*** Hmm, I find this quite difficult to imagine.
*** Shutting down the charger? My problem in doing this is I will then need to have a separate power supply to power up the main system. My original circuit design was only one (variable) power supply that acts as a charger for the battery, and a power supply (stepped down from 13.6V to 12V). *** Well the battery I'll be using only costs around $20, so I guess it wouldn't blow my budget if I had to replace it yearly.
If the bat only cost $20, leave it outside the box, next to the box- ventilation problem solved. If the bat is a SLA 12V 7A bat, it will survive the heat with no problem. I have a couple SLAs that I use for radio control and power loss lighting/radio that stays in my garage. I live in the desert where the outside temp gets up to about 120 deg F or 48.9 deg C. The garage reaches temp of 130+ F. These bats are three years old and still work great.
Bottom line, put the circuit in the box, the bat next to or on top of the box and the whole thing in the shed. If you run into a problem, bury the bat. and worry about water, rain, solvent spillage, and rodents chewing up the underground stuff.
I would use an old paint can to put an alarm system into so if someone broke into the shed first, they wouldn't "recognize" the box right away.
Hi, Perhaps you have a different type of SLA? My battery will be of a minimum of 1.3Ah - probably will go higher if I use the underground method because I'll have more space in my circuit box. Yeah I agree about the water, spillages and underground rodents, and is bit of a worry now that you mention it, but I think it should be ok as long as I use the proper materials suitable for underground.
Ta, J
haha, no no, I don't give up THAT easily =) It's a challenge for me. I'm sure I'll find a solution.
J
OOOHHHHHHHHH, NOW i know what you meant by that! I thought you meant ditch (bury) the whole idea if doing this project!!!!!! haha. Sorry. Yeh I think it's a great idea actually, because it can be done quite easily.
I actually thought it may work because then it will give me more room in my circuit box, and the battery will be kept cool no matter the ambient temperature. I will probably run conduit down and drill some holes through the conduit just above ground level so any gases from the battery can escape (it won't be a very deep hole don't you worry). Thing is, not sure what type of enclosure to use for the battery, and how big it should be, etc. Length of the wire is also a concern as I don't want to experience any power loss (type of wiring I should use?). Distance shouldn't be more than 2 metres I would say.
JOk. Thank you all for replying. It's getting hard to keep up with all of you individually now.
Yes a sealed enclosure is bad bad bad without ventilation. I now realise that from all the replies, thanks. Some of the suggestions made as a potential solution were clever, but cost, space and power consumption (for cooling etc) were things I had to consider.
A couple of you came up with the idea of keeping the battery under-ground. I actually thought it may work because then it will give me more room in my circuit box, and the battery will be kept cool no matter the ambient temperature. Digging a hole wouldn't be difficult to do. I will probably run conduit down and drill some holes through the conduit just above ground level so any gases from the battery can escape (it won't be a very deep hole don't you worry). Thing is, not sure what type of enclosure to use for the battery, and how big it should be, etc. Length of the wire is also a concern as I don't want to experience any power loss (type of wiring I should use?). Distance shouldn't be more than 2 metres I would say. Unless I recieve lots of negative feedback about this, I will probably end up going ahead, but I would like to say thank you all for your suggestions/feedback if I haven't gotten around to doing that already.
Thanks again, Jason
Yeah sorry I should have pointed out that you said it already. Since it seemed like a good idea to me and noone seemed to have read it, I thought it could do with saying again. I think maybe a concrete drainpipe set vertically into the ground with a plastic container inside might do, as an alternaive to the plastic drainpipe, whatever is cheaper/easier to do locally. As others have said, there needs to be a vent for the gases.
I have some lead acid batteries that have lasted well over a decade and are still going well, and I suspect it is because I keep them cool.
Chris
Well i was thinking a plastic box inside a wide PVC drainpipe with cap and the conduit running out from both (not forgetting the vents for batt gases). Don't think I really want to use concrete piping.
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