Battery Box Ventilation

[DavidInWilmNC]

I've finally finished my battery box, battey installation, battery charger and equalizer, and inverter.  The batteries are in a sealed box in the first bay.  I have a blower that will ventilate the box through the bay floor.  I've installed a dryer vent hood facing backwards to create a natural draft when travelling.  My question is how to control the fan when the bus isn't running.  I don't see any need for it to run continuously.  I'm thinking something that either monitors voltage and turns on when the charger is charging or some sort of timer that will activate the blower for a bit every so often.  How have others handled this?  Thanks.

David

[TomC]

Hopefully the blower motor is sealed with no possibility of sparking when turning on, since that's when the hydrogen gases will be the highest.  Good Luck, TomC

[NJT 5573]

David, for safety sake I'm thinking no sealed box and no electric fan. They don't need alot of air circulation, but they gotta have some. Do something like you did with the propane bottle, only opposite since propane is heavy and will escape out the bottom and hydrogen gas is lite and will escape up into the atmosphere. I think you built a great bomb!

[DavidInWilmNC]

Easy guys!     The blower is sealed and is not in the battery box anyway.  It's outside of the battery box where the generator is.  It's a squirrel cage bilge blower, which are always sealed (at least the ones I've seen) due to being used in the bilge of a boat where gasoline fumes build up.  The only part of the blower in contact with the battery area is the squirrel cage wheel, and the inside of the scroll in the housing.  The motor is completely away from any battery fumes. 

The reason the box is sealed is partially due to its location.  The charger, inverter, and Vanner equalizer specifically state that they not be in the same compartment as the batteries.  I might just use a cheap timer to turn the blower on every so often when the charger is receiving AC power.  When the bus is moving, air will naturally circulate through the area.  Thanks for the concern, though.  One never knows what kooky idea somebody will come up with that could end up being dangerous.

David

[NJT 5573]

David, just joking anyway!

[Brian Diehl]

David,
My Inverter provides an "aux" 12v output that can be configured to do different things.  I set up the aux port to turn on when the voltage gets about 26 volts.  This aux port drives my muffin fan that is used to push fresh air into the battery box.  You might look to see if your inverter provides this same functionality.