Building the BEST BUDGET DIY LITHIUM BATTERY for Car Audio

[@Bassotronics]

I love battery builds.

[@HifiVega]

Me too!

[@wal]

Looks good and deal for sure. Can't wait to see how they perform!

[@HifiVega]

I’ll get to it one day I promise lol

[@iass2158]

Yeaaaah buddy

[@skydyverjym]

Yes definitely more of these as you can

[@scottiffanimccord1509]

I love this subject and it looks like you hit gold with the price point. Thx Rob!

[@HifiVega]

Thanks!

[@brutalbasspro]

Sweet video! Can't wait to see the test video.

[@HifiVega]

Thanks

[@avac4312]

How are you doing Mr Vega please don't ever change your awesome

[@HifiVega]

Thanks man I appreciate ya saying that

[@nicholasstephey8475]

Moving up. 🎉

[@mikewalker4950]

I tried using one of those little amazon balancers. They're garbage. Smoked mine upon hooking up and it was all correct. Used the LIFEPO4 red Headways (4s4p). Top balanced for a day and they have been installed for a few years now and the sets of 4p still have the exact same voltage, so I've just been running without a balancer. Only have 2.5k total and never run at max volume, so it's never under any stress. My issue with the LI-Ion (aside from being less stable tech than LIFEPO4) is the voltage. You'd need to charge at 16.x and can't mix with LA/AGM, where as the LIFEPO4s are within .2, so no electrical changes needed, just add and go. For a test bench though it would be fine.

[@Nissanalltheway]

I been waiting for an video like this

[@HifiVega]

I got you!

[@KuntalGhosh]

you should look for some a123 battery cells , they have a 31ah pouch cell that does 250amp burst for 1min and the chemistry is lifepo4 so lot less chance of explosion and fire and more importantly these cells are perfect replacement for 12v leadacid and their voltage range is exactly the same. 4 of them in series & 6 or 8 in parallel is all you need to test even the strongest automotive amp out there. i have a pack made from 32700 cells i bought for 50$ and it is supposed to be 12ah 25.6v but it outruns 27ah 24v leadacid in runtime , the pack is powering my ups and runs my desktop computer for almost 2 hours ! and the cells were half the price of buying 6 9ah batteries that my ups use.

[@HifiVega]

The a123 cells are definitely on my list of cells to get hands on with

[@KuntalGhosh]

@@HifiVega jag35 has the 50ah ones in stock right now. 200ah ready made 12v pack is 200$ from them.

[@blakebrockhaus347]

Got a 64 AH headway bank that I'm getting ready to put in my car. Def excited for it

[@HifiVega]

I need to do some more testing on video for my 64ah headway bank

[@1ohmwrecker]

That's what I got in mine. It'll change your life lol👍

[@ErickBIGE]

Will these work with the headway together

[@paulhall70]

Where can I find those end buss plates. They aren't on the list

[@kcmill181]

I came to figure out the bms part I'm not afraid of playing with the voltage/amperage but I don't like wasting money and time...

[@kswis]

I have def become a battery nut over the last few years. Excellent video hifi

[@HifiVega]

Thanks bro!

[@scottysaunders4465]

Do you have a video showing if using balancer and where to get it?

[@HifiVega]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqO5fmOirtx_fMU

[@BericBuilds]

Great video

[@HifiVega]

Thanks

[@davidlewis8124]

What type of lithium battery Banks? Are they lithium-ion? And another great video thanks. ✌️

[@avhuffTeamOtis]

Soooo… did I miss the video? I was wondering how they perform. Im currently researching Lithium to add to my “build” lol. Its ongoing for life😂 but this price point has me anticipating your review, thanks vega!

[@HifiVega]

I haven’t done a stress test video yet, but they legit!

[@bamboni8120]

Hey hifi, have you listened to the new sony es 3 ways? I did a build in my civic with them. Id suggest giving them a listen. They are pretty great

[@HifiVega]

I’ve heard a few cars with them and thought they sounded pretty dang good

[@NoMoreTortillas1]

I want to build my own for the Orion 3k.1DSPLX but I’m not a chemistry kind of guy so I don’t know how many of these things I need

[@HifiVega]

First you need to be charging at 15v minimum, but if you meet that requirement you’ll need to figure out many banks in a 4 s (series configuration) my suggestion would be a 96ah bank

[@Ebacherville]

You gonna show how to do the BMS?

