Any recommendations for some sort of insulating sheet material to put between battery groups? The pack design I’m considering will require me to fold the battery in half so I need a good strong insulator to keep nickel strips from touching one another. Some searches turned up fish paper but I feel like a plastic material would be more effective.
Insulator material for battery build
- Thread starter wallywolf
- Start date
In the many many battery build threads, there are a number of options, from FR-4 to Nomex to "fish paper" to plastics of various kinds to cardboard, etc.
One problem with many plastics is they deform under heat, and most DIY (and even commercial) 18650 packs are made from cells that generate a fair bit of heat, often because not enough parallel cells are used to distribute current enough, or the properties of the cells used aren't optimal for the pack usage, etc.
Cardboard absorbs moisture, and can cause corrosion/etc.
Each material has it's disadvantages, to go along with it's good side. You just have to decide which, in your particular usage, are acceptable.
For instance, here in Phoenix, AZ, it's almost always very dry, so cardboard (thick cardstock type specifically) could be acceptable, as long as it's not used on the few rainy days of the year, or is kept away from that rain/splashes/etc.
In Seattle, or other coastal areas, especially ones where it's hot and humid a lot (houston/etc), cardbaord would probably be a bad idea.
FR-4 is hard, nonconductive, flame resistant up to a point, etc. But it's generally thicker (makes pack wider) and it costs more.
Acrylic plastics of enough thickness won't deform enough under heat to worry about, but again are thick, and can fracture if bent the wrong way or impacted.
Soft plastics deform under heat, but wont' absorb moisture, etc.
And so on.
One problem with many plastics is they deform under heat, and most DIY (and even commercial) 18650 packs are made from cells that generate a fair bit of heat, often because not enough parallel cells are used to distribute current enough, or the properties of the cells used aren't optimal for the pack usage, etc.
Cardboard absorbs moisture, and can cause corrosion/etc.
Each material has it's disadvantages, to go along with it's good side. You just have to decide which, in your particular usage, are acceptable.
For instance, here in Phoenix, AZ, it's almost always very dry, so cardboard (thick cardstock type specifically) could be acceptable, as long as it's not used on the few rainy days of the year, or is kept away from that rain/splashes/etc.
In Seattle, or other coastal areas, especially ones where it's hot and humid a lot (houston/etc), cardbaord would probably be a bad idea.
FR-4 is hard, nonconductive, flame resistant up to a point, etc. But it's generally thicker (makes pack wider) and it costs more.
Acrylic plastics of enough thickness won't deform enough under heat to worry about, but again are thick, and can fracture if bent the wrong way or impacted.
Soft plastics deform under heat, but wont' absorb moisture, etc.
And so on.
rockstar195
100 W
- Joined
- May 13, 2019
- Messages
- 166
When i did my folded battery, i used Kapton tape first wrapped around the battery on both sides that would be touching each other, then fish paper on each side, then Kapton tape again on top of that.
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