Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Too late to fix it now, I realized after recording, editing, uploading, publishing, and watching that I said the batteries were in series when I meant parallel. Batteries in parallel keep the voltage the same but increase amp hours whereas batteries in series keeps the amp hours the same and increases voltage (chemo brain sucks, I know what I am talking about lol)
As frugal as I am, I will often spend money to make my life more convenient, to save me time or hassle, or reduce the amount of daily chores I have. I have had this project in mind basically since the first winter after I installed the automatic chicken coop door. you can find that video here: youtube.com/watch?v=MgjToyF2CHY
The automatic chicken coop door I have is solar powered. Let's face it, not everybody has household electric near their chicken coop. I would almost say nobody who lives in a rural area does. So having a solar powered chicken coop door for predator protection is an awesome idea. The problem is, the original factory batteries included with those kits are not an ideal size for anyone who experiences winter where the sun is lower in the sky or it's always gloomy. I would also bet those kits don't work well for locations that get a lot of rainfall (Seattle comes to mind) for the same reason, not enough sunlight to keep the battery charged every day. The kit battery basically requires enough sunlight to recharge the battery for each days use. So 1 or 2 poor weather days and your battery is dead.
My first solution was solving 2 problems, moving to talentcell batteries with higher amp hour capacity which meant a few days of cloudy skies would be ok. That fixed the problem of 1+ rainy days back to back. The winter issue still existed, but the time the batteries lasted was extended to 7-14 days. In the winter, it's not uncommon to have 3+ weeks of cloudy skies. So I found it was a hassle constantly checking the battery charge level every day and swapping batteries when they were low, basically November through March/April.
My knew solution in this video hopefully fixes that. We are increasing from 6,000 mah capacity to 15,000 mah capacity using a custom ammo can battery box while retaining original battery functionality if needed.
automatic solar chicken coop door (this is what I have, I can't guaranty this battery box will work with any other brand but should work as long as you get the connections correct): amzn.to/474W22c
Original talentcell battery 6000 mah ($32.99): amzn.to/4oaiWLK
Parts to build this 15,000 mah ammo can battery ($125.52):
ammo can: amzn.to/456YKCU
blade terminals: amzn.to/44xbAdA
batteries amzn.to/3GG4sCw
pigtails amzn.to/44VGzPu
fusable link amzn.to/4oiksM6
shelf brackets amzn.to/3IuLoI1
charge controller amzn.to/46KO7a8
solar panel amzn.to/4lDeO5s
wire amzn.to/44PxNCj
I left out the usb c + usb A + battery monitor but here is the one I have and some optional surface mount ones that would work way better for the ammo can box if you want that feature (no all have usb):
optional surface mount battery gauge (will work better for battery box install) amzn.to/45qru9Y
optional surface mount battery gauge (will work better for battery box install) amzn.to/4l2kt3A
optional surface mount battery gauge (will work better for battery box install) amzn.to/4lUd9Zj
optional voltage monitor w/ usb-c and usb-a 15.99 amzn.to/3GLA6yu
optional 25 watt solar kit (might be cheaper to buy panel + charge controller in 1 kit) 39.99 amzn.to/4lZjgLA
Some tools you might need:
wire stripper crimper cutter tool amzn.to/3IVPp8p
drillbit amzn.to/4f9myti
zip ties: amzn.to/477wIIR
I don't use any of these ideas below but this system is designed to be easily expandable, i.e.:
You want to use lights over winter so your chickens continue to lay eggs, get 12 volt rv lights like this: amzn.to/3HkVF9c
put the light on a timer to control the on/off times: amzn.to/3HgXlRa
add a 12 volt heater to the coop (maybe your winters get colder than your breed of chickens can handle): amzn.to/46YlAhJ
Too late to fix it now, I realized after recording, editing, uploading, publishing, and watching that I said the batteries were in series when I meant parallel. Batteries in parallel keep the voltage the same but increase amp hours whereas batteries in series keeps the amp hours the same and increases voltage (chemo brain sucks, I know what I am talking about lol)
As frugal as I am, I will often spend money to make my life more convenient, to save me time or hassle, or reduce the amount of daily chores I have. I have had this project in mind basically since the first winter after I installed the automatic chicken coop door. you can find that video here: youtube.com/watch?v=MgjToyF2CHY
The automatic chicken coop door I have is solar powered. Let's face it, not everybody has household electric near their chicken coop. I would almost say nobody who lives in a rural area does. So having a solar powered chicken coop door for predator protection is an awesome idea. The problem is, the original factory batteries included with those kits are not an ideal size for anyone who experiences winter where the sun is lower in the sky or it's always gloomy. I would also bet those kits don't work well for locations that get a lot of rainfall (Seattle comes to mind) for the same reason, not enough sunlight to keep the battery charged every day. The kit battery basically requires enough sunlight to recharge the battery for each days use. So 1 or 2 poor weather days and your battery is dead.
My first solution was solving 2 problems, moving to talentcell batteries with higher amp hour capacity which meant a few days of cloudy skies would be ok. That fixed the problem of 1+ rainy days back to back. The winter issue still existed, but the time the batteries lasted was extended to 7-14 days. In the winter, it's not uncommon to have 3+ weeks of cloudy skies. So I found it was a hassle constantly checking the battery charge level every day and swapping batteries when they were low, basically November through March/April.
My knew solution in this video hopefully fixes that. We are increasing from 6,000 mah capacity to 15,000 mah capacity using a custom ammo can battery box while retaining original battery functionality if needed.
automatic solar chicken coop door (this is what I have, I can't guaranty this battery box will work with any other brand but should work as long as you get the connections correct): amzn.to/474W22c
Original talentcell battery 6000 mah ($32.99): amzn.to/4oaiWLK
Parts to build this 15,000 mah ammo can battery ($125.52):
ammo can: amzn.to/456YKCU
blade terminals: amzn.to/44xbAdA
batteries amzn.to/3GG4sCw
pigtails amzn.to/44VGzPu
fusable link amzn.to/4oiksM6
shelf brackets amzn.to/3IuLoI1
charge controller amzn.to/46KO7a8
solar panel amzn.to/4lDeO5s
wire amzn.to/44PxNCj
I left out the usb c + usb A + battery monitor but here is the one I have and some optional surface mount ones that would work way better for the ammo can box if you want that feature (no all have usb):
optional surface mount battery gauge (will work better for battery box install) amzn.to/45qru9Y
optional surface mount battery gauge (will work better for battery box install) amzn.to/4l2kt3A
optional surface mount battery gauge (will work better for battery box install) amzn.to/4lUd9Zj
optional voltage monitor w/ usb-c and usb-a 15.99 amzn.to/3GLA6yu
optional 25 watt solar kit (might be cheaper to buy panel + charge controller in 1 kit) 39.99 amzn.to/4lZjgLA
Some tools you might need:
wire stripper crimper cutter tool amzn.to/3IVPp8p
drillbit amzn.to/4f9myti
zip ties: amzn.to/477wIIR
I don't use any of these ideas below but this system is designed to be easily expandable, i.e.:
You want to use lights over winter so your chickens continue to lay eggs, get 12 volt rv lights like this: amzn.to/3HkVF9c
put the light on a timer to control the on/off times: amzn.to/3HgXlRa
add a 12 volt heater to the coop (maybe your winters get colder than your breed of chickens can handle): amzn.to/46YlAhJ
