Lifting Heavy Batteries

[SparWeb]

Okay, not so much a wind-energy question, but an industrial lifting problem.

How to lift and stack these batteries inside the confined space of a 10x16 shed?

Each battery weighs 216 kg or about 480 pounds.  There are 4 of these, each in its own frame (part of the weight problem) which I need for lifting and bolting the stack together.  The total stack will be 4 feet high.  I've reinforced the floor to spread out the load, plus shored up underneath the shed so it won't sink.  I did much the same with the previous shed they were inside, but that shed was much much smaller.  It was also designed to allow my tractor to reach in and place the batteries in the right spot.  This shed is much deeper, the tractor can't reach or come inside - it can just just place them on the floor just inside the door.

To move the batteries and place them in the stack, I started with this set-up; a barn-door track mounted on the ceiling and a block-and-tackle.  The original plan was to put the batteries on the left side of the shed, but to save on routing wires all over the place I now would rather put the batteries on the right side.  After moving the first battery I can show that I have a problem.



Big version:http://www.sparweb.ca/Forum/First_Battery.jpg

I'm planning to move the slider track over to the right side, but this will require a lot more work with the rafters of the roof.
Maybe someone in the group has done something like this before?
Any ideas?

I considered an engine-hoist, but the point-load the wheels will put on the floor will break through!

[electronbaby]

Maybe you could reinforce the floor between the door and the batteries final resting location. go buy one of those hydraulic lifting tables. place each battery on the table (lowered table) near door, and roll them to the rear of room and then jack up the table and slide them over. repeat until they are stacked.

just a thought. you could use rollers on top of jacking table to facilitate this (possibly custom fabricate rollers).

here is the table I am referring to:   http://blog.harborfreight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/500-lb.-capacity-hydraulic-lift-table.jpg

Harbor freight. can lift up to 500 lbs.

RoyR

[SparWeb]

Oh that's pretty good.  If I can find a slightly bigger one.

I found in my woodshed some sheets of "puckboard", a very slippery polycarbonate, so maybe I don't need to make rollers if I can just make sliders.
**
Yup there's a bigger version of that table at Harbor Freight.

Thanks!

[midwoud1]

Can be a good idea .
A car engine hoist 1000 kg , we can rent them here for a few euros.
With bigger wheels like a wheel barrow format.

 - F -

[Mary B]

leave it as is and use a come along to pull it to the wall

[tanner0441]

Hi

I watched a documentary on TV a couple of months ago and they slid half a 40ft span bridge, weighing several tons into place using washing up liquid as lubricant on railway sleepers on temporary pillars . If you have a supply of low friction plastic sheet that could be the way to go and the loose pieces you just wash off till the next time.

Brian

[Simen]

Why not just use a bunch of round wooden rollers, like they used to move large boats etc. in the old days? It would roll easily, and distribute the weight evenly...

[ruddycrazy]

Recently I moved that 24 volt 1000AH bank which weigh's 700kg's into the back room of the new shed which was a bit of fun. First I used my 2 ton engine crane like the one pictured above to turn the bank around. Now to note no concrete floors so all moving was done using form ply running boards. I put the lifting jib on my fiat tractor only to find the front wheels would raise up when weight was applied to the full load. So I setup a chain block at the entrance door and used the lifting jib on the other end of the load. It was a slow process and finally got the bank lifted by the chain block to get it thru the door. Once in I used the 2 ton engine crane to move the bank into position.

All good fun and the job all up took just over an hour. I'm just glad my 600AH bank has individual cells so a sack truck will move them one by one.

Regards Bryan

[azjustin]

You're already 95% of the way done.

Make base plates for each stack and as someone else said, use rollers (wooden or otherwise) to roll them into place.  Schedule 40 PVC would work as long as you had enough close together.

Make your stacks in the center of the shed and move them to whatever side you like.  Still portable if you change your mind or go a different route.

Having batteries that are too heavy are the least concern of most people

Good luck.

[hiker]

if nothing else--take a section of the wall out -and rent a small forklift........

[just-doug]

if you laid down a pipe roller base at the load in point,you could then build your stack,then push the stack on the roller base across the shed.leave the stack on the rollers.

