Recommended Safety Mod to Pelican 1300 Batt Blocks - Handle Related

[maplecap]

Using the Pelican 1300 for a batt case is pretty common, and several sound houses have long sold custom assembled ones. However, it has been my observation that the resulting weight clearly exceeds what the Pelican 1300 was designed for. As such, I've always been attentive to the pins that hold the handle to the case, which can be problematic on Pelican cases in general but pose a substantial safety concern here. On the 1300 the pin can easily work its way out of one of the two thin blades of plastic on each side of the handle, and you might have a drop occur. You do not want the battery-loaded case falling on your foot or anyone else's.

Here's a simple mod I did to mine. I replaced the measly stock 1/4" diameter pressed-in handle pins with 1/4" low clearance bolts, washers, low clearance nuts, and cotter pins to keep it all safely attached. I used aerospace surplus hardware from Luky's in North Hollywood. You could also use an appropriate length clevis pin and hair cotter pin. On the current version of the case you need to clear 0.66" inside plastic, but you don't want the head or fastening hardware interfering with space under the handle or the use of the latches.

After the modification pictured, when the latches snap down they do contact the nuts but are not impaired and are fully seated. The cable ties are on the case simply as an additional safety measure.

Btw, I've read warnings about potential battery outgassing while charging, but the automatic pressure valves used on Pelican cases in recent years are designed to allow air out but not in. I would expect that should suffice as a safety vent, but it would probably be wise to crack the case when charging.

Anyway, with this mod I have confidence that the handle won't come off when carrying the very-heavy-for-its-size case.

[soundtrane]

is this really needed? I've never heard of a Pelican handle come off... Maybe they do and i don't know?

[maplecap]

is this really needed? I've never heard of a Pelican handle come off... Maybe they do and i don't know?

Inspect the handles of Pelican 1300 cases with SLA batteries in them and make your own determination. Look at what's holding the approx 30 lb weight. It was obvious to me from the first time I picked one up that the total weight is considerably higher than the case was designed for. When I saw the dinky pin on mine working its way out under light use I knew it was real safety issue and decided to correct it.

Btw, I've had to reset the much larger handle pins on big Pelican cases countless times. The're just pressed in and work their way out. I use a large, smooth jaw adjustable pliers for that. And I've had the latch retaining pins pop out lots of times, especially on 1600 cases. I used to have a bag of extra pins and latches from Pelican that would travel with our gear all over the country for inevitable field repairs.

[Glen Trew]

I need to point out that having a gel cell battery (SLA) enclosed in an air-tight Pelican case like the one in the photo is VERY dangerous, especially while charging, but not necessarily limited to charging. They will explode, and I mean violently explode. Even though they are called "sealed lead acid" batteries, they have tiny pinholes that allow hydrogen gas to escape, which mostly occurs during charging. This gas will build up inside the sealed Pelican case and the smallest spark (such as when removing the charger connection) will ignite it. The plastic case blows apart (usually from the hinges) with enough force to injury a person nearby.

The case can be made safe with a little ventilation. At the very least you should remove the valve knob. I would also drill several 1/4" holes under the top edge of the bottom part of the case.

I had heard of this happening and I didn't believe it. But after witnessing it myself a couple of times, we were able to duplicate it easily. After removing the valve and drilling some vent holes, we couldn't make it explode.

[Jeff Wexler]

Both observations and solutions that maplecap and Glen point out are important. I have built a lot of battery block (cases) over the years and I have always been surprised when I see commercially available batteries (LSC, Coffey, etc.) that take neither of these issues into consideration. I have done the reinforcing handles thing on Pelican 1300 cases when they have contained SLA batteries (very heavy) and also have always drilled a whole series of vent holes (usually all along both sides and the back, right under the top edge as Glen describes). I remove the valve as well thus exposing just another open whole to provide more ventilation.

Now that I am using Lithium Iron Phosphate battery in the Pelican 1300 (40 Ah weighs approx. 11 lbs vs. over 30 lbs for lower capacity 33 Ah SLA) I doubt that the handle reinforcement is necessary but I continue to provide vent holes.