A 1st Timer's Headway Pack Build

[scoot]

But I understand that some people are uncomfortable sending their money to places like China. There is no way to know for sure that you will ever get what you order.

TJG

Heh, heard the same can happen from a USA vendor also

BTW, where did you end up getting those lengthy JST-XH balance leads? Or, did you make them yourself? 8)

 

[The Journey Guy]

But I understand that some people are uncomfortable sending their money to places like China. There is no way to know for sure that you will ever get what you order.

TJG

Heh, heard the same can happen from a USA vendor also

BTW, where did you end up getting those lengthy JST-XH balance leads? Or, did you make them yourself? 8)

If you purchase within the USA, pay via Paypal, and don't wait 45 days to dispute an issue, you are covered. Not so with China vendors and payments.
The problem you are talking about with that USA vendor is that people waited longer than 45 days, and then their goose was cooked. Of course, there were
many reasons why they waited that long, but bottom line is that making a group purchase where many many people give one person their money before they get the product, I would think that throws a huge portion of temptation on that one person sitting with all the cash. Anyways, I prefer not to go into that situation any further. I had no part of it then, and I'll remain that way now. :wink:

Those JST-XH leads were some I had on hand. I will replace them when I get in my order of 'store-bought' leads. Search for item # 140376657445 if you want the affordable ones. If you want the top-of-the-line balance leads, then do a search for item # 270470253072 on eBay, and you'll be set!

TJG

 

[grindz145]

How did you manage to get 7 Cells in there? I looked into it and it looked pretty much impossible...

 

[The Journey Guy]

How did you manage to get 7 Cells in there? I looked into it and it looked pretty much impossible...

Then can you envision that there are actually 8 cells in there?

As I originally posted, it took a lot of trial and effort on my part to finally get things to work just right. You can clearly see on the CellLog 8s that there are 8 cells being monitored!

If you are interested in having something like this, I would be happy to build you one.

TJG

 

[pgt400]

That is excellent thinking. In fact, been considering doubling up on the balance leads on my next assembly ever since you mentioned it earlier. 8)

Also, sure am glad you passed on that source for the Headways. They are the first/only ones I have found that offer the 12 ah cells. I have 16 of them now, but need some spares just in case. :wink:

How do you like the 12ah cells? I also like EV Assemble as they accept credit cards. I was caught in the EVC / James Morrison cell robbery....fortunately I paid by CC and had a charge back within 2 weeks. Others were not so lucky losing thousands (EV car guys orders were all 6-12k).

 

[scoot]

That is excellent thinking. In fact, been considering doubling up on the balance leads on my next assembly ever since you mentioned it earlier. 8)

Also, sure am glad you passed on that source for the Headways. They are the first/only ones I have found that offer the 12 ah cells. I have 16 of them now, but need some spares just in case. :wink:

How do you like the 12ah cells? I also like EV Assemble as they accept credit cards. I was caught in the EVC / James Morrison cell robbery....fortunately I paid by CC and had a charge back within 2 weeks. Others were not so lucky losing thousands (EV car guys orders were all 6-12k).

I was very fortunate to obtain 16 of them through a beta test program, but that means obtaining spares is highly unlikely. I haven't had time to actually install them in my EV yet, but have cycled them several times on the bench. I used a CBAII for discharging two separate 8s packs and monitored them with a CellLog8. Because the CBAII only handles 100 watts, i was limited to 3 amps on each 8s pack, but at least i was able to compare all of the cells under controlled conditions. They were all remarkably consistent in regards to capacity and voltage sag under load (Log View graphs)... with the exception of a very slightly under performer, and a very slightly extra performer. I'll just make sure to pair them up together when I reassemble the cells in 8s pairs for a single pack. Comparing them with previous bench tests of some 10ah cells, I see no reason why they will not perform at least as well as my previous 10 ah cells in my high current draw (50-100 amps) EV. i just worry about not having any spares (just in case), so I was happy to find a source for them thanks to Journey Guy.

Glad you fared OK with the EVC situation. My initial buys from them went smoothly enough... lucky I guess. :wink:

 

[Steff]

Since I'm a first time pack builder myself I though I might as well ask in this thread.
How do you guys usually mount the BMS inside your packs?

There aren't any mounting holes on the Signalab PCB so I'm thinking about just basically wrapping it up, add some duct tape and call it a day. But would that be begging for trouble since I guess my BMS can get quite hot?

 

[The Journey Guy]

I do not use a BMS with my packs, but that location for yours looks good enough. You'll obviously have to cut an access slot for the balance lead to connect on the BMS, but other than that, looks good!

Judging from what I see in the photo, you do quality work. Post more photos anytime you'd like.

TJG