Cspirit
regular
Reged: 06/02/2004
Posts: 40
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Is there any reason why I shouldn't use the water resistant variety of MDF, suitably painted, to build some battery boxes to be located inside hecabin and engine bay?
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KenMcCulloch
regular
Reged: 22/04/2007
Posts: 801
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
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Exterior grade plywood would be much more suitable.
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Ken McCulloch
Border Maid
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Danny
regular
Reged: 23/10/2003
Posts: 663
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Quote:
Is there any reason why I shouldn't use the water resistant variety of MDF, suitably painted, to build some battery boxes to be located inside hecabin and engine bay?
Not that hot on chemistry but isn't Sulphuric acid (battery acid) a strong dehydrating agent which will react with wood? I know it's used in the wood pulping industry. Maybe battery acid's dilute enough for this not to be a problem. Any chemists out there?...
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Danny
TidePlan English Channel tidal passage planning software
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Relax
regular
Reged: 18/04/2007
Posts: 159
Loc: ked out again!
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FWIW I used MRMDF to make a sit-in cooker unit on my last boat (Hunter 19) - this worked fine for a couple of years without any significant deterioration. I glued and screwed the panels and painted just with polyurethane.
Might be an idea to glass the insides if using for a battery box.
I can'r see any particular advantage in using plywood - except perhaps weight. Its probably stronger - but does that matter?
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All men dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds,
wake in the day to find that it was vanity.
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men,
for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.
- T.E. Lawrence -
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FullCircle
regular
Reged: 19/11/2003
Posts: 8153
Loc: 30000ft
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Make the box from the MDF, and then line it with chopped strand mat and resin. Easy to make, then lining it is no problem, then you have a leakproof box with minimal hassle.
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Come on over to the East Coast Forum . You meet a nicer forumite there.
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Captainslarty
regular
Reged: 12/08/2007
Posts: 2012
Loc: Currently La Coruna Spain
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or, use exterior ply and do the same - 300g chooped strand and a coat of plain gelcoat.. works great.
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PM me for info re SSB's etc. Bought, sold, repaired, fitted and optimised.
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Spuddy
regular
Reged: 08/07/2003
Posts: 815
Loc: Kent
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Just done exactly the same job. I dithered about marine ply but in the end concluded that exterior would be ok. Batten around the top to stiffen and glass tape up the corners and a coat of epoxy all over - cloth on the faces would be stronger still. Something to consider is that if boat is being thrown about the ply is stronger than mdf which is more reassuring.
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VicS
regular
Reged: 13/07/2002
Posts: 8913
Loc: Home: Kent. Boat: Chichester
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Quote:
Any chemists out there?...
There was one around here somewhere 
Yep sulphuric acid, at least the concentrated stuff, is a strong dehydrating agent and will char all wood products to a greater or lesser extent. Battery acid as it dries will also tend to attack wood even if not at battery concentration.
I would expect a particle board to be particularly at risk so I agree that marine or WBP ply would be a slightly better choice. The secret is of course not to spill battery acid in the boxes!
GRP is acid resistant so boxes lined with GRP should be acid proof and acid tight, but that's been said already. If you don't gel coat them stand the batteries on some heavy polythene sheet to stop them sticking.
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Old Chemists never die, they just fail to react
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Breath_Of_Spring
regular
Reged: 20/07/2007
Posts: 33
Loc: Kent, England
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I have just moved one of my batteries in an attempt to even out the weight in the boat. The batteries were not in a box, but a tray made from MDF. Although quite well painted, water had got on one corner and the MDF had started to swell up, a feature of mixing MDF and water. As the batteries would normally be mounted low in the boat there is a good chance any box could come in contact with water in the bilges and degrade quite quickly. It is unlikely that good quality ply would do this.
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