Disassembling a 2012 Nissan Leaf Battery Pack

[@paulsutton5896]

I hope the dog is wearing his personal protective rubber collar.

[@kswift6614]

Thanks for a great video after watching it I was able to take my Leaf battery pack apart in 2 1/2 hours

[@Sellarmusic]

I'm personally interested in any of your projects. I enjoy the technical details in addition to the craftsmanship of your work. Not many people as knowledgeable on so many things.

[@2jeffs1]

Your kind thoughts are very much appreciated!

[@Alrukitaf]

Love that little dog.

[@pfsmith007]

Good video, taking it slow pays dividends when working with high voltage. I'm glad I was able to watch the process before taking one on by myself. Thanks for posting!

[@wyattoneable]

That's got to have the price of the car right there. It's actually a pretty tidy system but way beyond my understanding. I'm glad you did this video. I learned a lot today. I'll be back!

[@2jeffs1]

I told the people at the salvage yard - for another 10 bucks I could probably buy the whole car. They got a laugh! They did treat me more than fair (much less than online batt prices and they are all matched then) and in the long run one is money in the bank for sure. Thanks for stopping by again, Jeff.

[@duramaxmak]

show your project love learning. you explain thing real well. Keep them coming

[@2jeffs1]

Appreciate the feedback Milton, thank you.

[@DOSputin]

Keep 'em comin' 2jeffs1

[@penrodautorepair3170]

As a Factory trained Audi Hybrid technician you should be using isolation gloves an isolation tools.

[@Chipchap-xu6pk]

Please do what this chap says. Your video is fantastic and I've learned loads from watching you, but this electronics engineer knows what damage angry electrons can do when lots of them gang up. Don't give them the chance. I'm looking forward to seeing more videos from you!

[@Superduty_59]

Jeff, I love your videos! Anything you do will be interesting. You are a true craftsman and have a passion for mechanical and electrical. A video on the scissor lift or anything else would be cool!

[@2jeffs1]

Hello again!!!! Appreciate your input. Shot some video on the lift a while back. Was total crappy, just not happy with the turn out's at times. WILL redo/try again in the future. Finally got back on my feet and will get back on the video's. Have some customers who actually waited til I was back to work. It's go go time for sure.

[@Superduty_59]

@@2jeffs1 Glad you are doing better! Take care of your customers, we will still be here! lol

[@matthewknight5641]

I use 24 leaf cells in a battery I've made for my camper. It's great and powers a 24 volt solar power system. The system runs everything thru a couple days of rain and these cells are very underrated. As long as you don't charge over 25.1 or 25.2 volts they seem to do just fine and have been working great for about a year now. I hope they last 20 more years. I have recently bought 560 Amp hours of lifepo4 also so I will have basically 2 power systems in the camper one for camper and the other powers a 220 split phase inverter and a 38 seer minisplit

[@marcbrasse747]

I am designing an electric motorcycle and decided to take the leaf battery cell as a starting point since it seems to be a very practical format. At the moment it is just a "paper" project but knowing me it might very well still become hardware in the end. Thanks for the great explanation.

[@2jeffs1]

Your welcome Marc. Glad to help out!

[@dtec30]

As I'm finding out jeff life is a learning curve I just wished I had some video of some of the things dad used to do in the shed and with his cars I could kick myself now hindsight being 20/20

[@2jeffs1]

Boy that's too bad. Everyone has certain things they are good at so I always relied on those folks thru the years for questions before this YT thing (actually still do). Nowadays with YT available - that is a good way for learning. My dad was into woodworking. Never had an inkling about car stuff.

[@dtec30]

Yeah you probably don't realise it but your dad was a tinkerer too like yourself only for him it was wood there are a lot of similaritys to both professions/hobbies

[@terrybishop6939]

Jeff any video you make I find very interesting. 👍🏻

[@2jeffs1]

Thank you Terry. Thought I'd put up a longer one with me working to see if every one would enjoy it. ;>)

[@planesofpaper]

Great video. Big thumbs up from New Zealand.

