Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
Acrylic lid continued:
Supplies:
Lowes
nylon hose barb splicer - 5/8" x 5/8" - $1.41
Loctite Plastic Bonder - 20 Min -.85 Oz - $5.72
The battery box lid has been assembled and water tested.
Now add vent hose fitting.
Here are an assortment of parts for the venting system. Most of these I'll be using later. For the lid I'm using one of the 5/8" x 5/8" hose barbs.
Only need half of the fitting. Used a hacksaw to cut it.The fitting had a ring around the center to separate the two hoses that normally would have been attached. Cut it so all of that ring is on one half. I'll use that half and call the ring the base.
Need to find the diameter at the base.
Closer to 11/16" than 5/8"
Will use a 3/4" spade drill bit. Figure out the hole location. Ultra fine Sharpe works really well for marking on the acrylic. Cleans off with alcohol.
Choose the location just below where the two Top acrylic panels meet. This is the highest point so hydrogen gas will collect here.
Supported the lid from underneath with a piece of 2x4 to reduce the chance of cracking it as I drilled.
Maybe not dead center, but close enough.
Do a test fit of the hose barb. The barb is pushed through the hole from inside the lid. The barb base is up against the lid on the inside. Looks OK.
Here is what I'll be using to attach the hose barb to the lid. I've read that the if you use a slower setting epoxy the joints will be less brittle. That's why I'm using a 20 minute epoxy versus the 5 minute kind. Instructions recommend roughing up the acrylic with 220 grit sandpaper first, which I did.
Mix up the epoxy and apply liberally.
The connection between the acrylic lid and the hose barb has to be air tight. I used clamps with a piece of scrap wood to hold the base of the barb tight against the side of the acrylic lid. I put a piece of plastic shopping bag between the epoxy and the wood so the wood wouldn't also get stuck. I figured I could always just pick off pieces of the bag after it set up.
Let it sit more than 20 minutes. Then when I went to take off the clamps I found that the shopping bag hadn't stuck at all. It just fell right off. So either shopping bags don't stick to this epoxy or it had skinned over before I put the bag against it.
Looks OK. Let it sit overnight before I stressed it. No problems.
continued -
Supplies:
Lowes
nylon hose barb splicer - 5/8" x 5/8" - $1.41
Loctite Plastic Bonder - 20 Min -.85 Oz - $5.72
The battery box lid has been assembled and water tested.
Now add vent hose fitting.
Here are an assortment of parts for the venting system. Most of these I'll be using later. For the lid I'm using one of the 5/8" x 5/8" hose barbs.
Only need half of the fitting. Used a hacksaw to cut it.The fitting had a ring around the center to separate the two hoses that normally would have been attached. Cut it so all of that ring is on one half. I'll use that half and call the ring the base.
Need to find the diameter at the base.
Closer to 11/16" than 5/8"
Will use a 3/4" spade drill bit. Figure out the hole location. Ultra fine Sharpe works really well for marking on the acrylic. Cleans off with alcohol.
Choose the location just below where the two Top acrylic panels meet. This is the highest point so hydrogen gas will collect here.
Supported the lid from underneath with a piece of 2x4 to reduce the chance of cracking it as I drilled.
Maybe not dead center, but close enough.
Do a test fit of the hose barb. The barb is pushed through the hole from inside the lid. The barb base is up against the lid on the inside. Looks OK.
Here is what I'll be using to attach the hose barb to the lid. I've read that the if you use a slower setting epoxy the joints will be less brittle. That's why I'm using a 20 minute epoxy versus the 5 minute kind. Instructions recommend roughing up the acrylic with 220 grit sandpaper first, which I did.
Mix up the epoxy and apply liberally.
The connection between the acrylic lid and the hose barb has to be air tight. I used clamps with a piece of scrap wood to hold the base of the barb tight against the side of the acrylic lid. I put a piece of plastic shopping bag between the epoxy and the wood so the wood wouldn't also get stuck. I figured I could always just pick off pieces of the bag after it set up.
Let it sit more than 20 minutes. Then when I went to take off the clamps I found that the shopping bag hadn't stuck at all. It just fell right off. So either shopping bags don't stick to this epoxy or it had skinned over before I put the bag against it.
Looks OK. Let it sit overnight before I stressed it. No problems.
continued -
