Battery box idea

I’ve got four SLA batteries that came out of my APC UPSs when I replaced the batteries with fresh ones. There were five, but one of the batteries turned out to be dead dead.

They work quite nicely as power supplies for the radio, and I’ve made up wiring harnesses that let me use one or two of them to run the radio on. They work pretty well and give me a couple hours of radio time at full power output (100W) at around a 20-25% duty cycle.

We’ve got some nesting wooden boxes that look kind of like pirate treasure boxes that aren’t doing anything at the moment except taking up space. They used to belong to Connie’s mother, probably a good find at a yard sale. I thought they’d come in handy for some project eventually.

Then I think to myself: “Self, how about putting the batteries in them?”

“Capital idea old chap. Let’s try it out”

As it turns out, the smallest box is just big enough to hold all four of them.

Five batteries will fit in the medium sized box with a little bit of room around them.

The medium sized box gives enough head room to make some holes to run wiring and Powerpole connectors through the side of the box, and maybe some digital voltage/current meters. It’s pretty hefty though, coming in at 13.2 kg (29 lbs). A fifth battery in the box would add another 2.5 kg to that. A fair bit to lug around, but this would be intended for setting up portable but not mobile operations somewhere like the back yard, or a field somewhere.

This should be a good weekend project to work on one of these days.