Jehu Garcia 7S2P battery holder issue, Batteries popping out, partiallsy.

[JohnCBriggs]

I'm just getting started, but I'm having a problem with the Jehu Garcia 7S2P battery holders.

I got the PCA versions that are sold as "advanced" on ebay which I think means it has the "improved" battery holders. They are labeled as Justin Kenny 2018.

My issue is that when I put the batteries in, some of them pop back out, partially, and the board stops working. If I push them in, other ones pop up. It seems unusable.

I'm using Samsung INR 18650-25R batteries if that matters.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[svetz]

I'd ask the vendor and see what they say. Possibly they're designed to stack, so each assembly holds the batteries on top down and needs a "top" piece, or mucking about with the clip holders? Be careful though, those clips need to make good contact otherwise they'll get hot.

 

[JohnCBriggs]

I'd ask the vendor and see what they say. Possibly they're designed to stack, so each assembly holds the batteries on top down and needs a "top" piece, or mucking about with the clip holders? Be careful though, those clips need to make good contact otherwise they'll get hot.

Thanks for the advice.
The seller says that because my batteries are 18.3mm diameter, they are popping out. I'm not sure If I believe that.

The "single" holder works fine, but the "double" holder forces the batteries out.

 

[svetz]

Sounds like the battery holders were making them to the spec (The 18650 cell is 18 mm in diameter and 65 mm tall; hence, its name 18650). But in reality, the popular 18650s I sampled are all bigger:

Samsung 26J 18650 - 18.4
Tenergy 30005 ICR 18650 2600mAh - 18.3
PANASONIC NCR18650B 3400MAH - 18.6

Can you ask for your money back? I'd also tell Jehu, he might not be aware of the problem. It's sure not something I would have thought of.

This is a super-long shot... but... how much up/downplay is there in the holders? could you put something thin/flat (zip-tie end?) on the bottom of every other cell to slightly raise every other battery? It might "shorten the overall width"... sort of like this:

​

Possibly dremmel out the bottom plastic of every other cell to lower them?

 

[JohnCBriggs]

The dremmel idea doesn't work because there is no plastic on the bottom of these holder. The PCB itself is the bottom.

Thanks for the diameter information. That confirms to me that my Samsung 25R cells are the typical diameter.

I noticed Jehu is using some sort of large shrink wrap around these boards once the batteries are installed. I wonder if he had the same experience.

The drawing that you have is about what the cells are doing on their own, but the are coming out of contact with the electrical contacts and stop working.

 

[Badacatt]

Hello John,

I purchased the same Holders and had the same problem as you did when I started. I tried several solutions and they all seemed to sorta work - including running a few bands of Kapton tape around the outside of each single board - hitting the center of the batteries…(does that make sense? Sorry if I didn’t describe it well enough) reguardless - this didnt seem to solve the issue when you subjected the finished stack to any type of vibration. I finally solved it by tracking down some non conductive memory foam that was slightly thicker than the space between the stacks. I then cut a piece of plexiglass that was about 1 inch x the length of the entire PCB. I then Kapton taped these piece across the foam so they would hit the center section of the installed batteries…(not all the way to the ends …just the center 2/3 of the batteries) then as I built the layers I would squish these foam/plexi pieces in between the stacks. The pressure of the foam/plexi pieces, once they have expanded back to full size, seem to keep enough pressure on batteries to keep them from popping out…so far at least. If you choose to try this seem of you can track down some non flammable/ non petro based foam. That’s the last thing you need should you pop one loose and start an arch. I hope this helps.

joshua from Oregon