[@pedroshanchez5594]

Absolutely professionally done you are a talented man, thankyou for the video.

[@2jeffs1]

Thank you for you responding, very nice, much appreciated!

[@CraigArndt]

So cool Jeff, can't wait for the next update. Scissor lift is sweet, looking good.

[@2jeffs1]

Thanks Craig. That thing has really came in handy. One of those things once you have it you find so many uses and realize it would of been handy to have many years prior. Of course never any deals came up prior to so....

[@dtec30]

to be honest jeff i think a lot of the things you tinker with would be interesting to watch

[@2jeffs1]

I appreciate the feed back. Been using it on my next production currently working on. Certain things I usually left out, odd comments or bloopers - well, seems like they are enjoyed more than I thought.

[@Timflan]

First video of yours I've ever seen. VERY ENJOYABLE. You're a great host; love the way you "narrate your whole life". My wife accuses me of doing that as well. :-)

[@2jeffs1]

Thanks man. Reading the comments is the most enjoyable part of doing this!

[@yurikontrobarsky8684]

Great video. Very useful for my project

[@Inspironator]

I really like your projects! Keep 'em coming!

[@2jeffs1]

Really appreciate the comments! Keep them coming too! ;>)

[@mustie1]

great project, like to see how your going to recharge them,

[@2jeffs1]

I have several Interacter staged chargers which I modified to obtain the desired current and top voltage. Like you thought nothing conventional can be used.

[@tiitsaul9036]

cool project. i like the crane switch. And everithing you do is interesting. All the best.

[@2jeffs1]

This being something new made it really fun to do!

[@tunafish3216]

I've been watching your videos for a while and they are good.keep up the good work.

[@2jeffs1]

Thanks! So much appreciate where people take time out of their day leaving a comment and seeing what is keeping me out of trouble. ;>)

[@williamzoom]

I remember back when the Leaf first came out that pack was almost six thousand dollars for a replacement. I have a hard time choosing which shop I like more!

[@2jeffs1]

I heard new they are even more now. The low mileage used ones are great for these projects tho...

[@raymondj8768]

that was the best battery explanation ive ever seen thanks dude now i really understand them !!

[@2jeffs1]

Thank you Raymond, much appreciated!

[@estrasilla]

Loved the video. I used to own a leaf, and now am contemplating building an electric motorcycle using Leaf batteries. This video really helped get me up to speed on the batteries.

[@TRYtoHELPyou]

shop crane for the win. I'm only a few min in u video and AM LOVING IT. your not the first to disassemble one of these on KZbin but your editing and narration is on point. thanks for cutting out the crap and getting straight down to it! any word on similarities and differences from the new 30kWh batteries? thanks for posting this video :)

[@2jeffs1]

Thank you! I do spend a lot of time editing and do respect that everyone's time is valuable, trying to only include the most beneficial stuff. Not aware of the new 30kwh batteries you brought up. However I have been out on the Cushman 6 times now and finally ran low on charge. Extremely happy with those new batteries. 1-2 times was max before.

[@TRYtoHELPyou]

very nice! grats on the success!

[@sc7983]

Definitely need the knowledge of electrical engineering, thank you

[@sixtyfiveford]

Very neat. The Cushman hauls butt.

[@2jeffs1]

Before every time I went out the battery's had to be charged - that's with good cond batteries too. Was out for 4 good romps now. They are not quite half discharged.

[@starpuss]

*Love your Waste Oil Stove!!*

[@2jeffs1]

Thank You. Started on building that in the early 80's. Can't imagine how much $ that saved thru the years!

[@Edgardocelectric007]

Thank you for sharing I am getting a couple of those pack and setting up a 48v system

[@emilioacosta8694]

hello mr Acosta,my house in Puerto Rico,is 48volt off gr,i am preparing for this season ,i like to now $ for that to.

[@jamese498]

Great video I just subscribed. I seen you have awesome projects and I'm sure I can learn a few things from you. Thanks.

