Battery hold down

[Black Hole]

My car has a pretty hokey battery hold down and as I was going through the car today I found it broken. I was looking for something a little better than just replacing the strip of aluminum that was across the top of the batter. The battery is about 3" wide and the battery box is 5"x7" so there was a bent piece of aluminum as a filler. There are thin aluminum "risers" on each side that are welded to the tray.

 

I looked at Summit, Pegasus and Amazon and just found the usual J bolts, some with a cross bar that was likely way to big. The smallest one I saw was adjustable down to 5" which is much wider than the battery. There was one for a Braille battery that looks like it may work but I have know idea of the actual size. I was wondering if anyone knew of a better solution.

[Black Hole]

Just found the dimensions on the Braille hold down and it is 5.5" minimum so it is also too large

[Croc]

What about odyssey battery tie downs?

[Black Hole]

I think I will order up the Braille tie down, I think I can make it work

[11Budlite]

Jay - I made a very simple tie-down when I changed the battery on my Caterham.  The battery only weighs 3 lbs so it doesn't require a lot to keep it secure.  I have some aluminum and steel in various shapes and lots of different fasteners.  I'm sure we could fab something up without much difficulty in case you wanted to make the trip down.

[Black Hole]

10 hours ago, 11Budlite said:

Jay - I made a very simple tie-down when I changed the battery on my Caterham.  The battery only weighs 3 lbs so it doesn't require a lot to keep it secure.  I have some aluminum and steel in various shapes and lots of different fasteners.  I'm sure we could fab something up without much difficulty in case you wanted to make the trip down.

 

I was thinking exactly that solution. Yesterday I went to Home Depot but their metal selection was pitiful (the whole store seemed bare!). I purchased a piece of 1”x1” angle AL and 1/4” some threaded rod. I did not event try to look for bolts that long but they look cleaner and may take another look. 

[MPG]

Is there a metal supermarkets near you? I've found them really easy to work with. They stock pretty much everything and they'll usually cut any size you need.

Edited August 27, 2021 by MPG

[JohnCh]

Here is another easy to make design.  Flat aluminum stock folded to make the tray, Aluminum flat stock for the tie downs, and wing nuts to speed removal.  The bends on the flat stock apply some tension to the wingnut assembly, acting like lock washers, so no need to torque them down too hard.  It's a little easier to fabricate something for a small Lithium battery like this, but I previously used a similar design for a PC680, which worked fine for years.

 

 

-John

 

 

[Black Hole]

2 hours ago, MPG said:

Is there a metal supermarkets near you? I've found them really easy to work with. They stock pretty much everything and they'll usually cut any size you need.

 

I did a search and did not find any nearby,  thank you for the suggestion

[Black Hole]

1 hour ago, JohnCh said:

Here is another easy to make design.  Flat aluminum stock folded to make the tray, Aluminum flat stock for the tie downs, and wing nuts to speed removal.  The bends on the flat stock apply some tension to the wingnut assembly, acting like lock washers, so no need to torque them down too hard.  It's a little easier to fabricate something for a small Lithium battery like this, but I previously used a similar design for a PC680, which worked fine for years.

 

-John

 

 

 

That looks nice. So far a home depot and a local hardware store have not realized much in the way of AL stock. I did pick up some angle Al that I may use

 

Thank you

[11Budlite]

49 minutes ago, Black Hole said:

 

I did a search and did not find any nearby,  thank you for the suggestion

Check out online metals in Wallingford.  I've bought a lot of aluminum and steel from them: https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/location-and-hours/wallingford

[wemtd]

Jay - if you don’t get it sorted let me know.  I’ve probably got enough stuff laying around the arts pile to get it taken care of.

[Black Hole]

19 hours ago, 11Budlite said:

Check out online metals in Wallingford.  I've bought a lot of aluminum and steel from them: https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/location-and-hours/wallingford

thanks for the lead. 

[Black Hole]

18 hours ago, wemtd said:

Jay - if you don’t get it sorted let me know.  I’ve probably got enough stuff laying around the arts pile to get it taken care of.

Thanks. I will see if I can get the Braille I ordered to work.