paulob1

cripes we have only just started selling in the UK and the military are more interested in the 24v batteries

ooh thanks Wally...

Hi Guys our gearbox oil is really clean and not really due a change but since it has never lost any we have never touched it...but we are now wondering whilst doing the front axles and diff change what it actually needs.

So finally we now have these, they will start your truck..unlike the cheap batteries on EBay which wont. They are lifepo4 inside not lithium ion, so much safer and last longer... 12v Nato 6t 110ah. 1500 CCA list £450, discount to HMVF £300 24v 6T batteries 140 ah £600. replaces two 12v batteries. still has 1500 CCA HMVF £550 24v 663 size truck batteries 240ah...1500CCA £600 replaces two heavy duty lead acid batteries. new.

you just need to fit an extra pipe to the tank..she will fire up with just 60 psi in her but its better if she has 100-120 then she fires instantly...if your compressor is taking that long to fill one of your levers is in the wrong place or not closing, test all your levers to the swim gear, they can stick open and makes it leak so it takes forever to reach pressure...I certainly dont recommend running her for less than 30 minutes at a time...you need to get it warm and happy...if you start her cold and never let her warm up you can find gung and filter blockagaes and all sorts of stuff going on..don't over fill the engine oil tank, she will smoke a lot if you do...i know from personal experience...

I should add we are also just redesigning one for higher density and one for 24 volts so replacing the two batteries with one...the 24volt one is the most interesting giving you plenty of space to either put a spare in parallel at 24 volts or to use it for extra storage...they will be a bit more expensive for the higher density and the 24volt.

We have military defence review at our place on the 25th. Sorry its only open to Serving Military. Its about Drone Flying and FPV use. We have a couple of time served Drone pilots from the Ukraine in working with Saitech Defence doing training courses...its very exciting and may mean we have loads of training course on the Museums Land...exciting stuff... We have replacement landrovers and electric trucks and invisibility cloaks and our nato battery on display and much much more going on...going to be a real exciting day... The museum is becoming something much more than just a collection of old vehicles...

We are not planning on making the lithium cells at this stage although I would love to source UK ones if such a thing existed.

oops missed one of your questions prismatic cells, thin and rectangular gives good space for fitting into a battery pack.... ooh and the good news we are sourcing and currently having the parts made for us and then shipped to the UK for assembly and production...more of this to come and eventually we will design and build our own BMS as we have more ideas... we have a software team in Jamaica and a technical team in the Uk and will be extending the batteries functionality...

ooh yes all good questions... Lithium Iron phosphate, should make them last a lot longer... in house BMS we have currently a simple Bayonet fitting monitor to talk to it...we decided against Wifi or bluetooth for military reasons but may re think this for commercial applications as we can then seal it more thoroughly and not have a wired monitor... Hmm yes and no it will operate down to -20 but the BMS controls when it can and cannot charge. It has protective circuits to stop it being over charged or over discharged, so for instance if the the rectifier on the Alternator fails and it goes 'ac' it will protect the battery. It is a truck battery and we recommend it is not left out in freezing conditions without some limited form of insulation...ie not left totally open but within an enclosure and with some form of wrap if temps are expected to drop below -10 for long periods. As with all such batteries performance is reduced in very cold weather... the unit is ip65 rated, so don't jet wash it.. We currently recommend the battery is used at least every six months as it will lose charge over time but it is not as critical as a lead acid battery.. Tests are being done to see how long we really need beyond the recommendation. So far we have seen limited degradation of the batteries without use in the 6 month time frame. We have just taken then to zero and left them for around 6weeks and they are charging back up and running fine...Warranty 2 years. Its our first design and we think we have it right but there will be longer term issues no doubt but we will manage that...but realistically these will outlive lead acid by many many years.

I have well over 200 batteries of all shapes and sizes in all my vehicles, I have tried over the years everything from the cheapest to the most expensive, and Hawker Armasafe seem the best but even they don't seem to last as long as they did...my core business is Commercial Solar and battery tech...so I thought why don't I look at making a long term reliable alternative. SO I started with NATO std 6T and the hawker Armasafe 6t Battery...took the spec and looked into making a similar product using a lithium based product. the major difference is lead acid battery has 900 plus cycles ours has plus 3000 cycles, likely 6000 in total... lead acid battery weights 40 kg our battery weighs in at 19.8 approximately half the weight. lead acid battery works to around 10 volts before it damages the battery....ours can go to zero volts and still recharge....(not recommended as it does shorten the life if done a lot.) lead acid 1225 CCA we have 1500CCA The prototype I have, its been used in my 433/432/daf DROPS next and so far so good we are trying as many vehicles as we can to get an idea how it survives... we always recommend that they are kept insulated in temperatures below -10. I am looking for more users...to be guinea pigs really, its the only real way to test them, people do the most silly things with batteries and I want to know how they fail...if they do... and if they do why you will get them with 2 year warranties and a special discount. It is not your aim to break them, by the way, its to use a them and see if they break under normal use...for instant if you drop them of the top of the 432 they are not likely to survive. List price is £450 pounds we are looking for 20 users want them for £250. each and will test them...they come complete with LCD display. they should last up to 10-12 years or more...thats at least 3 sets of Hawkers and likely 6-12 sets of Turkish ones...my savings should be massive over the next 10-12 years...

And we have a coach coming from America, we are international already...

Museum flying and going really well...we are fully legal as confirmed by the council, at last, and in the future we will get full planning for indoor displays too...but we are all go. Tickets have to be bought via www.partyace.com makes my job easier and no hassle with cash or credit cards etc... But we are open and my knowledge is booming as I read more and more...check the facebook page @theironcurtainmuseum we are getting volunteers and always looking for more... weekends only but its great fun, we have our rapier battery donated, its a C version...what a special missile rapier turned out to be...

We have just collected our trailed rapier battery and missiles, it is now on display... We have coach bookings for next year 52, see below, coming and are looking to be very busy already. We have Gary Powers jnr bringing a tour from America...they will be stopping off to have a look...very exciting group of American tourists who will get the full tour... I am hoping to start our evening talks again next year too...the proposed topics are the Kursk explosion, the recovery, the U2 incident, the close calls of nuclear war, the Nuclear race, the space race and other such titles. we are looking for competent speakers who would be interested in taking on some subjects or have a particular interest in a subject... Ideally it needs to be related to the Cold war Russia and its past etc...I am particularly looking for someone who specialises in Russian Communism as we want to start next year wuith this as our first discussion.

Museum is going well. We have official confirmation we can open 28days a year...so we are...next we will apply for the change of use of the offices to a museum. This should then make everything available next year...we wont be ready with indoor displays until next year anyway... Our volunteer groups are growing. Only a handful so far but its a start...as we get more operational we will see more people helping. I have been so focused on planning permission it has been impossible to progress the actual museum. this country is truly screwed when even a museum gets refused...I so hope labour will make planning easier but I suspect they will change little other than big business stuff. This is such a sad facsimile of what Britain used to be even immediately after the war, even then we had hope if not much money, now we have no hope and no money...the museum will document some of the changes...