Need to protect a small inverter & battery on an outdoor post

skipmarcy · Apr 18, 2023

No one has mentioned using wood and painting it with good old barn paint. I built a nice box out of scrap 2xs and pieces of scrap plywood and mounted on a 4x4 post to hold my fence charger, large deep-cycle battery, solar charge controller and mount the solar panel on top. I cut 4 holes in it and covered with fine galvanized screen (scraps again) for ventilation.

Has been outside in service for 7 years with no problems, just remove the battery in the winter. I just the other day got it back in the ground after a good check-over and a couple more coats of cheap barn paint and should be good for another 7 years +. I used my old satellite Dish mount to bolt the solar panel to the top of the 4x4 so I can easily adjust the panel seasonally to get the most sun.

etpm · Apr 18, 2023

cbg8670 said:
Build small box wooden. Use small pieces of sheet metal for roof. Leave one long side open for ventilaton / access View attachment 796136

Good idea except cover the bottom with window screen to keep bugs out.
Eric

oosik · Apr 18, 2023

Moss - you are correct regarding Tupperware. A bit more thought - I should have said RubberMaid. The wife - unknowingly - gave up a couple of her RubberMaid quilt storage "boxes." They went to a higher and greater use.

Bottom line - I had to replace them when the facts became evident.

ning · Apr 18, 2023

etpm said:
I was gonna say what MossRoad said: ventilated. This is very important. You really only need protection from rain so a big umbrella would work. But whatever you do make sure it is well ventilated. Otherwise moisture will condense on and inside your inverter. Add a lead acid battery and you are setting yourself up for pretty bad corrosion. I would also suggest you check out lithium motorcycle batteries. At least they don't outgas corrosive fumes like lead acid batteries. Good ventilation should make it possible to use lead acid batteries though.
Eric

Umbrella: Yes. I'm still on the lookout for a scrap open-ended box that's not cardboard

I was looking at some LiFePO4 batteries on amz (example: https://www.amazon.com/ECI-Power-Rechargeable-2000-5000-Applications/dp/B0973KJNGR) which have surprisingly (to me) high ratings and low price - this is a 12V 12Ah battery for $65 - not that dissimilar to my motorcycle's Odyssey PC680 (12V, 16Ah, last paid $129+tax, but they're $200 now?).

What's holding me back is that the solar panel's MPPT charging is a "floating charge" with 13V, while the lithium batteries all seem to want 14.4V for maximum charging. I'm guessing that the 13V wouldn't give the battery a full 100% charge, though I'm not sure how much it would.

It's tempting at that price point to give it a shot and see how well the battery functions with that solar panel / charger (the charger is integrated on the back of the solar panel with the battery charging leads coming out of it; it's not configurable).

ponytug · Apr 18, 2023

ning said:
Umbrella: Yes. I'm still on the lookout for a scrap open-ended box that's not cardboard

I was looking at some LiFePO4 batteries on amz (example: https://www.amazon.com/ECI-Power-Rechargeable-2000-5000-Applications/dp/B0973KJNGR) which have surprisingly (to me) high ratings and low price - this is a 12V 12Ah battery for $65 - not that dissimilar to my motorcycle's Odyssey PC680 (12V, 16Ah, last paid $129+tax, but they're $200 now?).

What's holding me back is that the solar panel's MPPT charging is a "floating charge" with 13V, while the lithium batteries all seem to want 14.4V for maximum charging. I'm guessing that the 13V wouldn't give the battery a full 100% charge, though I'm not sure how much it would.

It's tempting at that price point to give it a shot and see how well the battery functions with that solar panel / charger (the charger is integrated on the back of the solar panel with the battery charging leads coming out of it; it's not configurable).

I went down this rabbit hole awhile back myself. I suspect that you will
need a different charge circuit specific to the lithium battery that you are interested in. 13V gets you about 20% of the lithium battery's capacity.

This chart is for discharge, but you get the idea; 13V has 0% discharge on a lead acid (aka 100% fully charged), but only gets the lithium battery 20%.

All the best,

Peter

newbury · Apr 18, 2023

oosik said:
Tupperware. They make heavy duty "boxes" of all sizes and shapes. Get the correct size - turn it upside down - put it over your inverter and battery - attach to post. Leave the bottom open for ventilation.

Besides - Tupperware just went out of business.