A thread on battery carts.

Andrewr05 said:

Yeah, and that whole enclosure on the bottom is also metal as well.

Maybe not designed well enough to contain a fire, but the thought is there. Lol

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Could always firebrick it! Seal the seams with mortar and put an auto suppression system in.

Another advantage of a metal style would be helping heat distribution for a dyi heated battery compartment.

I bet a desk model even has convenient popouts for wire runs.

AmpD said:

Could always firebrick it! Seal the seams with mortar and put an auto suppression system in.

Another advantage of a metal style would be helping heat distribution for a dyi heated battery compartment.

I bet a desk model even has convenient popouts for wire runs.

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Yeah it does have a few wire runs out of it.

I like this build..

DIYPV said:

I like this build..

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That's sweet

Andrewr05 said:

That's sweet

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Could easily make that capable of holding another battery and inverter on the rear side if needed.

Andrewr05 said:

That's sweet

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And by sweet I mean tight

I’m about to price this out and I feel like it’s gonna hurt. Backup option is just bolt it to the wall and run a loooooong conduit

Saw this one here on the forums the other day. 10kw cart



https://diysolarforum.com/threads/10kw-powmr-‎us-pow-sunsmart-10k-yf.66015/post-1012171

200ah 48v server rack. Nice compact and clean looking setup!

@facb1202
Is that exercise equipment to charge it?

Here's my recent battery cart build (99% finished but a few niggles to work on):

BOM (Tax + shipping to California included):

1x Seville UltraHD Solid Wood Top 2-Drawer Steel Rolling File Cabinet, 20" x 18" - $147.57
3x 48V 50Ah Stackable LiFePO4 Battery - $1,251.35
1x Rich Solar 3,000 Watt 48 Volt All In One Solar Inverter - $422.55
50 ft. temco 4awg welding cable - $79.33 (turns out I way over-ordered)
50 pcs temco tinned lugs in 1/4 and 5/16 - $28.71 (also over-ordered)
2x 150a generic busbars - $21.74
4x MNEDC breakers 50/100a - $89.42
1x HardieBacker 0.42 in. x 3 ft. x 5 ft. Cement Backerboard - $19.87
1x Square D Homeline Load Center - $23.73
1x Homeline 30a breaker - $7.97
2x generic NEMA L14-30 male and female plugs - $15.20

Total cost: $2107.44 (yeesh, I told my wife I'd keep it under $2k). I do plan to claim the tax credit after I hook this up to the house.

Misc stuff I had lying around paint, angle brackets, screws, pop-rivets, bolt anchors, wire nuts, electrical tape, PVC fitting, a few feet of 10awg THHN and SOOW, light socket and bulb

Tools I had to pick up: TEMCO crimper, large gauge wire cutters

This doesn't include the L14-30 generator input side to the house

Left to do: find a way to lock it, short-proof the breakers better, button up the inverter, secure negative wire a bit better.



This is an in-progress pic to show the fit:



In the end, I probably wouldn't recommend going with the Seville cabinet. It's fairly sturdy but there are probably better options. It's rated by the manufacturer at 260 pounds, and I'm around 230. There was definitely some flexing at the bottom, and the bottom shelf isn't one solid piece -- the front frame connects to the back half of the bottom shelf with two bolts shown below. I added some additional pop rivets but I still imagine this thing falling apart when I go over a crack in my garage. Also the fit is a little too tight, requiring placement of the batteries while the cabinet is partially disassembled.

bandgap said:

Here's my recent battery cart build (99% finished but a few niggles to work on):

BOM (Tax + shipping to California included):

1x Seville UltraHD Solid Wood Top 2-Drawer Steel Rolling File Cabinet, 20" x 18" - $147.57
3x 48V 50Ah Stackable LiFePO4 Battery - $1,251.35
1x Rich Solar 3,000 Watt 48 Volt All In One Solar Inverter - $422.55
50 ft. temco 4awg welding cable - $79.33 (turns out I way over-ordered)
50 pcs temco tinned lugs in 1/4 and 5/16 - $28.71 (also over-ordered)
2x 150a generic busbars - $21.74
4x MNEDC breakers 50/100a - $89.42
1x HardieBacker 0.42 in. x 3 ft. x 5 ft. Cement Backerboard - $19.87
1x Square D Homeline Load Center - $23.73
1x Homeline 30a breaker - $7.97
2x generic NEMA L14-30 male and female plugs - $15.20

Total cost: $2107.44 (yeesh, I told my wife I'd keep it under $2k). I do plan to claim the tax credit after I hook this up to the house.

Misc stuff I had lying around paint, angle brackets, screws, pop-rivets, bolt anchors, wire nuts, electrical tape, PVC fitting, a few feet of 10awg THHN and SOOW, light socket and bulb

Tools I had to pick up: TEMCO crimper, large gauge wire cutters

This doesn't include the L14-30 generator input side to the house

View attachment 204103View attachment 204104View attachment 204105View attachment 204106

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That's awesome. Nice work!

AmpD said:

I was thinking this model for myself. It had ample room and weight allowance for 4x200 ah 24v batts ((20”x10” footprint each)

Mostly curious on what everyone is doing and see what ideas pop out.

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If I was going to go with a cart-style, I would really be looking at something like a Gorilla Cart. Something with 1.8 stars on Amazon I would never trust to carry batteries...

Put some gypsum board between the wood and electrical parts to improve that
Other wise its a nice looking kart

DPC said:

Put some gypsum board between the wood and electrical parts to improve that
Other wise its a nice looking kart

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If you are talking about mine the painted boards are hardie backer. I only used plywood for early layout testing. The top is wood but there is hardie backer and two metal drawers in between.

In the spirit of DIY I went with some 8” heavy duty castors for the base of my project. At 771lb load ratio each they should handle a few hundred pounds of batteries gear. When I get something built I post it in the thread. For now I’m eyeballing this old upright freezer with a circular saw.

@bandgap Nice work!!!

bandgap said:

And by sweet I mean tight

I’m about to price this out and I feel like it’s gonna hurt. Backup option is just bolt it to the wall and run a loooooong conduit

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The builder listed his approximate costs when answering a question about adding another battery to the back side of the cart.


I would assume those casters are already being stressed with @ 500-600 lbs.