power tank build help!!

[Gaze Away]

This is the case for my new build power tank.

I bought It off eBay for £28.00 quid. It is sturdy and has the capacity to take a 100ah battery, leaving plenty of room for a box in the top which will cover the battery and leave plenty of room for my equipment, dew strips/ heaters/ep's and my Hot water heater for tea/coffee,(ciggy lighter run) all sorts. It will come out heavy but I am going to introduce some wheels

[ggreene1]

This is the case for my new build power tank.

I bought It off eBay for £28.00 quid. It is sturdy and has the capacity to take a 100ah battery, leaving plenty of room for a box in the top which will cover the battery and leave plenty of room for my equipment, dew strips/ heaters/ep's and my Hot water heater for tea/coffee,(ciggy lighter run) all sorts. It will come out heavy but I am going to introduce some wheels

Really nice case. I don't have all the kit needed for that big of a battery... YET... So far my scope has done alright with the 7.2 Ah battery. I suppose adding another battery will cover me for a while. Also at my brothers house (dark sight) there is a 120 volt receptacle at the end of his 300+ foot driveway. So as I get more kit, I'll be able to plug in out there. Looking forward to seeing your tank as you build it. Hope you get the picture problem sorted out.

Clear skies and dew free nights to ya...

[Gaze Away]

Really nice case. I don't have all the kit needed for that big of a battery... YET... So far my scope has done alright with the 7.2 Ah battery. I suppose adding another battery will cover me for a while. Also at my brothers house (dark sight) there is a 120 volt receptacle at the end of his 300+ foot driveway. So as I get more kit, I'll be able to plug in out there. Looking forward to seeing your tank as you build it. Hope you get the picture problem sorted out.

Clear skies and dew free nights to ya...

Thanks for that. I think my picture problem is because of the ipad. (It is downloading them in IMG which I presume means image file and the site does not like it), I will try to change the pictures to J peg later and see If that works.

My last few bits should be here this week and I will be hopefully starting the build by the weekend.

Its good to have that 120v power supply, I have found one that will plug into my power tank which will enable me to also run a laptop......As the weather is so nice at the moment, I don't think it will matter If it takes me 3 months to build.....lol

Clear skies and.......clear skies !!!!!!!! lol

Andy

[Gaze Away]

Finally I have sorted my picture problem out. Here is a pic of the box for my power tank. £28.00 of Ebay. As you can see it is very strong and I think it was a great price for this project.

Andy

[Gaze Away]

Right, I now have all the bits I need to start the build on the power tank tomorrow (sunday).

These include,

6 marine fused 12v lock plugs

6 marine click lock socket

2 spade end fuse boxes 1x6 and 1x4

plenty of 15amp wire

1 meter of black and red 40amp wire

1 Rca / phono female socket

1 volt meter (waterproof)

1 Illuminated on/off switch

1 12v toggle switch To cut all power to unit apart from 1 12v socket which I am keeping permanently live. (explained further down).

110ah leisure battery

1 battery charger

and one of these that I found.....

Ring Inspection Lamp Reel Light 12v DC Charger RIL500

A few crimps, spade crimps etc etc.....

And of course a box to integrate it all into.

Here is a wiring diagram that I had a mate help me with (electrical engineer). Thanks Boots....

So now I have all my bits, I will tell you what I am going to do.

Apart from the obvious,(decide where everything is going in the box)..

Then once you have decided where everything is going to go and you have cut the holes and inserted your sockets, volt meters etc , its time to wire it up.

12v marine twist lock plugs.......

So the red wire + (positive) on these go to your internal fuse box using the 15 amp wire and then from the fuse box to a terminal block (reason for this is that once all your wires are in the terminal box, you only have to have one coming back out.

So the red positive wire comes out (this is now 40amp) and then goes onto your toggle switch. http://www.ebay.co.u...9#ht_500wt_1054. this is to be able cut total power to the unit (except for my permanent live) so I can charge the unit safely. This switch being illuminated will tell me If the power to the unit is on or off.

From the toggle switch, the 40amp wire goes into your fuse box and this is to be fused with a 30amp fuse. It then comes back out the fuse box using the 40 amp wire and goes to your battery.

All the black - (negative) wires have to go straight to a terminal box and then again one comes back out and goes on the battery negative terminal. (Obviously don't connect anything to the battery until the end).

Just to let you know I have bought some quick release clamps for my battery.....http://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_1380wt_1037.

So that is the wiring done for your 12v sockets.

I am going to have one of the 12v marine twist lock sockets standing alone because I can use it to charge my battery from the outside. If you want to do this you must make sure this point is permanently live. I have bought a suitable charger http://www.ebay.co.u...49#ht_999wt_905 and also the correct adapter for the chargerhttp://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_2240wt_1270 which enables me to do all of this safely.

To wire this you take the red (positive) to your fuse box and come straight back out the other side ( no fuse) connecting it to your 40amp positive wire near the battery. This is basically so you have surpassed anything with a fuse.

