My EG4 server rack batteries don't fit in the EG4 battery rack.

[Burnrate]

I recently purchased an EG4 48 V 5 kwh battery (https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-lifepower4-lithium-battery-48v-100ah/) along with a Pre Assembled Enclosed Server Rack (https://signaturesolar.com/pre-assembled-eg4-enclosed-battery-rack-6-slot-wheels-included/).

I put the wheels on the rack and then took my first battery, attached the mounting brackets, and slid the battery back. The mounting brackets did not line up with the holes to attach them at all. I tried moving the shelves up 1 and then 2 slots and the mounting brackets did not line up at any point. If I keep moving them up I'll only have space for 5 batteries instead of six. The original screw locations off the shelves where in the holes that had a white marking so it looks like it was all measured and assembled.

Hopefully I'm doing something really stupid. Here are some pictures, please let me know if you have any suggestions. The pictures show the closest alignment I got. At the preassembled location the holes weren't even visible.

 

[Samsonite801]

Do the mounting ear brackets (if they are removable and screwed onto the battery module) have any kind of labels for left and right? Could they be inverted (right-to-left and left-to-right) and sitting upside-down or something?

Do the 2 screw-holes on one battery module bracket line up in pairs with 2 holes on the rack mounting bars, or is it just off based on the battery module sitting in relation to the position it sits in, at the bottom of the rack (in relation to the rack mounting bars)?

Are the rack mounting bars adjustable (up or down) at all if any rack chassis bolts were loosened?

The pictures don't show enough detail about what is the actual alignment is off...

 

[Burnrate]

Do the mounting ear brackets (if they are removable and screwed onto the battery module) have any kind of labels for left and right? Could they be inverted (right-to-left and left-to-right) and sitting upside-down or something?

Do the 2 screw-holes on one battery module bracket line up in pairs with 2 holes on the rack mounting bars, or is it just off based on the battery module sitting in relation to the position it sits in, at the bottom of the rack (in relation to the rack mounting bars)?

Are the rack mounting bars adjustable (up or down) at all if any rack chassis bolts were loosened?

The pictures don't show enough detail about what is the actual alignment is off...

I did take off the mounting brackets and they are exactly the same but I did try to switch them anyway to see if it would make any difference.

The shelves that hold the batteries are screwed to the same piece of metal that has the holes for the mounting brackets to attach to do they won't be able to move with respect to each other.

Here are some more pictures. Hopefully they give enough context. It's the mounting brackets on the battery that don't line up with the holes for them.

 

[Samsonite801]

Hey, on those shelves that hold the batteries, those holes, do they sit directly inline with the holes on the front mounting, if they are slightly offset, could there be some chance that those rack mounting bars (the tall vertical ones) are installed upside-down? Which might make an offset between the front mounting holes and the shelf mounting holes, offset the wrong way?

Or are those vertical rack mount bars welded onto the main frame and not removable anyways?

 

[Burnrate]

The holes do have an offset, that's why I tried the three different spots.

The vertical rack mount bars are attached by screws and could be removed. I looked at them and on two of them the shelf screw holes do end lower so it's possible that two of them are installed upside down.

The other thing that seems really strange is that the holes on the mounting brackets attached to the battery do not line up with the spacing of the holes on the rack mount bars. Even if I got the top holes to line up the bottom ones would be off.

The mounting brackets in all of the diagrams I have seen have a lot of vertical room to move the bolt up or down to align with the rack mount bars but these brackets don't have that vertical space which seems to be the root cause of the problem.

In this video at time 1:30 you can see the batteries

Will doesn't actually screw them in there during the video and it looks like some of the holes are not aligned.

Even in his latest video at 8 minutes you can see the rack behind him and the batteries have still not been bolted to the rack

 

[Samsonite801]

The holes do have an offset, that's why I tried the three different spots.

The vertical rack mount bars are attached by screws and could be removed. I looked at them and on two of them the shelf screw holes do end lower so it's possible that two of them are installed upside down.

The other thing that seems really strange is that the holes on the mounting brackets attached to the battery do not line up with the spacing of the holes on the rack mount bars. Even if I got the top holes to line up the bottom ones would be off.

The mounting brackets in all of the diagrams I have seen have a lot of vertical room to move the bolt up or down to align with the rack mount bars but these brackets don't have that vertical space which seems to be the root cause of the problem.

