<html>
<body>
<font size=3>Jeff:<br><br>
This racking system sounds like it would be a nightmare during an
earthquake. We have a system with IBE 2 volt batteries that
suffered major damage during an earthquake in our area in 2003. All
of the batteries tipped over and spilled their entire contents in the
battery room. Fortunately, these batteries were slated for
replacement in the near future.<br><br>
Now we strap all batteries to the wall with strut and all-thread.
Given the opportunity, we have the framing reinforced during
construction. We do not advertise the restraints as an engineered
solution, but rather as a common sense remedy to minor
earthquakes.<br><br>
In our hot and cold climate. we favor placing the batteries on a slab to
thermally couple them to a more stable temperature source. I laugh
when I see an insulated battery box with large vents. I'm not an
licensed engineer, but it seems pointless to insulate a box and then vent
it.<br><br>
We have tried the shower pan material as a liner, but it was not acid
resistant -- it degraded in two years. Now we use 1/8" sheet
neoprene and build a dam using it and pressure treat lumber to support
the rubber.<br><br>
William Miller<br><br>
<br><br>
At 08:47 AM 5/1/2010, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>As you know, cold floors reduce
battery charge. We use a support "shelf" made of pressure
treated 2 x 4 on EDGE, separated by 3/8" pressure treated plates
every 2 feet, using 8 foot long boards. This 16" wide by 8
foot long shelf is placed on standard concrete blocks spaced every 2 or 3
feet, keeping the shelf 8" above the floor. This puts
the battery fill caps at a nice level for re-fill, and the bottoms off
the cold floor which allows good air flow. An occasional acid spill
may cause some minor issues, but we have these shelves in systems now
over 15 years old with no problems. The are also easy to site
build.<br><br>
Jeff Yago<br>
</font></blockquote></body>
</html>