Lockup garage problems. Fix leaking roof? Solar / car battery / ventilation fan controller wanted?

[Nomad]

Hi everyone, I have 2 related issues at my lockup :

1. The felt roof is leaking. Any advice or volunteers (in South East Wales) ?

When I got the garage a couple of years ago I fitted some extra battens as a temporary fix to stop the damp OBD from sagging and it's helped the water runoff. Before winter gets here I'd like 1 waterloged joist replaced, then renew the damaged OSB & refelt at least 50% of the roof properly. I'm capable of DIY but have limited tools and will struggle with full size OSB sheets, also I've no experience replacing felt. Help & advice appreciated ! @roofman

2. The lockup has a solar charger on the wall outside charging a 12v car battery in the garage.
Now I'm looking for something to automatically turn on a 12v fan for ventilation - any suggestions?

It's used as semi-long term storage for a car (often parked up for several months at a time when I'm working away), the car battery gets taken off the car when it's parked up and gets connected to the solar panel / charger fitted on the garage wall outside.
There's no mains power in the garage.
The garage has a damp problem and I'm wondering if I can connect a 12 volt fan to the car battery with an automatic on/off control?

Something like :
Sun is out - battery is fully charged - fan turns on to circulate the air in the garage / reduce the damp.
Battery level drops to 50% - fan turns off (with enough power in the battery to start the car when I need it)
Repeat ...
Hopefully this would cut down the damp in the garage and also keeps the battery healthy as it's cycling not standing at full charge all the time.

Anything I fit has to be zero maintenance as I'll not be there to monitor it and should have very low current draw when off so it doesn't flatten the battery in the dark winter months.
For the fan, I'm thinking a small 12v car radiator fan (edit: or low power 12v USB fan) would be the cheapest easiest choice?

Does anybody have any advice or suggestions ?

A ready made black box from Amazon/eb@y is one possibility or I can look at making something myself but don't know where to start (a bought kit of parts would help)

Photo just because ...

 

[steveo3002]

rad fan will kill a battery in no time

 

[Nomad]

All suggestions welcome

I'm using a small USB fan at home, no reason why I can't run a car cigarette lighter socket - car USB socket - small USB fan at my lockup. It's a lot less powerful than a car fan but it also needs a lot less power.

The key is the "black box" to turn the fan on & off when the battery is fully charged - this is the main bit of the setup that I've got no idea about

 

[steveo3002]

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would this work? i think i would use a spare battery for the fan and leave the car one

 

[gaz1]

to say you knew it was leaking years ago it should have been done earlier

you can move a full sheet on your own using a board dolly, lifting the sheet up on the roof is just as easy as its mainly a lift and push when it gets past its center point on the edge of the roof

as goes for felt its torch on roofing felt difficult on your own to fit but it can be done you will also need a roofing torch if you havent got one its 30.00+

2, power supply you wont have enough charge to start a car and run the fan as you would need 2 chargers and 2 batterys too do both

air flow you can do this by using an sds battery drill and dill your wall at an angle at low point you need enough drill holes are far end to make up a flow through the garage

at other end you can use a greenhouse opener so it opens and closes the top opener

if your going down the fan route drop down to computer fans

 

[gaz1]

torch on felt is not that easy on your own but can be done when its a roll

i use a spade to stop it rolling and roll it using the spade when needed watch out for the last bit as it will either go flt on you or it flip out on you

you can do half - half just easier leaving it as a full cut to size roll and roll out

 

[gaz1]

for free air movement a wind ventilator can be used as it spins you can use it as a low voltage generator or as fitted with a round bar

connected to a bar then using an old grinder gears can then be fitted to fan blades as the speed of the wind can turn the internal fan blades

 

[RWD3M]

Is the car the Mk1 Escort for which you have the grille on the back wall?

 

[bricol]

Take roof off. Replace rotten beam. Replace whole roof with insulated panels.

Done.

Expensive, but you can get seconds - easy to fit, then easy to not worry about for a very very long time.

 

[gaz1]

you can also use solar air heater for air movement depending on the sun and you can use galvanised roof sheet to do so

its free and also can be motor less as well

 

[Nomad]

Thanks everyone with a special mention to @gaz1 and @bricol

The roof has been a problem since I got it, it should have been fixed sooner but (life, universe..), it's actually better now that it was but that's no excuse.

The garage is a middle one in a block of 10 so I'm limited what I can do (I have to replace the roof like-for-like, no chimneys or rooftop extractors etc)

Looking at what's involved it looks like a proper reroofing is beyond me (tools are limited and I won't have access to a board lifter or full sized torch (the busget will run to buying something portable from nearby screwfix but will a hobby/diy torch be practical on something this big?

Replacing the joist would be easy if I can remove the old roof/OSB and had access to the garages either side - but I don't have access or contact details for the owners. I might be able to remove the joist but I don't know if the "problem" joist ends at my wall or if it is longer joist that spans several garages.

I used a battery sds to put a couple of extra airbricks in the back wall last year, it has helped.