[@HifiVega]

Gotta watch till the end 😉

[@myrontaylor77]

Can a car alternator charge these cells safely

[@HifiVega]

These need to charge at a minimum 15v so unless you have an upgraded alt or a voltage adjusted stock alt you can not run them in your vehicle

[@rmyrie5963]

@@HifiVega can you use a dc to dc charger from alt to this battery pack

[@mullinperformanceaudio5902]

Sweet video dude...I'm definitely short in the battery knowledge.

[@HifiVega]

Thanks!

[@iass2158]

Can I use this in my car it says great for golf carts on battery hook up

[@HifiVega]

These need to charge at 14.8v minimum, but truly 15v and up is the best scenario so unless you’re charging at 15v or higher with an upgraded alt or voltage regulator

[@iass2158]

I don’t know what I need for my 2009 Camry I order a high output alternator from autotech it’s 320 I can’t seem to find a voltage controller

[@JasonWW2000]

@@iass2158 I would make sure your vehicle is able to run reliably at at least 16 volts before committing to these style of cells. Some Vehicles can and some can't handle that high-voltage. If you want to run closer to the stock Automotive voltage range you should look for lifepo4 cells such as the headways.

[@mooney316]

When adding a balancer, does the board on the balancer need to be set to nmc/lfp or lto on the solder points?

[@JasonWW2000]

These solder points need to be set to whatever chemistry of battery you're using so it knows the high and low voltage limits.

[@JamesBond-oc4gm]

How does this work in a car with the alt charging it?

[@HifiVega]

If you’re charging over 15v it’s fine. If not you’ll want to go with a different type of cell

[@JamesBond-oc4gm]

@@HifiVega damn. I thought so

[@TinkerbatTech]

You've likely seen my little lithium pack 'incident' already. My house currently has about a 7.5KWH backup battery setup, made from 36V 'scooter/E-bike" recycled packs. Was pretty useful when I lost power for 9 days in those Norcal storms. (And all communications for 6 days, and no road for 8.. Fun times!) Good for a couple days of lights, comms and computer/TV power, as well as my CPAP machine and electric blanket. Have some mods planned to run the freezer/refer from it as well, just need to tie in the big inverter. (Everything else is on a commercial grade surplus UPS. Don't even see flickers in the lights when power drops, just my mini-split shutting down..:) Those SiP08 cells and the busbars would likely easily 'dyno' a 10,000W class 'D' amp at 1000A drain for the test duration. The cells each can take a 200A short term load, and you have 6 in parallel. The busbars would hold that current for a min or so fine, they just can't take over 300A long term.. Would double-check that with your build by checking terminal voltage under a short, big load. Bet they'd hold up great at at least 600A for a couple mins or so... Then quite a bit of charging..:) Just ordered a 36V 6.4KWH EV battery to add to the pile. Be careful and enjoy the power! Stu

[@HifiVega]

They asked me how much power I needed and I said “YES” 😉

[@mester84]

Can a use 2 banks like this for a car system can be charge by the car alternator??

[@HifiVega]

If you’re charging over 15v

[@SilverTreasures]

You should have just thrown them all in parallel and then charged em to 4.2 volts. That’s the best way to balance a pack before putting them in series.

[@fullerjoseph12]

Vega what BMS do you suggest and this should keep up with a CAB22 amp correct? Lol i hope so i already ordered it.

[@JasonWW2000]

You don't want to run a BMS as that's going to limit the output amperage from the battery. What you need to use is just a balancer to keep the four banks synchronized in voltage.

[@HifiVega]

You’ll want an active balancer and yes it should keep up with that amp very well. amzn.to/3mWFgh8

[@blue9120]

Out of curiosity how many of these you need to make 300 volts?

[@alamaquino4462]

95

[@donaldwilcoxjr.5212]

Got my ctsounds pre fab slot ported great price great quality ...installed it and the new xr12 dual 2 from American bass ....but now I have a power issue have enough amp with either the jp23v1.5 or my skar rp1500.1 put the skar back in to see if it would help with the draw off my battery but both amps are now dropping down to 9volts and all but shutting headlights off ....so I have an upgraded alternator but it's nor big enough so ...going to get a 300amp alternator....do you think if I just add a small agm battery like the one ds 18 offers for around 60 bucks will solve my problem or what should I do ...I wanna keep it around 300 dollars and the alternator is 170 .....

