Interesting post mainly because all info on how packs fail in real world situations is useful , the packs in pictures show water ingress confirmed by damp cardboard and admission of riding through sprinklers , only way I can think water made it past heatshrink is by dripping down the power wire then seeping in through the gap between wire and wrap. Whether or not the pack uses 100% nickel strips or not should have little bearing on whether it fails unless of course they rust from moisture getting in some how.
I have only read a few posts and watched couple of videos on subject of upp and Louis's fire but a few things I picked up on, I am totally impartial and I don't presume to know any of the facts. In the video of upp manufacturing the facility looks professional and as I would expect, shows adequate investment, is not just a shed in the sticks,
and I think upp would not have posted video if they had something to hide, but saying that it does not prove all there packs are made there,
one thing I did think was a bit off is in there video at 7min at the part when he is handling the Panasonic cells he drops them back into the box could this cause shorts? Then next just after that it shows a box full of cells placed in no particular order is this safe? Camera pans away fast, Is there somekind of insulation on terminals to prevent shorts? Also when the cell spot welding is shown the worker is very fast , is there a reason other than just being productive ?, could it be that they have the welder up very high to ensure a weld when used fast, is it up so high that they have to weld very fast as not heat cell to much? I'm not an expert just a thought,
There is no doubt there are a few negative reviews of upp and bad publicity from Louis's fire , could this be just that bad news travels fast,
because something is manufactured in China does not mean it is of low quality not forgetting this is the country of source for majority of goods we have,
Unit pack power are competitively priced but It does not make financial sense in this case to be supplying a dangerous substandard product, are we to believe upp has an exclusive supply of faulty components?
, I would not be surprised if they are using exactly the same components and process as any other budget battery suppliers, could the fact that they are cheap and as such makes them battery of choice for amateur/first time builders be a factor , not forgetting that even a simple job like changing the type of output plug on a battery it is easy for those not used to soldering and working with that kind of current to make hazardous errors.
Don't like to disagree with other very respected members and my apologies to Louis for being presumptious but I don't feel like we're getting the full story from his you tube video about the fire, Think he says it happened when in hallway on return from ride, For me this is interesting as this is the same location he would have experienced a non matched battery event due to making a 72v pack from two 36v batteries, if in fact he was actually just leaving, this where he would have switched the two joined batterys on, and if they were unmatched and then rapidly equalised causing a fire and there is no doubt there was one.
I have not looked at the wiring diagram provided for method he used of joining packs together to see if this would protect against this so is just speculation, and as he refused to provide pics of wreckage to upp we don't know for sure how he joined the packs anyway.
What would you trust more a product with certificates or someone's home made circuit for joining them? I find fact that he did not want to provide evidence for a claim on unit pack powers insurance telling ,even if burned and all insulation gone you can still tell a lot as most of the wiring will still be there ,why wouldn't you at least try claim on upps insurance,
whats the worse that can happen they refuse to pay claim, they probably could have wriggled out of it by saying that he was using them in way they were not designed to be, by joining them together anyway,
i know if I was him I would just for my own pride at least try and prove it was upp s fault if I could, I really don't have any set opinions and having been in a house fire as youth caused by a hot light bulb in sewing machine catching fluff and fabric I am sympathetic to anyone who has unfortunately experienced a fire , i do find the subject interesting for discussion though , peace