@RWD3M the Escort grille is from a fun project many years ago - the car there now is interesting in it's own way but nothing special. Anyone using DVLA checker on the plate is disqualified from guessing what it is (the grill & Ford wheels don't help much)



Thanks for all the advice & suggestions, I knew the garage would be a big job but I'm now at the stage where I need to accept the actual scale of the job

 

[RWD3M]

Thanks everyone with a special mention to @gaz1 and @bricol

The roof has been a problem since I got it, it should have been fixed sooner but (life, universe..), it's actually better now that it was but that's no excuse.

The garage is a middle one in a block of 10 so I'm limited what I can do (I have to replace the roof like-for-like, no chimneys or rooftop extractors etc)

Looking at what's involved it looks like a proper reroofing is beyond me (tools are limited and I won't have access to a board lifter or full sized torch (the busget will run to buying something portable from nearby screwfix but will a hobby/diy torch be practical on something this big?

Replacing the joist would be easy if I can remove the old roof/OSB and had access to the garages either side - but I don't have access or contact details for the owners. I might be able to remove the joist but I don't know if the "problem" joist ends at my wall or if it is longer joist that spans several garages.

I used a battery sds to put a couple of extra airbricks in the back wall last year, it has helped.

@RWD3M the Escort grille is from a fun project many years ago - the car there now is interesting in it's own way but nothing special. Anyone using DVLA checker on the plate is disqualified from guessing what it is (the grill & Ford wheels don't help much)

View attachment 416257

Thanks for all the advice & suggestions, I knew the garage would be a big job but I'm now at the stage where I need to accept the actual scale of the job

Hillman Hunter?

 

[Cobbler]

That looks like a Hillman Hunter estate with an Escort grill

Edit, Beaten to it by RWD3M

 

[Cobbler]

Hillman Hunter?

I had a Hunter Estate for a good few years, it was a brilliant tow car, really low bottom gear so ideal for towing boats up steep slipways & this sort of thing. It was a slow old thing, bit of a slug, it rusted quicker than it accelerated though.

 

[RWD3M]

I had a '68 Hunter saloon 1500 back in 1978. Actually quite a nice car.

 

[gaz1]

The roof has been a problem since I got it, it should have been fixed sooner but (life, universe..), it's actually better now that it was but that's no excuse.

The garage is a middle one in a block of 10 so I'm limited what I can do (I have to replace the roof like-for-like, no chimneys or rooftop extractors etc)

I used a battery sds to put a couple of extra airbricks in the back wall last year, it has helped.

Thanks for all the advice & suggestions, I knew the garage would be a big job but I'm now at the stage where I need to accept the actual scale of the job

the rooftop spinner isnt used as an extractor but it can be used as a fan spinner or as a charger so not used as an air extractor only the 1" bar goes through the roof

air bricks low / air bricks high for a through draft or vented by using the greenhouse air opener

if sunlight is on back wall you can use the solar air heater that will warm up the air in winter or overheat the garage in summer but greenhouse opener will over ride too much heat in the garage

 

[gaz1]

Replacing the joist would be easy if I can remove the old roof/OSB and had access to the garages either side - but I don't have access or contact details for the owners. I might be able to remove the joist but I don't know if the "problem" joist ends at my wall or if it is longer joist that spans several garages.

Thanks for all the advice & suggestions, I knew the garage would be a big job but I'm now at the stage where I need to accept the actual scale of the job

a hobby torch will not do it

if you use a scarf joint no access to next doors propertys is needed and is strong enough to stand on

put this on you tube

How to Create a Scarf Joint like a Pro!​

for wind this is the same thing with a bar through the roof with a generator at the bottom

the squirel fans you can get from oven extractor fans for free sometimes as thats connected to the bar via gears and that will give enough air movement

this type would be better if you wanted a small generator

 

[winchman]

I have a couple of Lockups, I replaced the roof with Tin, Ply sheets first tin on top ( the stuff with the felt on cack to stop condensation) . I use a car battery for lighting but takes it home and charge about once a month. Ventilation I have a 1" gap under the door and a few vent holes at the other end of the garage at roof height to allow air movement

 

[rich_c]

If you can do it with passive ventilation it'd be much more reliable and hassle-free than rigging up fans and circuitry. But if you want to pursue the fan route it'd be helpful to know a bit more about what solar panels and charger equipment you already have in place.
12v fans are available in all sorts of sizes/power no need to use car fans specifically.

 

[not done it yet]

A couple of points worth mentioning.

If you continually discharge an automotive battery to 50% DoD, it won’t last long. They are not designed to be discharged much at all. The modern alternator replaces the charge, used for starting, in a very short time after the engine is running - think, here, of how much battery capacity is used for starting.

The other sort of indicates one (smallish) solar panel with an integral 12V charge controller? If that is tue, it is simply insufficient for what you are expecting of it. Again, working out the energy required and the
solar energy produced, I’m sure the results would demonstrate it is a non-starter.

You will need maximum energy during the minimum generation period (the winter) - base your calculations on that, remembering that most panels will likely not produce their stated output (for various reasons) and will likely produce about eight times as much energy in summer compared to winter months.