Yeh! no one is knocking making your own battery up if you are so inclined but you do still have to source a decent charger and BMS and when you add it all up plus the time involved it has to be a labour of love and that`s fine if that`s what floats your boat but this thread is about an affordable battery pack complete with bms and charger for the masses that either can`t or won`t be bothered to spend time at the bench when they could be ridingThe smart thing to do is get a supply of the cells and weld them into a battery of your own.
I have a tab welder.
I made two batteries, one is a 24v 9Ah rated, the other is 24v 11Ah rated.
You can get the batteries in small quantities to avoid the customs, and build up your supply over time.
As for the completed Duct-Tape batteries, they are good, but have to combine large capacities with their low C rate in order to get any performance.
That is true.....Pings batteries are expensive. In fact, relatively speaking, they are sufficiently pricey to mean that if you have any money at all to spend you are as well off going beyond Ping LiFePo4 and into the realm of A123. In for a penny, in for a pound.I'm sure that is true but they are also substantially more expensive - to the point that I wouldn't have been able to justify buying one for the project I'm looking at. Maybe that was Old Timer's situation as well?
The real test is going to be how many cycles you knock out of it, unfortunately it is impossible, obviously, to determine that so early on.Well, I also have a Li-Polymer pouch 13Amp that I purchased from Andy of Oxygen bikes and a cracking battery it is but the cheap one from China seems every bit as powerful and mileage eating so far.
They should connect the two if you put the details on the E mail and I make you right to make the battery flat for rack fitting. I E mailed them twice about other things and they replied both times. Although we speak different languages I`ve always found the Chinese to be right on top of the game.Old Timer - I have sent an e-mail asking them to make the pack flatter and more suitable for rack mounting - just hope they tie the two things together - the order placed earlier in the day and the e-mail.
That's the point Dave, the case is only a box so low value. For an example from the past, an eZee NiMh battery, same case, cost £200 new in 2006/2007. To re-cell it needed 30 top quality tagless cells which retailed at around £8 to £9 each at the time, so at least £240 to recell, which in any case was particularly difficult with that cell type and case.However I have always thought that surely it is only a box and should be able to accommodate cells of whatever type. If cells to the value of 36v, 10a can't be squeezed in then couldn't a small aux pack be made up to piggy back it?
And yet, curiously Ping and Old Timer's suppliers quote almost exactly the same dimensions for the same spec of battery.Pings battery will be lighter, as it is made from pouch cells. Pings build quality is also better.
It seems you were right. another email to the seller requesting a photo of the cells used clearly shows pouches , not cylindrical cells as he first advised me.Are you sure about that? Aren't they the same Prismatic (rectangular) LiFePo cells that Li Ping uses? Or was this an earlier version?
It seems you were right. another email to the seller requesting a photo of the cells used clearly shows pouches , not cylindrical cells as he first advised me.
There must be an advantage in using pouches if only the weight saving aspect.Isn`t this better though? I thought these pouches were later technology and therefore makes the battery not old hat at all?
I'd be interested to know what dimensions their "flat" version for rack mounting is.Old Timer - I have sent an e-mail asking them to make the pack flatter and more suitable for rack mounting - just hope they tie the two things together - the order placed earlier in the day and the e-mail.
E mail him, he will answer you. I seem to remember him saying he could make almost any shape.I'd be interested to know what dimensions their "flat" version for rack mounting is.
Colin