Bout to Break My Back Trying to Wall Mount Victron Quattro 15K, But Will Plywood Hold It?

[AlaskanNoob]

Finally putting these blue boxes on the wall. Precious little info on mounting this super heavy Quattro 15K though. It comes with some screws for the bracket (though we're missing one) and it has side bolts that bolt through side part of the bracket into the Quattro.

I'm just wondering, with my wall consisting of 3/4" plywood and 1/2" cement board, is that going to be enough to hold this beast up on the wall? The bracket won't be installed into studs, just that.



Also this document below shows 6 total holes in the bracket (3 each side) that are not countersink for screws, but it never explains what if anything is supposed to be inserted through those holes.
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Quattro-48V-15000VA-230V.pdf

I'm guessing I need to find what goes into those six holes before trying to put this biggum up on the wall.


From this video, this guy seems to have only used those holes to attach the bracket to his cement board. Then he put his cement board up against his wall and used the screws to hold it up. It's too late for us to use those holes on cement board though, since that board is already up on the wall.

 

[Supervstech]

Lotsa screws.

Static loads shouldn't be an issue.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Lotsa screws.

Static loads shouldn't be an issue.

That's good to know. I think we'll just go buy six more screws for the non-countersink holes (along with a replacement screw for our missing one) and give it a go. I cannot wait to lift this thing onto the wall by myself...or try anyway.

 

[Solar Guppy]

Make sure the screws for the mounting bracket hit the studs is what is needed, cement board is useless for mounting any hide how the plywood was mounted.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Make sure the screws for the mounting bracket hit the studs is what is needed, cement board is useless for mounting any hide how the plywood was mounted.

As stated above, our mounting brackets will not be going through any studs. Just 3/4" plywood and 1/2" cement board.

Do you disagree with @Supervstech that this will work?

The plywood was mounted using lots of screws into three studs.

 

[CoolWill]

Yes, it will hold. I have a 110 pound inverter in 3/4" plywood right now. It is mounted to unistrut at the top and bottom, which is mounted with four #12 hex head screws and washers. Each piece of strut has a 3/8" toggle bolt in the center as well.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Yes, it will hold. I have a 110 pound inverter in 3/4" plywood right now. It is mounted to unistrut at the top and bottom, which is mounted with four #12 hex head screws and washers. Each piece of strut has a 3/8" toggle bolt in the center as well.

Thanks, that's great to hear. I can't wait to lift this 159 pound fatty up onto that wall bracket to test it out!

 

[AlaskanNoob]

It's almost time for my feat of strength. Actually, I think I'll try a hoist first. Just added six large screws in the six unoccupied holes and it seems like it should hold some weight.

BTW, the LCD screen of the MPPT not being level on the face of the unit goes well with my lack of building skill.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

So close yet so far away. Got it up with a hoist, the viewer's right side is flush and the side screw goes in at the top.

The left side bottom is in the hook and where it should be, but the left top is not getting in there where it needs to be for some reason.

This has been a great deal of fun though, playing the guessing game of "is it lined up" with a 160 pound giant box. I would think markings on the side would be useful when trying to line the thing up with the multiple sets of teeth that you can't see on the wall, but alas, no such thing.


Gonna take a breather then hoist it up and out and try it again...

 

[Quattrohead]

Did you try dry mounting the bracket to the inverter before you put it up ? Maybe slightly bent ?

 

[sollap]

Might be that your hoist needs to be relaxed some more once the unit is in the bracket? It could be the pull on the strap is uneven and twisting the unit to the right.

Your lifting strap scares me. I get that it tightens around the unit when you lift and the unit rides the wall going up, but if the strap slips on the bottom it could get ugly instantly. Do you have 4 c-clamps and/or locking pliers? If you put 2 on each side - on the bottom flanges - with enough room between each pair of clamps for the strap to run through, then the strap won't be able to slide off the bottom unexpectedly.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Did you try dry mounting the bracket to the inverter before you put it up ? Maybe slightly bent ?