In this video at time 1:30 you can see the batteries

Will doesn't actually screw them in there during the video and it looks like some of the holes are not aligned.

Even in his latest video at 8 minutes you can see the rack behind him and the batteries have still not been bolted to the rack

Also, look anywhere on any of the pieces for markings like L, R, Fr, Rr, Top, Bottom, ↑,etc... (just in case they were really awesome designers with a polite and compassionate mission statement hehe)...

 

[Solar Guppy]

Try the brackets rotated 180 degrees, so the 90 degree bend is up, not down as you have

 

[Burnrate]

Try the brackets rotated 180 degrees, so the 90 degree bend is up, not down as you have

Do you mean the shelves? If so wouldn't that really weaken their load capacity.

 

[Solar Guppy]

Do you mean the shelves? If so wouldn't that really weaken their load capacity.

Yes the shelves, it should have no affect on the shelf strength, it is the same piece of steel just rotated. I suggested this as if you look at the slot, the distance is not symmetric so rotated would put the alignment at a different location, which is what your looking for. Just try with a pair and see if it is the change needed.

 

[wholybee]

While I have not used the EG4, I work in these equipment racks daily. I'm not clear on the issue from looking at the pictures. Do you mean that the holes will line up on one side, but not the other? Or that they will line up on the bottom 2 holes, and not the top 2 holes?

Many of the cheaper racks are not assembled quite squarely. I see that a sometimes, and the holes on one side will be offset by about half the width of a hole. If that is the case, then hopefully the rails are not welded, and you can adjust one side up or down.

Also, the vertical spacing on the holes is not even. One "Rack Unit" is 3 holes. Within the Rack Unit, there is slightly more spacing between the center hole and the top and bottom hole, than there is between the top hole of one rack unit and the bottom hole of the next rack unit. If you take a pen or some tape, and mark between the holes that are closer together, those marks will be the dividing line between rack units.

The bottom of your equipment needs to line up exactly with one of those lines you draw. So should the level of the shelf. A confusing situation is where one side rail is offset too high or low, but some holes line up, but because of the uneven spacing not all of them. This might be what you are seeing.

Most equipment that has shelves has them mounted the way you do. But the suggestion to flip them might be correct. Those shelves seem to have a reinforcing fillet on them, which I would think might need to be on the bottom. Don't worry about strength. The battery should fit need the edge toward the bend, which is very strong no matter how you mount it. If you have another person to support the weight, you could mount it with the screws on front with a friend holding the rear, then check the fitment of the shelves.

There have been rare times when I get a piece of equipment that is just weird, and I need to either use custom shelves, or drill my own holes.

 

[Samsonite801]

Also, the vertical spacing on the holes is not even. One "Rack Unit" is 3 holes. Within the Rack Unit, there is slightly more spacing between the center hole and the top and bottom hole, than there is between the top hole of one rack unit and the bottom hole of the next rack unit. If you take a pen or some tape, and mark between the holes that are closer together, those marks will be the dividing line between rack units.

Yeah I like how the modern datacenter server racks have the 1U increments all pre-marked and numbered so it's easy to see for the technician racking and stacking.

 

[chess-equality]

My EG4 server rack batteries don't fit in the EG4 battery rack.​

Update the firmware?

 

[chess-equality]

I think you need to call them.

 

[Burnrate]

I think you need to call them.

I will on Tuesday, just going for something earlier that was simple that I might have missed.

 

[Burnrate]

While I have not used the EG4, I work in these equipment racks daily. I'm not clear on the issue from looking at the pictures. Do you mean that the holes will line up on one side, but not the other? Or that they will line up on the bottom 2 holes, and not the top 2 holes?

Many of the cheaper racks are not assembled quite squarely. I see that a sometimes, and the holes on one side will be offset by about half the width of a hole. If that is the case, then hopefully the rails are not welded, and you can adjust one side up or down.

Also, the vertical spacing on the holes is not even. One "Rack Unit" is 3 holes. Within the Rack Unit, there is slightly more spacing between the center hole and the top and bottom hole, than there is between the top hole of one rack unit and the bottom hole of the next rack unit. If you take a pen or some tape, and mark between the holes that are closer together, those marks will be the dividing line between rack units.

