12V Solar Pelican Case Power Pack / Generator

[lysol]

Ok. I now have almost everything I need to complete my project.

Stuff I have:
Battery ($120)
Battery Mount ($40)
Solar Charge Controller ($60)
20W Solar Panel ($65)
Watts Up Meter ($50)
2 Goal Zero Light-A-Life lanterns ($80)
12V gauge ($10)
Pelican Case 1400 ($80)
1/8 inch rubber Neoprene mat roll (12" x 36") ($15)
Plasma Glow Button On/Off ($30)
Master Arm switch ($10)
Lateral Fuse Box ($7)
Mini 10/20 amp relay ($5)
Braided Cable Sleeve (25 feet) ($15)
10 amp Diodes ($10)
Misc. Mil Spec connectors ($50)

Stuff I still need:
battery tender ($30)
bolts/nuts/washers for battery case ($TBD)
(1) male 3-pin socket Mil-Spec ($10)
(1) female 3-pin plug Mil-Spec ($10)
(2) female 2-pin socket Mil-Spec ($20)
(2) male 2-pin plug Mil-Spec ($30)
bolts/nuts/washers for Mil-Spec sockets ($TBD)
Silicone Adhesive ($5)
second Watts Up Meter ($50)

 

[lysol]

I went to Home Depot and bought some bolts/nuts/washers. I went with 1/4" bolts for the battery mount. I could have went a little larger, but I wanted to have a little wiggle room in case I drilled out one of the holes slightly off center (I drilled them perfect... lol). I used a *** drill bit which is the next size down from 1/4" in my drill bit box. I was able to thread the 1/4" bolt into the case without cracking it. I was actually able to get it pretty tight so I hope this helps with waterproofing.

On a side note, I'll be removing the battery again so I can silicone the holes to seal them and the bolts later. Some more pics:

The nuts/bolts/washers/rubber washers I bought from Home Depot. I need another pack of rubber and metal washers to get all (6) holes waterproof:

Small 10/20 Amp relay:

On/Off switch that will be the system master switch inside the case. This will arm the next switch:

On/Off switch that will be mounted outside the case. This will activate the relay:

Small lateral fuse box to fuse the following (Master, Incoming Solar, Outgoing, Battery Tender):

Harwin 5015 Connectors (This is my Solar input setup):

1/4" Wire Sleeving. This stuff is like a chinese finger trap. It gets nice and tight around the cable:

Some shots of the Harwin 5015 Socket Connector:

Started drilling the case for the battery mount (I'm going to add another rubber washer between the bolt head and the metal washer):

Getting the Neoprene rubber roll ready to cut:

Test fitting:

Assembling:

The bolt heads rise just over the plastic ribs on the bottom. The weight of the case rests on the bolt heads now when the case is lying flat. I couldn't think of anything short of trying to countersink the washers into the plastic. Just have to be more careful when resting the box on a wooden table or anything that I don't want scratched:

 

[lysol]

This thing ran like a champ this past weekend. Where we camped at, a bunch of vehicles for some reason couldn't see us and would drive almost on top of us before they saw us. I took the box down to a tree and hung a light on the side facing the entrance. It kept those pesky "late night last minute trying to find a campsite" peeps away. Now I need to get started on drilling out my sockets so I can actually use this thing without opening the lid.

 

[Dawgboy]

That's the hard part... Drilling holes in something water tight...


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[lysol]

Messed around a little more with it today. I improved my case wiring diagram. It's pretty crude on paper so I won't be uploading it. It's really more for me so I know where the wires will physically be routed inside the case. Yesterday, I ordered 2 types of rubber feet so I will be installing them and water-proofing the holes sometime this week. I will also be ordering my new solar-input socket connector. I'm going with a 23-amp rated as I eventually want the solar input socket on this case to match the one's that I'll be putting on my Jeep. I figure that I should just go ahead and do this one right and order a new socket now. At least I didn't drill any holes yet.

In the picture, the solar charger is now permanently mounted to the battery box via 3m "Stickiest ********" "Super Strength Molding Tape" (1/2" x 5'). It's under the mounting holes on the solar charger. I actually stuck it on and drilled out the holes. Then I used tweasers to clean up the holes until I was satisfied. I also used this on the On/Off switch, but I'm not happy with the slight "wiggling" going on with it. There isn't enough surface area on the side of the switch to make the 3M tape effective. I am going to find an "L" bracket and stick that to the side of the battery box instead and then I can mount the switch properly into that. That should be much very secure and will allow me to remove the switch if I need to. This switch is just the master on/off switch that will disconnect everything from the battery regardless of the outside switch being on/off. It will be inline with the outside switch that controls the relay. If this switch is in the "off" position, the other switch won't have any power and the relay won't activate. This will shut off power to the solar charge controller which is pretty much the "brains" of the box. Without it, nothing gets power. While I could essentially just turn off the outside switch to achieve the same effect, I like the added piece of mind that the box will definitely be disabled when not in use. Plus, I like the old style toggle switches... lol. Something about that "Click"...

 

[Dawgboy]

I like that! Very nice. I was expecting holes in the lid and a backing plate there.


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[lysol]

I like that! Very nice. I was expecting holes in the lid and a backing plate there.