That's what a smart person would have done. Hence, I didn't do that....wish I had.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Might be that your hoist needs to be relaxed some more once the unit is in the bracket? It could be the pull on the strap is uneven and twisting the unit to the right.

Your lifting strap scares me. I get that it tightens around the unit when you lift and the unit rides the wall going up, but if the strap slips on the bottom it could get ugly instantly. Do you have 4 c-clamps and/or locking pliers? If you put 2 on each side - on the bottom flanges - with enough room between each pair of clamps for the strap to run through, then the strap won't be able to slide off the bottom unexpectedly.

View attachment 164280

I don't have those but I'll look into it. After the second time trying, same result. The hoist is relaxed and I try to push that corner up and in, or just in, and I can't get it to do anything. It's close to making the screw hole line up, but not close enough. I assume the hooks are in correctly, but I have no idea. At this point I've just got the hoist up and relaxed as a backup, but it seems to be staying on the bracket. I'll deal with it later because I just don't have the energy right now after wrestling with this thing. I may try to rig up a jack horizontally and squeeze that thing until that hole lines up enough to get the bolt through it and call it good.

 

[sollap]

I just noticed all the locking tabs on the mounting bracket. I had previously assumed the unit sat on the lower part of the mount and then rocked backwards into position where it would be held by the screws.

But, those tabs suggest the unit needs to be pushed back flat against the mount and then lowered to lock itself in place. The screws are more for keeping the unit from bouncing out of the mount in a mobile application, earthquake, etc. These tabs should hold it in place, from the looks of it. I don't know for sure, never mounted one of these.

 

[toms]

The plywood will hold it. I have mounted SMA Sunny Islands to plywood with eight screws plenty of times with no problems, and these are heavier than the Victron.

Interestingly, the SMA has provision for a pole to slide through the case for a two person (or sling) lift.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

I just noticed all the locking tabs on the mounting bracket. I had previously assumed the unit sat on the lower part of the mount and then rocked backwards into position where it would be held by the screws.

But, those tabs suggest the unit needs to be pushed back flat against the mount and then lowered to lock itself in place. The screws are more for keeping the unit from bouncing out of the mount in a mobile application, earthquake, etc. These tabs should hold it in place, from the looks of it. I don't know for sure, never mounted one of these.

View attachment 164294

We hoisted it up above those tabs, pushed it up against the wall, lowered it down trying to get the tabs inserted. They're definitely all inserted on the right side and the lower left side. Unsure about the upper left side, but I would think they're in there though it's not quite flush on the left side so maybe not. I don't know how they wouldn't be in there, but who knows. I'm going to put up a vertical board and try to use a jack to horizontally push that upper left corner toward the wall until I can get that side screw in and call it good I think.

 

[Mattb4]

... Unsure about the upper left side, but I would think they're in there though it's not quite flush on the left side so maybe not. ...

Likely this is the problem. You might need to dismount unit and check those tabs to see if they are bent out of normal alignment so that your unit is not sliding onto them.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Likely this is the problem. You might need to dismount unit and check those tabs to see if they are bent out of normal alignment so that your unit is not sliding onto them.

We did that once. Took it off the bracket and checked those tabs, they seem normal. The screw hole on the side is so close, I think I'm gonna try to rig up a jack to see if I can push it a little to get that last screw in. If it moves in easily and doesn't take a lot of pressure I'll call it good. If it's still binding, I'll hoist it up and off the bracket and try to lower it in concert with the jack applying horizontal pressure.

Doing all this makes me feel like a circus stunt performer though. On a ladder, no leverage, good times.

 

[CoolWill]

It looks to me like the hex heads are keeping the unit from going back further. May need to use a pan, wafer, or bugle head screw instead.

 

[featherlite]

On a ladder, no leverage, good times.

Good one!

Wish I was there to help.