My new E-350 Extended van

[coultergeist]

Thanks Bruce.<br><br>It is getting there.&nbsp; Really anxious to finish up the battery box so I can finally have power permanently ran to everything.&nbsp;

 

[coultergeist]

I worked on the battery box most of today.&nbsp; First thing to do was to get all the holes drilled in the proper places.&nbsp; This shows all the holes.&nbsp; This took longer than you'd think since they had to be precisely placed so that the battery hold downs ended up in the right places in the box.

 

[coultergeist]

Once all the holes were drilled properly then it was time to bolt it down into the van.&nbsp; The four eye bolts will be the anchor points for the battery hold downs.&nbsp; The four regular bolts will anchor the box itself.&nbsp; They are recessed so that the batteries can sit flat on the wooden runners.

 

[coultergeist]

After finally getting all the bolts tightened down, I cut the foam padding that the batteries will sit on.&nbsp; This well help to dampen vibration and should cushion the batteries a little bit.&nbsp; <br><br>The holes that the eye bolts protrude through were purposely cut bigger than they had to be to allow air flow from below to circulate in the box around the batteries more easily.

 

[coultergeist]

This is the first battery in the box.&nbsp; You can see in this picture how the battery hold down attaches.&nbsp; The part that goes over the top of the battery is rubber.&nbsp; It stretches a little so it holds the battery very securely.&nbsp; <br><br>I went this route so that if it ever needs to be replaced in the future it will be simple to find a replacement part.&nbsp; I try to use readily available parts whenever possible.

 

[coultergeist]

It took most of the day, but I finally got the battery box and the batteries themselves installed.&nbsp; This picture shows all three in place.&nbsp; I had to fabricate the center battery hold down bar.&nbsp; They are nice and secure.&nbsp; There will be another piece of foam that will go&nbsp;in the top of the box.&nbsp; It will insulate the top and ensure that the gasses can only escape out the vent hose.&nbsp; <br><br>I will tackle all the cabling tomorrow.

 

[Ballenxj]

I imagine you've done enough for the day. As I've said before, take your time and avoid mistakes. <br>If you can, you might think about a hasp too so you can lock them up. Battery thieves hit a friends work trucks steeling the batteries two days in a row, costing him a little over seven hundred dollars. Seven batteries for a little over a hundred dollars each. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce

 

[coultergeist]

I appreciate it Bruce.&nbsp; I hadn't thought about locking them up.&nbsp; It would be pretty easy to add a hasp to the battery box.&nbsp; I will see what I can do about that after all the wiring gets done.&nbsp; I have all the pieces I need for that so that will be the next thing.&nbsp; <br><br>Patrick

 

[Laughing Richard]

coultergeist,<br>This really looks sturdy, I like the way you've done this. Just curious though did you have a second set of helping hands to be able to hold the bolts from the inside of the van while you crawled under the van to tighten up the nuts? I've been thinking of doing a similar attachment for my batteries but will be working alone so I might need to find some help on this part unless you figured a clever way of cranking down the nuts by yourself?<br>I really enjoy following along on your build and really appreciate you sharing it with all of us.<br>Thanks,<br>Richard

 

[Laughing Richard]

Oh sorry, I forgot to ask is that metal checker plate on top of the 2x4's or is that the foam you said the batteries are sitting on?<br>Thanks,<br>Richard

 

[coultergeist]

You're welcome Richard.&nbsp; I should be thanking you too.&nbsp; It was your suggestion to use eye bolts.&nbsp; That really simplified things a lot.&nbsp; <br><br>I tightened it all by myself.&nbsp; I used vise grips to hold the eye bolts and regular bolts inside the box and then tightened everything up underneath.&nbsp; Worked out really well.&nbsp; They held great.&nbsp; I expected that part to be a real pain, but it was probably the easiest part of the whole thing.&nbsp; Vise grips rock.&nbsp; <br><br>The checkered thing is the foam.&nbsp; It was an anti-fatigue mat for work benches and such.&nbsp; It has the checkers on it so you won't slip standing on it.&nbsp; It is about a 1/2 inch thick.&nbsp; It's really dense so it absorbs shock and vibration well, but also nonslip so it will also help keep the batteries stationary.&nbsp; <br><br>Patrick