[bart]

   I have also used sch 40 pvc with success, but here believe small iron pipe would be better.
If your trolley can handle twice the weight, add a straight piece of iron at the bottom of the hoist, counter balance, and swing into place.

[tecker]

Battery door make sense to me also

[SparWeb]

Thanks for all the suggestions! 
I think I saw that bridge documentary - in France, right?
The wooden rollers is how the shed got moved to its current place:


Making the stack by the door, then moving it...  I'll think about that one.  It's a little top-heavy, but maybe that can be dealt with too.

I've already taken the track off the ceiling, put a beam across the opposite way, and put a shorter section of that track on it.  Now I can slide the batteries on the floor, on a smooth plastic sheet.  From the floor under the trolley, lift up, traverse over to the right side, and lower onto the stack.  In theory.  I haven't tried stacking yet, but I have lifted the one that was already muscled into place so the trolley works. 

Taking the back wall out:  Let's hope it doesn't come to that!   

[SparWeb]

Okay, this sort of worked.  No pinched fingers or toes.
Just lots of huffing and puffing.









If I add up all the time I spent putting the the track lengthwise, then taking it down and putting it in cross-ways, well, I could have just taken the back wall off the shed and put it back twice as fast, and saved myself a handful of blisters, too.  Some day I'll need to take the batteries out.

Thanks guys!

[redtick]

Think of a bridge style crane.  A barn door rail down each side of the shed supporting a beam and rail between.  Giving a lift system that is able reach all locations.

[redtick]

Something like this.

[tecker]

Might want to make sure that the batteries Mount flat . I assume the cells are AGM .

[SparWeb]

Yes AGM types.  They are level, both ways. 

I haven't put the connection bars on the battery terminals yet.  I'm not quite finished connecting all the wires around it, so for the time being the batteries are exposed like this.  A few heavy cables have to pass behind them, so the corner space has to remain accessible for that work.  Later they will be boxed over for protection.  To prevent accidents I won't connect the bus-bars until the work around the batteries is finished.  Otherwise I could be teaming them up for a big arky-sparky mistake as I move around.

I'm still amazed at how long-lived these batteries are.  Now more than 20 years old, their individual voltages always rest within a few % of each other.  If they were prone to self-discharge I would be more hurried to hook up the solar to float them again, but so far so good.  They have been resting for 2 months now, but still holding about 2.07 volts per cell.  6 in series will add up to 12.4v.  I'm sticking with a 24V scheme during my process of rearranging the system.

[go4it]

I like your batteries.  I assume that they were used and are being repurposed for your system.  How many cells are the and what was their original purpose.

[SparWeb]

I can only guess at who previously owned them, and was responsible for disposing of them as they did.  I discovered them in a heap in the alley behind my office.  Several buss-bars were bent off, trash strewn on them, and seemed to have been rained on, too.  It is possible that an employee of a local business wanted to recycle them, but they didn't bother for a few days, and when I asked around, nobody knew anything.  There is a major ISP data center several blocks away, but it doesn't explain how they got to the alley.  Anyhow, the day after I noticed them, I did a google search, to figure out what they were good for.  I started to sweat and got the shakes when I discovered how much a set of batteries like that were worth.  10 minutes later I was driving the company forklift down the street and around the building to get into that alley! 

I brought them home, cleaned them up, and started the long slow process of trying to charge them.  Soon discovered the all cells were keeping their charge, so I was good to go.  I've traced the serial number back to about 1991 manufacture.  There were pretty old in 2008 when I found them, and they're still going today.  Two cells are weaker than the others, but only by about 5%.

GNB Absolyte III, Sealed AGM.  The banks have 6 cells, each a nominal 2.0 Volts, but when charged they rest at about 2.2V of course (Lead-acid chemistry).  Each 12V bank is rated at 400 Amp-hrs at the 8-hour discharge.  Given their age I don't expect more than 300 Amp-hours, and try to keep discharges below 150 Amp-hours to be safe.  To do that with them tied at 24 Volts in two parallel banks, I can take out 24 Volts x 2 x 150 Amp-hours = 7200 Watt-hours of energy.  In other words, they can run a 1500 Watt heater for 5 hours with no problem.

I got the solar hooked back up the other day, and they're sitting at 25.4 volts now.  Probably need another day or two at float to really top them off.  When I get the wind turbine back together in November, then they will be happy again.