pulled over by the plod (on my way to a dark site). Them asking what I had in the boot...and the first thing they see is a radio active sticker.

Terrorist paranoia overload lol

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I'd be interested in doing one of these with a Bosch S5 100Ah battery in, although I'd be tempted to make lock in connectors rather than ciggy lighter connectors - for example, the waterproof connectors here (they even do waterproof USB connectors :)):

Onboard Electronics Ltd UK - Terminal blocks, Waterproof Connectors, Enclosures, Connectors, Cable Assemblies

Additionally they do 12V, 50Ah deep cycle batteries: http://www.onboard-electronics.ltd.uk/products/cac/techdocs/wp50-12ne.pdf

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That looks fantastic Sy...a real proper job!

Have you thought about maybe getting a 12>5vdc converter for powering a USB hub inside? and maybe your laptop inverter? would they fit under the lid?

a quality item to be proud of

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Wow! Nice work! I'm just finishing off my 12V power + USB hub (no battery involved), using Neutrik locking connectors - after seeing your lovely wiring, I think I'm going to have to go back and tidy up mine!

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Cheers guys :)

Just better than the off the shelf ones would do me :(

MG1: Yeh, I was going to build them in but they fit snugly in my netbook case as is (and look nice lol). It's an all in one unit (the netbook case) with the 5v psu and the 19v for the netbook ;) All hidden wires etc.

You can't see the netbook psu in this image but it's there now. :(

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Cheers Billy :)

I hope so. The only weak link is the actual box itself. These affordable case, we all buy, aren't actually aluminium. They're mdf covered in a thin dimpled foil. Most of the manufacturer's rivets are just squeezing in the soft mdf.

So I'll likely have to re-rivet with washers to be safe as it's heavy. The extra hinges and latches along with the big steal plate in the wonky handle (manufactured wonky ;) ) should be fine for now though :(

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Cheers Billy :)

I hope so. The only weak link is the actual box itself. These affordable case, we all buy, aren't actually aluminium. They're mdf covered in a thin dimpled foil. Most of the manufacturer's rivets are just squeezing in the soft mdf.

However you're looking at £200+ for a full on Alu case:

Aluminium Case Company Ltd.

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Yeh, you're bang on, Nick...hence the DIY aspect to the thread. Got mine free as it was part of a botched order. Kinda what made me decide to utilise it this way :(

The bit you didn't quote has me saying I'll replace the rivets to strengthen. Cost...pence...not pounds. I'd be gutted if the bottom fell out hahaha :)

But these cases are more than strong enough for day to day use.

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Err whats with the last 2 posts?

Nothing to concern, text usually misses about 80% of the communication anyway :) Basically mine was a "agreed but going to all Alu will be £200+".

My post was simply pointing to hard cases due to the problem with chip board. Heavy batteries (ie large 100Ah)will quickly bend the chipboard used unless it's got internal bracing (ie metal strips rivetted onto the alu frame).

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Cheers Solarboy :)

Yep, when I get a sec I'll list all parts and a simple diagram...no probs.

It could be done with cheaper parts but I went for decent plugs etc.

I'll get on it :p

ps. I got the spam notification too. Bizarre post lol

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  • 4 months later...
Cheers Billy :BangHead:

I hope so. The only weak link is the actual box itself. These affordable case, we all buy, aren't actually aluminium. They're mdf covered in a thin dimpled foil. Most of the manufacturer's rivets are just squeezing in the soft mdf.

So I'll likely have to re-rivet with washers to be safe as it's heavy. The extra hinges and latches along with the big steal plate in the wonky handle (manufactured wonky :( ) should be fine for now though ;)

Sy, have you considered trying this with a wooden ammo case? Should be more solid, I could see that handle coming off in your hand when you lift 20kg of leisure battery!

Cracking work all the same.

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