The black (negative) then goes straight to your battery. My battery is twin post .....http://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_1755wt_1037 so the positive and negative coming from the charging socket will bolt on to the battery separately.

Sockets done now for the volt meter and switch.....

The volt meter negative has to be wired into the negative terminal block as above. From there the positive wire goes onto the positive on the switch you bought for it.The switch positive wire then goes into an in line fuse box http://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_1801wt_1270. In this fuse holder you should be using a 200mAF ( this is a fast blow fuse). It then comes out and attaches to the positive on your battery.

Rca jack ........15 amp wire again into your fuse box (positive) and the negative into your (negative) terminal block. I am installing this jack so If I want to run a dew heater tape without a dew heater controller, this enables me to do that.

Notes.......

I have decided with a lot of help and deliberation that I am going to fuse my box inside to protect the wiring. This may be over board but hey that's just me.

My marine twist lock sockets attached to my external equipment have fuses built in and so I will change the fuses to suit the needs of what they go on (mount, heaters etc).

I have enough room in the top of the unit to keep heater strips, Eyepieces, camera equipment etc... So a box will be built to house these and sit in the top covering all of the wires, fuses etc.

The unit is going to be heavy but I have 2 old wheels from a BBQ that will be attached to the bottom and at the same time I will be strengthening the unit.

Pictures will follow and If I have made any errors please let me and others know.....( I am not an electrician ).

Price-wise......

without the battery charger and battery , The unit has come out at £120.00 odd quid. the marine twist lock plugs being expensive. With ( my choice of battery and charger, this goes up to £320.00. Just over double a 17ah power tank but you get a 110 power tank, much more reliable (in my opinion) and I expect it to last a long time especially as the charger being used is good at keeping the battery in tip top condition.

Have a good look at the wiring diagram as I did.

Thanks to all that have given me the help and confidence to build my own tank and I hope this helps anyone out there that wants to do the same......

Andy.

[Gaze Away]

Hi All,

This is Boots using Andy's login to post. (With permission!)

I drew up the wiring diagram shown above and will be helping Andy to wire the box.

As the wiring is shown above, it is important that the charger is not connected when equipment is connected to the outlet sockets and the main power switch is in the on position. In this scenario, if there is a fair amount of load connected, the charging circuit fuse would blow and/or damage to the battery charger may occur.

To ensure that this cannot happen, a cut-out relay can be added to the charging circuit that ensures the charger is only connected when the main power switch is in the off position.

You can view the revised wiring diagram here: http://stargazerslounge.com/gallery/image/13353-power-box-wiring-rev-b/

Andy has said that, as he will only ever be charging the box in the house (i.e. with no equipment connected) he feels the relay is not necessary. I'm going to try to persuade him otherwise as the incremental cost is only about £3.50 and the charger will be protected should the box get used in other circumtances.

Cheers, Boots.

[glowjet]

That is a real belt and braces design, but I still would not use a marine plug and socket for the charger, two insulated terminals on the outside or even the inside of your box would suffice, you can then use the standard crocodile clips on the charger, that enables you to use the unit for the car or charging other batteries. the other solution, as I suggested in a previous thread, if you want to permanently wire a plug, is to make up a flying lead with with the crocodile clips and cig plug socket, just a thought. Look forward to seeing work in progress

John.

[Gaze Away]

That is a real belt and braces design, but I still would not use a marine plug and socket for the charger, two insulated terminals on the outside or even the inside of your box would suffice, you can then use the standard crocodile clips on the charger, that enables you to use the unit for the car or charging other batteries. the other solution, as I suggested in a previous thread, if you want to permanently wire a plug, is to make up a flying lead with with the crocodile clips and cig plug socket, just a thought. Look forward to seeing work in progress

John.

Hi john, I still can use the charger for other items. If you look on the thread, there is an adapter available that plugs into the charger which is designed to charge it through a ciggy lighter. these chargers are very smart. You don't need to cut the charger wire, it comes with 2 detachable ends. The good thing about this...I dont need to ever touch the battery.....look at this, .......http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320717187597?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_2240wt_1139

Thanks Andy

[Gaze Away]

Hi All,

This is Boots using Andy's login to post. (With permission!)

I drew up the wiring diagram shown above and will be helping Andy to wire the box.

As the wiring is shown above, it is important that the charger is not connected when equipment is connected to the outlet sockets and the main power switch is in the on position. In this scenario, if there is a fair amount of load connected, the charging circuit fuse would blow and/or damage to the battery charger may occur.

To ensure that this cannot happen, a cut-out relay can be added to the charging circuit that ensures the charger is only connected when the main power switch is in the off position.

You can view the revised wiring diagram here: http://stargazerslou...x-wiring-rev-b/

Andy has said that, as he will only ever be charging the box in the house (i.e. with no equipment connected) he feels the relay is not necessary. I'm going to try to persuade him otherwise as the incremental cost is only about £3.50 and the charger will be protected should the box get used in other circumtances.

