DIY High Power Battery Pack Stress Testing

[Nix Liou]

Just in case you're still looking for ideas; salt water load bank. I unloaded a few Zero battery packs using this method. You'd be surprised how little graphite needs to be submerged to get really high amperage draws.

Use graphite rods though, they don't dissolve.

Are we talking electrolysis? Especially if that's the intent, don't use table salt or you are going to chlorinate yourself

With that said, I have done some cell balancing with this method, baking soda doesn't produce any nasty gasses, so it's one good alternative. Nickel makes for a good electrode material as it is pretty resistant to corrosion or dissolution, and I have a lot of nickel sheets and strips lying around.

I hesitate to discharge a significant amount of power through this, just because I'm not comfortable with simultaneously producing a stoichiometric ratio of hydrogen gas and oxygen, near a good source of sparks.
With a proper setup, I imagine I could simply burn off the hydrogen so it doesn't build up, or just exhaust it fast enough it can't explode... But it's extra things for me to mess up.

I've been busy with classwork and other projects so I never got around to starting this one, though I may return to it eventually.

 

[Mattbastard]

Are we talking electrolysis? Especially if that's the intent, don't use table salt or you are going to chlorinate yourself

With that said, I have done some cell balancing with this method, baking soda doesn't produce any nasty gasses, so it's one good alternative. Nickel makes for a good electrode material as it is pretty resistant to corrosion or dissolution, and I have a lot of nickel sheets and strips lying around.

I hesitate to discharge a significant amount of power through this, just because I'm not comfortable with simultaneously producing a stoichiometric ratio of hydrogen gas and oxygen, near a good source of sparks.
With a proper setup, I imagine I could simply burn off the hydrogen so it doesn't build up, or just exhaust it fast enough it can't explode... But it's extra things for me to mess up.

I've been busy with classwork and other projects so I never got around to starting this one, though I may return to it eventually.

Well, I guess my ambition in this endeavor was overshadowing what I thought of as common sense...

Do it outside, stand upwind.