 

[Laughing Richard]

Well,<br>You just made my day there. Vice grips it is!<br>Richard

 

[coultergeist]

Glad I was able to help Richard.&nbsp; <br><br>Patrick

 

[coultergeist]

I've been working on cabling up the battery box today.&nbsp; This is the first cable in place.&nbsp; It would have been a little bit cheaper with crimp on terminals but I used these for a couple of reasons.&nbsp; One is they should flow a lot of electricity with very little resistance when needed.&nbsp; The other is that they are reusable.&nbsp; If I ever need to change out a cable or modify things for any reason, I can just cut a piece of cable the new length and swap the connectors onto the new cable.

 

[coultergeist]

This shows the battery box with most of its connections made.&nbsp; The cables that exit the box to the left go to the power panel and grounding block.&nbsp; This is what most 12v loads in the van connect through.&nbsp; The power panel has its own fuses for each circuit so there's no need to have one inline.&nbsp; <br><br>The two unused terminals on the right will connect to the line coming in from the main vehicle battery and a frame ground.&nbsp; There is a 100 amp circuit breaker next to the main battery that protects this line.&nbsp; This should allow the alternator to safely do a little bit of charging at least while driving.&nbsp; <br><br>The two large unused terminals on the center battery will exit out of the box to the left and go directly to the main inverter.&nbsp; There will be a large fuse inline with the positive lead.&nbsp; This may seem like an odd way to run the power cables, but there is logic behind the design.&nbsp; The two outer batteries will feed into the terminals of the center battery using equal length cables.&nbsp; This should ensure that power is evenly distributed from the two outer batteries in the bank.&nbsp; The large lugs on the center battery is what will feed the inverter line.&nbsp; This should ensure maximum power transmission with minimum resistance.&nbsp; <br><br>That's my theory anyway.&nbsp; I will report how it works out once the inverter is in and I can test things out.

 

[coultergeist]

Finally got the wire from the main battery and the ground wire routed in and connected.&nbsp; The alternator should be able to charge the rear battery bank while driving now.&nbsp; I have a road trip this evening so I should see how it does then.

 

[coultergeist]

This is the vent tube for expelled gasses.&nbsp; At the moment there is no fan in the box.&nbsp; I am going to see if a venturi effect will work well enough to draw the gases out of the battery box.&nbsp; If that works out fine then this should be good.&nbsp; If not, I will add a small fan in the box to expel gasses while charging.&nbsp; There is an air inlet on the opposite side of the box very near to the bottom.&nbsp;

 

[coultergeist]

This is a picture of the right side of the box as seen from above.&nbsp; You can see the vent tube and the wires coming in from the main battery and the ground cable.&nbsp; The main battery cable is the original wire that was ran for the wheel chair lift that was in the van when I got it.&nbsp; It is a 2 gauge wire that is in a protective sheath.&nbsp; It has a 100 amp circuit breaker that it goes through just after it leaves the main battery.<br><br>The ground wire is also a 2 gauge wire.&nbsp; It exits through a hull feed through.&nbsp; It is a tight fit, but it will keep the inlet waterproof as well as keeping the wire from chafing.<br><br>The vent tube also uses 3/4 hull feed throughs to go through the battery box and the floor of the van.&nbsp;

 

[coultergeist]

I worked on getting the main inverter installed today.&nbsp; <br><br>The first thing I did was add a terminal block to each of the power connection points on the back of the inverter.&nbsp; <br><br>This will make it easier to attach the power leads from the battery.&nbsp; It will also be the connection point for the power converter/charger when it is installed.

 

[coultergeist]

After adding the terminal blocks, I worked on getting the inverter itself mounted.&nbsp; I cut a piece of wood to fit in the space below the power distribution panel where the inverter will sit.&nbsp; It mounts on top of the wooden runners so that it can't get wet in case of a water leak or wetness in the back of the van.&nbsp; The wooden platform it mounts to was rubberized with the same spray used to coat the inside of the battery box.&nbsp; <br><br>