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Attaching your rack cases to your carts


kmolli

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Hello group!

I´m building my first cart (I´ll post some pictures next week, when I get the base done...), I have an upright Magliner frame with the 10 inch pneumatic wheels, two Gator rack- cases (8U and 12U) and two 4 inch castor wheels for the front of the base.

The upper rack will hold the antenna distribution, receivers, recorder, mixer, power distribution, patch bay (in the backside) and some storage space (hopefully...)

The lower case will hold the battery (or batteries) and more storage space. I´m trying to fit everything so that, if necesarry, I´ll have space in the upper Gator- case so much that I can fit one 33ah battery in there and operate everything without the lower case and the cart.

I´ve been reading, with great interest, all your postings about your cart- projects, and my question is:

with your case- based carts, how do you attach the cases to the cart frame? I´m trying to figure this one out, but can´t seem to get it... I know how to get the base done but I would like to get the case attachment done so, that the whole thing could disassembled in a few minutes after wrap. I would like also to fit everythind in my car, but...

If you have any ideas, or pictures, feel free to post! And thank you for the discussions about your projects, they´ve been a great help to me!

Best regards,

Klaus

FINLAND

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I don't believe the structure of the Gator cases is strong enough to support a 33ah battery plus all the other gear.

My recommendation for mounting the Gator cases, since the case walls are not structurally sound, is to simply build a platform up from the base of the Magliner, supported on all four corners and with a lip to keep the case from sliding.  You can keep you battery under this platform, which also serves to keep a low center of gravity.  Then I would mount the cases with the front and back exposed by simply ratchet strapping around the case and the upright portion of the cart.

The "sideways" orientation of the cart should make mounting your cases easier, and also allow easy access to the back of your gear.

Robert

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You´re probably right about the battery weight. I´ll have to think of a way to build some kind of a battery tray, maybe. Could be that I´m going to exchange the Gator cases for something more sturdier, an SKB maybe? I don´t want to get the shockmounted cases, due to the weight, I want to keep the cart as light as possible.

Thanks for your speedy reply! I really enjoy this group, and this kind of exchange of ideas and thoughts!

Best regards,

Klaus

FINLAND

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Another vote here for keeping the battery a separately removable thing--I'm a big believer in making carts as modular as possible so that you can get them up steep stairs, onto boats etc w/o killing yourself.  Also, you want to be able to swap out batteries easily if you are going to be running off them all day long.  33AH isn't all that big for a cart setup anymore (depending on your specific gear)--I don't have all that much gear and end up going thru 2 33AH batts in the course of a long day w/ no AC.

Philip Perkins

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I'll try to dig out some photos of the attachment strategies Chinhda has employed to fasten cases and upload them later.

Since you are in Finland, you might try using Euromodule cases for your equipment:

http://www.euromodule.fi/e/index.html

I personally have no experience with these cases but they appear to be a very attractive alternative to the SKB cases. I would certainly be interested in feedback from an experienced user.

David Waelder

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I have not seen these, but on their w-site the Euromodule is a very cool looking system.  It appears each case can be expanded an additional 3 units.

I like the transparent model:

http://www.euromodule.fi/e/emsmill.html

And the inexpensive line seems like something to explore for light weight, non-shipping set-ups:

http://www.euromodule.fi/e/emspc.html

Daniel

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I think the Euromodule case system looks really good. There is nothing that I know of here in the U.S. that provides the apparent ruggedness and flexibility of these cases. The extension module is brilliant and I like the idea of stainless hardware (I have many cases that are quite old and a lot of the hardware has not aged well at all).

-  Jeff Wexler

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I found a couple of photos showing an SKB case attached to a cart frame by Chinhda. This, of course, is the work of a highly skilled machinist but the actual fabrication is reasonably simple and could be accomplished by any reasonably handy person.

He attached a metal plate to the case and then used a butterfly clasp to clamp that plate to the frame. Butterfly clasps are standard luggage and case hardware and are readily available. The plate is really just a piece of aluminum with a slot cut in it to take the tongue from the butterfly clasp.

The attachment is reinforced by a second metal plate that fastens to the superstructure. Again, the method of fastening is simple - the plate fastens to the frame posts with Stafford collars and a bolt passes through the case, secured by a nut on the backside.

Stafford collars:

http://www.staffordmfg.com/NewProdApp.aspx

Hope this helps.

David Waelder

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You´re probably right about the battery weight. I´ll have to think of a way to build some kind of a battery tray, maybe. Could be that I´m going to exchange the Gator cases for something more sturdier, an SKB maybe? I don´t want to get the shockmounted cases, due to the weight, I want to keep the cart as light as possible.

Thanks for your speedy reply! I really enjoy this group, and this kind of exchange of ideas and thoughts!

Best regards,

Klaus

FINLAND

Hi, Klaus

I have mounted a pair of 33 AHr batteries in Pelican cases to the back of my PSC cart via a piece of 1 1/2" steel flat bar drilled for a pair of aluminum pins. They are bolted through the rear frame uprights, and the pins go through the lock hasp holes on the cases. The batteries are secured with bunji cords. The advantage is the batteries are behind the wheel axles and help to counterbalance the rest of the cart when it's tipped back on two wheels to roll about and can be removed pretty easily to go up stairs, etc..

I'll take a couple of pictures when I get to the stage tomorrow, and post them later in the day.

Best regards,

Jim

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Klaus, the Euromodule cases are completely modular and can be purchased & put together as large or small as you like, they are also relatively close to you. But for anyone else they ship as a flat pack worldwide at an economical cost as you are not shipping air.

They are reasonably robust , the plastic is quite stiff for attaching plates etc to. They also have rack strip front & back.

I built 6 of these carts (mainly to house Euromodule cases), this was my way of doing it, but it makes for a very wide cart. They have small feet on each corner and I just cut holes so the feet located in them and then used straps to tie them down, they were pretty locked in. You could also try the butterfly clasp idea that Chinhda came up with, it would be very fast & efficient to disassemble once you had set it up. 

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