Ford Ranger Electric: Installing Terminal Studs on 280 Ah Battery

[@caddyzig]

Very interesting to follow along as you work to rebuild the Electric Rangers!

[@newscoulomb3705]

Thanks! I'm try to share as much of the process as I can. There's a lot to cover!

[@TRYtoHELPyou]

Freeking adrenaline dude! Warning next time, 😂! Dang. I was like noooooo! Thought sparks were gonna fly. This video was strangely high rez.... More batteries!

[@newscoulomb3705]

Hahaha! Honestly, I was super nervous holding the busbar that close, even though it was mostly forced perspective.

[@chrisw443]

Only 100 left! Good luck

[@newscoulomb3705]

Thanks!

[@tterbo128]

How many miles are you up to with your Bolt? Sorry, I know it's a question for one of the drive videos. I am guessing 150,000 but I may be guessing wrong.

[@newscoulomb3705]

I'm still only at around 142,000 miles, but I haven't had the reason/opportunity to drive as much recently.

[@flamaest]

Can you please make a video commenting on the latest article about bolts being banned from parking garages..... From teslarati. "Chevrolet Bolt EV owners may have trouble with parking after battery recalls"

[@newscoulomb3705]

Yes, I might try to address that. I have some thoughts on the issue, but I don't know how actionable they are.

[@bkackman]

As usual, well thought out and well explained I always enjoy hearing your thought process. I forgot to check whether you lost power lately. You intended to borrow some of your batteries to provide you back up power. Did they become necessary?

[@newscoulomb3705]

Thanks! Yes, I did have to use them for power. I might need to break out my setup just to display what I did. Maybe even show a few basic battery concepts along the way.

[@bkackman]

That would be interesting and probably appreciated by several on your channel.

[@DavidDrivesElectric]

I wonder if the thread locker increases electrical resistance

[@newscoulomb3705]

It shouldn't. The main transfer of electricity comes through the flat surface/face of the aluminum terminal. These terminal studs are stainless steel, which is already higher resistance than the aluminum and copper, and as I understand it, all the pre-studded terminals are using similar stud material.

[@DavidDrivesElectric]

@@newscoulomb3705 You are right, the top surface is the main connection

[@siberx4]

After watching the video I don't quite understand why slightly longer screws/bolts wouldn't have accomplished the same thing; you could probably find something with a low enough profile head that it would be shorter than your serrated nut even with a lock washer installed under it (although it wouldn't be strictly necessary if you loctite the bolt in anyway, and a flat washer should work in that case). You're correct that the studs make it a little bit easier to stack your other hardware for busbars and balance leads on the posts, but the tradeoff is more cost (the nut plus the set screw almost certainly cost more than a screw/bolt and standard washer combo), more assembly steps, and two different places the stack can "unthread" instead of just one.

[@newscoulomb3705]

That's fair. A longer screw is certainly one approach, but yes, one of my big concerns is having the busbars rotate and short the battery. The other issue with a fixed length screw is, it limits flexibility. If I get one long enough to double stack busbars, it will be too short to fully seat a single busbar. Essentially, I'd need to get a custom screw length for each configuration rather than buying a single, bulk batch of set screws.

[@a2022z2]

The aluminum in the terminal is soft. I noticed more play every time I unscrewed the stainless screw. Looking at the threads on the stainless screw you could see discoloration. (Grey) if this was due to galling or wear is hard to say. The threads in the terminals on these cells is the achilles heal. Gluing them before they strip is probably a good thing. I’m sure the loctite strengthen the thread and reduce galling.

[@EricBowersTrekkie]

The Loctite won't act as an insulator?

[@airplanenut6242]

That was my first thought as well. It’s not a lot of material, but I’d be curious how the resistance changes. Definitely don’t want the studs to come out though, so maybe it’s worth it.

[@trey1531]

The current goes thru the top of the terminal into the bus bar.

[@airplanenut6242]

...And there it is. That makes sense.

[@mattbatt0]

I've used loctite Blue on several electrical connections and it seems to not block much. There is still some thread there without loctite as well.

[@newscoulomb3705]

Yes, Trey is right. The power is primarily flowing through the face of the terminals, which are aluminum (conducts electricity well). These set screws are stainless steel, and they area already a much worse conductor. Thanks for the question! I'll be sure to mention it when I discuss the how I'm linking the cells together.

[@a2022z2]

I also used the same screws. However I used a primer on the stainless. (Loctite do recommend a primer on stainless) After the primer I used red loctite for maximum strength. Red loctite means you will not be able to unscrew the stud in the future.