I finally got a van and it's an ex-FBI spy van with a periscope!

[Uncle Todo]

Definitely some kind of lithium cell.
Another thought, it may very well be a conversion by a defense contractor so you may have some serious grade stuff in there.
At the very least a government contractor, no cheap outfitting job there.
I'm curious to see what Joe Electrician makes of it.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Hmmm, I would pull them out. There should be manufacturers decals or markings somewhere on the battery. Are they 12v? They are wired in parallel, so most likely 12v, but who knows. Be careful, you could have several thousands of dollars worth of batteries there.

 

[bullfrog]

You may have just hit a gold mine. They do appear to be new technology batteries. If so and if they are still good you have several thousands dollars worth of batteries. You should also have a charger built in some where worth lots of money. You probably need to contact someone like Will Prouse (not sure of the spelling) as he has some experience. Is there a manufacturer’s name on the vehicle or the box, like a metal tag riveted on? I would search for it and contact them. This appears to be some serious good stuff so be careful not to get hurt or damage it. Did Batteries+ or anyone check the voltage for you? Be very careful around the terminals as most are 84 volts direct current each. One of those charged up can run a whole house. There should be several tutorials on YouTube about converting these cells to RV or electric vehicle use.

 

[bonvanroulez]

Those batteries appear to be Northstar TPPL (thin plate pure lead), basically 12 volt AGM sealed lead batteries made for rack-mounting. They have a slow self-discharge rate so hopefully they're charged and haven't drained down. Hard to tell from the video how big they are but look like 105 Ah at 16 inches long/tall.

https://www.ecodirect.com/OutBack-P...12V-TPPL-Battery-p/outback-nsb-100ft-blue.htm

screen grab from a video of some Northstar tppl batteries:

 

[highdesertranger]

BINGO I think we have winner. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

Good job identifying those!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Nice identification! Not the fancy lithium batteries we were hoping for, but still a very solid battery bank!

 

[Giggles]

You may have just hit a gold mine. They do appear to be new technology batteries. If so and if they are still good you have several thousands dollars worth of batteries. You should also have a charger built in some where worth lots of money. You probably need to contact someone like Will Prouse (not sure of the spelling) as he has some experience. Is there a manufacturer’s name on the vehicle or the box, like a metal tag riveted on? I would search for it and contact them. This appears to be some serious good stuff so be careful not to get hurt or damage it. Did Batteries+ or anyone check the voltage for you? Be very careful around the terminals as most are 84 volts direct current each. One of those charged up can run a whole house. There should be several tutorials on YouTube about converting these cells to RV or electric vehicle use.

Thanks so much. Lots of great info to get me started.

 

[Giggles]

Hmmm, I would pull them out. There should be manufacturers decals or markings somewhere on the battery. Are they 12v? They are wired in parallel, so most likely 12v, but who knows. Be careful, you could have several thousands of dollars worth of batteries there.

I was going to, but I was afraid of getting shocked because as I was using the socket wrench to loosen the bolt, the wrench touched the metal and a huge spark let loose. 

After the second time that happened, I stopped. Lol.

 

[bullfrog]

Well at least you know they still had some charge and were not ruined from sitting! Lol!!! Take the black lead off first and wrap it with electrical tape, then do the same with the red one. Tape a glove over the terminals while working so you can’t accidentally short out the wrench, heck tape it to if you want to, just be careful. Sparks no bueno!

 

[Giggles]

Those batteries appear to be Northstar TPPL (thin plate pure lead), basically 12 volt AGM sealed lead batteries made for rack-mounting. They have a slow self-discharge rate so hopefully they're charged and haven't drained down. Hard to tell from the video how big they are but look like 105 Ah at 16 inches long/tall.

https://www.ecodirect.com/OutBack-P...12V-TPPL-Battery-p/outback-nsb-100ft-blue.htm

screen grab from a video of some Northstar tppl batteries:

 

Wow...thanks so much!! I really appreciate it!!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Always disconnect the negative terminals before playing with battery power.

 

[Giggles]

Well at least you know they still had some charge and were not ruined from sitting! Lol!!! Take the black lead off first and wrap it with electrical tape, then do the same with the red one. Tape a glove over the terminals while working so you can’t accidentally short out the wrench, heck tape it to if you want to, just be careful. Sparks no bueno!

Thank you! Do you mean a latex glove so metal doesn't touch metal? Or a work glove? I am having a hard time visualizing that.

 

[Giggles]

Always disconnect the negative terminals before playing with battery power.

Got it. Thanks.

 

[bullfrog]

Any thing that is made from something that does not conduct electricity. I usually wear mechanics gloves and if there is a chance of shorting out terminals or wires I just lay a glove over them or stick the end of the wire inside a glove to keep it from shorting out and sparking. Tape works best but I’m lazy and usually in too much of a hurry to tape them. I just hold the glove on with a little wrap of tape. You definitely don’t want any metal to metal contact between the red positive wires even the metal body or the black negative wires.

 

[treesprite]

I wonder if you could convert to a telescope where the periscope is. Tht would be really cool for astronomy hobbyists.

 

[Giggles]

Hmmm...that would be interesting!

 

[Giggles]

So I got very lucky today, one of my parent's neighbors is an electrical technician, and he came over to look at the van when I was over there today.....and he helped me remove the 4 deep cycle that were in the bulk head. Yeay!

Now, I have to decide if I want to keep the empty bulkhead (which they built from scratch from wood) and use it as a storage closet, or if I want to get tear it out to make more room in the van.

I was thinking of keeping the complicated electrical system that FBI had left, but the FBI cut the cable that was connected to the alternator, so there was no way to charge the batteries anymore. Also there's no solar panel....and even if I did put a solar panel up there, I would have no idea how to connect it to their system .

And quite honestly, one 75 pound battery is way too much for me handle on my own, let alone 4 of them. And their electrical system they had set up was soooo complex...with so many cables and wires going every which way but loose... there was no way I'd be able to figure it out on my own, because they didn't leave a manual or directions or anything. I'd rather have a solar panel a small Renegy battery that I can lift without needing any help.

We tested the charge on the batteries after we got the batteries out...one of them has 9.5 volts, the other has 8..5, another has 8.1 volts, and another has 8.2 volts. it's a deep cycle battery 12 volt battery, so I'n not sure if that's enough charge left or not....I think the ones we saw for Nothstaar said that they were made to discharge to 50%. Sso if these are like Northstar, then they could go down to 6 volts, right? But if it's only designed to go go 80%, then they probably wouldn't be any good.

I think I'm going to try to charge them up and see if they hold a charge, and if they do, I'm going to sell them.

I don't think the are the NorthStar Brand, though, because when we took them out, they were all white, with no branding anywhere on them at all. There was just the letters "PB" (lead) stamped on them, and a small sticker with a serial number on it. So I'm thinking it might have been a government contractor that made them.

 

[bullfrog]

Save all the cables and wiring as those look like they were well made and can maybe be reused.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

That's a shame. Real nice, tight, neat battery bank you have there. 12v batteries are "dead" when they hit about 10.5v and 50% around 11.8v. A good, charged 12v battery will read almost 13v when at 100%. AGM batteries will be damaged if they are taken below 50%, aka 11.8v. If those batteries were sitting like that with those voltages for extended period of time, they are unfortunately probably no good. But definitely try to revive them.