Need Cheap Battery Trays

[rawfuls]

Been looking at the Novak Battery Trays for $24 shipped for a pair, and was thinking, will the Turnigy's I'm ordering fit?

After asking Mike (eovnu) for the ID, it's a no go.

Inside dimensions are:
Longways - 5" 9/16
Height (Up and down) - 2" 13/16
Depth - 1 Inch

The Turnigy's are these:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s..._15C_Lipo_Pack

Somebody from the HC staff (Jason I think.. Not from MaxCraps, I hope at least) has confirmed that the stickers are false, and indeed 20-30C...

Anyways, I was looking for something a bit longer, but real cheap, as I'll be using these on my eSavage TVP's, which will be hit by many rocks, and nonsense, so I don't want to spend so much on the trays, as they'll most likely be disposable over x amount of runs, this is an as-if, and overall, just don't have that much cash..

Mike's trays are beastly, but a bit too much from what I was thinking about.

I looked at the Kyosho Twin Force trays, but apparently they'll fit 6.4" across, 7 cells, which isn't cutting it.

Anyways, if anyone finds em, let me know!

[E-Revonut]

How much work are you willing to do?

[rawfuls]

Depends really.

Stuff like removing TONS of plastic, I'm not too fond of, as I don't want to destroy the tray, but I might do a lot of work.

What do you have in mind?

Maybe PIF trays?

[E-Revonut]

Well my original idea was a e-revo chassis and battery doors, cut the battery compartments out of the chassis. But if this is going on a savage why not try this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-FLUX-SAVAGE-...lenotsupported

[rawfuls]

Haha, funny, I JUST thought about the Flux's body boxes.

Main problem is, 8 NiMH Cell Packs?
Isn't that nearly 8 inches?

I don't know if I can fit a 8inch box on both sides of my TVP's.

I don't know how the Flux boxes mount, is it like a hanging L, like the standard eSavage trays?

Or is it just a screw and bolt on both sides..

:X

Any other options anyone?

EDIT: I'll keep the Flux boxes in mind for sure though!

[E-Revonut]

I have no idea how they mount, I'm sure a flux owner could tell you though

[Finnster]

I always make my own trays from ABS electronics boxes from Radio shack. About $5 and quite sturdy.

You do need to do a bit of work, namely remove the screw standoffs from the inside (for mounting the cover, which you will not need) then a couple cuts thru the plastic lengthwise to trim the width down (this is nice so you can make custom sizes.) I cut them down in a way so there is a lot of overlap, for which you apply black ABS cement ($3 from plumbing section at hardware store,) press together, let dry 15 min, then trim down height w/ a saw (whatever you need) then they are basically ready to install into chassis. I add a thin layer of batt tray foam as well.

On trugs I countersink flathead screws and mount directly to chassis. I mount straps over them, directly bolted to chassis. The trays are extremly durable and tough. ~1/8" ABS. Never have broken one yet, and can be made to be very protective of the lipo.

Here are two mounted in the hyperSt and the .5:

[rawfuls]

Originally Posted by Finnster

then a couple cuts thru the plastic lengthwise to trim the width down (this is nice so you can make custom sizes.)

Wah!?

I'm lost there...

Otherwise, looks interesting.

Since the above quote may be talking about this, how'd you get the specific lengths?

[rawfuls]

Looks like the boxes mount by "ears" on the long ways side, like servos.

They screw into standoffs, and the standoffs go into the TVPs.

Neat design, might have to try that, but looks like the Radio Shack Project Box is appealing more to me.

Finnster, do you think High Temp hot glue would be enough for the ABS plastics?

I guess you cut it off, lengthways, until you reach where you want it to be at, then you glue a piece to stop it, like on the sides, right?

I know, I'm confusing..

I'll draw up a crude picture real quick.