The bottom of your equipment needs to line up exactly with one of those lines you draw. So should the level of the shelf. A confusing situation is where one side rail is offset too high or low, but some holes line up, but because of the uneven spacing not all of them. This might be what you are seeing.

Most equipment that has shelves has them mounted the way you do. But the suggestion to flip them might be correct. Those shelves seem to have a reinforcing fillet on them, which I would think might need to be on the bottom. Don't worry about strength. The battery should fit need the edge toward the bend, which is very strong no matter how you mount it. If you have another person to support the weight, you could mount it with the screws on front with a friend holding the rear, then check the fitment of the shelves.

There have been rare times when I get a piece of equipment that is just weird, and I need to either use custom shelves, or drill my own holes.

I think the fundamental problem is that the mounting brackets that attach to the battery don't have any vertical space on the holes where the bolts go to attach them to the vertical rack mount bars. Ones I have seen before have had a long vertical slot instead of a hole that requires vertical alignment. Even the ones in all the diagrams from the EG4 manuals show vertical space in the brackets.

When I call on Tuesday I'll see if they have brackets that are like this or try to look for some that might fit the batteries if they are a standard size.

 

[Koldsimer]

I went through the same headache with my rack and batteries. It was a real disappointment for such a pricy rack. When i complained to Signature about this lack of attention to detail, i was told it's not a problem, the batteries shouldn't be able to slide out.

The holes are simply not indexed properly for the supplied module ears.

One easy solution, as @Burnrate suggested, is to use the ears that come with the LL model. They have vertical slots that allow for infinite vertical adjustment.

 

[wholybee]

I've never seen rack ears with a vertically elongated hole. Sometimes a horizontally elongated, but never vertical.
I have marked on your photo the rack units on the rack. The upper shelf appears mounted in a (near) correct location. The lower one is not.
One thing I notice on another photo though. I marked where the holes on the rail that the shelf mounts to do not line up with the holes on the front part of the rack the ears mount to. These holes should line up. So you can try to move the shelf to the more forward holes. Whatever hole will have the shelf still line up with the rack unit.

 

[Burnrate]

I've never seen rack ears with a vertically elongated hole. Sometimes a horizontally elongated, but never vertical.
I have marked on your photo the rack units on the rack. The upper shelf appears mounted in a (near) correct location. The lower one is not.
One thing I notice on another photo though. I marked where the holes on the rail that the shelf mounts to do not line up with the holes on the front part of the rack the ears mount to. These holes should line up. So you can try to move the shelf to the more forward holes. Whatever hole will have the shelf still line up with the rack unit.

The brackets shown in the instruction manual of the battery have a large vertical slot:



Also it's funny that the picture of the rack on signature solar's website also shows the batteries not bolted in even though it is in the EG4 manuals. https://signaturesolar.com/pre-assembled-eg4-enclosed-battery-rack-6-slot-wheels-included/

 

[wholybee]

As I said, I have never seen these batteries. I have racked 100's of other types of equipment, and work in an equipment room filled with them everyday. Maybe these are slotted because they know the holes don't line up, or to make it easier so you don't need to worry about rack unit spacing.

When on a shelf or slides, it is very common to not screw the front in. But the holes should line up if the the rack and equipment are designed and installed correctly. When they don't (which happens sometimes) I am not shy about drilling holes in rack ears or modifying shelfs and slides.

Have you tried the shelves on the more forward holes as I suggested?

 

[Burnrate]

As I said, I have never seen these batteries. I have racked 100's of other types of equipment, and work in an equipment room filled with them everyday. Maybe these are slotted because they know the holes don't line up, or to make it easier so you don't need to worry about rack unit spacing.

When on a shelf or slides, it is very common to not screw the front in. But the holes should line up if the the rack and equipment are designed and installed correctly. When they don't (which happens sometimes) I am not shy about drilling holes in rack ears or modifying shelfs and slides.

Have you tried the shelves on the more forward holes as I suggested?

Oh I didn't mean to dispute your knowledge. I've seen maybe three server racks in my lifetime and this is the first one for batteries.

The forward holes are very recessed on the vertical bars (they are like a u shape) so you couldn't put the shelves in there, those are the holes for securing them bars to the case.