[@HifiVega]

I’d get the alt and a cheap Walmart group 31 agm

[@HifiVega]

If you want Lithium do a headway bank

[@donaldwilcoxjr.5212]

@@HifiVega sounds good .. .I would like build one of these banks but just a little bit afraid I might cause a fire lol.....whatever I do going make sure I have enough to run the jp23 and another xr 12 dual 2 in case I wanna add another 12 but I am telling you just the one 12 in my 1998 extended cab s 10 ....is pretty impressive.....glad I done the overkill when I done all the sound mat ...doing 2 layers on top of 1 layer of heatsheild mat on floors and 2 layers on doors of sound mat and 2 on the roof and back of cab....doing a v8 swap so had to use the heat mat on floor first but I think it just added to the sound mat as well.....tha KS again hi fi vega ...we will give that a go see what happens ....

[@mooney316]

I’m building a 96ah as I write. I have had no luck in ordering bars the last couple weeks. If I double up on stock bars, do you that should be sufficient till I can find some to order? Or just make 2 48ah?

[@HifiVega]

The single bars will be ok for a short period until you can get bigger 1/4” or better. I’d just take it kinda easy on the bank until then

[@mooney316]

Got another question. What BMS do you use or recommend with the spim cells 96ah banks?

[@HifiVega]

amzn.to/3N9eQnc

[@derekfreeman3562]

Between this and headway,what's best bang for buck,and are the balancers the same,and can either be ran with a lead acid battery as long as an isolator is used,,I keep hearing don't mix lipo4 with lead acid with no explanation..thanks in advance

[@HifiVega]

Headway can be ran with agm, but this cannot. These cells are more powerful, but if you’re not running 15v or higher headway is the better choice

[@JasonWW2000]

If you want to use these higher voltage 16.8v cells you're going to need to change your voltage regulator to output a much higher voltage (at least 16 volts) and also make sure that your vehicle can handle the higher voltage. This can cost a considerable amount of money. So using the lower voltage Headway cells (14.6v max) is definitely going to be better bang for your buck since it can run with the stock alternator voltages and can be paired to an AGM battery. The reason headways can be run with an AGM is because their resting voltage will be very close to each other when charged from an alternator. A lead-acid battery has too low of a resting voltage to work with the higher voltage Headways and it causes the Headway batteries to discharge into the lead acid battery over time. For the best performance you want to get rid of your normal batteries and run just the headways. Your alternator will be capable of recharging the headways by themself much quicker compared to using them in combination with a lead battery.

[@Simpleman1078]

​@@JasonWW2000 so you can just get rid of all your batteries to do a delete and run headways for the whole vehicle are you saying get an AGM for under the hood if you have a lead acid battery under the hood

[@JasonWW2000]

@@Simpleman1078 I plan to get rid of my stock lead acid battery under the hood when I install my Headway battery bank. I do have the option of buying an AGM for under the hood, but thats $250 and I don't need it. You can't really mix a normal lead acid battery with the Headway cells. It has to be an AGM battery. Does that answer you? I wasn't really sure what you're asking.

[@Simpleman1078]

@@JasonWW2000 pretty much my only other question was can you just get a headway Bank and run the car and your system on it with no AGM

[@Dankin_]

At full charge my bank is sitting at 16.6 volts. And that seems to be to high for my car. How to fix ?

[@nathanbesse416]

Are the battery hookup busbars safe to use for car audio? Also, is a 96ah bank this setup just x2 and 4s6p?

[@HifiVega]

If you built 2 separate banks for 96ah yes. If you build one big bank for 96ah you’ll probably want more beefy bus bars

[@nathanbesse416]

I plan to build a 96ah since I'll be a little on the low side for charging. Thank you for the information and the video! Very hard to find information on these

[@1ohmwrecker]

I smoked 3 of those lil 1.2a bms' until I learned correctly🤣🤦‍♂️ now I got a 10a heltec balancer that was very expensive and would cry if I fried it.😭

[@robertkehlerjr.8258]

Put a piece of electrical tape on each lead when you take it off have the electrical tape in hand when taking each lead off, put on each lead immediately

[@HifiVega]

I should have just unplugged it like I would recommend anyone else do 😑🤦🏻‍♂️

[@1ohmwrecker]

@@HifiVega yeah sometimes we just go and things slip thru the cracks lol🤷‍♂️

[@girthy10incher23]

Yah I smoked 3 today also, damn im messed up son

[@FlexNhertz74]

What voltage does one of these banks need to charge at?

