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HPRC Electronics Hard Tank Case Version 2.0 - Think Inside the Box

C

ChiTown

Guest
About a year and a half ago I put together this Pelican tank box, using a SW-Motech gascap quick release mounting system.


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The Pelican has worked well for me overall, but there's a few things I wanted to do different.
Preparing for a 3 month motorbike adventure this winter, having way too much time on my hands "working" while in rehearsals, and wanting to upgrade my previous design and electronics I came up with this new gadget box.

I've been changing from Pelican to the HPRC Cases for work simply because I like the overall design better, and they are slightly lighter than a Pelican. The HPRC 2100 is slightly smaller than a Pelican 1200, perfect for me.

Here's my workshop on the road.

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Without babbling too much about why I went with the components that I used, I had wanted a much larger screen with up to date graphics so in comes the $299 ebay refurb Garmin Nuvi 5000. The Garmin uses 12v power going straight into it, so I just ordered a cheap $15 wall ac plug off ebay and cut the end I needed off, using the extra wall PSU to supply 12v power to test the box. (I'm 1000's of miles from my bike)
Since the Nuvi's not anything proof I bought a Aqua Box for it to live in.
After bending a piece of 1/4" aluminum, drilling a few holes, and covering it with gaff tape I had a solid, waterproof mount. Sorry I didn't make too many photo's of this part, but you get the idea...
Here you see the mount with the power and audio line from the GPS into the box with some silicone to seal it.
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One of the things I wanted to make more reliable was the way power came into the box. On the pelican I had a panel mount 9 pin connector with cable whips going directly from the connector to the electronics. I wanted to have things more separated, making it easier to tech so I came up with this.
Battery -> Fuse -> 6 circuit cable -> XLR coneectors -> terminal block -> individual gadgets.
I'm running 2 separate circuits to the box from the battery.

I started with using a male and female Neutrik 5 pin XLR connector that is waterproof and suited for the job.

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Wanting to get away from needing to buy any kind of batteries on the road, and wanting better, louder sound I did away with my Boost-A-Roo (that I thought worked OK) for a AmpliRider. Having a volume knob now is a bonus.
I made my own 1/8" audio cable's to go to and from the volume knob, GPS, iPod, XM. I went with 6 Neutrik Right Angle 1/8" audio connectors to help save space

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Next comes the XM, something I enjoy on my long rides.
Since the Nuvi doesn't have XM, I needed to add a small receiver so I picked up a like new/used Pioneer Inno on ebay for $75. The problem with the Inno is that it uses 5v power so I would have to use it's power supply. The auction came with the car kit so I had the PSU, but it was kinda bulky and needed a 12v socket to plug into.
I took the case off, cut the board down, soldered some wires on it, shortened the power cable going to the Inno, stuck it in a balloon, wrapped it in e-tape, stuck some velcro on it and wired it in. Now it's a PSU that takes up half the space with no left over cable.


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It's not going to win any design contests, but works for me.



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Also you'll see the 12v accessory socket I added for other electronics chargers; iPod, iPhone, Nikon, etc...
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I added a Switchcraft 3.5mm Stereo Panel Mount Connector along with the AmpliRiders volume knob to the front of the box.

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Some velcro and tool box liner held on with foam adhesive finished the job.



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Now if I can just make it to January so I can ride!
 
It's a very robust setup you've got there! Good weather proofing. Looks very secure.

I'm concerned, though, in the event of a frontal accident, your lower abdomen, groin, or thighs may encounter a fairly solid object. Of course, that may not be the only concern at that moment in time....
 
Thanks!
I agree that the box and it's connections are robust, and have also thought about the what if's concerning my safety.
The connection going to the tank isn't nearly as strong as the rest of the setup, and I have no doubt that in any kind of serious frontal impact it would break off. The thin aluminum gas cap that the SW-Motech ring is attached to would sheer off.

On my last adventure I did crack the gas cap mount when riding on some single track trails around Moab. In the last year and a half I've rode 1000's of miles off road in some pretty rough stuff with the Pelican tank box before it cracked the mount. So while I'm confident that it is secure, I feel with the leverage the box creates it will also break off if need be.

Or like you said I might have way more problems to worry about with a frontal impact, like what I hit after the tank box and over the handlebars...



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Sounds like you've thought it through pretty well!

On your GPS, is that highway 550 the "Million Dollar Highway"? That would be some great riding!

Is your Nuvi able to make a Bluetooth connection with the iPhone?
 
On your GPS, is that highway 550 the "Million Dollar Highway"? That would be some great riding!

Is your Nuvi able to make a Bluetooth connection with the iPhone?



Yes it is the Million Dollar Highway.

One of my favorite roads, it looks like this:

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too bad I was just browsing the map instead of actually there, though it would be a bit chilly about now.

No bluetooth on the Nuvi 5000.
 
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