Wiring Up Forklift Battery Cells For Off Grid Solar Application
I connected six of my old forklift batteries in series to give me a heavy duty 12 volt battery bank and put them on the DC generator to charge them up. I am hoping to put these forklift batteries into use on my off grid solar powered homestead.
First I put down a pallet next to the DC generator and then put two pieces of plywood on top of that to hold the batteries. These battery cells are 2 volts each and weigh about 100 pounds per piece.
I carted the battery cells over to my generator and put them in a row. Next I used a tie down strap to hold them together and keep them from falling over as easily. They are old and heavily used so they are not very straight or square anymore.
I drilled a hole in each battery terminal and then used a tap to thread each hole for a bolt which will hold the battery cables onto the battery terminals.
This is temporary and later I want to sink threaded rod into the battery terminals and melt the lead around them to form a good bond.
I connected up the wires which have ring terminals on them already. Now I have a huge 12 volt forklift battery rated at about 525 AH. This battery bank weighs just over 600 pounds I figure.
Some people are concerned about the weight of using a forklift battery to power my solar tiny house on wheels but the old solar golf cart batteries weigh just a little bit less than these forklift batteries and the tiny home is holding them just fine.
I fired up the DC generator which is a Harbor Freight gas engine connected to a 100 amp car alternator. When I connected the jumper cables from the generator you could hear the engine bog a bit which means the batteries are taking a charge nicely.
I let the generator run until it ran out of gas. This should be about 500 amp hours of energy put into the battery bank.
I will be moving these forklift batteries over to the off grid tiny house and connecting them to my solar power. I hope they will be a good backup battery bank when I get my newer forklift batteries delivered.
Follow my daily progress on the path to self sufficiency on my off grid solar homestead.
https://www.youtube.com/user/techman2015/playlists?view=50&shelf_id=10&sort=dd
Please donate to help keep The Off Grid Project ™ going: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3TQSWXLLRZ6HW
Join The Off Grid Project ™ and The Do It Yourself World ™ forum and share your ideas, tips and projects.
http://www.thediyworld.com/forum
The Off Grid Project ™ is presented by The Do It Yourself World ™.
http://www.TheDIYworld.com
-
17:21
The Based Mother
18 hours agoThe Based Mother Show - Harris & Biden Invited 662,566 Criminals Into the U.S.
5.5K15 -
2:01:49
Nerdrotic
14 hours ago $24.63 earnedDo We Live In a Simulation? | Forbidden Frontier #076
67.7K62 -
2:18:38
vivafrei
18 hours agoEp. 230: Kamala Goes to Border! Klappenstein X Ban! Pennsylvania Corruption & MORE! Viva & Barnes
215K223 -
7:52:14
Vigilant News Network
17 hours agoMainstream Journalists Inadvertently Reveal the Shocking Truth About Climate Change - Media Blackout
105K57 -
1:22:06
Josh Pate's College Football Show
15 hours ago $16.39 earnedAlabama Beats UGA | Deion & Colorado Arrive | Ole Miss Gets Upset | AP Poll vs JP Poll Reaction
78.1K15 -
2:28:31
Faoplich
12 hours agoStream #141 Fortnite With Vortex!
56.3K6 -
3:36:27
EricJohnPizzaArtist
12 hours agoAwesome Sauce PIZZA ART LIVE Ep #18: The Diceman
92.6K22 -
LIVE
Right Side Broadcasting Network
1 day agoLIVE REPLAY: President Trump Holds a Rally in Erie, Pennsylvania - 9/29/24
3,931 watching -
5:43:23
Rescue The Republic
18 hours agoRescue The Republic
137K65 -
4:43:02
Drew Hernandez
1 day agoTRUMP RALLY ERIE PA & TRUMP FORCE 1 MISSLE THREAT?
142K160