How to buy Headway battery packs?

[ryan]

I found Headway's alibaba site: http://headway-cn.en.alibaba.com/

But there isn't a way to purchase directly. And the site says that they sell only in bulk (so 10 pack minimum for example). But it sounds like some of you have had success with single shipments. Is there a trick to this? I'm interested in the 48v20ah pack but don't want to buy 10 of them!

Is there a US-based supplier for these?

Thanks.

 

[nwmtnbiker]

You can buy from this US distributor. http://www.evcomponents.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=41 Good luck.

 

[ryan]

Yikes. That has a wait time of 2 months! At least headway estimates 2 week delivery.

Any others?

 

[xpluxmea]

Try to contact joseph who is a headway dealer in USA. I am about to buy some from him.

http://kenalten.com/index.html

 

[ryan]

Yes, I heard back from Joseph, but unfortunately they can only ship cells, not packs (due to shipping restrictions I was told).

 

[voicecoils]

Yikes. That has a wait time of 2 months! At least headway estimates 2 week delivery.

Any others?

Ask evcomponents if they'll organise an air shipment for you if you can't wait....

 

[patrickza]

Yep, speak to ev components, you can go directly to Victoria, but I think it's simpler dealing with someone in your neighbourhood. The prices from ev components is pretty much what I paid by going directly to Victoria.

Also unless you're set on the 10ah cells you might want to wait a little for the 12 or 16ah cells which are now available.

 

[ryan]

Can you share a source where you can buy these new higher amperage batteries? I've seen some photos around here, but I can't find anything on evcomponents.com or Headway's alibaba site. What model number should I be searching for?

 

[julesa]

Try contacting Travis Gintz (pm Frodus on this board). He should have the latest information about what will be available from evcomponents in the near future.

 

[snowranger]

Search around the forums a bit. There are some problems with the Headway BMS when trying to get 2C or more rates out of them.

 

[julesa]

Yeah, there have been some problems, but I think most people who've bought packs with Headway BMSs have been happy with them. There has been a failure or two, but I believe Headway & evcomponents have made good on replacing all defective items. I also noticed that at least some of the BMSs which were configured to cut out at 2C or so were missing FETs. Fully populated, I bet those BMSs could handle more than 2C.

I'd buy cells through evcomponents, and BMSs from
http://www.rechargeablelithiumpower.com
or
http://www.tppacks.com/products.asp

 

[frodus]

Yikes. That has a wait time of 2 months! At least headway estimates 2 week delivery.

Any others?

We stock the headway batteries, but stock is getting low. We can ship direct to you from the headway factory if needed, 1-2week delivery time.

 

[frodus]

Try contacting Travis Gintz (pm Frodus on this board). He should have the latest information about what will be available from evcomponents in the near future.

we're working on getting the 16Ah cells in, but the first batch is apparently sold out, so we're waiting for availability. I'm not sure of the status of the 12Ah cell.

 

[broloch]

What is the difference between Headways and Ping? Is one more reliable?

I read that Headways are better because of a higher discharge. Is this true, and if so, what is the highest regular discharge rate of a Headway cell/pack?

 

[frodus]

pings are lower peak discharge rates (i'm not familiar with them, so maybe someone else has specs).... and I think they're prismatics.... I don't know whats inside the taped packs.

the headways are cylindrical batteries, they're 10Ah cells (although there are new models coming out soon, 12Ah and 16Ah). The current 10Ah 38120S cell has screw terminals and allows easy pack configuration. They come with or without BMS (we have some prebuilt packs at evcomponents.com). They'll do a continuous 5C, 10C for a few minutes, and 15C for 30S. Some of the power cells (8ah) will do 20C. Some customers have pulled 40-50C out of these batteries, but its unknown the effects on life.

I bought 200 of the headways for my motorcycle, I wouldn't have chosen them if they weren't good for the job. The pack (32s6p) should theoretically do 300A continuous and around 600A peak.

 

[voicecoils]

What is the difference between Headways and Ping? Is one more reliable?

I read that Headways are better because of a higher discharge. Is this true, and if so, what is the highest regular discharge rate of a Headway cell/pack?

For the Headway 38120S cell, 10C continuous and 15C peak. Most will suggest continuous operation at 5C and 10C peak for longevity.

Have a look at Travis' eVFR build for a high power Headway setup (50kW+)

Headway cells require less protective packaging then ping packs because ping uses foil packs that cannot be twisted, bent, punctured etc. If you put your ping pack in a strong case, it's obviously not a big issue.

Those are some initial comments at least.

 

[voicecoils]

I bought 200 of the headways for my motorcycle, I wouldn't have chosen them if they weren't good for the job. The pack (32s6p) should theoretically do 300A continuous and around 600A peak.

Beat me to it by just a second! Well, you get a plug from me at least

 

[voicecoils]

Hi voicecoils... I just saw your battery pack case at: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12847&start=45#p193354

Are those 2 36v20ah Headway packs? I'm waiting to order those for myself.

Can I ask what else you bought to make the connections as seamless as that looks? Also, do you ever switch between 72v20ah and 36v40ah? What controller do you use?

Thanks.

I'll answer Ryan PM to me in the thread for the benefit of other.

I have two 36v10Ah packs, not 20Ah. All I did was crimp Anderson Powerpole PP45 connectors to the pack leads and then plug them in series for 72v10Ah. So, I plug the positive lead of one pack into the negative lead of the other pack, forming one large pack using the remaining negative and positive lead from each pack respectively to connect to my controller.

I don't switch to 36v20Ah, but would need additional connectors to achieve the parallel connection. I have a 24-72v 35A Crystalyte controller (the old analog type sold by ebikes.ca). Powerpole connectors can be purchased from powerwerx.com and other places.

Hope that's a bit of help. Cheers!

 

[frodus]

I bought 200 of the headways for my motorcycle, I wouldn't have chosen them if they weren't good for the job. The pack (32s6p) should theoretically do 300A continuous and around 600A peak.

Beat me to it by just a second! Well, you get a plug from me at least

Haha, thanks VC, appreciated.... thanks for following my build, I know its taken a while, but it'l pay off soon.

I'll have some good data in early january, I'm borring a CBA-II to test every single one of the cells. I think it'l do up to what, 40A discharge? It'l work for testing the batteries under load.

 

[voicecoils]

I'll have some good data in early january, I'm borring a CBA-II to test every single one of the cells. I think it'l do up to what, 40A discharge? It'l work for testing the batteries under load.

I reckon it would be worth hitting every cell (from the same state of charge, preferably when they're at nominal 3.2v resting) with a decent load (40A sounds fine) and look at voltage drop. It should give a good indication of any cells in your lot which have abnormal IR and you can cull them out or isolate them in your pack.

 

[frodus]

I'll have some good data in early january, I'm borring a CBA-II to test every single one of the cells. I think it'l do up to what, 40A discharge? It'l work for testing the batteries under load.

I reckon it would be worth hitting every cell (from the same state of charge, preferably when they're at nominal 3.2v resting) with a decent load (40A sounds fine) and look at voltage drop. It should give a good indication of any cells in your lot which have abnormal IR and you can cull them out or isolate them in your pack.

I'm going to be equalizing them all (hopefully at the same time if I have enoughbusbar), charging to 3.7V, then let them sit for a day or two paralelled together.... then they get loaded. I'm gonna try to match the cells as much as I can.