Battery packs

[Nitrox Junkie]

Does anyone on here know much about making rechargable battery packs. If you do I could use your help.. I found all the parts that I need here in town but need some insite into how to set up the cells. This is definately a DIY project... Look forward to any responses.

Jeff "Great lakes diver"

 

[Tommygun53]

What type of voltage are we talking about,Im assuming 12 volts?How many amperes?or watts?are you talking about single cell nicads or sealed lead acid?If your going to use single cells then all you need to do is solder wires to the batteries terminals to tie them together stacking them in series to add voltage or in parrallel to add amperage or a combination of the two to come up with the voltage and current that you require...Do you have a certain size or space you are trying to stay inside? Tom

 

[Nitrox Junkie]

The battery pack that I am trying to re-create has 10 D cell Sanyo NiCd rechargable batteries @ 1.2 volts each. Mah 5000 whatever that means. They were in two rows of 5 and have some sort of foil joining the tops of ever other one. The ends that were not joined were joined on the other side. They alternated. Now when I looked at the pack where the shrink tubing didn't cover I seen that the batteries on the end were one up and one down. My biggest question is, would the batteries be swapped all the way down the pack? I really need one to open up to be able to easily figure this out. I can buy the battery cells for $8 each so far, with some foil wire and a piece of shrink tubing, I could save a bundle. For the price of one in the store I could make two with one as standby. Anxious for a reply.

Jeff "Great lakes diver"

 

[nickjb]

The cells will be connected alternately top to bottom all through the pack. Ten cells will make a 12 volt pack. 5000 mAh is the capacity. It means they can deliver 5 amps for 1 hour or 1 amp for five hours or 0.5 amps for 10 hours etc.

The 'foil' that joins the cells is a welded strip of metal. It need to be thick enough to take the current. Try to find cells that have a strip welded already as they are easier to solder. Soldering directly to the cell needs a high power soldering iron. Copper braid makes a good connecting wire.

Check the pack with a meter before final assembly

 

[mddolson]

We built my battery pack with 2x 6 volt 10 amp hour , sealed lead acid batteries in series. They are secured with delrin blocks machined to slide into the cannister (old CO2 fire extinquisher).
They are held together with threaded rod to make a single unit.

Mike D