[@not2fast4u2c]

Amazing to see all the parts and bolts and screws !!!! ....It would be so cool if you made an electric go-kart that will do 100 m.p.h.

[@2jeffs1]

I have a Yamaha 175 - 3 wheeler and been researching motors. Wanting to convert that. Could even have a reverse too then. My friend wanted me to do a quad instead??? I had to charge the Cushman every time after a romp. Been out four times now and not even down to 1/2 charge yet on those new batteries.

[@jwilliams5857]

That Trans AM is nice.

[@chipwright6193]

That's pretty cool Jeff! Hey, if it peaks your interest, there is a really good chance that it will peak our interest as well. It never would have crossed my mind to do a conversion like this.

[@2jeffs1]

Hello Chip. I've been running the Cushman & lift for a bit now and couldn't be happier on how long the machines can be run without a charge compared to the DS batts. Nice not to have to plug in after every use!

[@vanhap]

brilliant thank you for sharing!

[@ljprep6250]

I always wear 5mil nitrile gloves when working on things like that, ensuring that my hands aren't accidentally grounded (or hotted) to any electrical plane or contact. And I'd probably use my impactor to remove nuts, with a microwave-magnet-in-a-baggie to catch 'em all. What are you going to be using for a charger? Lithiums like CV+CC juice. Fun teardown, strange lookin' meerkat.

[@2jeffs1]

Been using (that I) modified Interactor. Batt's have been very stable where all batts were out of the same turtle. Been all working as good as the day installed. Did ever so slightly adjust 2. Not even if sure that was worth my time. So many make such a big deal about that!

[@alexpr0gressive]

To be honest I haven't watched a video of yours that was not interesting. So go for it making more videos I really enjoy them.

[@2jeffs1]

Thanks Alex. Appreciate the feedback. Helps on decisions for what is preferred!

[@hughmurray7434]

great video. thanks for sharing. and anything you do would be worth watching. thanks again.

[@2jeffs1]

Thank you Hugh! Appreciate you stopping by, Jeff.

[@geoffreywhitchurch835]

This is great! Thank you!

[@wile69abc]

Thanks so much for all the information, and extra tips! I'm going to plan on tackling one or more of these myself ;)

[@mikiballs8062]

well done, I'll love to assemble one of those in my trunk

[@alpaykasal2902]

i wish I could add another like for the shop dog!

[@WSmart1]

Wonder what the background story is on that battery. Lithium batteries are not cheap. Love to have six of those cells on a motorized bicycle. It’s great to see a master craftsman play. What a trip. Congratulations on your very successful youtube channel Jeff. Sit realis, ut sobrii sint.

[@2jeffs1]

Thanks! It was from a low mileage vehicle. Thru the years one knows who to deal with. The salvage yard that came from has an excellent reputation. Since shooting this vid I have been out on the Cushman 6 times for a romp before the batt's finally needed a charge. Before they usually needed to be charged after the 1st.

[@LawrenceRhodes]

Thanks for the video. I'm going to put 4 modules in an eGo.

[@johnb4717]

First video of yours I've seen: top effort, procedure, & explanation. Cheers. When are you entering Pike's Peak, in the prototype category?

[@gst69man]

i am interested in any electronics or mechanical projects especially when the project includes an understanding of the emf/design. Great vids tks.

[@2jeffs1]

Your welcome. Thanks for stopping by!

[@tunafish3216]

I hope you do the Finnish up video on the batteries and your two projects.

[@2jeffs1]

Sure will after this feedback. Working on the Cushman one right now. Leaving things that normally would edit out to keep the time down. Seems everyone don't mind the longer video so....

[@lookoutleo]

Thank you for posting, so you're saying that two of those batteries in series, is equivalent to a 12 volt lead acid battery, what amperage is 2 of those cells in series

[@johnpalmer5131]

Neat video…wondering where you got the Nissan battery pack and what it cost..

[@jacksonbangs6603]

Thanks for the educational video!

[@ohilton576]

Lol. Classic. Love the dog.

