armstrongracer
100 µW
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2015
- Messages
- 9
Hi, looking for advice.
I commute to work every day by motorcycle. In winter I wear heated gloves which are wired directly into the battery. They work brilliantly. The cable to the bike is a PITA though, on a number of occasions it has got snagged filtering in traffic and a number of times I’ve walked away with the cable attached and nearly dragged the bike off the stand. I would like to convert the gloves to battery operation with a portable power pack that just sits in my pocket or in a backpack.
The manufacturer of my heated gloves has come to a similar conclusion and they now offer Lithium battery packs but they are not cheap at $200 for a unit delivering 12v@5ah. Also these are sealed units so when the batteries are shot the whole unit is junk. Those power packs are for complete clothing kits (gloves, vest & socks), gloves alone, which is all I need consume 12v/2.2A, the wiring loom is fused at 3A. Since I have already invested in 18650 batteries and chargers for my cycling lights it makes sense to build my own power pack. I have 4x protected keepower 2600’s available, what I need to know is if these will work ok in series and if there is a suitable battery box with integral under volt protection available. It makes some sense to stick with 18650's since I have already invested in a good quality charger. However, the pack needs to deliver 1.5-2A for 1-2hours which may be too much for 18650's so would consider LiFePO4 battery packs, if anyone knows a source of suitable packs (who deliver to Europe) please get in touch. Finally, another solution someone suggested was to use Bosch Max power packs, I have the skill set to make an adapter to allow the pack to plug straight into the wiring loom for the gloves but a pack and charger might not be cost effective.
I commute to work every day by motorcycle. In winter I wear heated gloves which are wired directly into the battery. They work brilliantly. The cable to the bike is a PITA though, on a number of occasions it has got snagged filtering in traffic and a number of times I’ve walked away with the cable attached and nearly dragged the bike off the stand. I would like to convert the gloves to battery operation with a portable power pack that just sits in my pocket or in a backpack.
The manufacturer of my heated gloves has come to a similar conclusion and they now offer Lithium battery packs but they are not cheap at $200 for a unit delivering 12v@5ah. Also these are sealed units so when the batteries are shot the whole unit is junk. Those power packs are for complete clothing kits (gloves, vest & socks), gloves alone, which is all I need consume 12v/2.2A, the wiring loom is fused at 3A. Since I have already invested in 18650 batteries and chargers for my cycling lights it makes sense to build my own power pack. I have 4x protected keepower 2600’s available, what I need to know is if these will work ok in series and if there is a suitable battery box with integral under volt protection available. It makes some sense to stick with 18650's since I have already invested in a good quality charger. However, the pack needs to deliver 1.5-2A for 1-2hours which may be too much for 18650's so would consider LiFePO4 battery packs, if anyone knows a source of suitable packs (who deliver to Europe) please get in touch. Finally, another solution someone suggested was to use Bosch Max power packs, I have the skill set to make an adapter to allow the pack to plug straight into the wiring loom for the gloves but a pack and charger might not be cost effective.