Cheers, Boots.

Ok Boots you have got me sold on this.

I have put on the wheels and strengthened the bottom of the box today. I had to make it so the box stood up right when the wheels went on so you can see this in the pic. To strengthen....a bit of 5 mm mdf inside and 3/4 pine on the outside, screwed together.

I also would like to say thanks to B&Q's as the wheels and the axle I stole of an old BBQ worked perfectly...The threads, length of bar...all of it PERFECT.

Andy.

[Gaze Away]

Finished the main external sockets. As was said earlier, one of these sockets is going to be permanently live (top left) and the unit will also be charged through this socket. I have a sticker to mark this socket.

Ps I have turned the volt meter the RIGHT way around now.....

[glowjet]

That looks very nice Andy, but that is going to be one heavy box when fully loaded, ever thought of fixing two sockets on the side to take a handle, better pulling than lifting. I have an 85 Ah leisure battery for our outboard, I know we are getting on a bit, but life is a lot easier carrying the battery in a cradle with rope handles and a pole through, between the two of us

John.

[Gaze Away]

That looks very nice Andy, but that is going to be one heavy box when fully loaded, ever thought of fixing two sockets on the side to take a handle, better pulling than lifting. I have an 85 Ah leisure battery for our outboard, I know we are getting on a bit, but life is a lot easier carrying the battery in a cradle with rope handles and a pole through, between the two of us

John.

Hi John, I have thought about this but as it goes the unit is high up anyway so you can pull it. I think being able to attach a longer handle would be a good idea. I'm 6 ft and I am slightly stooping to pull it at the moment. Sounds like a good plan that ....anyone got an old shopping trolley (granny style) lol.....I need the handle.

Ah just thought of a better idea A handle in the middle, at the back near the top about 6 inches wide hinged so it drops back down when your not using it... A pull out suitcase handle required.........

Thanks for that ...

Andy

[Gaze Away]

Put the extendible handle on...suitcase in a charity shop, ripped its guts out.....££2.00

Bargain.....

[glowjet]

Andy, now that is the Bees knees, really looks the biz, well done, only pleased to have helped in some small way

John.

[Gaze Away]

Andy, now that is the Bees knees, really looks the biz, well done, only pleased to have helped in some small way

John.

Thanks John.....had lots of really useful help on the site...cant wait to finish it, should be sunday !!

[Radar2312]

Im a way off from building mine yet, but when I do, im gonna be going thru this thread very closely, nice job and nice looking job.

well done.

[Gaze Away]

Im a way off from building mine yet, but when I do, im gonna be going thru this thread very closely, nice job and nice looking job.

well done.

Thanks for that. I have the help of an electrical engineer so when you get around to making one, If you get stuck just mail me...

Regards

Andy

[ggreene1]

Gaze Away,

Beautiful build. You should be proud...

[Gaze Away]

Thanks Ggreene1,

I'm just hoping it helps other people on the site, I'm always taking.. taking.. taking....was nice to be able to give something back !!

Andy

[Gaze Away]

Well the build is near complete.

My mate boots slightly changed the wiring so he is going to post a new diagram showing what was changed.

Start of the wiring

Then intergrated into the box and attaching the quick clip battery terminals,

We then attached the wiring for the volt meter and switch on the top of the box. The toggle switch inside the box at the top right (illuminated red) was put in to cut all power from the battery. If this is left on, the green light by the volt meter on the outside of the box would stay illuminated to alert you that the unit has been left on.

Tomorrow I just have to screw the back plates aroung the 12v sockets on the side (thats why they dont look straight yet) , I then just have to make my internal box to house all of my ep's, dew strips etc...I am adding an extra side bit of wood which will cover all of the wiring, cutting a hole to go around the toggle switch.

The unit has a fail safe in the respect that when you plug in the charger, It will not work unless the unit is switched to the off position. I can however change the attatchment and charge the unit while I am using it.

Last few pics tomorrow and a new diagram from boots.

Andy

[Gaze Away]

My pictures seem to have dissapeared so I will put these back on........

Picture go with the post above.......You can see the final outcome here as I finished the build today.....http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/155962-power-tank-build-complete/#entry1576240

Andy

[JamesM]

Just caught up with thread and wanted to offer my congratulations on a really good job! Will prove very inspirational to many of us, especially as the clouds are still with us and we need projects like this to keep our sanity!!! :grin:

Well done Andy (and 'Boots') and many thanks for sharing.

James

[Gaze Away]

Just glad I can actually be helpful

Andy

[NGEddie]

Just catching up on the myself as I am looking to do something similar (but probably not as complicated!). One thing I can't seem to find is the terminal/junction blocks. Which ones did you use and where did you get it from. Ditto the voltmeter?

Thanks in advance and great build.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[leelee970]

Looks good,

Just a thought, what about an ammeter to measure your current consumption such as

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/analogue-panel-ammeters/0313716/