[@HifiVega]

15v minimum

[@FlexNhertz74]

Thank you kindly

[@JasonWW2000]

Keep in mind that 15 volts is a very low state of charge. It's approximately 20% to 25%. 16 volts will get you to around 80%. So the bulk of the power from these batteries is going to be from 16 volts down to 15 volt,

[@jwelsh1238]

Do you have to top balance when you have a balancer?

[@HifiVega]

I always too balance before assembly wether I’m using an active balancer or not

[@JasonWW2000]

It depends on the type of balancer you install.

[@anthonyrichmond6834]

What’s the c rating on this lithium

[@HifiVega]

50c

[@irishmanbd8447]

How many watts can that bank handle?

[@HifiVega]

It depends on your alt, but 3k seems pretty safe

[@irishmanbd8447]

@@HifiVega can it be ran with AGM or would need a isolator?

[@HifiVega]

@@irishmanbd8447 it cannot be ran with agm and needs to charge at over 15v minimum

[@91CavGT5]

I built a battery using 76 of these cells(ordered 80 total but had a couple bad ones)! I did a top balance with the cells along with a small 1 amp charge to them for 72 hours. I’m currently using this bank in my camping cargo trailer. They aren’t being stressed AT ALL even when running my 2k watt pure sine wave power inverter. These cells are awesome! They are rated at 200 amps continuous and 400 amps max… per cell! They are a GREAT alternative to headway cells. Just make sure you buy the correct BMS, otherwise you will have a max battery voltage of only 14.7 volts. Ask me how I know!! Hahaha Great video HiFi!!

[@HifiVega]

Thanks! Sounds like you have a serious bank going

[@91CavGT5]

BTW, my battery should have a 152 amp/hr capacity. However, since I used the wrong BMS and can only charge them up to 14.7 volts instead of a maximum of 16.8 volts, my shunt shows a useable capacity of about 100 amp/hr.

[@leeshearer9725]

What bms did you use. I’m concerned about going above 14.5 volts for automotive/rv use.

[@91CavGT5]

@@leeshearer9725 EDIT: sorry, I thought this was a reply about one of my other lithium batteries. The BMS in this setup is a Daly BMS that I bought off of EBay. I can’t remember if it is for Lifepo or for lithium. One has a max charging voltage of 14.7 volts and the other has a max charging voltage of 16.8 volts. Either way, if you have a programmable solar charge controller, you can set the maximum charge voltage to be at 14.7 volts. To prevent the max voltage shut off in the BMS from triggering all the time, I programmed my charge controller to stop charging at 14.6 volts. I use EPEver Tracer charge controllers.

[@leeshearer9725]

@@91CavGT5 thank you

[@josephsaucedo8691]

I never seen that type of batteries they look more like a regular battery in stead of a bunch of toots rolls bolted together some battery boxes with post you would never no perty sweet deal 🎶🎵💯🛠️👍👌✌️

[@HifiVega]

For sure! Outside the fact that these need to be charged to a min of 15v

[@josephsaucedo8691]

@@HifiVega have to ask what are you using to charge them this hi IV seen the car set up but for in home IV haven't seen any one set up yet possibly a video on complete setup🤔😉🛠️💯

[@ATCA]

Why do all this vs buying the 12v 48ah headway bank for $150?

[@HifiVega]

This will handle more power than a 48ah headway bank, but it needs to be charged at a higher voltage and can’t be ran with agm

[@ATCA]

@HifiVega I assumed it would be the operating Voltage. That the biggest issue I had in my test bench was Voltage. Agm just couldn't hold it up. So I went yonlong and its very steady. In my truck, I'm running a ton of headway. Thus should help the c rating situation. Why these particular cells tho? Price?

[@HifiVega]

@@ATCA I choose these cells because of price, but also I was just interested in them. I usually make my choices with stuff like this with a video in mind. I want to build a few other different banks and kind of test them head to head

[@ATCA]

@@HifiVega awesome. I'm looking forward to it. I use all sorts of lithium banks these days. There's so many options

[@csj9619]

Stupid question for anyone: why would the original owner replace cells that are still good? (logically assuming that's the way they end up on the used market)

[@HifiVega]

This is something I’ve pondered myself, but I assume the battery eventually has a few dead cells and since it’s a big company they just buy a new battery instead of replacing the individual cells

[@ernardbonny997]

What the update on this battery bank still waiting.

[@HifiVega]

It was my main battery on this amp dyno kzbin.info/www/bejne/pp_LqnyalKqWbLM

[@freakquency8478]

"top balance" would be a balance at 4.2 per cell...

[@sermac3246]

👍