Battery build picture thread

[apachexmd]

I would like to see pics of everyone's completed battery banks. Show off you battery build pictures here.

Here's mine made of 16 Lishen 272ah cells and an "320A" Ant BMS:

This is the frame/cart I made for the battery. It's made out of leftover cedar fence boards and redwood 2x8s. The vertical board is fastened to the base and holds the breaker and the BMS with angle brackets. The other 2x8 is floating



This is the completed battery. The cells are clamped with 4 lengths of 1/4"-20 threaded rod which are sleeved in plastic tubing.



I still need to install a large cover/shroud to protect the whole cart.

What does your battery look like?

 

[Mike Jordan]

I'm interested to see what others have done before I start. Bump for the thread

 

[Johnolar]

There's my toy

 

[Mike Jordan]

There's my toy View attachment 30236View attachment 30237

Pretty neat. What are you using for buss bars?

 

[Johnolar]

Pretty neat. What are you using for buss bars?

copper flat bar 25mm x 6mm, cut to length. stainless steel screws and washers.

 

[Ampster]

Here is mine. I did it vertically because I thought the inspector wanted to see it in a NEMA cabinet. The next iteration will be different. It is compressed with threaded rod between columns 1&2 and 3&4. 32 LF280 cells. BtW, welcome to the forum. We got acquainted discussing Skybox issues on the Outbackpower Forum.

 

[apachexmd]

Here is mine. I did it vertically because I thought the inspector wanted to see it in a NEMA cabinet. The next iteration will be different. It is compressed with threaded rod between columns 1&2 and 3&4. 32 LF280 cells. BtW, welcome to the forum. We got acquainted discussing Skybox issues on the Outbackpower Forum.

Hi Ampster,

Where did you get those braided bus bars? They look awesome.

 

[Ampster]

Hi Ampster,
Where did you get those braided bus bars? They look awesome.

They came with one of my orders. I forget the exact source. I have a mishmash of buss bars in that configuration which was dictated by the size of the cabinet. My long term intention for my next horizontal configuration is to reduce the number of buss bars and use aluminum bussbars in a more efficient layout. The two bars on the left are 1/4 x 1 inch aluminum. I think I can get by with 3/16 inch aluminum ones when I go to a 3P16S pack. I do clean the aluminum with 3M pads and use NoAlox between the terminal pads and buss bars.

 

[Ampster]

Where did you get those braided bus bars?

I finally remembered. They came with my order from Deligreen. Maybe April can send some. I don't think they would carry much more than 100 Amps.

 

[apachexmd]

I finally remembered. They came with my order from Deligreen. Maybe April can send some. I don't think they would carry much more than 100 Amps.

Thanks for remembering!

 

[markver]

Looking to build a 48v system this spring, following...

 

[BabylonFive]

Same here! Want one for my Motorhome!

 

[kl3vr]

Mines a lot smaller than all yours haha

 

[Mike Jordan]

Mines a lot smaller than all yours haha
View attachment 35721

That looks interesting. Do you have more pics or info posted somewhere?

 

[kl3vr]

That looks interesting. Do you have more pics or info posted somewhere?

I should do a teardown, its much cleaner now. well its 4*272ah batteries, a Kisae Abso 50a charger, 200a smart BMS, dual temp controller some output USB's and XT60's, all crammed into a plano ammo case.

The most unique part of the build is the temp controller, which has 2 temp probes and controls 2 relays and is manually turned on by the switch when charging. I will also wire it to turn on when power is supplied to the charger since the BMS could kill the output. one probe activates heating pads between the batteries when cold and the other activates the fans if the temp goes above 35C. The idea is to warm the batteries quicker for charging and provide ventilation if the charger puts off heat. the batteries are also spaced a few mm to allow airflow and expansion. the fans will pull air from front vents to exhaust out the back, flowing through the batteries and BMS.

 

[BabylonFive]

Very nice. I have been thinking the same thing about how batteries in the hot need cooling, but batteries in the cold need insulation. Fans controlled by temp can help control that system. Very nice. My box will be a little bigger, as I ordered 32.

 

[Mike Jordan]

I should do a teardown, its much cleaner now. well its 4*272ah batteries, a Kisae Abso 50a charger, 200a smart BMS, dual temp controller some output USB's and XT60's, all crammed into a plano ammo case.

The most unique part of the build is the temp controller, which has 2 temp probes and controls 2 relays and is manually turned on by the switch when charging. I will also wire it to turn on when power is supplied to the charger since the BMS could kill the output. one probe activates heating pads between the batteries when cold and the other activates the fans if the temp goes above 35C. The idea is to warm the batteries quicker for charging and provide ventilation if the charger puts off heat. the batteries are also spaced a few mm to allow airflow and expansion. the fans will pull air from front vents to exhaust out the back, flowing through the batteries and BMS.

Looking at your first picture the batteries are in (for lack or a better term) a flat configuration. I was thinking about doing that, but I haven't seen it done. Do you have pics of the buss bar configuration? Any issues with it?

 

[kl3vr]

Looking at your first picture the batteries are in (for lack or a better term) a flat configuration. I was thinking about doing that, but I haven't seen it done. Do you have pics of the buss bar configuration? Any issues with it?

its a "C" configuration with the B+ and B- at the one end nearest the BMS. it was easiest to have the B- terminal on top so the BMS lead doesnt cross over the B+ terminal.

Using spacers between the batteries required longer busbars than the stock ones provided. I made some using 6AWG battery wire and crimp on lugs.

 

[BabylonFive]

Quick question: Your list at the beginning showed you used latching main power relays, presumably to make the load and/or charging connections without FET heating. Is that true, and how did you integrate these with the existing BMS?

Adjunct question: are there any BMS models that work with an external latching relay (instead of FETs) and control load and charging separately?

Did you ever post your schematic of how you connected everything?

 

[rotortalk]

Adjunct question: are there any BMS models that work with an external latching relay (instead of FETs) and control load and charging separately?

Yes, I've ordered 2x 123 Smart BMS, with external relays, and also it has separate charge and discharge current monitors (not shunts) so no losses through shunts or FETs.

The engineer of 123 Smart BMS is on here sometimes, but you can ask me how it is when my batteries arrive (280Ah from Amy)

There are reports on this forum that the voltage wasn't accurate, but I have dismissed those concerns, because apart from CAN comms, it does everything I wanted it to and I really liked the setup. When it all arrives, I will try to document as I have found other peoples documentation very useful.