[@phooesnax]

Imagine when all of those green cars get old and the batteries are not so cautiously disassembled I would watch the lift video for sure. Jim.

[@2jeffs1]

Thank you Jim. There is quite a story behind the lift. After all the positive feedback on that it seems like a must do video! Interesting green car thought. I have a friend who his buddy was killed working on a car with the DIS ignition system. At the classes I attended they say to play pocket pool. LOL. Never have a hand on a fender and working with the other. The juice goes straight across ones chest. Working one handed it goes down thru the leg instead of the chest/heart. Either way not a good deal tho...

[@davidbarrett7418]

At any moment i was waiting on him to do his tim (the toolman ) taylor impression when he was working on the dishwasher lmao

[@rakeshdasan]

Simply, you are good

[@michaeld954]

Wonder if you can make a powerwall out of these

[@2jeffs1]

Would like to help but not up on those....

[@ChicagoDoItYourself]

They're interesting enough !!!!! Honestly !!

[@penrodautorepair3170]

😂😂😂😂 enjoy another day. Natural selection.

[@ramairgto72]

Amazing! Thank You!

[@camtheham13]

can you do a tour of all your vehicles and equipment, you seem to have an interesting group of vehicles

[@Robonza]

I will be interested in how you do the battery management. Lithiums are easy until you have to manage the charging as discharging limits as you probably know

[@2jeffs1]

Very valid thought. The chargers have already been modified and will be manually testing for equalization for the time being. Quite curious where having several paralleled up and far from the current load of the car going down the highway how close they will stay equalized. Always open to any thoughts for an equalizer setup.

[@Robonza]

As a rule I always go for higher voltage in series so my brain doesn't hurt. Parallel is always risky but can work with well matched batteries until they get old and dont match hehe. I guess you have plenty of spares if you get bad cells that fight each other.

[@gravelydon7072]

A little late now but if you had pulled the buss bar that you pulled at 14:20 first, it would have been a lot easier to get some of the other things out.

[@enquire422]

Great video!

[@2jeffs1]

Thank you!

[@davidgrea]

Loved the Comment if it starts smoking plug it out good advice Cheers.

[@JoshKilen]

nice job, got a video on your crane setup?

[@2jeffs1]

Sorry Josh, nothing on that - perhaps in the future.

[@JoshKilen]

2jeffs1 ok, and I got new videos up

[@mans4104]

The best hack against safety torque screws is: first brake the central pin with a centerpunch, second use a regular torque tip.

[@tommartyn]

hahah! Nice Jeff! Digging the cushman preview at the end too! Thing really books :) I do that sometimes, just get excited knowing i've got some awesome related footage coming up, so i throw a little in at the end. Yeah, that's awesome man. I really thought you might be re-building the whole battery pack as a project. The way you took it all apart, everything looked salvageable. But yeah, that gives you tons of good batteries to do stuff with. Would they work well for a solar panel setup? Another question, could you make a portable arc welder out of all that? Have it just on a cart, pull it around, and weld for an hour or so?

[@2jeffs1]

Hello Tom. I had the Cushman battery vid just about done but Saturday for the first time in years the ice conditions were good and went out with the go kart with studded tires. Got some full throttle drifting and how fast does it go footage! Gonna post that next. The bad part about those battery's are a conventional charger won't work. I modified my staged Interactor chargers to accommodate for things otherwise a person could safely use a current limited power supply too. Two batteries in a series is 16v. Using 3 of the 4 cells is 12 so kinda a non conventional voltage. I hooked 3 of the 4 cells in series on 2 batteries (12v) to test them for the fun of it on my CCA tester. 840 CCA. ;>) I am also using them on the computer ups supply. The motorcycle batts were going crap. (using 7 of the 8 cells 28v) Ran ups 2 hours batts barely went down. Still not charging yet where it has to be below 27v. Overkill probably but motorcycle bats aren't cheap and to replace. Didn't research solar panels. The max top off voltage is 8.4 and cutoff should be around 7v to avoid damaging them. I'm not running to these limits, staying a bit inside the limits to preserve them better. Years ago I used old car batteries for stick welding. I suspect you have done that where I noticed you enjoy getting into anything electrical. 2-12v in a series were equal to roughly a 90a setting and 3 maybe 150 from what I recall. Them would probably work ok for that if that's what you meant. You would have too keep a voltage check to make sure you don't drop below 7v. I did an awful lot of research on those, many things to be known and you have any more questions I'd be happy to help if possible, Jeff

