Battery bank fuse

[Ucatchmydrift]

Enjoyed reading this thread from the both of you, very interesting and good builds.

Thanks, i dont know what im going to do with myself once its finished lol, have been working on it all summer, autumn!

 

[torbrowser]

Some nice work here chaps well done. I can see the fascination and enjoyment you get from making your own batteries.

THIS IS NOT A CRITICISM... but there seems to be a lot of flammable wood and MDF in these photos.

Have you considered using something along these lines, https://www.sts-uk.com/sts-construction-boards-collection
It won't burn as its A rated, it's cheap and cuts up easy with an angle grinder and is in handy 800x1200 sheets.

I used this to line my solar cupboard out - just in case anything starts buzzing, and with some of those S/C currents at 20-40kA might be a good investment.

Cheers
Jack

 

[johnb2713]

Some nice work here chaps well done. I can see the fascination and enjoyment you get from making your own batteries.

THIS IS NOT A CRITICISM... but there seems to be a lot of flammable wood and MDF in these photos.

Have you considered using something along these lines, https://www.sts-uk.com/sts-construction-boards-collection
It won't burn as its A rated, it's cheap and cuts up easy with an angle grinder and is in handy 800x1200 sheets.

I used this to line my solar cupboard out - just in case anything starts buzzing, and with some of those S/C currents at 20-40kA might be a good investment.

Cheers
Jack

My install does use a lot of MDF because a) I have stock of it and b) I have a laser cutter that cuts it. I have however put my system in an outdoor building dedicated to the purpose and if it burns, it burns! MDF doesnt combust too well, I put loads of offcuts on a bonfire and it wasnt great.

 

[torbrowser]

If it burns, it burns ! Lol, fair enough then!

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

If it burns, it burns ! Lol, fair enough then!

Yep me too.. Its all in a metal shed in the garden. Itll be fine, all the safety stuff like breakers, class t fuses, rcds, rcbos, bms's etc.
All the wiring (once finished) is overly large, all crimped professionally with the correct tooling at work. (im a wiring harness builder for the motorsport industry) - so im pretty happy and confident with it all.. I know theres always a small chance, but thats why its in the metal shed..

 

[johnb2713]

If it burns, it burns ! Lol, fair enough then!

Thanks for raising the point though, it is however something I had considered.

This little shed is a perfect size for my gear



Everything is mounted from the brickwork behind it, the MDF taking up the small gap behind and in front to make a flat surface. The shed itself was only a cheapo thing from Amazon but using it how I am it's pretty robust. I have changed the hinges for lift off hinges, the lower section with the batteries is now insulated and has a heater in there. The inverter and all other items are in the top half, the Victron inverter taking up all of the upper left-hand side (it's huge compared to the Growatt I have in my loft). The diamond hole in the top is now 120mm diameter and has a cooling fan installed.

 

[binky]

You can buy fire retardant spay for wood, don't ask me if it's any good though.

 

[johnb2713]

You can buy fire retardant spay for wood, don't ask me if it's any good though.

I have some intermessent paint somewhere, I may just give it a coat inside, then again if it burns, it doesn’t really matter.

 

[Geoff1946]

Could make an interesting insurance claim, Small shed, £200 + Contents, comprising batteries, inverter and control gear, £kkk.

 

[johnb2713]

Could make an interesting insurance claim, Small shed, £200 + Contents, comprising batteries, inverter and control gear, £kkk.

I will be specifying it on my insurance. I had a claim 5 years ago where a £3 plastic pipe fitting failed resulting in an £85,000 claim for flood damage. It was an interesting 18 months talking with loss adjusters who’s opening gambit was ‘remember I’m on your side’ my reply being a straightforward to the point ‘********’, start again. LOL

 

[Geoff1946]

Call me old fashioned but I won't use plastic plumbing , except wastes, anywhere in the house.
A friend of mine had his house wrecked by a detached plastic push fit. All my plumbing is solid copper, and mostly soldered.

 

[johnb2713]

Call me old fashioned but I won't use plastic plumbing , except wastes, anywhere in the house.
A friend of mine had his house wrecked by a detached plastic push fit. All my plumbing is solid copper, and mostly soldered.

Me too, it wasnt done by me, bathroom fitters. 22 mm copper with a plastic adapter down to plastic tube used to feed a power shower (3 hp pump behind it). The plastic cracked and failed letting go, the pump was very happy to start up and empty the tank all day long. The fitting was inside a stud wall, it burst the wall flooding the upstairs floors, going through to downstairs. The coving nicely carried the water round the perimeter of the rooms downstairs. The house, every room was wrecked, all of the furniture etc. The repairs were done properly all of the plaster removed from the walls, all of the floors lifted, ceilings down etc. Some walls had to be removed because they simply did not dry out properly. I honestly thought we would never get our home back but 2 years later it was all back to normal.



The floating type floors nicely contained the water within, allowing it to flow throughout the whole house. Demolition took about 3 months, drying a further 6 months and then on to the rebuilding.
We insured with Natwest Home Insurance (done by Direct Line) who were absolutely brilliant, the loss adjusters were a complete waste of time and any disagreement I just went direct to the insurers who accepted my view and coughed up.

Our flood was clean water, the smell was horrendous, how people cope with river water / sewage I cant imagine.

 

[binky]

Call me old fashioned but I won't use plastic plumbing , except wastes, anywhere in the house.
A friend of mine had his house wrecked by a detached plastic push fit. All my plumbing is solid copper, and mostly soldered.

There's a knack to using them properly. Firstly, you have to make sure any cut pipe ends are clean and burr free so they can't damage the seals when inserted into the push fittings. Secondly they need the little pipe inserts that support the pipe ends to work properly if using plastic pipe. Thirdly, don't cut the pipe slightly short so the seal sits right on the end of the pipe, and lets go sometime later. And last but not least, buy the expensive ones, coz it's a lot cheaper than what happens if you don't.

Have to say I prefer proper soldered joints for anything under pressure.

 

[johnb2713]

There's a knack to using them properly. Firstly, you have to make sure any cut pipe ends are clean and burr free so they can't damage the seals when inserted into the push fittings. Secondly they need the little pipe inserts that support the pipe ends to work properly if using plastic pipe. Thirdly, don't cut the pipe slightly short so the seal sits right on the end of the pipe, and lets go sometime later. And last but not least, buy the expensive ones, coz it's a lot cheaper than what happens if you don't.

Have to say I prefer proper soldered joints for anything under pressure.

I think it's better not to use them at all, O rings fail over time etc, plastic can go brittle with age.

 

[binky]

I think it's better not to use them at all, O rings fail over time etc, plastic can go brittle with age.

they are suppossed to be rated for hot water, but I'm not overly convinced. Thind is about water (cold) is that it does stop the seals drying out, which is what tends to cause them to fail. I'm doing a full rewire at the moment, the property has no gas, so we have tanken out the hot water tank in favour of electric water heaters under sinks etc. It will be interestig to see what the plumbers use to modify the plumbing, which is currently all copper and soldered joints.