Battery charging bench

[John Ploegert]

I am not a diver but own a rental house in North Central Florida's cave diving country that I am equiping to accommodate cave divers. A few months ago I asked for advice on this forum for how to build a battery charging bench for charging all of the batteries 4 typical cave divers might use. I received several replies including one suggesting modifying a shop service cart like those mechanics use to move their tools and test equipment around their shop. He also pointed out that the carts are all metal and are fire resistant, which is an advantage since some batteries have caused fires while being charged. Seemed like a good idea (and thank you 35oxfire) so I followed his suggestion. I bought one of Harbor Freight's "Three Tray Service Carts" and modified it using scrap metal to enclose the back and sides of the lower trays and add a partial enclosure with a flourescent light over the top tray. The 3 shelves provide about 10 sq ft of area for batteries and chargers, and there is a nearby picnic table that can be used as a workbench if more space is needed. The attached photos show the almost-finished product. I have bought the electrical components for powering the diver's chargers, but have not permanently installed them yet. Together they have 17 outlets, including at least 8 that will accept those typical, bulky, small-battery charging transformers, all with GFCI protection. Several cave divers have rented the house starting after Labor Day and I will see how they arrange their battery charging set-up before I finish installing these componenets. Also note in the photos the way I re-positioned the cart's wheels to increase stability; I copied this from a "hospital crash cart" I saw recently. My out-of-pocket costs were about: $75 for the cart, $85 for all of the electrical stuff and $20 for paint - total about $180 - everything else is stuff I had laying around the farm.
John

 

[350xfire]

John:
That actually turned out pretty awesome... Be careful with 17 outlets though. Some electrical stuff may be rated to 15 amps. If you plug in, lets say, 15 Salvo lights with 1.5 amps each, you have exceeded the power limits of the plugs.

Now, lets talk about this house you have, where is it? I go cave diving out there twice a year and may be interested in renting from you. Going in October next.

Thanks and good work!

 

[John Ploegert]

Thanks for the tip! All of my house cirquits are 20 amp and there are 2 cirquits serving the screened porch so I can split any heavy loads between them. Also, each plug strip has its own built-in 15 amp breaker so splitting 15 Salvo lights between them should be doable but I'm not sure about the single GFCI - might have to add another one of those. The house is located just north of Live Oak, FL and is about halfway between Madison Blue Springs and Peacock Springs/Little River Springs; not as convenient as those nearer Peacock if that is where you dive, but I think it has some features that make driving a few more miles worthwhile. There is a link on one of my earlier posts giving all the details but it is slanted toward the general public and includes non-cave diver stuff you can ignore. I'll PM you and let's talk about October.
John
John