[@MrMr123]

You have to make a video on that waste oil set up... free heat... that’s right up my speed

[@2jeffs1]

I do have one. I made it when I first started on YT. Been heating with that for many years. Here is a link if you would perhaps like to check it out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJukk3emn7eIr9k

[@Jpmhp2394]

try for a month showing all the projects your working on I'm very interested and like learning

[@2jeffs1]

I just fixed the microwave. It is a rotisserie from 1984. So nice to work on that older stuff. It had a bad capacitor. Even had the one needed in the cabinet. A one dollar part an 1/2 hour kept it out of the landfill. Sounds like viewers enjoy this stuff. Another didn't film and should of.Thanks for stopping by Joe, Jeff.

[@GospelOfTimothy]

It looks like it was the right voltage. Was it a bad battery or what?

[@Alrukitaf]

The big engineering shift now is cell to pack technology. Saves a lot of time money and weight. EV’s have improved sooo much since 2012.

[@gmplascencia]

Great video!! May I ask you about the components letf behind? Thanks in advance!

[@2jeffs1]

Nothing of value. Always save the brackets. Who knows - could be useful on another project!

[@randyallison1855]

You never touch the terminal, but, you are all over the ratchet and socket.

[@RoadRunnerMeep]

Nice waste oil burner. Do you have a way to regulate the termperate on it?

[@2jeffs1]

Yes. Have 2 video's on the build. Check in the search box. Thank you.

[@Carnutzjoe]

Good video. How much did the Leak battery pack cost used?

[@mlee6050]

Leaf is about £5k new online so I guess 60% or less when used

[@douglaswatson3638]

love the videos!

[@2jeffs1]

Thanks Douglas!

[@walidsarwar3071]

YOUR THE MAN!!

[@renebourbeau1671]

The more the better

[@pondbearflyer1193]

Wow, thanks, I was watching it for the battery disassembly, when you showed the electric cart that was great, I have a John Deere Electric Gator, same sort of configuration,, bunch of lead acid batt's ,, so how would I do the same to the Gator? It is charged with a big welder type box deal, Cheers, from california.

[@2jeffs1]

That would be a great idea for the Gator! Once you would experience those batteries you would never go back to the deep cycle. I can run the snot out of the Cushman about 5 times v/s 1 time with the deep cycles. Unfortunately there is a lot to know to keep them batteries happy. I will be posting more about them in the future. It's kinda expensive at first but one wins big in the long run. I did just post a video on installing them in the Cushman with a bunch of different info if you would be interested.

[@ledude114]

Do you still have the black relay box around? I’m looking for the precharge resistor as it is burnt out on my 2012 Leaf! Thanks!

[@ghilreese3413]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@JonOffgrid]

cool sir

[@poojasingh2752]

Do we have any constraint over thermal management with different form factor of cell

[@poojasingh2752]

Which cell form is better in terms of thermal management?

[@sylvainhamiaux7984]

Thank you for the videos, what do you use to charge them ?

[@2jeffs1]

I am using several different Interactor staged chargers which I modified for top switching voltage. They can be seen on my battery monitor installation video. On another note all the battery's have been staying equalized quite well. Never need for any cell adjustment at this point. However I do believe if purchasing single cells it would be best if they all came from the same battery pack.

[@sylvainhamiaux7984]

Thanks very much

[@hondaguy9153]

How did you cut the glue to pull the lid?

[@2jeffs1]

Lots of prying after bolts were removed.

