For the cells I have bought they are 71mm (thick) x 207mm (tall) x 173mm (wide), they are going to be in my Battery Cave and it is height limited so I cannot have them the right way up very easily. They will be laying horizontally on their short sides and be two cells high. Horizontally they will be separated by 0.5mm Epoxy resin separators between each cells. These thin separators are bought from Aliexpress and are already cut to the correct size for these cells, they are delivered in about a week.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007 ... 1802I16RVC
Vertically I will use 5mm hardwood plywood from B&Q, I will also use the same plywood glued onto the steel plates at each end.
I have calculated that a 400mm x 200mm x 3mm steel plate is large enough to accommodate 2 cells high (2 x 173mm) plus 5mm of plywood plus clearance for the threaded bars. And for extra extra strength I am also using 30 x 30 (3mm thick) angle iron, these will be 430mm long so the bottom will hang down below the bottom of the steel plate which will sit on the deckboard base.
Several places on ebay sell 400mm x 200mm x 3m steel plate, and some also cut them to other sizes if you ask them. So if you need the cells to stand upright, or you only want a single deck, you will have to do some simple maths.
Step 1
The steel plate arrived quite dirty so a quick clean with a general cleaner was beneficial. I marked them with numbers and which is the inside and outside. This is important so when you drill the angle irons, everything will still line up correctly. The steel plate came from here,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163890257304
Step 2
I bought the angle iron from Wickes, 30mm x 30mm, 3mm thick and 1 metre long. I needed 2 of them and cut them 430mm long with a jigsaw. I then drill them first with a pilot drill, then a 8.5mm clearance hole for the threaded bar. I use a centre punch to mark the holes 15mm from each end and 15mm in from the outer edges, it only needs to be roughly accurate but the angle iron needs to be marked up so you can match each one with the correct face of the correct steel plate end.
Step 3
You should end up with the steel plates and the angle irons drilled with all the holes for the threaded bars lining up. The reason why the angle irons are longer is so that they sit either side of the deckboard base and the lower threaded bars (with covering) will be below the base of the battery cells.
Step 4
Cut the 5mm plywood to the same 400mm x 200mm as the steel plates and glue them onto the inner surfaces of the steel plates with a glue of your choice. I used gorilla glue, once the glue is set, drill through the upper holes in the steel plate so the wood is also drilled for the threaded bars.
More to follow ..........................