Basically, the color key is: black box and lines are the base of the box, the white inside of the black, is the box.
Red dotted line, you snip that off.
2: Green line, you glue that into the missing side, so it's a box, and not a OPEN box.
3: Green line is now part of the box.
3: The blue spray paint is where you glue, so it's stable.

Is this right Finn?

[Finnster]

Here's a better pic. One where I cut a little notch for exit wires.

[rawfuls]

Sweet, did you not have to trim the box for that battery?

Can you take a look at the above post?

[BrianG]

Didn't read the whole thread, so this might have already been mentioned, but if you need a longer tray, simply cut one in half and spread them apart. Chances are you only need no more than 1", and a gap that big is no big deal.

And instead of cutting out a notch for the wires (which weakens the tray), consider putting in a dense foam spacer in the big enough to allow room for the wires to exit.

[rawfuls]

Sweet, I think I'm gonna order me up two trays from Radio Shack once I sell some stuff! Yay..

[Finnster]

Sry, I was busy...
On the cuts:

No, I buy them the length of the batt I have (least the longest in the fleet for that truck.) If you browse their site you can see the lengths. Basically 3,4,5,6,7,8". I buy one that is long enough, and then cut it down lengthwise. They are very wide, so several inches may need to be removed from the centerline.



Hard to explain, but I cut all the way down the sides, then stop at the bottom plate. Remove the amt of material from the sides equal to how much you need to narrow the box.

The bottom plate is left, and cut once to leave "ears" on the now separated pieces. One of these should be roughly equal to the desired width for the tray (ie 50mm or whatever.) the other side can be just shorter, but not too short, as you will overlap these pieces and apply cement to lock the halves together in a strong bond.

When I make these for truggies, I make them so the bottom does not so all the way across, so it leaves a space for the mud guards. (illustrated in diagram.) This would have to be roughly measured for the trug its going in for how much width is needed. The thicker bottom plate is helpful too to countersink the screws and have a strong base to attach screws. If need be, a small scrap is cut for the end walls and is cemented in. You don't want to just cement edges together or it will never hold. Foam blocks can be added for batts as needed (seen in the box for the .5)

Don't get too wrapped up in exact measurements, it just needs to be close, and test fit the pieces on your batt before cementing. trim where needed first. If an edge is not totally straight, doesn't matter as that's the overlapping is for. Once its all together and cemented, I then use a hacksaw (good for plastic) to cut the box down to the desired height. Lastly notch out a slit for power wires if needed.


If you need to, I would cut them in half width wise to make two "cups" but a single piece is better. The one above is a 7" box to fit a 165mm Neu lipo. Its tight.

You want to use ABS, nothing less. ABS cement will melt and rebond the plastic together as a single piece. Glue is just sticky and will come apart in a hard crash. A hacksaw, a knife, ABS cement and perhaps a drill (easy to remove standoffs w/ drill) is all that's needed. A sharp wood chisel is also helpful to trim the plastic in places if you have one.

Empty box:

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Didn't read the whole thread, so this might have already been mentioned, but if you need a longer tray, simply cut one in half and spread them apart. Chances are you only need no more than 1", and a gap that big is no big deal.

And instead of cutting out a notch for the wires (which weakens the tray), consider putting in a dense foam spacer in the big enough to allow room for the wires to exit.

Some of the boxes are quite wide (depends on length) but the overlapping cut uses much of it for the bottom plate. Mostly the end walls are cut out.

The notch really does not weaken it if you cut it right. Don't cut at the exact corner, and don't go all the way to the bottom. Putting the notch in the rear is advisable, as most crashes are head on. As described, I use a small scrap and cement it in on the end to overlap the cut in the wall, so here the tray is ~.25" thick. Its quite tough, even with a notch.

I have yet to break any boxes even after a couple years of abuse. The only one that came apart is one I tried to use testor's ABS model cement (for models) as my plumbing ABS had dried out and I didn't feel like going to the store. Glue did not bond the same, and only lasted a few crashes.