diy solar

diy solar

Sixtysix 280ah Cells from Deligreen

i totally understand. I can’t remember what it’s called but you can buy it at auto stores and it comes as a almost liquid rubber and it’s meant to recoat tool handles. You just dip the handle in it, dry then repeat for thicker coating. I thought about using that to cover my bus bars and studs becaus it would be easy to just peel off down the road too. 3D printed covers would look much better though.
 
i totally understand. I can’t remember what it’s called but you can buy it at auto stores and it comes as a almost liquid rubber and it’s meant to recoat tool handles. You just dip the handle in it, dry then repeat for thicker coating. I thought about using that to cover my bus bars and studs becaus it would be easy to just peel off down the road too. 3D printed covers would look much better though. Printers are a little to expensive for me to buy just for that th
 
I was thinking it shouldn't be too tough to make something that snaps onto busbars and has a piece that extends up and over the terminals.
Having a 3d printer would allow me to make adjustments until I got it right.
 
I think they make shrink wrap in a bunch of sizes
I thought about shrink tubing for my tools and busbars.
But for the busbars there's still so much exposed.
I've seen some busbar covers that look pretty good but they don't look easy to get on and off.
With all of the testing and balancing we do, we need something that just snaps on and off.
 
How much testing and balancing do you do? It’s probably been a year now since I’ve had to do any major disassembly of my cells. Once your system is set up and running there shouldn’t be many reasons to take it all back apart.
 
I have 66 cells and I've been messing around with them for months.

Any covers would work permanently too.

But most likely I'll push on with my melted ratchet with electrical tape on the handle. Then throw a piece of cardboard over my batteries when I'm not working on them.

I looked up 3d printers and they aren't as cheap as I hoped. Maybe I can find a cheap one on Alibaba
 
I thought about shrink tubing for my tools and busbars.
But for the busbars there's still so much exposed.
I've seen some busbar covers that look pretty good but they don't look easy to get on and off.
With all of the testing and balancing we do, we need something that just snaps on and off.
There is kapton tape(not sure of spelling).
 
Here's a picture of the cell I destroyed. The short was from the nut my socket was on and the ratchet handle hitting a nearby busbar.
I'm not sure if the pieces of metal are aluminum or stainless steel.
View attachment 34210
Good cautionary tale...

Are you going to pry that dead cell open and show us what you find inside?
 
That burned up thing still works. lol

I'm not going in there. It's hard for me to watch videos of other people doing it.
Wow, still working - I suppose that’s a vote of confidence.
Are you still able to connect busbars to it?
 
I think there were other posts while I was typing this.
My terminal spanner is covered with heat shrink right past the end . I'm wondering if that shorted terminal is salvageable . Usually the terminal is alloy and the bolt /screw is stainless so if you can grind the bolt to get a couple of flats on it it might screw out.I use the plastic bottoms out of shopping bags over the terminals when I don't need to be under them so even a sheet of ply or clear plastic will do the job.

You will do it again . Take care also with the underside of BMS's and Balancers touching a terminal or two . You will do that too. The other consideration you may not know about is some of the prismatics carry a negative charge on the alloy case so it pays to test that.
 
Since I have 2 spares, I will probably never try to use that cell. I'll keep it in case I can't buy another cell someday.
The cell cost me $100 so I'm not going to put in a ton of effort to save it. Especially since it will never be as safe as a different cell.

I am planning to mount my BMS and shunt to a piece of plywood over the back of the cells to keep all that wiring and crap out of my way.
I'm also getting rid of the ridiculous MRBF fuse holder. That thing sticks up in the way and looks like and ugly wart.
I was holding wires out of my way and trying to avoid that thing when I had this accident.

This put a dent in my pride. ?

I keep thinking about how careful I need to be when I work with PV. Which is a good thing I guess.
 
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yes, the arc is quite scary and does wake a person up as to safety-type things. thanks for sharing. yesterday I bought 20 2 piece sets of plastic cutting mats from the dollar store for a dollar each. so I got 40 pieces. each piece will be big enough to insulate between 2 of my 272Ah Lishen cells. I also bought a melamine coated shelf board 24" x 48" to use as a slick insulating base for the compression jig for the 2P8S 24-volt battery banks I am charging and assembling. I think the cutting board mats are a very inexpensive durable inter-cell insulator. just an idea for you. yes, I still need to insulate my tools better. I am very careful after the 1st arc I had. woo hoo the sparks and power. all DIY people need to beware of the high power --- for sure. Keep up the excellent work. I have 64 cells and I am building 4 24-volt packs of 16 cells each. the 1st 16 cell (272Ah Lishen cells) 2P8S 24-volt pack is charging the other 32 cells with 2 bench chargers one Riden 6012w and the other a Riden 6018w running 24/7 off-grid via the 24-volt inverter. sorry... I am rambling!!! :cool:
 
How is your build coming along? I remember seeing the pictures of the mountain of cells you got! Did you decide on how you were going to configure them or add any new components to the system?
 
I just turned in my permit paperwork. When it is approved I can install rooftop PV and a Solark 12K.
Then I'll have some serious current to play with.
I am pretty much settled on this cell configuration-

1611416068523.png

I'll post a picture of mine later
 
Nice. Were you going full off grid? You should definitely keep doing updates too, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one following your build. It keeps me motivated! Much appreciate it.
 
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