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I'm not planning on drilling through the lid. The only holes that will be in this case are the (6) battery mount holes, (1) 12V solar input, (1) 120V battery tender input, (2) 12V accessory outputs. In the future, I might velcro a small pouch in the lid area to hold the cables. I still need to source the exact connectors I want/need before I move on with that part. I can atleast start wiring the internal components some.

I have a plan that all the wires on the aluminum battery box will "exit" that area at one of the corners as (1) complete bundle with some slack coiled up. This will allow me to unbolt the aluminum battery box and move it out of the way to get to the battery. This will require clean wiring with some slack. I'm figuring a zip-tie where they exit should keep it clean.

 

[lysol]

Got my (6) feet installed over the weekend. Been lazy to grab the picture off the camera. I was only going to use (4) feet, but decided that I could waterproof the holes better as the feet themselves are rubber. I siliconed them to the case as well. I also got my waterproof battery tender. I have been trying to figure out how to mount it to the aluminum battery box, but there is no way to fit it. I completely overlooked the fact that if I mount it in the empty space on the right, I won't be able to access the battery box bolts. I am going to mount it on the lid toward the right so that when I close the lid, it will land just to the right of my fuse box. I really wanted to get some of the case wired up this weekend, but I decided that relaxing was more important... lol.

 

[lysol]

Ordered some new sockets. I'm moving to Amphenol instead of Harwin due to more connector possibilities.

These will most likely be my standard plug for all electrical projects I do from now on. I would actually like to be able to power my ARB fridge off of this unit. The fridge needs about 2-3 amps on startup and then will settle down to around 1 amp for running. All of these sockets are rated for 23 amps, so if I use 12AWG wiring for everything, I should be good. I plan on using these connectors on my Jeep as well. Then I'll make Accessory cords for various things that could be used on either my solar generator, or Jeep.

Sockets(Outlets):
IN
MS3102E20-3P - AC Charger IN Outlet
MS3102E18-3P - Solar IN Outlet
OUT
MS3102E18-3S - Accessory Out outlet

Plugs:
IN
MS3106E20-3S - AC Charger IN
MS3106E18-3S - Solar IN
OUT
MS3106E18-3P - Accessory

The "E" in the Plug model numbers might change to an "F" when I figure out the damn difference. lol.

For the plugs, the AC cord will be a (3)-wire cord. Most likely a 12/3 (12 AWG by 3 wires). The Solar and Accessory cords will be a (2)-wire cord. Most likely a 12/2 (12 AWG by 2 wires).

In the model numbers above, there is a size "20" and a size "18". Obviously the size "20" is sligtly larger, but not by much. The one part I'm stressing on is how thick of a cable will fit into the plugs. Here is the following maximum diameter cables that will fit into the respected plug shell size:

18 - .531(inch) or 13.5(mm)
20 - .656(inch) or 16.6(mm)

 

[lysol]

Here's some pics of when I put the feet on the other day. I silicone'd them to the bottom of the case for waterproofing. I can now lay the case down without having to worry about the bolt heads scratching the surface. Also, these feet have metal washers already inside them so I was able to crank down on the bolts pretty good. I had to go out and buy (6) more bolts in the 1.5" flavor as my original 1" bolts were now too short.

Laying them out to see how they would look:

Screwed them in so I could mark where I had to shave some of the case ribs off:

End Result:

 

[lysol]

Here, I'm mounting the battery charger/tender. It will put out up to .8 amps which will be good enough for this generator. Also, this AC charger will only be used when it is at home to maintain the battery and keep it topped off. I tried using the 3M molding tape, but it just wouldn't stick to the polypropylene surface of the Pelican case... So I busted out the Marine Goop.

I'm going to let it sit for 48 hours.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

pretty kool. I like the Battery Tender stuff, I have one out in the Jeep now maintaining the battery while it sits. I like where this is going.

 

[Ovrland]

I have a question about this type of battery...it does not gas in any way when charging?

Sorry for my ignorance.

By the way...outstanding work and great attention to detail!


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[lysol]

Here's my crude wiring schematic. I will be using mostly (14 AWG) inside the case. The meters are already 14 AWG, so I figure there is no reason to go any lower. This wiring should be good for 15 amps and as my charge controller can only handle up to 10 amps, I'm good. Also, my small relay has either 16 or 18 AWG pre-wired so that is a no-go. I'll be installing a regular automotive relay instead.

Here is how I'm thinking I want to arrange the sockets. From left to right: AC Battery Tender Input, DC Solar Input, (2) DC Outputs.

I'm thinking of mounting the outside switch here instead of on the side with the sockets/outlets. Plus, the ribs will protect it from accidental bumps that might turn the case "Off".

 

[lysol]

I have a question about this type of battery...it does not gas in any way when charging?

Sorry for my ignorance.

By the way...outstanding work and great attention to detail!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. The type of battery I'm using is an AGM battery. It is fully sealed. With that said, the battery still should not be placed in a completely sealed enclosure. In the event of overcharging, the battery can release gasses. Also, this battery along with all sealed batteries can be mounted in any orientation.

The Pelican case I have has an automatic pressure valve that will let air both in and out. This valve is designed for military applications where altitude changes can make it very hard to open a case. Here is a quick 0:38 second video explaining it.