At first glance building a LiFePo4 battery pack seems simple. So I am almost certainly missing something critical. I swear I have done due diligence, googling for hours, then searching this forum, but I haven't found the answer I was looking for. Will somebody please tell me what I am missing in the following theory?
Get a good lot of LiFePO4 batteries:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Box-of-80-Fullriver-LiFePO4-26650-3-2V-3300mAh-Rechargeable-Batteries/191987482937?hash=item2cb3588139:g:vj0AAOSwUYNaAcNp
Put them together in five parallel rows of 15-series cells to get 48v, using copper tape for the connections and magnets to hold the copper on the contacts:
https://www.amazon.com/Tapes-Master-10ft-Copper-Foil/dp/B00Z8MCK58/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1505960519&sr=8-8&keywords=conductive+copper+foil
Add BMS of course:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-45A-LiFePo4-Battery-PCM-BMS-SMT-16S-16x-3-2V-eBike-Battery-Board-w-Balance/322884974293?hash=item4b2d71b6d5:g:ZXYAAOSwIFtaRw8E
Wrap the whole thing in electrical tape, add foam padding where necessary, then shrink wrap the dude.
If it is that simple, why doesn't everybody do it? It would be far cheaper than getting an already-made battery pack, and it seems easy enough. But I must be missing something, or everybody would be doing it and nobody would be selling such extremely expensive battery packs. So what am I missing?
I know, I know, there are multiple threads where this is already explained and somebody will probably fuss at me for posting this thread. I can't help it. I'm tired of searching. Yell at me, just please point me to the thread I need to be reading. At least I read enough threads to know better than to ask "why does a LiFePO4 battery pack even need a BMS?" before I posted this thread. :-/
Get a good lot of LiFePO4 batteries:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Box-of-80-Fullriver-LiFePO4-26650-3-2V-3300mAh-Rechargeable-Batteries/191987482937?hash=item2cb3588139:g:vj0AAOSwUYNaAcNp
Put them together in five parallel rows of 15-series cells to get 48v, using copper tape for the connections and magnets to hold the copper on the contacts:
https://www.amazon.com/Tapes-Master-10ft-Copper-Foil/dp/B00Z8MCK58/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1505960519&sr=8-8&keywords=conductive+copper+foil
Add BMS of course:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-45A-LiFePo4-Battery-PCM-BMS-SMT-16S-16x-3-2V-eBike-Battery-Board-w-Balance/322884974293?hash=item4b2d71b6d5:g:ZXYAAOSwIFtaRw8E
Wrap the whole thing in electrical tape, add foam padding where necessary, then shrink wrap the dude.
If it is that simple, why doesn't everybody do it? It would be far cheaper than getting an already-made battery pack, and it seems easy enough. But I must be missing something, or everybody would be doing it and nobody would be selling such extremely expensive battery packs. So what am I missing?
I know, I know, there are multiple threads where this is already explained and somebody will probably fuss at me for posting this thread. I can't help it. I'm tired of searching. Yell at me, just please point me to the thread I need to be reading. At least I read enough threads to know better than to ask "why does a LiFePO4 battery pack even need a BMS?" before I posted this thread. :-/