Battery Bunker (possible overkill)

by RustyBucket | July 13, 2014 | (0) Posted in Projects

I have been considering making a battery charging and storage bunker for some time now and to date its a project that is regularly replaced by building yet another plane.

Ironically the prospect of my new house burning down is continously moved to the side as I build yet another FT Spitfire or FT Versa Wing.

So when I watched the recent article on Flight Test covering battery bunkers it again moved onto the "to do" list and when a local family lost their house to a so called "defective charger" (how the press reports a Lipo fire) I thought, ok, as soon as I finish this plane its bunker time.

One thing I should probably mention is my inability to do small scale projects, this one is no exception, I went to the the local hardware store and looked at the little tin tool boxes and they just didnt have that,,,,,,,, something I was looking for, they were just not quite heavy duty enough.

Enter a friends empty dive tank,,,, Ahhhh now thats more like it, now I just need some help to carry it to the car :-) Im going to skip the part, the tools and the language used to cut the thing in half (the loooooong way) and move to the finished product. I cut it 30mm off centre which maintained the hole in the end from the regulator and created a deep section and a lid section, drilled and riveted 3 hinges on the back joint and a handle on the front.

I can now run the charge and balance leads through the regulator hole and either charge and / or store all of my Lipo batterys with complete peace of mind and now get back to building planes and not be disrupted by an inferno.

Only thing left to do is a coat of paint and some mounting brackets for the wall.

Thanks for taking to time to check out my article and please dont delay in ensuring your charging and storing your batteries responsibly.

 

COMMENTS

Christopher14 on August 22, 2014
Sweet!
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Bbjen on August 22, 2014
Possible overkill! That thing could survive the atomic bomb...
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epic on August 22, 2014
AMAZING! how long did it take to cut it? and what did you use?
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RustyBucket on August 23, 2014
It was a bit of a mission, but all said and done, it wasn't as hard as it might seam, It took a couple of hours with a grinder using the thin cut off disc's, I took my time as I wanted it cut well so the pieces matched back together nicely, it used up about 5 discs and then I just gave the cut edges a light sand to smooth them off and get rid of any sharp edges. I had a plan in my head and now that its finished, its exactly what I wanted, if not better.
Thanks for your comments.
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RustyBucket on August 23, 2014
One thing I should mention if anyone is going to try this, make sure you get an Aluminium tank and spend the time to mark it out well, I marked an accurate centre line and then marked the off set to ensure it was a perfect cut.
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Old Cobra Pilot on August 23, 2014
Great idea!!!! Where would you go to find an unserviceable scuba tank? Would dive shops keep these or sell them for scrap?
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RustyBucket on August 23, 2014
Yep, you can often pick them up from dive shops, they sell them off for scrap, so you'll normally pay about $25 each. I have cut the top of one as well for a friend, that worked quite well, the top will be hinged and the battery's sit in the bottom with a fire blanket on top, but I like mine better :-)


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kenl on August 23, 2014
I love it! It's definitely on my to do list, do you really need the lipo safe bags still?
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RustyBucket on August 23, 2014
I wouldn't think so, but I still have them, I'm not using them any more for changing but still storing and transporting in them.
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marc60 on August 24, 2014
Now that is a BUNKER. Gues you'll be save now haha
I always use two cookie tins; A smaller one wich contains the lipo's, and that one goes in a bigger one. Investment: 4 dollar
Work/buildtime: one :P
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danield on October 9, 2014
Free with cookies
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medic563 on August 28, 2014
I'm looking for the perfect charger to go with this bunker. What charger do you recommend?
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RustyBucket on August 28, 2014
Despite the overkill of some of my projects, I do like to keep things pretty simple and as cheap as possible, I use and recommend the Turnigy Accucel-6 (from HK), it does what I need and at around 30 bucks you can always double up if needed. I'm sure everyone has a different opinion / preference, but for me this is the best one for the price. The one additional item is a balance lead extension to ensure you can get the length for charging inside the bunker but keeping the charger outside. If price isn't an issue, this probably isn't the "perfect charger" :-) but for me it works great.
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Kurt0326 on October 9, 2014
I use a small fire safe.
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Battery Bunker (possible overkill)