[@rogeroconnor5182]

i like the way you think,cant wait for more wheelies......lol. i gotta ask where did you get the idea for this because it could be a big time improvement in golf carts as well

[@2jeffs1]

Kept updating more power on the Cushman since I got it. Started out with 24v. Went to 36, then 48, and now 58 with a bigger motor, 650 amp modulator along the way. As you probably noted the fun factor has really increased.

[@rogeroconnor5182]

i think you have accomplished that,burn outs and wheelies prove it

[@hughmurray7434]

kool

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

Was there any dead cells? I so want about 10 of those used units.

[@2jeffs1]

It's good to know who to deal with on those type of things - then there are no issues. Real happy with everything. I do have a use for all of them.

[@ramosel]

Judging by the spacers/stacking plates being loose and not integrated into the battery cases... are those an "off the shelf" battery assembly?? or are they Nissan Proprietary? Any Idea why they alternate the connector orientation? Ease of series connection?

[@2jeffs1]

Those were OE Nissan batteries. Like you thought - they alternate the terminals where they are all in a series circuit for ease of connection.

[@wkualum3194]

wow....I love it. jeff, if you want to come to Michigan I have a few projects for you. lol. did you say how much you paid for the leaf batteries?

[@2jeffs1]

They were from a low mileage car and a very reputable yard. I paid less than half price of what you will anywhere for single cells. I always like dealing with folks one knows when ever possible. The cold climate states are the ones that will be the best, they hate heat, and all from the same battery pack is a good thing for you to know in case you plan on getting some. I still can't believe how long they go on a charge. Actually at times I'd run the deep cycles down quite low when doing yard projects. Replacing them every several years gets expensive in a hurry.

[@wkualum3194]

2jeffs1 I'd like to get 3 of these for my 24 volt electric pontoon boat.

[@SierraOne]

More Please!

[@nonyobussiness3440]

How did you learn all this?

[@swezinphyoe215]

Is it ok to drive safely and smoothly after changing battery?

[@2jeffs1]

I was just driving the same - and - those battery's are holding out excellent. Seems expensive at first but way better than those deep cycle battery's. I have experienced NO loss in run time which makes the conversion so worth it!

[@LawrenceRhodes]

Curious as to the Battery Management System you will use and were you able to use the original charger?

[@2jeffs1]

Great question Lawrence. I will have a video up shortly showing/explaining what I'm doing for that.

[@mlee6050]

Is there a way you know power from brand new if looking at used battery, thinking in future to get battery better than 100k miles in a ENV200 later

[@57WillysCJ]

Would this unit work for a solar charger? Or combined wit a small wind generator? Is it a reasonable item to purchase or not so good If you don't have a buddy in the salvage business.

[@2jeffs1]

Never researched any of those setups. I do have a power inverter that runs a bit of the house lighting and backup sump pump. The bad thing is my inverter is 12 volts. with 2 of those in a series your at 16v. I think running 15-16v into the inverter would damage it after a bit. I did modify the chargers for the Cushman, lift etc. I would be concerned buying mixed cells on line. The ones I got were from a low mileage car, great reputation yard and we are in a colder climate here too which is also beneficial.

[@WSmart1]

With each 8v cell being two 4v cells in series, in theory, you could wire one 4v for each 8v for 12.

[@gmcjetpilot]

I have a 2015 Nissan LEAF and if it ever gets to where the battery is less usable I might be looking into rebuilding it myself to save money. Began to stay current replacement cost from the dealer for a battery is outrageous.

[@kamikazekunze]

Is there any way to reconfigure those packs into a power wall so to speak? Or do they need to broken open and reconfigured at the cell level to work for home storage?

[@2jeffs1]

Hi Alex. Probably splitting them down. Would involve extra work but one would end up with a tidy job and the desired/required results then.

[@pashko90]

Its actually 192 cells pack. Each module is have configuration 2s2p and where is 48 of them.

[@cocosloan3748]

Whillies??

[@kazeem-mustapha]

Where did you get the Leaf Battery pack from and how much did you get it?